Page 7 of Only in Moonlight (The Moonlit Court #1)

Emmeline

M y eyes needed a moment to adjust to the lunar twilight. The air smelled sharper, and the pegasus’s wings settled behind us with a whisper of feathers. When I could see clearly, the view took my breath away.

We were on a plateau overlooking a vast and wondrous landscape. Rolling hills of indigo hid beneath mist, a shining river winding through them toward a sea of melted silver. Colossal mountains rose in the distance, and there, nestled in the vast crater below, was a city I’d seen only once before.

Novi Lunium, capital of the Moonlit Kingdom, looked like a star that had fallen and taken root.

Towers of opalescent crystal spiraled upward, their structures impossibly delicate, reaching heights never seen on Earth.

Bridges stretched between them like rivers of light, and domed roofs gleamed like giant pearls.

Above the city, the stars appeared more numerous and brilliant than I’d ever seen, twinkling in an obsidian sky. And there, surrounded by clouds in a dazzling array of violet and blue, floated Earth.

Maman was so far away.

The spell broke, and the past several minutes came back in a sickening rush. I felt nauseous thinking of how I’d left my mother behind. Now I was trapped on the moon with an inhuman stranger and might never see her again.

No. I would see her again. One way or another, I’d get back to her, and I’d bring a fortune with me.

Valen dismounted and offered me his hand. I ignored it and climbed off the pegasus myself, my boots kicking up clouds of gray sand when I hit the ground. The plateau was barren: just sand, stones, and one small tree with vivid purple leaves.

“I thought we were going to the Moonlit Court.”

I gestured at the city, though only a small fraction of its population belonged to the Court.

“We need to discuss some details away from prying ears.”

“Right. Like what you want me to steal.”

“Like that.”

He took off his helmet and shook out his hair. Of course it wasn’t tangled or matted to his head with sweat. The dark brown hair barely brushed his shoulders, looking so silky soft that I had the senseless urge to run my fingers through it. The shock of this ordeal was obviously getting to me.

“It’s called the Selenian Jewel,” he said. “A historical relic. Blue, teardrop-shaped, about three inches long. It’s set in a necklace with a silver band.”

That didn’t sound so special. It must have some sort of magic to make it so important to him.

“And where is it?” I asked.

“Locked up in an impenetrable safe behind a platoon of armed guards most of the year,” he said. “It’s no use trying to steal it from there. But Princess Regula will take it out of the safe herself and wear it to the royal ball on the Feast of Queen Diamanda.”

“So I swipe it at the ball. Easy enough. I’ll just impersonate a guest again.”

And if I relieved a few other guests of their jewelry while I was there…

“Unfortunately, the guards have implemented identity checks since you made off with Tullus’s fortune.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Each guest gets their finger pricked upon arrival. The drop of blood falls on an enchanted paper, which writes their true name. No more shapeshifters impersonating the honorable people of the Moonlit Court.”

I stared at him in silence for several seconds. “Then what do you want me for? I can’t get in.”

The palace would be locked down even more tightly than Tullus's manor. Every window would have a magic spell preventing forced entry, and portal wands wouldn’t work inside.

Not to mention all the armed guards. I might as well go to the dungeons now and save us the trouble, because they’d catch me for sure.

“Unless…” I said slowly, “I could pretend to be a servant—”

“They go through the same check.” He smiled at my confusion. “You can attend as a guest. You’ll simply need an invitation.”

“And I suppose they invite poor human peasants to these balls all the time.”

“No, but it’s not unheard of for one of us to court a human.”

Oh, no. My head started shaking before I knew what I was doing. He couldn’t have meant what I thought he did…

“You’ll get into the ball on my arm,” he said, confirming my worst fear. “We’ll pose as lovers.”

God and Goddess, no. This man didn’t have any emotions that weren’t fake. He was like a butcher’s knife that had learned to walk—cold, sharp, and looking for something to cleave. I was a decent actress, but I couldn’t pretend to love him. I doubted I could pretend to tolerate him convincingly.

My mother had dealt with far worse men. She’d suffered humiliation and injury from her clients at the brothel to earn enough coin to keep us alive. Now she was old, and I wasn’t a child anymore. Couldn’t I suffer this one man if it meant giving her a better life?

I focused on him, and he wasn’t even pretending not to watch me. My cheeks flushed. I hadn’t been paying attention, so who knew what emotions I’d let show on my face. I had to be more careful. He needed me to steal the jewel, but—

“This still doesn’t make sense,” I said. “Why do you need a shapeshifter if I can’t shapeshift to get into the ball?”

He sat down on a nearby boulder, calm as could be.

“You can shapeshift into any form you like; you just have to attend under your real name. Getting into the ball is easy. Luring the princess away from the crowd to steal the jewel and then getting out without anyone realizing we have it—that’s the hard part. ”

That made a bit more sense. How many times had I stolen something and then changed shape after I turned a corner? My pursuers would run right past me, clueless that I was the thief.

But Valen’s offer… The whole thing stank of secrets and lies. He obviously wasn’t telling me everything. Hell, he’d barely told me anything .

After I stole the jewel, he’d probably abandon me to the palace guards instead of paying me.

He was just like my father. Tullus had promised my mother so many things when he’d come down from the moon and seduced her.

But he’d left as soon as she got pregnant.

Valen would leave me to the wolves just as fast.

But I couldn’t turn back now. The portal had vanished. I would just have to keep watch for the double-cross.

“You said we’ll pose as lovers.” I watched Valen’s face carefully. “You mean that it’s only pretend. You don’t expect me to make love to you.”

“Correct.” He met my gaze openly. “I want your skills in thievery, nothing else. You don’t have to fear me in that regard.”

Not sure I believed him, but he’d probably keep his word until he got what he wanted from me: this Selenian Jewel, whatever it was.

I stared down at the city. Its network of luminous bridges connecting tower to tower looked more like a spider’s web now. I was thoroughly trapped. My skin crawled at the thought of his calculated touch, his fake affection. The things I would do for money had reached a new low.

But as the Earth shone above, casting its blue glow across the plateau, I made peace with my decision. A few false smiles and public kisses—then my mother would never go to bed hungry again. For that future, I could pretend to love anyone, even him.