Page 17 of Only in Moonlight (The Moonlit Court #1)

Emmeline

“ T his is dream dust,” Valen said, once we’d put the floor plans away.

He handed me a small silk pouch. It was unadorned, fastened by drawstrings, and deceptively light. I moved to open it.

“Careful,” he said. “Don’t drop even a single grain. It’s highly illegal to possess, and I might not be able to get more before the heist.”

I looked inside and saw silvery sand. “Why’s it illegal?”

“It’s made from sylvan citrine. The gemstone helps people sleep, but when ground into powder, it knocks out a person the instant they breathe it in.”

I quickly tugged the pouch shut. “So you want me to throw it in Princess Regula’s face?”

“Then the Selenian Jewel will be yours for the taking.”

I fingered the drawstrings on the pouch, considering. “She wears it as a necklace, right? I can steal it without her noticing. I’ve done it before.”

“The clasp is locked.”

“You’ve never seen me pick a lock before.”

“Absolutely not. Regula is a pompous, power-hungry egomaniac, but she’s a member of the royal family, which means her magic is…” He let out a hissing breath. “She could kill you in an instant. You won’t be giving her that chance.”

“All right.” I tried to keep my voice light and ignore the heavy weight in the pit of my stomach. “Dream dust to the face it is, then.”

“The key is to—”

A knock at the door interrupted him. I quickly changed shape from the princess-seducing pretty boy to Valen’s redheaded lover, slipping the pouch of dream dust to Valen behind our backs.

“Pardon me, Sir Valen.” Nin walked into the room. “Lunch is ready.”

His eyebrows rose. “A little early, isn’t it?”

“I’m accounting for your time traveling in the carriage.”

“You must be mistaken, Nin. We don’t have any appointments today.”

“No, you don’t. Your social calendar is practically empty. Day after day, you’re keeping poor Emmeline cooped up in here with this etiquette training. Yes, she needs to learn it to gain acceptance at the Court, but she’s going to feel like a prisoner at this rate!”

I stifled a laugh. If only you knew, Nin .

“I’ve packed you a picnic.” Nin herded us toward the door. “Eat. Have fun. Grope each other scandalously in public. Just get outside for a while.”

Valen didn’t argue. When he’d swooped down on his pegasus, I never would have guessed the terrifying man let himself get bullied by his own maid. I wished she’d interrupted when we were really practicing etiquette, though. Planning a heist was fun.

Valen swung by the kitchens on our way out and picked up two apples. Hadn’t Nin already prepared lunch? My confusion cleared a moment later when we went outside to the carriage.

“You’ll spoil them,” the driver scolded.

Valen just smiled as he gave each pegasus an apple. “They deserve to be spoiled.”

One pegasus nickered. The other nuzzled Valen affectionately. I kept back, watching him feed them and rub their heads. So he liked all animals, not just cats. I guess I could relate. Animals were better company than most people I’d met.

Once the pegasi had finished their treats, Valen helped me into the carriage, and we set off.

“So,” I said with forced cheer. “What do— Hell!”

The carriage jerked, and we shot into the air. I twisted my head, staring out the window at the retreating ground. My stomach dropped, and my hand flew out and grabbed Valen’s leg for support.

“It’s faster to fly to the gardens than to use the streets.”

Valen kept his voice neutral, but his eyes sparkled with amusement.

“Thank you so much for the warning,” I snapped. Then I realized my hand was clutching his thigh, and I yanked it back as if burned, trying desperately to forget the feel of firm muscle beneath the fabric of his trousers.

The carriage lurched, and I felt like I’d left my stomach back on the ground.

“Are you afraid of heights?” Valen asked. “You didn’t seem alarmed riding a pegasus before.”

“Because that makes sense. It has wings. It flies. How is this carriage staying in the air?”

“Magic,” he said with a smirk.

“Were you always such an irritating, clay-brained barnacle?”

His smirk grew wider, but then he relented. “There’s a complicated array of crystals connected to the element of air on the bottom of the carriage. I’m no enchanter, so I can’t explain it in any more detail than that.”

I crossed my arms and ignored him for the rest of the ride.

We did not, in fact, fall out of the sky, and we arrived at some beautiful public gardens on the outskirts of the city.

Crystal lanterns and trees of luminous white flowers illuminated the darkness.

Water cascaded down artfully arranged rocks into a glowing pool behind us, and the air carried a fresh, floral scent.

It was all very pretty, but I was getting tired of the weeks-long night.

I didn’t know how Valen could stand going so long without seeing the sun.

“What’s the etiquette for a picnic?” I asked.

We sat on a luxurious blanket with delicate dishes arranged in front of us.

“Lax.” He poured me a glass of chilled wine. “You can eat with your hands. Just take it slowly and don’t chew with your mouth open.”

“Killjoy.”

The wine tasted even better than it smelled, its flavor light and peachy. Then I took a bite of luscious, buttery cheese, and I couldn’t help but close my eyes and moan.

When I opened my eyes, I found Valen staring at me, his wineglass paused an inch from his mouth.

“What?” I asked. “It’s really good cheese, all right? I can’t afford food like this on Earth.”

He ducked his head and sipped wine, avoiding my gaze.

“What did you do with Tullus’s fortune?” He set down his glass. “I would’ve thought you’d buy a mountain of cheese.”

“I blew it all on fine ale and cheap men.”

He gave me a crooked smile. “I know you’re a better liar than that.”

I picked at a piece of bread, my appetite waning. We’d had a heart-to-heart yesterday, but I didn’t want to make a habit of confiding in him. He held too much power over me already.

“My mother was sick. I spent the money on a cure.”

I gulped down wine to stop myself from saying any more.

He didn’t need to know about the long, agonizing year where she’d wasted away in front of my eyes, how none of the remedies I’d tried had made the slightest difference.

I didn’t want to talk about the apathy and disdain I’d gotten during my search for help, how everyone thought she’d deserved what she’d got because of her profession.

Then, after months of chasing rumors and whispers, I’d found it: a remote abbey in the mountains built around a spring with healing properties. Treatment would take three months and cost a small fortune.

So I’d stolen one.

“She’s lucky to have you,” Valen said.

“But she doesn’t have me.” I scowled at him. “She’s old and weak and struggling to survive on her own, and I can’t get to her for another month thanks to you.”

“But our arrangement helps both of you.” He shifted closer to me, his gaze intent. “Five hundred gold coins once the job is complete, remember? Don’t pretend you weren’t planning another heist to get money to care for her.”

I glared at him—because he was right.

“See? I’ve given you what you wanted. You’d be doing this anyway, just with a higher risk to yourself and less fancy cheese.”

God and Goddess, he was so damned smug. I leaned closer. Anyone strolling by would assume we were sharing tender whispers, but I wanted to get in his face to snarl at him.

“But you didn’t give me a choice.”

“I did. I offered you a deal.”

“You showed up in full armor with a sword. You threatened to hand me over to the guards if I refused. You were trying to intimidate me—admit it.”

He looked away for a moment. “I couldn’t risk you refusing.”

“Yeah, then you couldn’t steal a shiny jewel to go with the fifty other shiny jewels in your house. What sorrow.”

He pressed his lips together as if he were biting back the words he wanted to say. Because he couldn’t just tell me why he wanted the Selenian Jewel. That would mean trusting me, and he was a secretive bastard.

A secretive bastard with sensuously perfect-looking lips.

“I want us to be partners, Emmeline,” he said. He even sounded like he meant it.

“Well, we can’t always get what we want.”

His eyes widened ever so slightly. And then he kissed me.

I let out a muffled squeak. My brain couldn’t make sense of what was happening. Valen putting manacles on my wrists? That was normal. Forcing me to practice fifty variations of a curtsy? Perfectly standard. But kissing me? What the hell?

I should push him away. I should punch him in the face. But I didn’t. Not because I was afraid to, but because despite everything I’d told myself about not trusting him, despite everything he’d done to me, the kiss was… kind of nice.

No, it was more than nice. It was exquisite.

He kissed me urgently, like the world would fall apart if I didn’t kiss back.

His right hand clasped the back of my head, tangling in my hair.

His left snaked around my waist, pulling me closer.

God and Goddess, I wanted to be as close to him as possible.

I put a hand on his shoulder to steady myself. His chest felt firm and warm against mine, and his lips… Oh, his lips. They were scorching, brazen, exhilarating. I could taste the wine he’d been drinking, but his kiss was intoxicating me more than any alcohol.

How could someone so devious be so incredibly stupid? He hadn’t needed to threaten me with the city guard to get my help. If he’d brought me here, offered cheese and wine, and kissed me like this, I would’ve agreed to do anything he wanted.

He pulled away, and now I truly felt intoxicated. The world was spinning, and I could only stare at his face in amazement.

He leaned closer, breath hot on my ear.

“Act natural,” he whispered. “There’s someone in the trees watching us.”

I felt like I’d just been thrown off a horse. Then fallen off a cliff. Then landed in a freezing cold lake.

“What—?”

He crushed his lips furiously against mine, and I opened my mouth welcomingly even as I realized the truth. He hadn’t kissed me because he wanted me. He’d kissed me because someone was watching, and we needed to act like lovers.

My eyes felt hot, and I squeezed them even more tightly shut. How could I have been such a fool?

Valen pulled away again. “I need you not to panic.”

“I’m not,” I croaked. “How far away is he?”

Valen lowered his lips to my neck and traced lingering, lascivious kisses down it. My body quivered, and I clutched him tightly—for the benefit of whoever was watching us, of course.

“About twenty feet behind you, to the right of the water,” he whispered in my ear.

“Do you want to leave or confront him?”

He nuzzled the spot where my neck met my shoulder, his stubble scratching my skin, and hell, I almost wished our stalker would come running at us with a knife. That would save me from the humiliating arousal blossoming within my body.

“Confront him,” Valen murmured into my neck. “But not yet. I need to get closer so he can’t bolt.”

Thinking of Valen chasing me through the forest, I doubted the stalker could outrun him. But maybe Valen didn’t want to make a scene.

I clutched his cheek, lifted his face, and kissed him—then bit him sharply on the lip to show what I thought of this little act.

“Leave it to me,” I whispered.

I pushed him away and bounded toward the trees, the skirts of my dress billowing out behind me. I let out a loud, giddy laugh for the stalker to hear.

“You’ll have to catch me!” I shouted at Valen, breaking into another giggle. It was a flirty routine I’d seen used by women at the brothel.

Understanding flashed across Valen’s face. Then he put on a vapid smile, pushed himself up, and chased after me.

I shrieked girlishly and ran. Although I wanted to search the trees for our stalker, I forced myself to look at the water instead. I didn’t want to give the game away. The trees were ten feet away… Then five… My cheeks ached from the force of my fake smile.

“I’ve almost got you!” Valen called teasingly.

Then he shot toward the trees like a charging bull.

A muffled curse reached my ears, and a figure jumped out from behind a tree. He was big, broad, and wearing finer clothing than I’d expect on a criminal stalker. He took off running. Or rather, he tried to.

Valen slammed into him from behind, knocking him into a trunk. The man staggered and spun, but Valen had already drawn his sword. The man held out his hands in surrender.

“Drudon,” Valen said in a clipped voice.

The stalker sneered. “Valen.”

So they knew each other. Wonderful.

I glanced around. A couple was strolling on the other side of the water, but they hadn’t noticed us yet.

“Good day to you.” Valen put on the meanest smile I’d ever seen. “Enjoying a stroll through the gardens? What a delightful happenstance that we’re here at the same time.”

Drudon looked like he’d taken a bite of moldy cheese. “Indeed.”

“And I suppose you were enjoying another stroll when you climbed over my wall to lurk in my garden.”

I’d already figured this man was the trespasser. Two separate people spying on us would be too much of a coincidence, right? But what did he want?

Drudon matched Valen’s mean smile—actually, it might have been even meaner.

“Can’t a man pay a visit to his dear brother?”