Page 12 of Moonlight Hearts

I poked at my food, my thoughts drifting.The man with the wings was stretching them as he and his buddy placed their orders, their conversation growing more agitated.They walked away side by side, deeper into this world beneath the city.

“It’s just that I had a nostalgic moment earlier when you and Dwayne were talking.I don’t know.It put me in a good mood.”

Soyer raised his left brow.“I’d say you’re too young to be so beholden to nostalgia.Care to share?”

I considered how.Soyer knew more about my daydreams than anyone, but I still wasn’t sure how to explain what being alone at the Moonlight in the middle of the night meant to me.

“You know I always worked the night shift?Well, notalwaysalways, but for a long time.And I always closed up.But just before, when things get so quiet…the Moonlight is like a bubble of light, floating on the dark ocean of the city.”

My cheeks heated as soon as the words were out of my mouth, and I felt silly.But Soyer didn’t laugh.He looked at me while thoughtfully spooning more applesauce into his mouth.

“Night is comfort.”

I nodded.“I guess so.”

“Funny how things change.Funny how they don’t.I always liked being able to see the stars.When I looked up at the night sky, I thought I should be able to count them, but I never managed, even if I forwent sleep to do so.”

I leaned on my elbow.Soyer didn’t really talk about his past much, but I got the feeling this was an old memory.

“Were you, like, one of the early astronomers?”

He huffed.“Not by the longest shot.I simply…had cause to be out a lot at night.”

He paused, and my heart squeezed tight.He’d told me the story of how he’d snuck into the witch’s garden and eaten all those cherries one night.

“Sorry.I—”

“Hush.You worry too much about me, my heart.”He uncrossed his legs and folded his hands in front of him, his applesauce pancakes momentarily forgotten.“I lived in London for a time.Old London.London before there was electricity and public transport.Night then was scary.You can’t really tell a person’s intentions in the darkness, and some people considered the city to be like a forest in which they were the strongest and everyone else their prey.”

“Did something ever happen to you?Back then?”

He didn’t answer right away, but the pause was subtle.Still, it spoke volumes.“No.I was the Black Shuck at that time already.I wasn’t looking for prey, but the shadows felt quite comfortable.”

“Huh.I went to London once.With my family.”

This time, the pause was noticeable, though I was pretty sure it had nothing at all to do with his memories or the things he didn’t want to tell me.“I see.”

“That was before things were bad.Obviously.Sorry, you know that.”

“Amory, do not apologize for your birth family.Ever.In you they had a precious gem, but they were too blind to see it, so they cast it aside instead.”

That made me blush again, and I smiled at the compliment.I didn’t necessarily miss my family, but thinking of them… I wasn’t sure whether hollowness was the correct word, but it made me feel something like that—an absence the shape of which I wasn’t quite able to make out.

“I do wonder if Florence is okay.Not every day, but generally.I wonder if she’s okay.”

Soyer’s face went very still, and his entire posture stiffened.“I’m sure she is.I could ask Simeon to give you an update if you’d like.”

I stirred my dill sauce.“I wasn’t going to go see her.”

“My heart, if you need to see her, you can.I’d just very much like to go with you.”

That made me chuckle.“You think you can scandalize her again?”

“I know I’d try.I enjoyed being a rude gay.”

Warmth spread through me, and the stale hollowness I had felt just a moment ago vanished.I reached out to take Soyer’s hand.“You’re the best rude gay I know.You’re my absolute favorite rude gay.”

“Awesome.Is my rude gayness charming enough to make you go straight home with me once we’re done eating?”