Page 5 of Only in Moonlight (The Moonlit Court #1)

Emmeline

H e grabbed my arm before I could even think of running again, grip clamping me more tightly than a rusty vise in a torture dungeon.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, face full of concern.

Just kidding. There was no concern there, only narrowed eyes that hinted at annoyance. Knocking me from a tree and nearly breaking my neck must have really inconvenienced him.

“What do you think?” I snapped.

He heaved me to my feet and looked me over. “You’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, just wonderful.” I tried to pull away. “Falling out of a tree is great fun. Why don’t you try it next?”

“Are you ready to talk now?”

I scanned his armor for gaps and cursed it for shielding his crotch. A swift knee to the balls would solve all my problems.

But then my anger abandoned me, leaving me alone with fear.

I couldn’t flee, and I had no chance in hell of fighting him.

A chill swept through me as I realized I had no escape.

I’d been so sure I’d gotten away with robbing Tullus, that the Moonlit Court would never find me.

But I’d been wrong, and now I was going to pay the price.

God and Goddess, what would Maman do without me? She hadn’t even wanted me to steal from Tullus. Not that she’d said so. She’d been on her deathbed, too weak to speak, when I’d made that desperate decision. But she’d always hated my thieving.

I’d honed my pick-pocketing skills in secret as a child when she was busy working. She’d found out, of course, but couldn’t argue too much when the coin I stole put food on our table. Later, when she’d first gotten sick, I’d taken on more ambitious heists.

I guess stealing from the Moonlit Court had been too ambitious.

“Do I have a choice?” I asked.

“No,” Valen said flatly. “Tell me—how much did you steal from Tullus?”

The question hung in the air, sharp as the glint of steel in sunlight. I kept my mouth shut. Only a fool would answer that.

“It must not have been enough.” He assessed me quickly and coldly. “Your dress is little more than rags. You’re walking instead of riding a horse. You don’t seem to have much money at all.”

I tried to tug my arm away again. “Go to—”

“How would you like to make more?”

“—hell?”

I blinked at him. More money? He had to be lying. Fey men always lied. But this… this seemed too obvious, didn’t it?

“I’m listening,” I said.

He released my arm, and I took three quick steps back from him. He watched me like a wolf, ready to sprint after me the moment I showed signs of fleeing again. But I stayed put like a dupe to hear his offer.

“Tell me about your shapeshifting abilities,” he said. “Can you make yourself look like anyone?”

I stiffened. Why would he want to know about that?

I’d never met anyone who could change shape like I could.

But then, when Thallence executed everyone who practiced magic, anyone smart would hide their abilities like I did.

But Valen wasn’t from Thallence. He wasn’t even human.

Surely shapeshifting was nothing special in a place like the Moonlit Court.

“Why should I tell you anything?” I spat back. I wasn’t going to spill my secrets so he could capture me more efficiently.

“Because I have a deal for you. You’ll get paid richly if you complete your end—assuming you’re talented enough to be useful.”

A knot formed in my stomach, and I almost ran again.

I knew a trap when I saw one. Either the offer was a lie, and he just wanted me to tell him about my abilities, or he’d give me a dangerous task and pay me nothing when I completed it.

You couldn’t trust men from the Moonlit Court.

Hadn’t my mother learned that lesson firsthand?

“And if I refuse?” I asked.

“Then I’ll leave.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that,” he said. “Though I’d be obligated to inform the city guards of your whereabouts. They’ve been searching for the thief who robbed Tullus for some time now.”

There was no cruel glee in his voice, just a statement of hard fact.

“Yeah,” I muttered. “I figured it would be something like that.”

I could flee, but I couldn’t run forever. Valen had tracked me down somehow, though I’d never given him my real name. My mother and I could move to a new town, find new jobs if we were lucky, but Valen would inevitably find me again. And that was assuming I could escape him now.

I would at least hear him out. Better to get the details of his “offer” so I’d know exactly how he planned to screw me over.

Calling on my magic, I changed. My spine stretched as I grew taller, my shoulders broadened, and my breasts disappeared. It was over in a moment.

Valen’s eyebrows rose as he looked at me. I’d been hoping for a bigger reaction, to be honest, considering I’d changed into a mirror image of him.

“Can you only copy other people’s bodies, or can you invent your own?” he asked.

“Both,” I answered in his voice.

“How long can you hold the change?”

I shrugged. “As long as I need to.”

“Minutes? Hours?”

“I’ve gone all day before.”

It left me exhausted, though. Not that I would admit that to him.

“How many times a day can you change?”

“I don’t know.” I crossed my arms and reverted to my previous form. “Lots. I’ve never kept track. Why do you care? What’s your offer?”

He eyed me critically as if I were a piece of livestock he was thinking about buying. He’d been a lot more fun at the party, but that must have been an act. Now I was seeing the real person under all that fake charm.

And boy, was he an asshole.

“I want you to help me steal something,” he said finally. “Do that for me, and I’ll pay you two-hundred Thallencien gilds.”

I tried to keep my face blank and my body still as I thought of all that gold. Two-hundred gilds… My mother would never have to work again.

“Make it five hundred,” I said.

I must have given something away, because he smiled like he knew he’d won.

“Five it is,” he said. “Do we have a deal?”

My mouth went dry. He hadn’t even tried to bargain. Either he was filthy rich, had no intention of paying me… or the job was so dangerous that five-hundred gold coins was a bargain.

“What do you want me to steal?” I asked.

“I’m not telling you that unless you agree to help.”

That was... irritatingly reasonable. I wouldn’t go blabbing about my target either. You never knew who someone would tell.

It had to be something extremely well-protected; otherwise he wouldn’t need a shapeshifter or risk drafting a stranger to help. It probably had bloodthirsty beasts guarding it or a spell that turned thieves into stone. I would have to be crazy to agree knowing nothing about the job.

But the money... With that much, I could buy the cottage I’d always dreamed of: surrounded by vineyards, with a little herb garden planted out front. Maman could lounge, a hired cook bringing her each meal. She deserved that after all she’d sacrificed.

I remembered gathering dandelions with her as a child, how she’d made a crown of flowers for my hair and called me her fairy princess.

She’d nursed me when I’d caught the pox, planting gentle kisses on my feverish forehead despite the risk of catching it herself.

I was a grown woman before I realized her singing was completely off-key.

The sound had soothed me to sleep on so many nights that I loved it anyway. I loved her more than anything.

I wanted those five hundred gold coins for her. I didn’t like Valen, didn’t trust him to keep his word, but my mother was worth the risk.

“Do we have a deal?” Valen asked again, as if sensing I teetered on the edge of a decision.

It wasn’t a real decision. He wouldn’t let me walk away if I refused.

“We do,” I whispered.