“Well,” Luna said slowly, licking her lips. “Call me crazy, but I have an idea. But it wouldn’t really be my place to say whether it can go ahead or –”
“Hey guys, sorry we’re so late. That was a crazy day – I never thought I’d get the last customer out!”
Luna was interrupted by the sound of the door of the cabin opening, and then the sound of Sylvie’s voice. They turned in time to see Sylvie herself walking into the cabin, followed by Gale, who they already knew from the bakery, and then two other people Henry had never met before, but he guessed must be Natasha and Kieran, the owners of the B&B Luna was staying in.
Yes, definitely a griffin,his hellhound sniffed as he took in Kieran’s tall, broad form and the mop of golden hair. Natasha herself wasn’t any less impressive, in her own way – a tall,slim, dark-skinned woman who was absolutely immaculately put together, exuding class.
But a moment later, Henry had forgotten all about how they looked – because an incredible,delicioussmell suddenly hit his nostrils.
“I hope you’re all hungry, because we brought leftovers,” Sylvie said, as she plonked a huge box down on one of the tables that lined the room. “And there’s plenty for everyone. Everything from diner food from Eula’s to gulab jamun from the Indian sweets shop.”
“Oh my God! I didn’t get to try those yesterday!” Luna said, perking up.
“Well, now’s your chance,” Sylvie laughed. “I’m afraid there’s nothing from me – I was absolutely cleaned out – but everyone else was very generous with what they had left. So let’s dig in.”
“And maybe you can tell us about your idea while we eat,” Kira said to Luna, as together, they started unboxing the packaged food Sylvie and Gale had brought with them. Each box seemed to contain a new treasure – from fresh, glistening, salted fries to candied apples, fresh bread and cheese to Luna’s coveted gulab jamun.
“Luna, can you grab me a plate?” Sylvie asked, laughing as she almost lost a stack of fried green tomatoes. “These things are tricky! And what’s this about an idea?”
“I think we found out who put the curse on Henry,” Caleb explained, as he stood up from behind the computer. “Well, perhaps. But we need a way to find them and confront them, and Luna was about to tell us how she thought we could do it.”
“You can tell us over dinner, then,” Natasha said, business-like. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m absolutelystarving.”
Henry had to admit, he felt the same way too – his mouth watered as he watched the feast unfolding before him. He was on the verge of going over to help, when his eyes landed onLuna where she was laughing with Natasha about something-or-other.
Perfect. She’s perfect.
The thought momentarily left him breathless with the force of how true it was. Luna took his breath away, left him feeling light-headed with adoration. It was like nothing he’d ever known before – and he knew he’d never feel anything like it again.
It was all for Luna.
He watched, enchanted, as she picked up one of the gulab jamun with her fingers and bit into it, closing her eyes in delight and making a satisfied sound, her lips glistening with the sweet syrup. If this Madame Fortuna thing turned out to be a bust, Henry thought that he could handle being cursed for the rest of his life, if the trade-off was that he got to see Luna smile.
“Meeting your mate changes everything, doesn’t it?”
He startled at Caleb’s quiet voice next to him. Tearing his eyes away from Luna, he turned, to see Caleb smiling at him. He smiled back helplessly.
“Yeah, it does. I know everyone always says how life-changing it is, but I never really comprehended it. It’s impossible to understand until you’ve experienced it.”
“I’ll drink to that.” Caleb clinked his coffee mug against Henry’s and drained it, before both of them went over to join the others in laying out their magnificent feast.
“Now,” Kira said, as the eight of them sat down at the table, the food wafting its delicious scent through the room, “Luna, tell us about this idea you had.”
Chapter 11
“Ithink that went well,” Luna said, as Henry pulled up outside the B&B.
Between the two of them, they’d decided it’d probably be better if Henry was the one to drive them home. Even though Caleb –What a very nice dragon he was, nothing like I thought a dragon would be!– had told her that her curse probably wasn’t life-threatening, just inconvenient, Luna had decided she’d probably prefer it if the car didn’tinconvenientlyhappen to suffer a brake failure and careen into a ditch.
And anyway, even if Idotrust Caleb’s assessment of the situation, I don’t trust the person who’s behind this not to start escalating things,she thought grimly as she got out of the car.I have no idea who he is or what his goal is.
Unfortunately, Caleb’s dragon luck hadn’t seemed to work so well onhercurse – when he’d used Google to try to look, they hadn’t gotten back any helpful results whatsoever.
Anyway, perhaps it’s best to focus on one problem at a time.
They’d get Henry’s curse sorted out first. Then they could deal with hers. Somehow. Even if it meant just texting the guy back withHEY! KNOCK IT OFF, CREEP!
Which, Luna realized, was something she probably ought not do, in case it caused him to geteven morepissed than he apparently already was.
