Chapter 10 - Moonlight Magic

The glow was so bright, Cyra had to look away. He grabbed Clara's arm and all but threw Clara into the passenger side of his convertible and drove directly towards the blinded thugs and jumped out.

"What are you doing?!" Clara panicked. Before she could say another word Cyra was back in the driver's seat and going faster than Cyra had ever drove before.

Clara clenched the side of her seat as the speedometer neared 300 kilometers per hour. Cyra popped something into her lap. It was the moon gem. So that's what he went back for. The moon gem was back to it's original black, oil slick color. Not a single centimeter of it was red anymore. Strange.

"Where are we going?" Clara said through clenched teeth, her nails were digging into the seat as Cyra pushed the gas pedal even further and the car sped to a blur. Once there was enough distance from the warehouse Cyra slowed down and Clara relaxed a little in her seat.

"It's not safe for you to go home yet. Those two will most likely try to follow us, it's too dangerous." Cyra pulled into a dirt road off of the highway. It lead to an overpass under the same highway they just came from. "We can wait for them to pass over us, we just have to stay hidden." He parked the car out of sight and looked at Clara who was examining the moon gem intensely.

"She's probably in shock. Poor little dove" Cyra thought. "I can't get a good look of any cars that pass by from in here so I'm going to get out of the car and see when they pass. You can stay in the car if you wish, I know this is probably a lot for you." Cyra reached for his door handle to get out and surprisingly saw Clara do the same.

The off-ramp of the highway above them didn't have many passerby's at this hour. Most of the travelers that use it only do so to drive to and from work since there's nothing in that direction but more warehouses and industrial buildings. Besides the occasional headlights from lonely cargo trucks, the night was dark and quiet.

Clara stood before a stream of storm water and watched the rippling moon sparkle in it. There were a few lone clouds in the otherwise clear night sky. Being this far out from the city, the stars were actually visible to her pleasant surprise, and Clara took the opportunity to soak in the starlight.

The moon looked as it was dancing in the reflection. Cyra's face appeared beside her's but he wasn't watching the moon. He was watching her and it made Clara blush and turn away.

There were multiple large rocks and boulders scattered around the under-pass and Clara found herself a smooth one to perch upon as she tilted her face towards the sky and closed her eyes, letting the moonlight kiss her face.

"Doesn't it feel nice?" She asked, eyes still closed. A content smile on her face.

"Does what feel nice?" Cyra questioned. He was still standing by the storm water. He looked up when he seen headlights but it was only a big rig truck.

"The moon" Clara answered. She was also alerted momentarily when the truck passed. "I've always felt a connection to the moon but now that I got... I don't know exactly what it is that I got.. powers I guess you would call it, now that I got powers it feels even more amazing to bask in the moonlight. I feel like I'm… charging or something." She laughed at herself but when she looked at Cyra he wasn't laughing. He wasn't even smiling. He looked... sad.

"I'm so sorry you got put into the middle of all this, Clara." His eyes were heavy and regret laced his words.

Clara's eyes widened and she shallowed hard. She wasn't expecting that. She also wasn't expecting the flush she would get when he used her real name instead of the usual pet names. "It's, it's fine" her voice shook.

"Are you cold?" Cyra was already walking towards her. "Here." He draped his leather jacket over her shoulders.

She wasn't cold but she didn't want Cyra to know that his words affected her in any way so she didn't fight him on it. The jacket smelled like the now-familiar maple leaves and cedar scent and she dipped into it further and Cyra took a seat next to her. She folded her legs on top the giant rock.

"I want you to know that I really wasn't trying to use you. Well, I was... a little. But only before I knew you. I know that's not any justification but seeing you light up at the museum and stick up for the jerk who I stole the coffee from," he leaned close to
Clara. "Saving me." His eyes burned through Clara. "Well, a lot I thought I knew about you was wrong. My original plan was to leave town after the robbery but I stayed because of you. You fascinated me and you still do. And now I have much too many questions to leave. One question in particular is weighing on me, how on earth did you find me?"

Clara's cheeks sunk even more into the jacket, embarrassed. She decided to only acknowledge the last part. "It's the anxiety."

Cyra furrowed his brows in confusion. "I'm sorry Love, I'm unsure what you mean."

"Remember at school when I told you that I felt funny and that my hands tingled and you said it was anxiety? Well it looks like anxiety and actually any form of emotion, activates the moon gem's power. And strangely enough I felt your anxiety too. When you were in trouble my whole body was fully charged and a force pulled me towards you."

Cyra thought over the series of events in his head. "I recall my hands getting tingly when I was tied up, now that you mentioned it."

"That's because you touched it as well. The moon gem had already been under cataclysmic energies and three separate atmospheric pressures. Any additional pressure could render a whole new byproduct of elements, like how coal turns into a diamond under pressure."

"In a strange way, that makes perfect sense." Cyra took a turn looking at the moon. It didn't last, he found himself almost immediately looking at Clara again. Her hair was wild from the ride in the convertible and for some reason Cyra found it even more attractive than her usual perfect, curl-ironed waves.

"Cyra? Why did your buyers tie you up?" Clara timidly asked.

"Those were not the buyers. I was supposed to sell this thing to the kingpin, Emor but these two showed up instead and blind sighted me." Cyra clenched his fist.

"You know Emor? The most well known drug lord and arms dealer of our city?" Clara was now fully facing Cyra.

"Not him no, but I know plenty of people that do." Cyra answered.

"Are you a drug lord?" Clara was afraid to ask but knew she had to.

"No Princess, I'm not a drug lord." He irately answered. "I'm more like a trusted mercenary. A good old fashioned villain if you may." He grinned a half smile.

"But... why?"

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