Solstice Moon by Diana Green

Author:Diana Green [Green, Diana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BIRCH LEAF PRESS
Published: 2020-11-04T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

As January rolled into February, a scattering of snowdrops bloomed around the campus, as the first green shoots of daffodils and tulips pushed through the soil. Wild dogwood sported crimson branches, while cottonwoods and alders donned a mantle of leaf buds waiting to unfurl.

Aves and I got together as much as possible, and I thought about her often when we were apart. It was a heady time, as bright with promise as the yellow and purple crocuses opening their petals to the sky.

Occasionally Aves had her dark pit nightmare. We would sit up with a late snack, talking things over to remove the worst of the dream’s sting. I did my best to convince her I wasn’t going anywhere. Our relationship mattered a great deal to me, and she had nothing to worry about.

It was unexpected, this need to reassure her. To my mind, I was the one who should be insecure, especially dating a marvelous woman like Aves.

In time, I introduced her to the joys of poetry and long walks in the woods, while she won me over to binge watching TV shows. Surprisingly, she even got me playing a few video games, though my skill level was horrendous. I just couldn’t seem to get my bearings in that flat-screen virtual world.

She joined me on grocery shopping trips—for companionship and protection both—as we knew Ulrek still lurked in the background. Her fondness for junk food was such a departure from Lars’ uber healthy diet that I found it endearing. Although I never acquired a taste for jellybeans or barbeque potato chips. Everyone has their limits.

We read a couple of novels together, and I sat in on some of her sparring sessions with Iados, the fey sword master who trained her. If I didn’t know Aves preferred women, I might have been jealous of him. Watching the two of them spar was like witnessing a beautiful yet ferocious dance. They were totally in sync, every movement precise and hypnotic.

Iados, being full fey, was unbelievably handsome. His exquisitely sculpted features and physique—combined with his flashing green eyes and long raven black hair—were the stuff of fantasies. I couldn’t imagine a whole realm of people as perfect as him.

In early March—when forsythia burst into yellow blooms and the Japanese maple near my apartment revealed its first delicate leaves—I gained two unexpected additions to my household.

I’d gone into my classroom early that morning, to process reading assessments from the previous day. I found one of my storage closets open and teaching materials strewn about the floor.

Baffled I stepped closer, peering into the ransacked closet. There, near the back, crouched two little cat-like creatures, their golden eyes round as coins. One was black, and the other had brown tabby stripes.

I might have mistaken them for regular kittens, except for the angularity of their faces and the dark leathery wings folded against their backs.

“Where did you come from?” I asked, kneeling down on the floor in front of the closet. “Are you friendly?”

I reached out a cautious hand making soothing come hither noises.

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