Heart of the Moon (The Night Kind Saga Book 1) Read online

  She shook the horrific Cronenberg-esque picture from her mind and gazed up at the old diner. It was exactly as she had left it, a weird mix of 50’s and 90’s design, visual evidence that Derek and his wife Wendy really hadn’t wanted to change the family business too much over the years. The building was small for a restaurant but larger than any other store or establishment in town, the structure itself was a sturdy brick save for the roof, which was a faded mint green aluminium, or at least that’s what Rose guessed. She’d never asked, or cared really for that matter, and yet here she was, staring at the building as if it were the Roman Colosseum. Once more she found herself realising she truly was fond of Lunar Hills, of it’s peace and simplicity. She happily welcomed this revelation.

  Or maybe, just maybe, she was stalling. A chill had ran down her spine as she approached the building but she was one hundred percent sure it wasn’t because of the wind. It was a truly sobering moment when Rose realised she wasn’t ready for what would come after she entered the diner.

  Questions. Endless probing questions. About what she’d been doing, how long she’d be staying, what her life in New York was like, etcetera, and all from people she didn’t know or really care about.

  “I can’t.” She whimpered uncontrollably, her heart beat increasing from sudden fear. What if people she’d grown up with, gone to school with, ignored for years to further her dreams were in there, like Derek and Wendy’s daughter Loren. Surely they would laugh at Rose, they would cheer for her misery, her failure, her utter crushing emptiness inside!

  No! She was going home, her home was isolated from the rest of the town, no neighbours close by, Rose could be alone there, safe there. Rose chastised herself for even thinking she could find a peace outside of her bedroom walls. There was nothing for her here, or anywhere.

  Nothing.

  Rose turned abruptly, her eyes filled with panicked angry tears. It was like a switch had been flipped in her and all the darkness had come flooding back into her mind, body and soul. She needed to run away and escape, before anyone saw her. She couldn’t deal with another human right now. Alas her escape was halted when she smacked head first into what felt like a brick wall.

  “Fuck!” She yowled as she bounced off the obstruction and landed on her ass. Confused she looked up through her tear filled eyes at what had taken her out, she was positive nothing had been behind her, but once again she was wrong.

  Towering above her small, aching body, was the tallest man she’d ever seen. His frame was large not only in length but width as well. Despite his layers of wool, flannel and jeans she could clearly tell he was built like a brick shithouse, for lack of a better term. To compliment his stature was curly, slightly unkempt hair, down to his shoulders and almost ink like in colour with a matching beard, too thick to just be stubble but too short and clean to be the full lumberjack experience. Rose couldn’t deny he was the most beautiful man she had ever seen in her life, he seemed perfect, even his expression was unlike anything Rose had seen before or expected would ever see again.

  The stranger seemed to be trapped between utter astonishment and pure unadulterated reverence. Almost as though Rose had just shown the flannel clothed Adonis the stars and moon for the first time.

  “S..sorry.” Rose quickly stuttered out in an attempt to save face, quickly she found her way to her feet. Wiping away dirty leaves that had been pasted to her behind when she fell. “Really, I’m very sorry for bumping into you.” She continued, raising her hands meekly as a sign of apology, which apparently the tall stranger appreciated as a electric glint flashed across his eyes.

  After a beat the man still hadn’t said a word to Rose, dejectedly she took it as a hint to leave, arms still raised, she cautiously took a few steps around him, hoping to quickly leave this hell dimension of panic and embarrassment she had somehow found herself in, but the universe had decided that it no longer favoured the pitiful little flower, or at least that’s what she told herself, as the towering man quickly grabbed her left wrist in a bruising vice like grip.

  “No.” A deep gravely voice cried out a demand she didn’t understand. “You can’t leave.”

  There was a desperation to his voice that Rose couldn’t quite comprehend. Though she noted that if the situation wasn’t as confusing as it was, she would have admitted his voice was a deep rich baritone base, like finely aged whiskey, which she could gladly get drunk off.

  She shook her head, almost disturbed at how she could be thinking about his sinful voice, his strong jaw or his piercingly beautiful crystal blue eyes, which she had only now noticed, at a time like this. It was almost as if a spell had been cast over her the moment she had set eyes on the man.

  “Mikey!” A familiar voice yelled out from the diner. Both Rose and the strangers heads snapped to the intruding voice. It was, ironically, Derek. The man Rose had decided to once again blow off, bounding straight up to Rose, zipping up his old battered parka as he did.

  Rose noted that Derek had put on a considerable amount of weight and had gone bald since the last time she’d seen him, clearly the years had been as kind to him as they had been to her.

  “We expected delivery five minutes ago. What are you doing?” Derek said with thinly veiled spite. It was then that the man,(named Mikey Rose presumed)released her arm, though it seemed to pain him to do so.

  “Well go on, Wendy’s got a line of people waiting for your pie, so step to it Mikey boy.”

  “Mikhail.” The dark stranger growled out, his arctic blue eyes never leaving Rose's honey ones.

  “Well say good bye to Rosie, Mikhail,” Derek’s voice dripped with sarcasm when he uttered Mikhail’s name “Wendy wants to talk about upping orders anyway, so unless you wanna loose this gig, I’d hurry up.”

  Though he didn’t seem to be a man to give into threats, Rose watched with wide eyes as Mikhail, took a deep steadying breath and tore his eyes away from hers. He quickly walked to a shiny black off road truck to grab what looked like a stack of bakery boxes before entering the diner shortly there after, and to Rose’s deep disappointment, never once did he look back at her. Derek quickly ushered the bewildered woman over to his car.

  “Need a lift somewhere?” He offered. Rose simply nodded in a trance-like state, her eyes never leaving the entrance to the diner. It wasn’t until the eatery was no longer in her field of vision that she came back into herself.

  “You’re not hurt are you?” The diner owner asked.

  “What?! No. I’m fine.” Rose affirmed.

  “Really? Cause from where I was standing a girl was just assaulted by the town weirdo.” There was heavy resentment in Derek’s voice. She pondered whether there was a history between Mikhail and Derek that ran deeper than the bruise forming on her left wrist.

  “He didn’t assault me. I fell.” The firmness of her voice shocked Rose. She had never been one to stand up to her elders, let alone Derek, but there was something deep inside her chest that told her to protect Mikhail.

  “Then why was he gripping you like a drunk grips a hand rail when going down the stairs? And trust me I know what that looks like heh.” He dryly laughed.

  “I fell, and I was still wobbly and I was gonna fall again but he grabbed me to stop me.” The words left her mouth before she could think, like word vomit laced with white lies.

  “You swear that’s what happened.” Derek didn’t sound convinced.

  “In a court of law.” She volleyed back. “Really it probably looked bad ‘cause that guy was like ten times the size of a barge, and I’m a 5’5 mouse with no sense of balance.” It was a massive exaggeration on her part, but it seemed to do the trick as Derek threw his head back in laughter.

  “Oh good. I was afraid me and your dad were gonna have to rough him up.”

  “No.” Once again Rose's voice spoke without her consent. “I, er, don’t want my dads hip going now do I?” The defencive word vomit Rose seemed to be developing was really starting to worry her, but any panic went unnoticed by
her driver.

  “Nah he’s a screwy one that Mikey. Wendy says he’s a better chef than me. And she’s supposed to be on my side.” Derek started rambling “What kind of ‘wife’ chooses another mans cooking over their loving husbands?”

  “I dunno.” Rose mumbled uncomfortably.

  “A crazy one. Which she is. But she’s mine, and she’s right the boy can cook. Wouldn’t pay him if he couldn’t. But that fucker can’t socialise for shit though. Two years he’s been here and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him outside work.”

  Rose’s stomach sunk every time Derek cursed out Mikhail. She couldn’t understand why, surely after knowing the diner owner for most her life she should believe him, but she just couldn't. It was as if her very soul was telling her Derek was wrong about Mikhail.

  The car came slowly to a halt, parking neatly outside Rose's childhood home, but before she could escape this day and hunker down in her hovel of a bedroom, Derek stopped her, his arm resting around her head rest.

  “Just y’know, be careful around him, I don’t think your folks can handle loosing you again.”

  “Thanks…for the ride.” Rose mumbled out as she exited the vehicle. Though she wanted to say ‘Thanks for the guilt.’ She waved as Derek drove off, silently grateful to be rid of the old man. Though she couldn’t put her finger on why exactly, she knew was that she never, ever wanted to be alone with him again.

  Despondent, Rose made her way slowly back into her house, dropping her jacket on the floor absentmindedly, her focus laser guided to the blooming purple bruise on her wrist, the exact place where Mikhail had touched her. She slumped down on the living room sofa, as if in a trance, her fingers dancing across the mark delicately, almost admiringly.

  Rose stopped.

  “What the fuck am I doing?” She whispered to herself. She didn’t understand what was happening. Why was she so enamoured with the man she’d just met? The strange, silent dazzling man that had grabbed her in a vise like grip as if he feared she would disappear into nothingness, and why, oh god why, did her heart yearn to see him again?

  “Fuck!” She yelled out exasperated.

  All she had wanted was a nice walk, but she should have known by now that destiny had other ideas.

  Chapter Two

  Twilight had settled over Lunar Hills, painting its once plain grey sky into a stunning but diffused watercolour of pink and purple tones. It was such a peaceful time of day, the moment between day and night, a true, fleeting twinkle of peace.

  Not that Rose could appreciate the natural beauty on display, she was too busy staring at the internet search results on her phone. The poor frazzled woman had spent the last five hours trying to figure out if something was seriously wrong with her, simply because of the way she reacted to Mikhail. She had searched for anything and everything she could think of, and apparently according to the infinite wisdom of the world wide web, she was either possessed by a succubus or Mikhail was a fairy.

  “Urgh!” Her phone was thrown to the side in a fit of irritation. “Fucking magic, really!?” Rose groaned. She had started the search in the hopes of making sense of her encounter, not to dive head first into the childish and wacky world of the supernatural.

  ‘Maybe I should just go see him again.’ She sighed at the thought before shaking her head. “No! There’s nothing deeper to this,” She stood deciding to find something to occupy her time, “He’s just your average guy, who happens to be gorgeously handsome and strong, and…”

  Lightning struck her heart as her eyes connected with the figure walking outside her living room window.

  “Mikhail.” She whispered like a prayer. Without a second thought Rose bolted for the front door, throwing it open with such force it shook the entire frame. Not that she cared about possible property damage right now, not when the enigma of that man, was stood at the end of her pathway. Though he seemed different now.

  The fearful, possessive aura that had once surrounded him as he gripped Rose's wrist was gone, replaced by an air of uncertainty. Rose could, despite the distance between them, see how his previously hard strong face was timid, almost bashful now and in Mikhail’s large hands he clutched a white pastry box, almost like his life depended on it.

  Rose waited for him to make a move, to prove that he wasn’t some extremely vivid hallucination she was having, but it seemed as though he had developed stage fright in the five hours since they had met. Rose knew that once more she would have to take the first step.

  Mikhail’s eyes widened in surprise as Rose bound confidently towards him, his hands clutching the box tighter in response. Rose couldn’t help but smile at the sight, she thought it was adorable, and bordering on addictive. In less time than a heart beat, they were face to face. Well, kind of. In order to meet his stunning eyes Rose did have to crane her neck upwards, the man really did have a good ten inches on her.

  “Hello.” Rose smiled, her honey eyes creasing with glee.

  “H..Hi.” He stuttered. Rose felt her heart squeeze in response, as the once intimidating baritone voice was replaced with a sensitive one. Admittedly it was still as deep as a canyon but there was a softness and warmth to it now, it was a voice Rose felt she could listen to forever. “I came to apologise,” Guilt permeated his voice, his eyes drifting to his scuffed and worn boots. “And I brought you some pie.”

  He thrust the box out in front of him, Rose couldn’t help the small chuckle that left her lips. Without hesitation she reached out for the gift, their fingers connecting as she did. It was a small gesture but it sent waves of affection through her body, it felt good, it felt correct.

  Rose wanted more, it felt like her very being was vibrating in need. She’d never felt like this before, she didn’t know if this was normal, or if she was coming down with a serious fever, but whilst in Mikhail’s presence she didn’t care.

  “Thank you.” She blushed, tucking some fly away golden strands behind her ear, the long knitted sleeve of her sweater slipping to her elbow as she did. “I’m Rose by the way, Rose Crowley.”

  “Mikhail Agapov.” He introduced himself confidently, however that confidence was short lived. “Your arm.” Mikhail lamented, the pie box slipping between both of their hands onto the wet stone below. Tentatively, as if he feared she would shatter into a million pieces, he held Rose’s raised left hand, his arctic blue eyes filled with grief.

  “Oh.” Rose’s eyes connected with what had upset Mikhail. The bruise he’d given her during their first encounter had deepened considerably in the past five hours, it looked incredibly painful, like a stack of bricks had been dropped on uncooked spaghetti.

  “I have to go.” Mikhail turned, dropping Rose’s hand, his face grim with a deep well of emotional pain.

  “No!” Rose yelled grabbing onto his thick flannel jacket sleeve, it was now her turn to beg him to stay. “Please don’t leave.”

  “But I hurt you.” He mumbled, his eyes full of shame. The sky had lost it’s watercolour glow and was now dark and murky, as if to mock the change in atmosphere between the two.

  “Did you mean to?” Rose enquired, the future of their relationship hinged on his answer.

  “God no! I would never hurt you.” His head snapped up, insulted at the question. “I couldn’t…” He abruptly cut himself off, as if he’d been caught spilling ancient hidden secrets. Rose watched in silent confusion as he took a grounding breath. Her hands still clutching onto the woollen fabric and the muscular arm hidden inside. “I’m so, so sorry.”

  “It’s okay, as first impressions go, I’d say it was a six out of eight. Really I’m fine.” Rose didn’t even have to think about forgiving him, her hand sliding down to squeeze his in comfort. He had proven to her in coming here that he wasn’t some violent scary monster or degenerate like Derek had implied. From what he had shown her tonight he was clearly caring and compassionate beyond belief, like a super gorgeous teddy bear.

  “Thank you, I…” Mikhail hesitated, “I…I dropped your pie.” r />
  “Huh?” Rose was dumbfounded for a second before both of their eyes drifted down to the wasted dessert collecting dirt on the floor. A beat passed before she burst out laughing unable to contain her mirth, and to her pleasant surprise Mikhail laughed with her. His laugh was heavenly, a deep vibrato shaking his chest and crinkling his eyes, Rose postured that she’d never heard anything as beautiful as that sound.

  “Come on.” She smiled, pulling Mikhail back towards her house.

  “W…what?” The faintest red painted the tall mans bearded cheeks. Rose was astounded at just how cute he kept showing her he could be.

  “Well, it’s cold out here, and I have cookies inside,” Her boldness was shocking to her, but she liked it, Rose was happily pursuing something she wanted again. She hadn’t felt this invigorated for years now, and if Mikhail was what had brought this out of her, there was no way in hell she was letting him go home this early in the night.