Love Letters and Thirst Tonics (Moonvale Matches Book 1)

40. Fiella

Alight finger brushed delicately down my nose, over my lips, across my chin. I opened my eyes to see the setting sun gleaming through the windows. Hours had passed, but night had not yet fallen.

With a massive yawn, I rolled to face Redd. He was tracing his fingers over my face, looking content, if a bit tired.

“Good morning, sweets,” he murmured.

I slapped his hand away with a laugh. “It’s not morning, you idiot. Why did you let me fall asleep? The shop is still open!” I tried to sit up but realized that I was still as naked as the day I was born. I flushed.

He chuckled, pulling me back onto the daybed, tucking me sideways and curling his body around mine. I realized, disappointedly, that he was back in his clothes. Bummer.

“One of us really needed a nap. I made the rounds, making sure the doors were locked so we wouldn’t get any surprise visitors.”

“If you’re talking about Sookie, the locked doors won’t keep her out,” I mumbled sleepily, snuggling deeper into his embrace.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you about that. What’s the story with the strange cats?” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, gently avoiding any tangles.

“I don’t know, honestly. I don’t ask any questions. It’s more peaceful that way.”

“Oh…kay. No questions about the potentially magical cats. That’s fine with me.”

I hummed in response, getting comfortable in his embrace.

Eventually, he broke the companionable silence. “Do we need to talk about this?”

I sighed, finally extracting myself from his arms. “Not now. Where the fuck are my clothes?”

He held my undergarments up, dangling them from his elegant fingers. “These? These are mine now.” He tucked them into his pocket. “The rest of your things should be downstairs. Somewhere. You’ll forgive me if I simply tossed them aside.”

A flush crawled all the way up to my ears, my skin prickling with renewed desire.

“You sure did, didn’t you. You beast.”

“Beast?” he asked, brows raised.

He growled playfully, grabbing my waist and tossing me over his shoulder before eventually setting me on my feet.

“Okay, okay. Get yourself dressed and head home, we’ve still got a lot of work to do here,” he declared while looking over his shoulder at the shop behind him.

I groaned. “Don’t remind me.”

It took some searching, but I eventually found all my clothes.

Redd and I lingered in the town square, appreciating the warming air and soaking up some of the dual suns’ rays as we sat on a bench, shoulder to shoulder.

Critters scurried by without a care in the realms, the squirrels emerging from their burrows to enjoy the milder weather.

“So, we haven’t really gotten the chance to talk much,” Redd said, reaching over to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. His fingers lingered, caressing the shell of my ear so gently it made me shiver. “I tried to see you as soon as I came back, but you weren’t here. You know where I was, where did you run off to?”

I gasped, straightening with excitement. “Oh, gods! I can’t believe I haven’t told you yet! Kizzi and I traveled to Willowvalley to figure out who sent those ghastly beetles after me.”

His eyebrows rose. “Holy shit. And? Did you?” He hesitated for a minute, examining my face before smiling gently. “Of course you did, what am I even saying?”

I grinned at him. “I did. It wasn’t your fault after all! I told you!”

“It wasn’t, you’re sure? How is that possible?” His eyes roamed over my face intently. “Tell me everything.”

I was practically buzzing with anticipation. “I will, over a cider and a bowl of stew. It’s a long story.”

“Deal. Go home, change, do what you need to do, and meet me at Ginger’s Pub in an hour.” He stepped forward and planted a tender kiss on my forehead before stepping back again.

“Perfect, I’ll see you there.” I turned to depart, but his earlier words registered in my mind. “Don’t think you’re off the hook–I want to hear all about your spontaneous trip too.”

He rolled his eyes playfully. “I’ll be sure to tell you every boring detail, don’t worry. I know how much you love a good story.”

I smiled broadly, fangs flashing. “I would expect nothing less.”

Today’s cider flavor was strawberry basil. Not my favorite, but still incredibly delicious.

Redd didn’t even hesitate when ordering himself his own cider–it seemed my superior preferences were rubbing off on him. As they should.

I absentmindedly pushed my salted rice around with my spoon as I explained my recent adventures. “It really went down as smoothly as I could have hoped. You know the other witches in town that Kizzi hangs around with?” I asked.

He nodded, swallowing a huge bite of buttery chicken. “Sure. I built a bookshelf for Ani’s grimoires a few weeks ago. And I’ve helped a few of the others as well.”

“Well, get this. Apparently, Kizzi has been working with the group of them, and they’ve been doing some investigating. Don’t ask me for any details because the workings of the witchy mind are way too confusing for me to explain.”

“Understandable. They’re very smart ladies.”

“Excuse you! I’m smart too, but I’ll let that one slide. I know what you mean.” I shot him a quick glare. “Like I was saying. They did a ritual on the beetles from my shop and traced the magical signature to another town!”

Redd looked impressed, his eyebrows quirking. “Wow, I didn’t even know that was possible. Where did it come from?”

“Guess.”

“Please don’t make me,” he deadpanned.

“Come on, guess!”

He stared at me blankly, taking a slow swallow of cider.

I snorted. “Fine, fine, you’re no fun. It came from Willowvalley– that swampy, sludgy town that nobody goes to unless they must.”

He set his goblet down with a thunk. “Huh. I don’t know what I expected but it wasn’t that.”

“I know, right! What a stupid town.”

“So, who was it?”

I groaned dramatically. “Well, remember how you thought this series of unfortunate events was somehow your fault?” I asked.

“Yes…”

“It turns out, it was actually my fault.”

“Now how in the realms is it your fault? That makes no sense.”

I braced myself to explain the repulsive creature that was Josten. I hated talking about that vile folk, but the story of his downfall was satisfying enough to make it worth it.

“So, there was this wizard that I used to know…” I trailed off, unsure how to explain without sounding ridiculous.

“Wizard. Right.”

“And he was behind all of it. All of it.”

He nodded. “Sure. And why was some random wizard causing towns-wide destruction?”

I groaned. “He’s my ex. We used to see each other, ages ago.” I flapped my hand dismissively. “The details aren’t important, but the root of it is, he was trying to get my attention with dark magic. But clearly, it spiraled out of control.”

Redd had an incredulous expression on his face. “Holy shit. Seriously?”

I set my face in my hands. “I wish I was kidding. That jackass did all of this.”

“And in Sunhaven? How did he cause those disasters too?”

“Well, you know how I told you I travel a lot to find trinkets to sell at my shop. I spent some time in Sunhaven during the early freeze season. He was trying to catch my attention there, too.”

“That’s… Wow. That’s a lot.”

“Exactly. So, at the end of the day, technically it is my fault. But if Josten wasn’t such a raging idiot, none of it would have ever happened. So it’s mainly his fault. He’s in the Willowvalley dungeon, by the way.”

Redd cracked his knuckles menacingly. “He better be…”

I snorted. “He is! The mayor said he’d be locked up for years. Decades, maybe. And the best part; his magic has been permanently stripped from him! He’ll never cast a spell or perform a ritual ever again.” I crossed my arms in smug satisfaction.

“I think he deserves a worse punishment, but I suppose that’ll do.”

“It’ll do. Now let’s hear about your trip.”

We finished our meal together, exchanging stories and enjoying each other’s company. I hadn’t realized how much I missed him until he was back, and the hole he left was filled again.

On my way home, I dropped a letter into a mailbox and tried to suppress the strange surge of guilt that washed over me.