Free Beneath a Darkening Moon by Keri Arthur

legs and wriggling her feet with a sigh of relief as she sat. “What’s up?”
    Savannah smiled. She should have known she couldn’t come in here seeking a moment of serenity without her twin sensing something was wrong. She picked up a slice of the rich-smelling bread and munched on it as she figured out how best to phrase her question.
    “Did you ever regret making that first promise to the moon?”
    Neva frowned. “How could I when I did it to save you?”
    “But if you had to do it all again … would you?”
    “Yes. Because, at the time, it was my only option.” Neva paused, speculation growing in her eyes. “This is about a promise you made, isn’t it? That old history you once mentioned but wouldn’t explain.”
    Savannah nodded. “Let’s just say it’s come back to bite me.”
    Neva’s concern flicked through Savannah’s mind. “And you’d rather avoid being bitten again?”
    She sighed. “I’m not sure what I want—and that’s half the problem.” God, they hadn’t even made love yet, and her thoughts were all but consumed by him. She couldn’t afford that, not a second time. And certainly not with a murderer running loose.
    Neva reached across the table and wrapped her hand around Savannah’s. “Do you like him?”
    “I did once.”
    “And are you still attracted to him?”
    A smile touched her lips as she remembered the heat of his kiss, and the way she’d ached to arch into him. “Yes.”
    “And are you going to dance with him?”
    “Yes. But only because I have no real choice.”
    “Why not?”
    Promises made
.
    Ah.
Neva lightly squeezed Savannah’s hand.
You want me to touch his thoughts and blast away any memory of the promise?
    No, because this is an unfulfilled moon promise
.
    Well, shit
.
    Exactly
.
    Neva leaned back in her chair and rubbed her belly with her free hand.
I’m here if you need me, Sav. Anytime, night or day. Just call me
.
    She knew that, but hearing it said was comforting. Most people considered her the stronger of the two, but that had never really been the case. Neva had shown more gumption and courage in the last year than Savannah had ever shown in her entire life. Walking into the Sinclair mansion during the moon dance, tying herself to the wildest of the Sinclair brothers, and finally, inevitably, rejecting their father’s demands—that took nerve
and
strength. Hell, when Savannah had rebelled, all she’d done was leave town. And while she may have joined a left-of-center commune and done things that would have given her old man a heart attack, in the grand scheme of things they didn’t really count, because no one here knew about them. And while she’d forced the final confrontation between her sister and her parents so that Nevacould claim the man she loved without fear of parental backlash, she had no such courage when it came to her own life. Nor when it came to Cade and the history between them.
    There’s no shame in being scared of confronting your past, Sav
.
    I’m a ranger,
she said, mind-voice dry.
We’re supposed to be able to control our fears
.
    But you’re also a woman. So why not just enjoy the sex and to hell with the rest? If worse comes to worst, pretend he’s Ronan or something
.
    Savannah almost choked on her bread, and Neva grinned mischievously.
Did you really think you’d be able to keep a secret like that from me?
    No one else knows, do they?
    Hell, no. This town runs on gossip. If anyone knew, it’d be public knowledge in an instant
.
    That was all too true—which made the fact they’d kept a lid on the murders all the more amazing. Even Matt had kept his mouth shut—a miracle in itself.
    Neva glanced back at the crowded diner and sighed. “I guess I’d better start helping again.” She hesitated. “You’re seeing him tonight, I gather?”
    Savannah nodded.
    “Then come for breakfast tomorrow morning, and tell me all about it. And remember … it’s what
you
want that’s important. Not the past, and not