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Back The Night and Its Moon
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

Usually when she was this close to Ash, the scent of autumn was tinged with sweat, dirt, and the midday sunlight from the ring. Occasionally the red and orange smells of maples and oaks in the fall would mix with the oil from their blades, the leather of his armor, or the hide of his horse. She inhaled the perfume of fallen leaves and chestnuts, knowing it wasn’t one she wanted to smell again. Not like this. Not in the morning, against his skin. Not in the wake of her shame.

Amaris vowed to put the embarrassment of this misstep into the airtight box within her. It would have to suffocate deep inside her chest if she was to stand a chance of forgetting her botched attempt at seduction. She tested the invisible container to ensure that it had room to hold yet another traumatic experience, and then she slipped the night inside, securing the chains around it, never to be thought of again.

With the lid tightly closed on her emotions, she dragged her gaze down the sleeping man a final time, eyeing him for exactly who he was.

He looked peaceful. The reever was one year her senior. Though he’d been lean and sinewy when they’d met, his chest, arms, and back had filled out beautifully, matching the firm, strong legs that had carried him up and down the mountain. They were not the muscles of an overgrown brute but those of a body prone to action. His hair had dried in the night in wavy, coppery locks around his face. His grit, his might, his will had relaxed into perfect silence as he slept. She might have thought him dead if she hadn’t been slumbering beside them night after night in the forest, knowing he never snored.

There was a friendly love in her heart that wanted her to press a kiss to his coppery hair while he slept, but no. Their chapter had closed. They were brothers in arms. That was the only love she wished to foster.

Amaris slipped out from beneath the covers. Redressing silently, she allowed him his sleep. He didn’t stir as she let herself tiptoe down the hall and into the tavern below where bread and eggs were being served. Malik was already awake, sitting at a table by the window. Warm, morning sunlight lit his features, creating a halo against his golden hair. There were no other patrons in the dining room at this early hour, only a friendly-looking innkeeper picking his way quietly around the room as he set up for the day with a broom and a dustpan. Malik’s eyes were on the road beyond the windowpane, scanning. He saw her walk in and smiled. Perhaps a bath, a night on a proper bed, and a healing tonic had been all he’d needed to forgive her. His heart had always been a bit too pure for this world.