Page 8 of Only in Moonlight (The Moonlit Court #1)

Valen

A n icy wind blew across the plateau, and Emmeline rubbed her arms. She was tinier than I’d expected—if this was, in fact, her true form.

She had an almost foxlike face with broad cheekbones that tapered down to a narrow chin, and freckles dotted pale skin.

A few twigs and leaves were still stuck in her curly brown hair, and dirt smeared her sorry excuse for a dress.

I spotted a bruise forming under her sleeve and felt a twinge of guilt.

Our meeting hadn’t gone according to plan.

“Can we leave now?” she asked. “It’s freezing up here.”

The asperity in her tone couldn’t hide the wariness in her eyes. I obviously intimidated her, which was good. If she feared me, she’d be more likely to cooperate. While I missed the bold, candid banter from the party, I needed her shapeshifting talents more than her witty conversation.

“We need to go over our fictional backstory before we arrive at my chateau,” I said. “I have a small staff of servants, and we can’t risk one of them suspecting the truth.”

Her lips twitched. “They’d sell you out, huh?”

I didn’t think so, but I couldn’t afford to take that risk.

“We’ll say we met at a party,” I said. “It’s the truth, so it’ll be easier to keep straight. I made it known that I traveled to Earth recently, so everyone will believe the story easily enough.”

“Except I don’t go to fancy parties and grand feasts on Earth.” She kicked a rock in the sand.

“The Court doesn’t know that. No one is going to investigate your life’s history.”

She glared. “ You did, didn’t you? You tracked me down—and that was even without me telling you my real name.”

I allowed myself a small smirk. “Few people in the Moonlit Court can do what I do.”

“If you say so,” she grumbled.

“I do. That’s part of the reason we’ll pass you off as a noble. It’ll draw less attention than my courting a peasant, but you’ll need training. Your impersonation of Lady Celestine was passable, but you stumbled over courtly etiquette.”

“I was good enough to fool you .”

“I found your lack of propriety charming. Others won’t.”

She pressed her lips together and inhaled deeply, making me wonder what biting comment was going through her head.

“How about a noble’s illegitimate daughter?” she asked after a moment. “That’ll explain away any mistakes.”

Yes, that would lessen her status somewhat, but the benefits outweighed the drawbacks.

I kept any outward approval from showing on my face, but my chest swelled with satisfaction.

It was a savvy suggestion, proving her keen wit, and my doubts about dragging her into this plot vanished. She was perfect; I’d chosen well.

“Agreed,” I said.

We spent the next twenty minutes going over the details of our courtship and rehearsing stories to tell. I had our entire history already planned out, but Emmeline made a few helpful—albeit resentful—contributions.

My pegasus snorted impatiently.

“One last thing,” I said. “You need to choose what form you’ll wear as Emmeline Le Brun. It doesn’t need to be your real appearance but something you can maintain daily for weeks.”

Her back straightened suddenly, like a bowstring pulled too tight. “Weeks?”

“The ball isn’t until next month—which is better for us. You need time to prepare, and the longer we have to sell the story that you’re my lover, the less suspicion we’ll draw.”

She rubbed her head. “You didn’t say I’d be stuck with you for weeks.”

Another icy wind blew past, flinging up sand and making Emmeline shiver.

“Is this really the best place you could find for us to talk?” she demanded.

“The sooner you choose, the sooner we can leave.”

She huffed. “Fine. What kind of woman do you like?”

Aurea flashed across my mind before I could stop myself: her soft face, rosy blush on her cheeks, flowers woven in her long hair. I pushed away the image too late to stop the ache in my chest.

“No, never mind,” said Emmeline. “Let me guess.”

She shifted again. Her lips grew plumper and pinker, her eyes enlarging as her lashes lengthened.

Her hair grew waist-length, turning into perfectly styled ringlets along the way, and her limbs slimmed down as her hands grew small and dainty.

The raggedy dress transformed into a sheer, skimpy gown that displayed breasts swollen to momentous size.

I repressed a shudder. While her individual features were all attractive, something about the slipshod way she combined them… She reminded me of a doll that had been sewn together with mismatched parts.

“That is… disconcerting,” I said finally.

She snorted. “You’re the first man to say so.”

“Can you hold that form comfortably?”

“Nah. The breasts make my back hurt, and I can barely walk on these dainty feet.”

She shifted to the redheaded form she’d assumed when I’d caught her robbing Tullus.

Her tattered dress didn’t quite fit this taller frame.

Her legs were longer, her body more athletic.

Catlike eyes of vivid green looked out from a striking face.

She looked completely different from how she had in the forest, yet the form suited her.

Most of the Moonlit Court had minor shapeshifting abilities. They used it to hide blemishes and wrinkles, to tuck away extra body-fat and enhance their preferred features. I didn’t know anyone who could affect their clothing with that magic, much less transform their bodies completely as she did.

“How’s this?” she asked.

She seemed accustomed to the body, and she certainly looked attractive enough that no one would question how she’d caught Valen Corvanos’s eye.

“It’s acceptable,” I said, before adding, “Most women in the Court wear their hair longer.”

Her hair grew partway down her back in wild waves. I looked her over and nodded. It would do.

The flight to the city took about fifteen minutes, and then we landed outside the gates of my chateau to avoid the defensive spells over the property.

The footman met us immediately, and I dismounted and offered my hand to Emmeline.

She hesitated for a moment, eyes darting to the watching footman. Then she placed her hand in mine.

Her skin felt warm, and I could almost sense the magic buzzing through it. I helped her down from the pegasus, and she stared at the gray stone chateau in front of us.

Golden light from the building’s windows made the imposing structure seem more welcoming. A dense grove of trees surrounded us, clusters of luminescent flowers growing among them. An owl hooted overhead, and faint voices came from down the street.

Something caught my attention in the trees. An animal? No, my instincts said it was something—or someone—bigger.

I had a security spell around my property much like the one around Tullus’s study. And like that one, someone with the right tools and knowledge could bypass it. No spell was unbeatable.

Was someone in the trees?

I didn’t look in their direction, not wanting to tip them off that I’d noticed them. Instead, I escorted Emmeline inside.

“Sir Valen!” Nin’s voice echoed off the walls in the grand entrance hall. “Welcome back.”

I gave the head servant an amiable smile. She was a stocky older woman who’d dyed her hair pink when it started turning gray. She kept her blue dress and apron as neat as she kept my house.

“Good to be back,” I said. “Throw any wild parties while I was gone?”

At home, I didn’t act quite so much like the charming fop I played at the Court, but I still hid who I was and what I did from the servants. It was safer that way.

“You know I prefer a quiet evening in front of a nice, cozy fire.” Her gaze turned to Emmeline, and she dipped into a quick curtsy. “But pardon me. I didn’t realize you had a guest.”

“This is Emmeline.” I put my arm around her waist and ignored how she stiffened. We’d have to work on that. “She’ll be staying with us for the foreseeable future. Emmeline, meet Ninidia.”

“Call me Nin, and welcome! Are you hungry? I’ll have the cook whip something up.”

“Um, no, thank you.” Emmeline looked startled. “I’m more tired than anything.”

“It’s been a long journey,” I said. “Nin, draw her a bath, please. I’ll be up shortly.”

Nin ushered Emmeline upstairs, chattering away happily. I watched them go, worry settling in my gut like a heavy meal. This would be the first test of our cover story, as Nin would definitely ask Emmeline how we’d met. If Emmeline couldn’t play her part convincingly…

It wouldn’t be a disaster. Nin had worked for me for over a decade, and she was very discreet. She wouldn’t go racing to the city guards if my latest lady love acted a little strange.

Of course, if Emmeline had second thoughts about our deal and jumped out a window to escape…

No, she wanted that reward money, and she feared me too much to betray me yet.

I strode out the front door and headed into the trees. I could worry about Emmeline later. Right now, I needed to find out if someone had snuck onto my property. (And I could monitor the bathroom window from out here.)

The trees provided privacy, hiding the manor from view even if someone could look over the surrounding wall.

They also muffled the sounds of the surrounding city.

They weren’t numerous enough to count as woods, much less a forest, but they provided a vexing amount of potential hiding places for an intruder.

But I knew their layout and searched meticulously, listening for footsteps as I moved from tree to tree. I startled a winged rabbit that hopped into the air and shot over the wall but found nothing larger. Had my instincts been wrong?

Returning to the spot where I’d seen movement, I studied the ground. A cluster of glowing blue flowers provided just enough light to make out an impression on the ground.

Those weren’t rabbit tracks. Someone much larger had stood here. But whoever they were, they’d gone.