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Chapters (64)
  1. Front Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  6. Pronunciation Guide
  7. Prologue
  8. Part One
  9. One
  10. Two
  11. Three
  12. Four
  13. Five
  14. Six
  15. Seven
  16. Eight
  17. Nine
  18. Ten
  19. Eleven
  20. Twelve
  21. Thirteen
  22. Part Two
  23. Fourteen
  24. Fifteen
  25. Sixteen
  26. Seventeen
  27. Eighteen
  28. Nineteen
  29. Twenty
  30. Twenty-One
  31. Twenty-Two
  32. Twenty-Three
  33. Part Three
  34. Twenty-Four
  35. Twenty-Five
  36. Twenty-Six
  37. Twenty-Seven
  38. Twenty-Eight
  39. Twenty-Nine
  40. Thirty
  41. Thirty-One
  42. Thirty-Two
  43. Thirty-Three
  44. Thirty-Four
  45. Thirty-Five
  46. Part Four
  47. Thirty-Six
  48. Thirty-Seven
  49. Thirty-Eight
  50. Thirty-Nine
  51. Forty
  52. Forty-One
  53. Forty-Two
  54. Forty-Three
  55. Forty-Four
  56. Forty-Five
  57. Forty-Six
  58. Forty-Seven
  59. Epilogue
  60. Excerpt from The Sun and Its Shade
  61. The Night and Its Moon Playlist
  62. Acknowledgments
  63. About the Author
  64. Back Cover

Nox was wealthy, she was beautiful beyond reason, she was quite literally vibrating with power, and yet she was utterly empty without her starlight. She was a night with no moon.

Millicent pursed her mouth into a tight line, saying, “I’m sorry, but you’re being too shortsighted, and I simply have to forbid it.” Nox sucked in a lip. It was perhaps the least visible way she could bite back a retort. She knew Millicent well enough to understand how this argument would play out. What was this discussion but another game of chess? The best thing to do would be to let the Madame feel she had won the exchange, then leave in the morning. If she sent word for the Duke of Henares, he’d have a horse and armed escorts waiting for her by first light. She would ride out ahead of the troops before the infiltrating Raascot men in Yelagin were spooked by word of their arrival.

“Perhaps you’re right,” Nox said. She did her best to make a show of her reluctance to accept the truth.

The Madame’s brows collected in the middle. “Yes, I…I’m not trying to prevent you from your goals. You know we want the same thing,” she continued cautiously. “I’m just trying to help you get what you want in the most responsible way.”

“I know you want what’s best.” Nox dipped her head.

Millicent was still poised for a verbal fight and seemed slightly surprised, if not quickly flooded with relief that Nox was able to see her wisdom. She hadn’t realized how tightly she’d been clutching the back of her chair from where she stood until her white-knuckled grip eased, blood returning to her fingers.

“Good.” The Madame nodded skeptically. “That’s that, then.”

Twenty-Seven

That was that.

Emily tried to breathe through her pain. Everything about her felt heavy, as if her heart struggled to pump paste through her body rather than blood. She would win no favors by revealing her shaking hands or her struggle to breathe. She’d always known this day was coming. Whether from their days at Farleigh or the way that Nox refused to meet her eyes even in their nights tangled in the sheets, she’d always known Nox would leave her.

It didn’t make her ready for the day once it arrived.

Emily was up before the twilight hours, helping the Selkie’s most prized possession as she packed. Her eyes raked over Nox’s midnight hair, her berry-dark lips, the curves of her body, the straight posture she wore as she moved with intentionality about the room.

She said the young woman’s name softly. “Nox?”