Silver at Midnight: A Paranormal Romance Urban Fantasy (The Keepers of Knowledge Series Book 5) by Bridgette O'Hare (best large ereader .TXT) 📕

nodded his understanding and thanked the ethereal being. I glanced over at Doppelgänger Cian. If his expression was any indication, he wasn’t disappointed at being left behind. He almost looked relieved.

The Lunar Goddess then turned her focus to me, gave a slight bow of her head, and offered one last message. “Nothing happens by chance, Aisling. All that you need to complete your quest and fulfill your purpose will be made available to you. Trust that and trust your intuition.” With that, she was gone.

Kage turned to Doppelgänger Cian. “I guess you will wait here, friend,” he said and took the rope and shovel that Doppelgänger Cian had been carrying, then turned to me. “You ready?”

A shovel would double as a great weapon. “Want me to carry that?” I asked.

“I’ve got it,” Kage smugly assured me.

“I can carry the backpack then. Doesn’t seem fair for you to carry everything,” I offered. Surely something in that backpack could be used to defend myself. I had to try. But he wasn’t falling for it.

“I invited you along on this adventure. Wouldn’t be very polite of me to ask you to carry the luggage.”

Invited. That was rich. I wanted to say as much, but I had to maintain that friendly, trusting vibe.

“What are we waiting for then?” I gushed. “Let’s do this.” I turned to Doppelgänger Cian. “See ya on the flip side. Though, I’m not sure I’ll recognize ya without the costume.” I didn’t even know his actual name. Kage had been careful and smart. Not that it mattered. Doppelgänger Cian was likely not a threat on his own. But it would have been nice to know just in case.

The desire to get this over with surged through me. My little chat with the Lunar goddess sparked something. She’d given me hope. A lot of confusing information . . . but hope, nonetheless. I began walking toward the waterfall. “Chop chop!” I called back over my shoulder at Kage, who I assumed was still giving instructions to his lacky. Moments later, I caught movement behind me as he tried to catch up.

I’d resigned myself to the idea I was about to get wet when I discovered an opening tucked at the back corner of the falls between a grouping of rocks. I glanced at Kage and pointed. “There.” We had to squeeze through, but when we emerged on the other side, I found myself in awe. Slowly, I followed the short path down the side of the pool created by the waterfall and moved around until I was standing at the base of a set of broken steps. The steps led up to a stone altar protected on each side by massive stone wolves. Autumn foliage and thick vines crept over the moss-laden structures giving the place a very Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Wolves feel. I fought back a chill as mist from the waterfall settled on my exposed skin.

The atmosphere was charged with traces of magic. After all I’d been through, it was a welcome sensation. Even though it wasn’t Fae magic that danced in the air, magic was—at its core—still magic. My energy got a boost just by being enveloped in it. After a moment of appreciation for the beauty of the ruins, I began to wander around the massive courtyard under the guise that I simply wanted to take in the surroundings. But I was looking for the fountain the Lunar goddess had mentioned. She insisted I take a drink, and that was what I planned to do. I traced my fingers over the stone structures as I moved about. Some were broken and crumbling, others had stood the test of time. All of them held residual magical properties. This place may have been in ruins, but it was still very much alive.

To my left, I took note of Kage pulling things from his backpack and laying them out on the altar at the top of the steps. While I wanted . . . no, needed to know what he was doing, my main objective was finding the fountain before he required my assistance with his translation. I was growing concerned that the fountain might be in another location when I noticed a set of overgrown steps leading down to a landing directly across from the altar. With haste, I made my way to the steps and eased through the overgrowth which opened up to a lush, round garden. A stone wall protected the area, and the steps were the only entry point. While much of the stone in the garden was covered in moss, it didn’t appear to be as dilapidated as the courtyard.

Situated in the middle, a fountain that mirrored the shape of the garden itself stood surrounded by a grassy frame. Circling the structure were four pillars spilling water from within them into the stone basin below. A glass orb sat positioned atop each pillar. As I walked around the fountain, the glass shaded differently in every orb, and it only took a moment to recognize that each represented a phase of the moon. When I stood by the full moon pillar, I could see the reflection of the moon in the water of the fountain, and I immediately understood what the Lunar goddess meant when she said there would be no mistaking when the moon was at its peak. As it was, the fountain was just over half-filled with a silvery reflection.

“Hmph. A Silver Moon,” I whispered beneath my breath. I noticed a stone bowl on the edge of the fountain just as I heard Kage call out from midway down the steps leading into the hidden garden.

“I have everything ready.” He paused on the steps. “Hmm . . . I wonder what this place is,” he speculated as his gaze swept around the garden.

I didn’t have much time. I picked up the bowl, scooped some water from the fountain, and began moving it toward my lips.

“Are you seriously going to drink