Moon's Flower (Kingdom, #6)

Her smile was as radiant as her suddenly glowing body. But on this night, the sun held no sway over him. His glow also manifested, together they were the yin and yang of the cosmos and for this night, they both held court.

In no time they’d entered her half of the castle.

Where his was shrouded and darkness and lit only by the twinkling glint of millions of stars, hers was an oasis of light. It wasn’t as powerful as it might normally be, because it was he and not she that reigned over the sky at the moment. But it was brighter than any light he’d beheld in ages.

For a moment he stood upon the demarcation between darkness and light and just soaked it in. Allowed the heat of her world to sink into his flesh. After feeling nothing but the coolness of night for two centuries, this heat was almost unbearable. But he stayed where he was because he thought he’d never get to feel it again. Like a vampire crawling out of the shadows, he tipped his face up to her glorious warmth and smiled.

“I like it when you do that,” she whispered, startling him from his reverie.

Blinking, he licked his lips. “Aye. When I stand and stare like a hypnotized fool.”

A throaty chuckle tumbled from her lips. “You did not need to deny yourself the sun for so long, Jericho. I’ve been here waiting. Waiting for you each month to realize I’m not your enemy.”

She spread her arm and a tea table appeared before them, over loaded with buttery scones and lemony curd. Pitchers of flowery tea tickled his nose and silver trays full of triangular sandwiches were piled high, coming almost to his waist.

Feeling unburdened and gentlemanly, he walked to the opposite side and held out the chair for her. Tossing him a grateful smile, she sank into the white, wrought iron chair.

He sat beside her. Neither spoke until they’d taken their share of treats from the table and poured their tea.

Calanthe wasn’t expecting him, he kept reminding himself as the seconds continued to tick by. Spending even an hour longer apart from her was agony, but as he continued to tell himself, his visit tonight would be a surprise. Hopefully a pleasant one, his body tingled as he remembered the way she’d mewled and purred in his ear the last time. It made the wait only a little easier to bear.

“Are you my friend?” he finally asked after swallowing his bite of scone.

“What?” She looked up with wide eyes.

“You say you’re not my enemy, are you then implying that you’re my friend, Siria?”

Her answer was long in coming. “And if I say I was?”

Swallowing the hibiscus laced herbal tea, he debated on his answer and as he did so he methodically set the teacup down precisely on the white china plate before answering. “Then I’d have to ask you why? Why now?”

The firm skin of her flesh barely moved with her frown. Siria could pass for a very young twenty, when, in fact, she was far older than most inhabitants of Kingdom. Unlike the Man in the Moon who changed out every five hundred years, she’d been around for a long, long time. He wasn’t sure how long, he’d never asked. But he’d understood from past conversations that her cycles did not run in the way his had.

It was a topic she rarely discussed and he’d always wondered why, but that was a tale for another day, as she had always used to say.

“And my reply would be, why not? I’ve not been subtle in my attempts to approach you. I never have. I’ve not hidden my feelings for you. So why act surprised?”

“If we’re being perfectly honest, then I’ll tell you it’s because you’ve made no bones about the fact that there is always a scheme.” Leaning back, he licked his lips. “Why? What is it about me, Siria, that draws you the way it does? Why is it that when we get to talking of our relationship, or rather the lack thereof, you become vindictive?”

Her teacup hovered around her lips as she held onto it with both hands. “I was wrong,” she finally whispered, “I realize that now.”

His brows dipped. Had she apologized? Surely he’d heard her wrong. “And after two hundred years you suddenly figure this out?”

She didn’t answer until she’d taken several sips of her red colored tea. Setting it down, she dabbed her lips with a napkin. “I didn’t just ask you here today for tea, there was another reason for it.”

Every fine hair on his body stood on end as his heart picked up in rhythm. “What did you do, Siria?”

“No, you misunderstand. I’m helping you, Jericho.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “For two hundred years I’ve tried to hang on to you, tried to force you to love me as you once did, but I was wrong.” She opened them again, piercing him with her sincerity.

“What are you talking about?” The good food he’d eaten just moments ago now sat like a brick in his gut.

“I had a visitor, two in fact, a few days past.”

“Who were they?”

If she was telling him this, it stood to reason the visitors had called upon the sun for one reason only. Because someone knew something about him, about Calanthe. He clenched his jaw.

Her fingers slid over his fist resting on the table.