Losing The Light Of The Moon

Party Crashers

Chapter 28: Party Crashers

TATIANA

Sitting in the great room, I was enjoying some tea with Aruna, Altalune, Priscilla, and Celestia while The Council was finishing up their meeting, having just requested that Umar and Horacio join them. Prior to his departure, Umar privately asked if I could assist in figuring out where Mattias and Guntur were disappearing, which I graciously agreed to. Soon after, however, as I watched the two best friends leave the room, I felt an immense amount of sadness that Horacio was going home—something that left me feeling torn inside about my feelings for him. Fortunately, I was soon given a distraction that would hopefully ease my troubled mind...

“How are you feeling about the integration plans for Umar, Celestia?” Altalune hesitantly asked, “Not to mention the continued training and participation in Tatiana’s little army. It will require him to be away from home quite a bit more.”

“Fortunately, Umar is very open with me, and we always discuss things together,” Celestia devotedly said, “We have come up with a plan to keep our balance at home. Although, I don’t think I could have refused him—he’s so excited about it all and I love to see him this happy. He’s promised that when he’s home, he will give me a break from the boys, and we will both make sure there is special time set aside just for us. Plus, Tatiana and Raven have been so kind as to assure me they will help him get home quickly.”

“Yes, we most certainly will, Celestia,” I warmly smiled, “And speaking of a break, I just had an idea—we are having a dress party tonight with the girls. Why don’t all of you take a break and stay? I would love to make some dresses for you.”

‘Ohhhh! Count me in!” Altalune eagerly replied, “Both for a break from Soren and a new dress! You do such lovely work, Tati.”

“Yes, I was very impressed with both your and Tink’s outfits last night,” Aruna affectionately stated, “She looked so pretty at dinner and her delighted expression all night warmed my heart. You made her feel very special, Tati, and surprised all of us with her willingness for your makeover.”

“I wouldn’t call it a makeover, Aruna,” I sweetly returned, “More of an accessorizing. Our Tink likes things simple—it’s all a matter of what she likes and is comfortable in—baby steps.”

Remembering the conversation in the dining hall, I softly giggled, “And after seeing both Tink and Beast’s reactions to some of your young warriors complimenting her last night, Altalune, it may take a little getting used to for them both! Though in the end, Beast, as always, was incredibly sweet. He does love and adore my sweet girl so—his badass Beast-bear!”

We all laughed for a moment before Priscilla kindly said, “You know, I do think I will stay. A girls’ night sounds quite fun. Plus, I wouldn’t mind something a little new for my wardrobe, especially with Lorenzo retiring soon.” A sly grin crossing her face, she dryly added, “With more time on his hands, he might notice quicker.”

“Well, if Umar doesn’t mind, I would love to!” Celestia appreciatively exclaimed, “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a new dress. And as busy as he is going to be, it will be nice to have something new for our date nights he owes me when he comes home!”

“Well, it’s settled then!” I happily declared, “And it will be the first of many new wardrobe options for your ladies! I want all of you to always feel sassy and stunning!”

***********

As I feared, everyone was leaving following the meeting. After saying goodbye to Soren and Lorenzo, both of whom—to their mates’ surprise—seemed to be sweetly lost and saddened to be sent home alone, I excused myself, feeling the same way about Horacio’s departure and admittedly wanting a few moments alone with him before he left.

I was surprised when I found him leaned up against my door, his arms folded tight across his chest with a spirited but irritated look in his eyes as Horacio sarcastically whispered, “So, I’ve just been told I’m having lunch and dinner with Lorenzo, plus however many games of chess it takes to pacify him tonight because you have kidnapped our Luna for a dress party! Care to explain, my Fashion Fairy Queen?”

Bursting into giggles, I covered my mouth, “Oh, Horacio! I’m—I’m sorry! But if it helps, you are making your Luna so happy with your sacrifice. I do find it endearing that he will miss her terribly, though.”

Accusingly pointing his finger at me, he breathed out, “You owe me BIG, Tati! Eating with him? Fine, there’s food! But I hate chess!”

Lowering my hand, I sweetly replied, “As I know the way to your heart is through your stomach, I will have plenty of goodies waiting for you when you return to Crescent Moon to hopefully earn your forgiveness.”

Eyeing me wearily for a long moment, he softly replied, “Maybe between that and the bottle of party punch you will be giving me before I leave, I’ll forgive you.” After a short pause, he humorously asked, “Mind if I also infiltrate that wicked mind of yours during my torment? It's the least you can do, you know!”

His question sent a surge of happiness through me as I smiled up at him, “Not at all. I’ve grown rather fond of my daily Horacio-banter.”

A devilish grin on his face, Horacio warned, “You really shouldn’t have told me that!”

I was about to counter back when Guntur opened up the door to Umar and Celestia’s room, grinning excitedly as he walked towards us, “I thought I heard you two! So, you’re coming to visit soon, right, Tatiana?”

“Guntur,” Celestia slowly drawled out, walking out with Umar and Caelus as she scolded him, “I told you, do not hound Tatiana!”

“What are you trying to do? Replace your ol’ Unc?” Horacio sarcastically asked him with an arched brow.

“Please! I already know I’ll see you,” Guntur smirked, “We’re just alike—always hungry and we both love Mom’s cooking.”

Turning to face him, I pleasantly said, “I am going to be quite busy here, but will try to visit soon, Guntur, I promise!”

Leaning forward, I hugged him tightly, which he quickly returned, a wide goofy grin across his face as he looked down at me afterwards, “Man, for someone so little, you sure got some power! Seriously, you need to consider being a Howling Wind. We could use your skills. I know I’d feel safer!”

Laughing softly, I looked down and noticed he was wearing a thick dark brown leather cuff with a smaller brown strap across the center, held in place by what looked like thin crisscrossed laces. Reaching out, I lifted his wrist up, admiring it, “What a lovely bracelet! I can’t believe I haven’t noticed this before now.”

“A gift from his Unc that he misplaced two weeks ago during a mysterious outing with Mattias,” Horacio admonished, “Until his lovely mother found it this morning—in a bag of forgotten stale cookies that he hid in his backpack.”

Shrugging, Guntur flatly stated, “Figures she’d tell you—and it was just a hike through the northern trails. Like I said, we are always hungry. I’m good at stashing food—I’m just really bad at unpacking when I get home and keeping up with stuff.”

“Mmmmm,” I hummed out while linking over to Umar, Would you mind if I put a little safety net in place on his bracelet? It might help to figure out what he and Mattias are up to in my visions.

Not at all, especially if it would help, Umar quickly replied, Unless it ends up in another bag of cookies, which would make your effort useless.

Directing my humored grin at Guntur, I continued to express my interest to distract him as I ran my finger down the center strap, saturating the leather with my spell, making sure he was kept unaware of the controlled, hidden green glow beneath my fingertip, “I do love a leather bracelet. Your Unc has wonderful taste.”

Leaning towards me, Guntur whispered, “Please don’t feed his ego, Tatiana. It’s all we can do now to put up with him!” Unfortunately, he was wincing from those words a second later as Horacio lightly smacked him upside his head.

Letting go of Guntur’s wrist, I looked over at Umar and winked, airily stating, “It would appear that Guntur has taken on his Unc’s humor, you two may need all the help you can get!”

His arms around Celestia, Umar nodded as he pulled her in tight, adoringly teasing, “And yet you are abandoning me for dresses as punishment for my absence over the last week. After telling me how desperately you’ve missed me, no less!”

Flashing her eyes wide, Celestia amusingly countered, “Hey, you owe me, Beta! Not to mention, it will all be worth it when you see how beautiful I look in my new dress!”

Leaning his head down, Umar lightly pressed his nose against hers, sweetly breathing out, “You always look beautiful!” Kissing her softly on the lips, he murmured, “I love you. Have fun.”

Taking her hand in his, he walked down the hallway, ordering the boys, “Let’s go, troublemakers! And don’t forget to give your mom a kiss before we head home.”

As he passed by me, Umar leaned down to kiss me on the cheek before whispering, “Thanks for everything, Tati.” He then looked back at Horacio, evilly grinning, “Have fun with Lorenzo! Can’t wait to hear about it and now that you’re in my head, sooner than I would probably like! Thankfully, Soren keeps his mind off my Luna’s absence with pastries. The cook will be the only one tormented tonight!”

Horacio scornfully called after him, “You have the boys, remember?” Looking between Guntur and Caelus, he sneered, “Give him hell for me, guys, will ya?”

“You got it, Unc!” Guntur grinned as he and Caelus started down the hall behind their parents, singing out, “Bye, Tatiana!”

“Goodbye, boys! And please don’t do as your Unc has asked!” I softly pleaded, “Behave, please!”

Cutting my eyes at Horacio, I admonished, “That was an awful thing to say! You are an overgrown teenager, aren’t you?”

Laughing under his breath, Horacio innocently stated, “What can I say? I’m the fun Uncle!” Opening my door, he motioned me in, grinning, “Now about that party punch...”

I rolled my eyes as I walked into the room towards a cabinet in the corner, pulling out his requested brew. Turning around to hand it to him, an instant smile crossed my face as we stood frozen, gazing at one another for a long moment...

Flashing me a toothy grin, Horacio broke the silence that had fallen between us, “Admit it—you’re going to miss me, Fairy Queen!”

Returning with a grin of my own, I softly defended, “Not as much as you think, King of Fury. You will be back in a few days for training. Between making dresses and cooking to make up for your torment, I won’t have enough time to miss you.”

“Liar!” he chuckled, “You’re fond of your daily Horacio-banter, remember? But don’t worry, I’ll make sure to pop in for a few good jabs during the day.”

“You seem to have a penchant for remembering things I say like that and using them to torment me,” I bantered back, “I’m going to have to be more careful what I say to you from now on!”

I saw a slight tick in his jaw before Horacio earnestly stated, “I hope not. I like how open we are with one another...” His words trailed off as Horacio fell silent for a moment before the wicked grin I had come to know well crossed his face again, “I’m fond of our daily banter too. Much more fun to do in person, though...not that I won’t give it my best shot in that head of yours!”

*******************

MATTIAS

Why did my grandmother have to stay at Crescent Moon? She completely threw my plans all out of whack! As soon as we got home, Grandfather had me glued by his side, going through a full day of Alpha duties with him to keep himself busy—and me. Currently, I was sitting at a large table with papers piled high on either side of me—my grandfather deciding to go over some old training maneuvers with me.

I don’t know about you, Guntur’s voice echoed in my head, But I’m not having fun! Dad has me and Caelus working our butts off here at the house to surprise Mom by completing a years’ long to-do list! I get he misses her, but geez!

Yeah, Grandmother didn’t do me any favors either, I returned, Thanks to Grandfather not being distracted by her or your dad, I’m the victim. I’ve learned some stuff, sure, but my brain is officially fried, and he isn’t anywhere near done yet!

The girls can’t make it now anyways, Guntur disappointedly stated, I’m starting to think you’re right—we should just forget the whole thing.

I debated for a minute, trying to look like I was paying attention while Grandfather was in the middle of his long-winded speech about the importance of intricate tactical maneuvers, before I finally replied, Think your dad would let you come hang out here tonight?

***********

Fortunately, Grandfather and Umar decided to allow Guntur to stay at the main house with me tonight after we were both forced to endure their lonely-heart plans for the day. Sitting on my bed, he and I were trying to decide what to do.

“Not exactly what we planned for our last rebellious moment,” Guntur sighed out, grabbing four more sugar cookies from the platter the cook sent up, “But I plan on making sure we get through at least two more rounds of these before the night is over. Any ideas on what you want to do?”

Looking out the window, I suddenly had an idea, turning to grin at him, “Why don’t we go down to the library for a game of cards?”

***********

TATIANA

It had been a lovely evening in Aruna’s wing—and a welcome distraction for me as I continued to miss Horacio’s presence. He had linked me several times to humorously remind me of the favor I now owed him, telling me it may cost more than just food and wine depending on when he could finally get Lorenzo to retire for the night, which made me laugh—and pop over another bottle of punch to surprise him when he returned to his room.

It was fun individually styling each one of my loved ones and designing dresses—including coming up with some wedding dress ideas for Constance, Madeline, and the newly engaged Vivian, as well as a surprising request from Tink to start thinking of a wedding outfit for her as well. Hopefully, with all the seamstress work I had ahead of me and continued training with Raven, it would help quell my growing desire to see the Spirit Walker Beta every day instead of just a few days a week. I missed Horacio—a great deal more than I would like to admit...

As we were drawing our evening to a close, the men decided to join our party, making it quite crowded and loud in the great room, especially after my sisters brought out the party punch. Standing next to Jace, I looked around the room with a bright smile on my face as I took in all the animated discussions as sounds of boisterous laughter filled the room.

Feeling a twinge of guilt and a longing to hear his voice, I was about to check on Horacio to see how his night of chess was going with Lorenzo when, out of nowhere, the green doors in my mind shot open, a streaking vision forcefully hitting me at such a velocity, my hands flew up to pound against my head. Gasping in horror, my legs went limp, causing me to fall towards the floor.

It all happened so fast, Jace turned, his eyes widening as he reactively threw his arm around my back to brace me as my body went lifeless for a moment. It took a moment for everyone to register what was happening, but soon all their happy faces were filled with concern. His arm still around me to keep me upright, Jace crouched down, his voice filled with panic as he yelled out, “Mother? Are you alright?”

“Tati?” Priscilla worriedly called out, “What is it? What did you see?”

My sisters were soon at my side with Persephone calmly urging, “Tati, tell us what you see, my darling.”

Taking in a harrowed breath, I used all my strength to push myself back up, my fear-stricken eyes darting over to Altalune and Celstia, as I brokenly exhaled out in hastened breath, “We have to go! The boys! Trouble! F-Forest! F-Forest of the V-Vines!”

“NO! They—They know it’s forbidden!” Altalune shockingly bellowed out, her head snapping over at Celestia, whose despairing eyes were on the ground, obviously alerting Umar.

As I was disappearing from the room towards that wretched place, I glanced over at Persephone and Reina, whose eyes were filled with fear and despair, until I locked my gaze on them—quickly causing guilt and regret to overshadow every other feeling they had...