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back to the bar, he stopped behind Brandon, staring at her steadily.
    Her lips quirked at his frown before she nodded and Ty left through the kitchen, leaving her alone with Brandon. “Because you might not like the answer. You might not believe the answer.”
    And tomorrow morning, he wouldn’t remember the answer. She would do a better job of the spell this time. She had to.
    His eyes narrowed as if he’d heard her thoughts. Or maybe he’d just read them on her face. “What the hell does that mean?”
    Since he wasn’t going to remember anything tomorrow, she told him everything.
    â€œI call myself Lucy Aster now, but I was born—well, born might not be the right word. I was first called Lusna and I was worshipped as the Etruscan Goddess of the Moon.”
    Brandon’s mouth dropped open but he could get no sound to emerge. Hell, he’d be lucky if he could just close his mouth. She paused for a brief second, as if waiting for him to say something, her eyebrows slightly lifted. When he didn’t speak, she continued.
    â€œFor centuries before the year the eteri decided to start again at one, I commanded the power of the moon and took care of those Etruscans who worshipped under its light.
    â€œWhen the Romans assimilated the Etruscan civilization, many of the Etruscan deities found ourselves at loose ends. For centuries we wandered as regular humans, though necessity demanded we move quite often. Some humans have trouble dealing with the very idea of us and, since we never age or die, we need to move so as not to arouse suspicion. Pitchforks and stake-burnings can be painful.
    â€œI arrived in the States several centuries ago. I followed the descendents of the Etruscans who had settled in the Americas, mainly in the northeast; there are also a few pockets in the southeast, mainly in Florida and along the Gulf Coast. I think the water reminds us of home.”
    She paused and Brandon watched her nibble her full bottom lip. Amazingly, he found that sexy as hell. Even after that completely unbelievable story. “Brandon, are you okay?”
    Good question.
    Of course he wasn’t okay, though not because of his splitting headache or his shoulder. He wasn’t okay because she was nuts.
    She had to be. She thought she was the freakin’ Etruscan goddess of the moon. Of course she was crazy.
    Christ Almighty, he wasn’t even sure he knew what the fuck Etruscans were, but he absolutely knew what the hell a goddess was. And there was no such thing.
    But… she didn’t look crazy. She looked completely sane. She stared straight into his eyes without any of the scary intensity crazy people had, the wild look that would’ve marked her a few cans short of a case.
    No, she looked perfectly rational and pretty damn sincere.
    But she couldn’t be. There were no such things as gods and goddesses who weren’t born and lived forever. No way.
    He shook his head. “No. I’m sorry. I can’t participate in your delusion.”
    She smiled, as if she’d known he was going to respond that way.
    And raised her hand toward the ceiling.
    The room brightened, but not with the bright, harsh glare of the sun or an artificial bulb.
    Silver light washed over every surface, every inch of space in the room. It held no warmth, just a cool brilliance that made everything sparkle.
    Like moonlight.
    He looked up, expecting to see skylights but he knew there were none. Besides, the light appeared to be coming from Lucy, as if… as if she were the moon, absorbing the sunlight and reflecting it back to Earth.
    Oh, hell no. He was not buying into her delusion. No fucking way. Lights. Stage magic. Had to be.
    Again, she seemed to read his mind. “No tricks. It’s true, Brandon. Everything I’ve told you is true. Now I’m sure you can understand our need for discretion. Why I had to erase your memories of last night.”
    â€œErase my…”