The Moonlit Curse

Ch 26: The Oracle

It was late when August finally crawled his lazy ass out of bed and came down to the kitchens. "Good afternoon," Kiya laughed, glancing meaningfully up at the clock.

"Five minutes to noon," he grumbled, weighing the teapot on the stove before pouring himself a mug. "Still counts as morning."

"Barely. Did you have a rough night, or something?"

"Stayed up late reading. Baking again?"

"Sorry," Kiya's cheeks warmed and looked back down at the mix of flour and butter she was kneading together. "It helps keep my mind off of everything, and I usually don't have access to a kitchen so well stocked."

"No need to apologize. I get to enjoy the fruits of your labor, after all."

"I'm making pie with your preserves as the filling, so you put in just as much work." She stood up straight and blew the wayward strands of hair out of her face. "I thought I'd bring one to Elora and Hadyn's tonight. A sort of peace offering, I guess."

"You've got flour on your face," he chuckled and pointed at her right cheek.

"I had to cover breakfast for you, so I've been in here all morning. I'm pretty sure all of me is covered in flour."

She reached up and rubbed her cheek with the back of her hand, only succeeding in smearing more of the fine powder over her skin. August laughed and reached out to help. His hand was warm, despite the chills coursing through her as he rubbed his thumb over her cheek. "Thank you, again, for last night," she rasped, her throat going dry. "It's been hard not being able to talk to anyone."

"I told you," his voice was a low rumble in his chest, sending another wave of shivers down Kiya's spine. "I'll always be there for you."

"Did it get easier? When you left everything and everyone behind, I mean?"

"The easy part for me was leaving. There was nothing left for me where I came from."

Beautiful silver eyes met hers, and her heart fluttered in her chest. Fire flared low in her abdomen, urging her to reach up and take what she wanted.

But then August cleared his throat and turned away, dousing her with freezing cold air in the absence of his touch. "Is your team around today?" he asked.

"No," she shook her head, suddenly breathless. "Elise is back at the Magistrate's with Rick as supervision, and Red took Quintin and Julien to do something around the town that needs to be done. They won't be back until supper at the earliest.

"That's good. We need to talk openly, so the last thing we need is your captain with his ear pressed against the door."

"Red's not that subtle. He'd just plant himself in the middle of the table and wait."

August barked out a laugh as he headed into the storeroom and Kiya found a clean rag to wipe her hands clean. "I want to try something," he called before reappearing with three old leather cups, twirling them so that their contents rattled quietly. "Pick four numbers."

"What?" Kiya asked, laughing.

"I'll explain in a minute," he smiled, shaking the cups and making the dice inside of them rattle before flipping them over and placing them face down on the table one at a time. "Just pick the first four numbers that come to your head. Don't think. Just say them."

"Okay, uh... thirty-four, two, twenty-six, and seven."

"Let's see what we get then."

He lifted the first cup, revealing eight dice with the total of each face adding up to thirty-four. The second cup only had two dice, both with two black dots facing up at the pair. "What is this," Kiya laughed. "Some northern version of liar's dice?"