Page 42 of Only in Moonlight (The Moonlit Court #1)

Emmeline

T he relief lasted exactly three blocks.

I’d made it. I was free, alive, and the guards were chasing shadows in the opposite direction. The Selenian Jewel was gone—Valen had it wherever he was—but I was safe and no longer running for my life. That should have been enough.

Instead, guilt crept up my spine like cold fingers, settling in my chest with an uncomfortable weight. I pushed it away and forced myself to focus on practical matters. I needed to get home. Back to Earth, back to my mother, back to the rundown barn we slept in with the other farmworkers.

The lunar city stretched before me, all gleaming manors and crystal gardens that probably cost more than most people saw in a lifetime. One of these rich fey bastards was bound to have a portal wand tucked away in their collection of magical trinkets. I just had to steal one.

My throat tightened as I imagined facing my mother empty-handed. I’d have to tell her everything—how I’d been played by another charming fey, how I’d risked everything for his promised payment and gotten nothing but heartbreak in return. The shame of it burned my cheeks, hot and mortifying.

I was supposed to learn from her mistakes, not repeat them.

No, I couldn’t go home with nothing. I’d have to hit a few of these manors first, grab enough valuables to make this nightmare worth something. Then maybe I could look my mother in the eye without feeling like a complete fool.

Footsteps echoed from the street ahead—guards, their silver armor catching Earth’s light as they patrolled in pairs. My heart hammered as I ducked into an alcove between two buildings, pressing my back against the cool stone. I couldn’t afford to be seen—not in this form.

The familiar tingle of magic ran through my bones as I shifted, my features melting and reforming. Shorter, frailer, gray hair instead of red. An elderly fey woman out for a nighttime stroll; nothing suspicious about that.

“Excuse me.” One guard approached as the other hung back. “You shouldn’t be out alone at this hour.”

I straightened my bony shoulders. “And why not? I don’t sleep much anymore, you know. The joints ache something terrible. A walk helps settle them.”

“Have you seen anything unusual tonight? Anyone fleeing down the streets?”

My pulse quickened, but I kept my expression puzzled and concerned. “Fleeing? How dreadful. No, dear, I haven’t seen anyone at all. Should I be worried?”

“Just stay indoors if you can. We’ll have the area secure soon.”

They moved on, and I sagged against the wall in relief. But as they rejoined another pair of guards down the street, their voices carried back to me on the night air.

“Any word on the knight they caught?”

“Sir Valen Corvanos. They’re escorting him back to the palace now. Won’t say a word, the stubborn bastard.”

My blood went cold. Valen had been captured. I should have felt satisfied—he’d taken the fall just like he deserved. I should be dancing with glee that he’d paid the price for dragging me into this mess. Instead, a hollow wound opened up in my stomach.

They kept talking, but I barely heard them. Valen had used me. Why did I care that he’d been caught, that he’d be executed? Had my mother felt like this after Tullus left? Did she still think about him, still wonder if what they’d had was real, even after everything?

“—still looking for the accomplice, of course. Pretty blond male, about average height. You know the princess’s type. Probably—”

My attention snapped back to the guards’ conversation, confusion cutting through the guilt. A blond male? That was the face Regula had seen, but Valen—

Valen hadn’t told them about me.

The guards moved on, leaving me alone with my swirling thoughts.

I stumbled away from the alcove, my elderly disguise melting back into my original body as my concentration wavered.

Why would he do that? If he’d been using me all along, if I was just a means to an end, why wouldn’t he sell me out?

He could tell them I’d tricked him or seduced him, that everything was the dirty human’s fault, not his.

I needed distance from the palace, from the guards, from the memories that kept trying to surface. A manor nearby caught my eye—dark windows, high walls, probably stuffed with valuables. Perfect for a quick burglary before I found a portal wand and escaped this cursed city forever.

But as I approached the building, a flash of white caught my eye. A scrawny cat with glittering fur prowled the alleyway. It looked at me with suspicious golden eyes, ready to bolt at the first sign of danger.

My chest squeezed tight. I could see Valen so clearly, crouched on the stairs with a handful of fish for the other stray. It had been the first genuinely kind thing I’d seen him do—not calculated, not strategic, just... decent. A knight feeding a hungry cat because no one else would.

It was all an act , I reminded myself, but the words felt hollow.

Because after that first moment of unexpected kindness, there had been others.

He’d helped me send a message to my mother.

He’d saved the stag from senseless slaughter.

And on the night of the lunar lights, he’d touched me so tenderly, so lovingly.

He hadn’t cared only about his own pleasure.

He hadn’t ignored my boundaries and tried to stick his cock in me halfway through like Philippe.

Had that also been a carefully calculated performance?

My hands shook as I reached for the manor’s window latch. Focus. Practical matters. Steal the valuables and get out.

But another patrol was coming down the street, so I scrambled up the side of the building instead, hauling myself onto the sloped roof with practiced ease.

The rough stone scratched my palms, the gritty texture familiar and comforting.

Up here, away from the streets and the guards and the memories, I could finally breathe.

Rooftops had always been my sanctuary. When the world below got too complicated, too painful, I could climb up and watch it all from a distance. Safe. In control.

So why did I feel like I was falling apart?

I settled onto the peak of the roof, wrapping my arms around my knees and staring out over the glittering city. The brisk night air helped clear my head, but it couldn’t stop the thoughts that kept circling back to the same impossible question.

Was Valen like my father or not?

Tullus had been charming, manipulative, and selfish. He’d used my mother’s love to fulfill his own desire, made promises he never intended to keep, and then vanished the moment things got complicated. He only cared about himself.

But Valen... Valen had killed his own brother tonight. I’d seen his face afterward, the way he’d looked like something inside him had died along with Drudon. That wasn’t the expression of a man who only cared about himself. That was grief—raw and terrible and real.

He’d been strange in the tunnel afterward—cold and distant. I’d thought it was because he didn’t need me anymore, but what if I’d been wrong? What if it had nothing to do with me? Anguish over his brother’s death was a better explanation.

He hadn’t told me he was planning to hand off the jewel to a stranger and send it out of the city.

But then, he’d always been a secretive bastard, never telling me why he wanted to steal the jewel.

Maybe he was acting on the queen’s or prince’s orders, maybe not.

Keeping secrets from me… I didn’t like it but couldn’t judge. I hadn’t told him everything either.

But what about Lurena? He’d manipulated her and betrayed her, showing exactly the type of man he was. I’d be a fool to wait around for him to screw me over, too.

He did it to keep her from attacking us with magic , whispered a voice in my head, to buy us precious seconds we’d needed to escape . It was calculating and ruthless, but it was also practical. Strategic. The kind of thing someone did when lives were on the line.

Then there was the moment everything had gone wrong, when the guards had spotted us in the street.

Valen had pressed the jewel into my hands and told me to run.

He’d been setting me up to take the fall while he played innocent.

I’d seen it all before when I was younger, greener, and still worked with other thieves. But what if...

What if he’d been trying to save me?

What if, when the plan had collapsed and the guards closed in, he’d made a split-second decision to sacrifice himself so I could escape with the jewel?

The city surrounded me, all silver spires and crystal domes catching starlight like scattered diamonds. Somewhere out there, Valen was being marched to the dungeons, facing execution for treason and murder. And here I was, safe on a rooftop, trying to decide if I’d screwed up everything.

Did I trust him? That was the question, wasn’t it? Not whether he’d made mistakes, but whether his heart was true. Whether what we’d had together was real or just another beautiful lie.

I thought about the way he’d looked at me in quiet moments. The careful way he’d held me, the longing kisses. The fact that even now, even facing death, he’d protected my identity.

My throat closed up, and I pressed my face against my knees. I’d been so determined to see betrayal that I’d missed everything else. So convinced that all fey men were like my father that I’d painted Valen with the same brush.

What if I’d been wrong? What if I’d run from the one person who’d actually tried to protect me?

I had to decide. Trust my cynicism and leave him to his fate, or trust my heart and do something about it.

A cool breeze stirred around me, and a bat squeaked as it flew overhead. Below, another patrol passed through the streets, their voices fading into the darkness.

Time was running out. Whatever I was going to do, it had to be soon.