Only miles from Tira’s village of New Tarquin, Lusna’s home sat in a small valley in Oley Township, surrounded by old-growth woods, not farmland like most of the rest of the township.
Since she’d never actually driven to Howling Moon, Tira made a couple of wrong turns before she found the unmarked lane that led to Lusna’s. She’d always walked the few times she’d visited. She knew she was on the right lane when she drove past a cluster of small, one-story stone and plaster structures with gabled roofs.
Any eteri wandering by would think them quaint. Of course, if they knew they were inhabited by lucani, they wouldn’t stop to ooh and aah. Then again, no eteri would find their way back here. Tira was only able to discern the lane because the magic that kept it hidden from eteri made it visible to her Etruscan eyes.
Past the tiny village of eight homes, she turned a bend and caught sight of the two-hundred-year-old stone farmhouse, built in a time when the second and third floors had housed the humans and the first floor had held the animals.
Today, the ground floor was a bar. The sign at the door showed a cartoon wolf sitting on a stool holding a mug. Lusna had a somewhat twisted sense of humor.
When Tira parked in the small gravel parking lot a few hundred yards from the building, she didn’t give herself time to second-guess. She got out of the car and headed straight for the door.
This late, she didn’t think there would be too many people in the bar. There was only one other car in the lot. Of course, most of the patrons didn’t drive here. They ran. On four paws. All of the lucani she knew kept a change of clothes in the back room.
A cold wind smelling of snow whipped around her just as she got to the door. She looked up at the sky. No stars or moon tonight. Billowy clouds blocked them from sight.
Yeah, there’d be snow soon enough.
Yanking open the heavy wooden door, wide enough and tall enough to accommodate a horse, she stepped into the warm, fragrant comfort of Howling Wolf.
Like a weight had lifted off her shoulders, Tira took a deep breath, scented with fir and wood smoke. No cigarette smoke. But beneath everything, the glaze of magic.
This was the home of a goddess, after all.
The mellow sound of an acoustic guitar caught her attention first. Looking around, she found Caeles, an Etruscan elemental fauni who never strayed far from Lusna’s side, picking at the strings, the tune an old Etruscan ritual song, ancient and full of power. Tira figured that’s what was fueling the calming spell.
Three lucani, two in wolf form, sat around him. They barely glanced at Tira as she made her way to the wide plank bar on the far side of the room from the front door.
No one tended bar but Tira knew it wouldn’t be long before Lusna walked out to take her order.
Which had always struck Tira as strange. The Etruscan Goddess of the Moon serving her subjects instead of the other way around.
But Lusna loved it.
As if on cue, the door to the kitchen swung open and the Lady of the Silver Light stepped out with a smile on her beautiful face, her midnight-black hair loose around her shoulders and her gray eyes bright.
Lusna had the kind of soft beauty that made men want her and women not want to rip her hair out for being so beautiful. A fine line, but she walked it gracefully.
“Tira, sweetheart. It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen you here. Come sit down and I’ll get you a drink. You look like you could use something nice and warm. One café amaretto coming up.”
Until Lusna had mentioned that particular drink, it wouldn’t have entered Tira’s mind. Now she knew it was perfect for her mood.
As Lusna poured amaretto and coffee and topped it off with a huge dollop of whipped cream, Tira slid onto a barstool and propped her chin on her hand. Taking a sip of her drink after Lusna set it in front of her, she sighed. Exactly what she needed.
As the warmth of the coffee and liquor seeped into her, Tira felt herself loosening her tightly held control. She’d been holding back her tears but she’d reached the breaking point.
She’d never been a noisy crier. She didn’t sob and wail but her tears were just as real. They coursed down her cheeks in rivers.
Lusna said nothing as she moved around the bar and took Tira by the elbow, leading her to a table in the corner, away from Caeles and the three lucani. Producing a box of tissues from Goddess only knew where, Lusna waited while Tira wept.
And when she finished, Tira realized her café amaretto was sitting in front of her, still piping hot.
“Now,” Lusna said. “Spill.”
“I love them so much, Lady. I want them both but I can’t bear to see Nic’s death every time I touch him. Mamma isn’t doing well and I’m terrified I’m going to end up like her. I’m terrified of what will happen to Duke when…if anything happens to Nic. And I’m sick of being weak.”
Lusna’s head cocked to the side, a slight frown making tiny Vs between her eyes. “Why do you think you’re weak?”
“Because I feel like my life is out of my control. That I have no say in anything I do. If I was a stronger person, I’d be able to handle it. I’d know how to act. I’d know how to handle my Gift. I wouldn’t be so damn…” She stopped, reaching for the right word, the right combination of words to explain her feelings. “Inadequate. Unworthy.”
Lusna reached across the table and took her hand. Tira automatically recoiled before she remembered deities were typically immune to her Gift as well.
Lusna’s cool, slim hand pressed against her own overheated, too-tight skin, sparking no images. “Then do something about it. If you truly feel that way, then make changes in your life.”
Tira’s gaze narrowed as she tried to understand what the Lady was saying. “Are you telling me I should give up my Gift?”
Lusna shook her head. “I’m not telling you what to do. I’m only trying to help you see all the options.”
Tears pricked Tira’s eyes. “There are none, Lady. At least none that make any sense. If I give up my Gift, someone else would bear my burden. This is my Gift. I was born to serve my people, to take my mother’s place. If I pass my Gift to another, the boschetta may never be the same.”
“That’s true but there are always options, sweetheart. Sometimes we just don’t recognize them, at first.” When Tira started to shake her head, Lusna just smiled. “And sometimes we need something to take our mind off our troubles.” She pointedly looked over Tira’s shoulder. Following her gaze, Tira saw the baby grand piano Lusna herself sometimes played for her guests.
It had been weeks since Tira had touched her own piano at home. She’d been so worried about disturbing her mother. Music had always been the one thing sure to calm her nerves and, at that moment, she realized she missed it. Desperately.
“Go ahead, Tira. Play. Caeles loves the company.”
Her emotions still jumbled, her mind cluttered with too many thoughts, Tira actually tingled with anticipation.
“Go on,” Lusna encouraged her when she hesitated. “Music always helps me to think more clearly.”
With a nod and a distracted smile for the Lady, Tira slid off the stool and walked to the piano. The instrument was sleek, the bench padded and the keys gleaming white and smoky black.
Sitting on a stool to the left of the piano, Caeles finished his song as she sat down.
“Are you going to grace us with your playing?” he asked, his golden eyes and soft smile welcoming. His curly hair was pushed behind his distinctly pointed ears. Here, he didn’t have to hide those ears.