Catching Moonlight (Man Season) (7 page)

His eyes twinkled, mischievous. She
couldn’t resist. They threw their clothes onto the table, ran naked to the bed
and wrapped themselves in the sheets.
Dio
found Toby
in the smothered light underneath and slid his body over hers to get her warm.
The fire kindled, they drank from each other’s hot, eager mouths, and moved
their hands upon each other’s flesh.
Dio
slipped his
fingers down into her, spreading her open and massaging her until she was
screaming to feel him in her. He jabbed into her with a fierce tongue, licking
and sucking and tasting her sweet juices with an almost vehement force. She
thought she would shatter the old stone walls with her screaming but he urged
her on, would not let her cover her mouth. Once the light show began he lunged
for her, finished it off with a hard piercing invasion that shook them both to
the core.

Not willing to feel the cold cavern
air just yet, they huddled together and watched the rising moon’s reflection
bounce off the walls.

“This place is magical,” Toby sighed.
“I really feel as though I belong here.”

“You do belong here. Thank you for
coming to
Moonsea
, Toby.”

“You’re very welcome,
Dioscuri
. I looked up your name online. It means ‘sons of
Zeus’. But it’s supposed to stand for Castor and
Pollux
,
the Gemini. There’s no mention of a son by
Selene
and
Zeus. They had daughters, and she had a son by someone else …”

“I have read these fairy tales that
people call Mythology. Time has passed and with it, the accuracy of the
stories. It’s true my mother loved
Endymion
, and Zeus
put him under a spell for her, so he would not age. But then she fell in love
with Zeus, and had me. I was kept hidden from those so-called gods, because of
Hera’s
jealousies and Zeus’ habit of killing those he
deemed a nuisance.
Hera
was angry not only because my
mother had loved Zeus but she herself had loved
Endymion
.
Her punishment for me was derived from the same spell Zeus used on
Endymion
.” His voice turned cold. “The gods, for the most
part, were a bunch of selfish, ridiculous fools who should not have been given
any kind of powers. They couldn’t control their emotions, and used their powers
to hurt and kill anyone they thought had humiliated or deceived them!
Even my own mother!”

He was shaking from the pain of
remembering. Toby slipped warm arms about him, laid his head upon her chest.

“You’ve seen too many sorrows,
Dio
. I’m sorry. I’ve watched love ones die, but I can’t
imagine how horrible it must be to see your whole generation pass you by. You
hated them but still, you must have loved them, too.”

“My mother, yes but not the rest. And
they’re not all gone. The strongest have managed to survive, as I told you
earlier. They disguise themselves but I know they are out there.”

“Do they never come to see you?”

“Why would they? I have nothing they
might want.”

“These stone tablets hold all their
secrets. Don’t you ever worry that they might come after them?”

“They haven’t, yet. Are you ready to
start learning?”

“I am.”

They braved the chilled air with
their naked bodies, dressed quickly and walked to the shelves.
Dio
trailed his hand over several volumes before resting it
on a particular one.

“You should start with this spell.
It’s the one Gregory mastered first.”

“What does it do?”

“Gives wealth to whoever uses it.”

“Oh, but I don’t need that.”

“I know, but it will help you get used
to the rhythm of the spells, so you can learn the harder ones.”

Toby shrugged and nodded at him.
“Okay, you’re the boss here.
Dio
, why couldn’t you
have studied the spells? You might have found a way to break the one you’re
under.”

“I tried that the first several years
I was here. And I do have some powers of my own. I can start fires, and I’ve
kept strangers away with minor storms and I can move things with my mind. But
even the most powerful god … or sorcerer … can’t break a spell cast on him by
someone else.”

A loud splashing noise came from the
grotto.

“What was that?”

“
Shh
!” he
hissed. He crept to the edge of the cavern, searched the moon-striped
reflections with hard eyes.

Two hands caught him, pulled him
towards the icy water. But the spell was too strong. The hands went right
through
Dio’s
shoulders – the attacker let out an
agonized moan as he hit the sharp wall of the grotto and fell bleeding into the
sea.

CHAPTER FOUR

Toby screamed. “
Dio
,
who is it!”

She ran to the edge, could make out the
features of Stephan
Cristos
’ face as he flailed his
arms about and gulped the cold water.

“What can we do? He might drown!”

“I can raise him.”

Dio
concentrated on his hands – a white
light sprang from his fingers, swept down to the sea and captured Stephan. It
gently carried him up to the cavern and laid him upon the floor.

Toby was stunned. “You do have
powers! That was wild!”

“Is he much hurt?”

She knelt down, examined him.

“His head has a nasty gash. I’d
better get him to the house somehow so I can call a doctor.”

“No, no doctors!” Stephan yelled.
“I’ll be fine. Just let me up!”

He strained to stand, began searching
for an exit. He swayed suddenly, fell backwards.
Dio
stopped him from hitting the floor; threw him up into his arms and flung him
onto the bed.

“He’s cold. I’ll strip him down while
you go up and find some dry clothes and sheets.”

“All right!”
Toby climbed the stairs, pausing a
moment to collect her thoughts. Why was Stephan in the grotto? What was he
planning to do now?

Once they had settled the man into
the warm, dry bed, Toby and
Dio
hurried to his
apartment and closed the heavy door.

“He seems okay,”
Dio
offered, “I don’t think the gash in his head is too deep.”

“Well, that’s something, anyway. I
have to say it frightened me senseless to see his hands slice through you like
air! I don’t know if I can get used to all this magic.”

“Life is magic, Toby, if you really
think about it.”

“It is, yes, but a different kind.
Yours is new to me. Do you think I’ll be able to master any spells, really?”

“Of course you will. I’ll help you.
Here’s the first one. Let’s go over it a few times then see how it goes.”

She sighed and nodded, willing but
unsure.

The night passed; they took a
hard-earned break to catch five hours of sleep then started again, practicing
over a plate of fried eggs and ham.

“Do you have it now?”

“I think so.”

“You can’t be uncertain. You have to
know you can do it!”

“All right … I know I have it!”

“Concentrate as you whisper the
words.”

“How will I know it worked?”

“The result will reveal itself to you
soon enough. Go ahead now, say the words …”

Toby began to chant the spell in the
ancient language. The dark room lit up with sparkles, like in a fireworks show.
Toby squealed as she watched it, almost lost her concentration.
Dio’s
eyes pointed her back on track. She finished the
spell; the room lost its aura.

“What now?”

“Just wait. And finish your
breakfast!”

They sat still, eating, for ten
minutes. Toby was fidgety, glancing around from wall to wall, unable to bear
the suspense.

“Toby?” a voice called from the
temple.

“Mom?”

She and
Dio
stepped out into the large chamber. Lauren Styles stood at the entrance,
trembling, with
Aella
and Kosmas by her side.

Toby ran to her, hugged her tight.

“How’d you get here so quickly?”

“I took the earliest flight I could
find and managed to catch the fastest one at every stopover. I’m exhausted but
very glad to be here. Toby, I have news … your dad’s lawyer called me just now.
He said he was going through some papers that had been mislaid and found that
Matt had a life insurance policy for a million dollars! He never told me about
it.”

“I thought his policy was for five
hundred thousand?”

“That was his work policy. But he
started this other one the day you were born. It’s all for you!”

“Oh my God!
It does work fast!” Toby turned to
Dio
, he winked.

“What do you mean, Toby?”

“Oh, Mom, I’d like you to meet
Dio
.”

Lauren’s demeanor changed. “Yes,
Aella
has been telling me about him. Hello …”

Dio
took her
hand,
shook it gently. Her eyes misted.

“I’m very happy to meet you, Mrs.
Styles.”

“Toby, I’m exhausted. I think I’ll go
back to the house with
Aella
and take a long nap.”

“Okay, Mom. I’ll see you at lunch
then?”

“Sure.”

She made a quick exit. Kosmas eyed
the young couple strangely.

“You two up to something?”

“Why would you ask that?”

“I can see it in your eyes,
Dio
.”

“Can we tell him,
Dio
?”

“I guess so.”

Toby was wiggling with excitement,
like a child with a new toy.

“Kosmas, I cast a wealth spell, and
it worked!”

“I don’t believe it.”

“No, really, I did! I cast it then my
mom came in and said I had a million dollar inheritance!”

“But the money was there before you
cast a spell.”

“Well, yeah, but I didn’t know about
it.”

“You would have when your mother told
you, whether you cast a spell or not.”

“Don’t mind him, Toby, he’s always
been stubborn.”

“I’m just stating facts, boy. Now, if
I were to cast this spell, and received a million dollars … I would believe it
because I have been poor and ugly my whole life.”

“You aren’t ugly. And no man is poor
if he has love.”

“Only a child who has lived with
money her whole life could say that. I am going back to the goats.”

He shrugged, walked out of the
temple.

“How long have you known Kosmas,
Dio
?”

“Only a few months.
He came here with
Aella
when your father asked her to return. Why?”

“I was only wondering. He seems so
jolly most of the time but I can feel something else under the surface. I guess
he had a hard life.”

“Most laborers do. Come on, I want to
finish breakfast.
If it isn’t cold.”

Toby fried some more eggs then they
sat down to eat.

A knocking interrupted them – it came
from the door in the stone floor.
Dio
raised it
carefully, Stephan eased out, his black eyes humble and worn.

“That smells wonderful,” he said,
“could you spare a bit?”

“Why should we?” Toby huffed.

Dio
shook his head. “Toby, I think maybe
this time he’s learned his lesson. Sit down, Stephan, and have some breakfast.
It’ll do you good.”

Stephan smiled
slightly,
pulled up a chair.

“How did you get into the grotto?”
Toby asked, watching him stuff his face with eggs.

“I left my boat outside and swam in.
I knew there must be some other access to the temple. I’d been searching for it
all day yesterday.”