Page 2 of Only in Moonlight (The Moonlit Court #1)

Valen

S ilence and darkness greeted me. The corridor was small and plain, meant for the serving staff rather than the master of the house. More importantly, it was vacant. I crept down it, exploring until I found a room I recognized. Then I swiftly made for Tullus’s study.

My feet made no sound on the carpeted floor, and my ears remained alert for any sign of another person inside. The darkness lent the vast rooms an ominous atmosphere, not helped by the blood-red color Tullus favored for upholstery and the massive collection of weapons he had mounted on every wall.

I’d eat my surcoat if the man could properly hold a sword, much less use one.

I slunk up the staircase, keeping away from the windows on the off chance someone in the gardens glanced inside. Then I stopped at the door of Tullus’s study.

A slight buzz in the air revealed a security spell. It would doubtlessly give a nasty curse to anyone opening the door who wasn’t Tullus or a member of his bloodline.

I didn’t have the magical power it would take to break the spell.

What I did have was a lineage stone hanging on a silver chain beneath my shirt.

The rare gemstone was smooth and forest green, its opaque surface stained with Tullus’s dried blood.

(It had taken me three weeks to orchestrate an accidental injury to collect the substance.) Combined with the gemstone’s magical properties, it fooled the spell into thinking I was Tullus himself.

I opened the door and stepped inside, not feeling even a prickle of a curse.

Tullus’s extravagant study was full of bookshelves he probably never touched.

Glimmering magic crystals lay in a grid-like arrangement on a small wooden table, powering the failed security spell.

I strode straight to his elegantly carved desk and tapped a ring on my right hand, its crystal lighting up with a soft blue glow.

It gave me just enough illumination to search through Tullus’s papers.

I scanned household expense reports but found no sign of illegal activity. Drafts of letters to friends and business associates were boring and equally unhelpful. Further searching revealed only his unspeakably terrible attempts at erotic poetry.

A dull thump came from beyond the room, and I froze.

That had sounded like it originated within the manor. And from here on the second floor, not down in the kitchens. Could Tullus have come inside? He had no family living with him, his wives divorced, and he’d never fathered any children.

I waited, but no further sounds came. Perhaps the house was settling, or an object had fallen off a shelf in another room. Or it could have been a servant who would notice the light and investigate.

I searched the papers more quickly. Tullus wasn’t stupid enough to leave a document titled “Smuggling Evidence” lying around, but still, I’d hoped to find something more quickly.

When I reached letters from the previous year, I realized this wasn’t working. I took a step back and studied the desk more closely.

The bottom drawer. It looked deeper on the outside than on the inside. I ran my hand along the bottom of it and found a switch. Flipping it revealed a secret compartment.

A thrill shot through my insides. I removed the hidden papers, but another thump distracted me before I could look at them.

It was definitely coming from nearby. Probably from only a few rooms down. I didn’t seem in immediate danger of discovery, though, so I focused on the papers.

The information was vague, but with what I already suspected, it was easy to decipher the dates and quantities of shipments. Always on the second of the month, and always at the same location. Tullus’s predictability would be his downfall.

“Checkmate,” I whispered.

Once I committed the information to memory, I returned the papers and shut the secret compartment. Finally, I had enough information to expose him.

Thump .

And now I needed to find out what the hell was causing that noise.

I tapped my ring again, extinguishing its light. After giving my eyes a few moments to readjust to the darkness, I left Tullus’s study and crept down the hallway. Another thump led me to the right room, which also had a security spell protecting the door. I quietly opened it and looked inside.

I wasn’t sure what I expected to see, but it definitely wasn’t Lady Celestine standing over an ironbound chest, clearly in the process of stealing every treasure inside.

Holy hell.

I didn’t make a sound, but she sensed my presence anyway and spun around.

A few coins fell out of the sack thrown over her shoulder, which was brimming with gold, jewelry, and magical artifacts.

Her eyes widened as she met my gaze, and my skin tingled, suddenly hypersensitive to the touch of my clothing.

I’d realized she had hidden depths, but this…

My pulse quickened as the pieces clicked into place.

She hadn’t been hiding behind a shrub because she had social anxiety—she’d been scouting her next mark.

The revelation left me breathless and oddly exhilarated.

Every nerve ending came alive as I took in the sight: her flushed cheeks, the defiant tilt of her chin, the sharp intelligence behind her eyes.

A decent person would shout something like, “Stop! Thief!” But I wasn’t a decent person. And I couldn’t raise the alarm without drawing suspicion about why I was up here.

Not that I wanted to raise the alarm. No, this was far too intriguing.

She was far too intriguing. Why did Celestine want Tullus’s treasure?

She had her own small fortune, and I didn’t know of any feud between them.

Once I helped her escape, we were going to have an even more fascinating conversation than before.

She turned and bolted for the window.

“Celestine.” I raced after her. “Wait—”

She flung open the glass pane and turned back to me, one foot on the windowsill as she obviously meant to climb out.

Before I could speak another word, she transformed.

I froze, transfixed, as the woman I’d felt drawn to became someone else entirely. The gray gown shifted into a black tunic and tights, the skinny body beneath it gaining toned muscle. Her long face grew more rounded, features changing completely, and her neat brown hair turned red, short, and wild.

The strange woman lingered for the space of a heartbeat. Then she jumped out the window.

Chest tight, I sprinted across the room. I reached the window just in time to see her leap from a tree to the street below. She landed nimbly, a few more coins spilling from her bag and rolling away. Then she took off down the street and vanished into the city’s shadows.

I remained at the window for a long time, staring after her. Once the shock faded, my mind raced with theories, ideas, and plans. I didn’t know the woman’s identity or where she’d come from, but her presence had… intriguing implications.

And once I finished Tullus, I would find her again.