Chapters (63)
- Front Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Pronunciation Guide
- Prologue
- Part One
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Part Two
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Part Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Part Four
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Epilogue
- Excerpt from The Sun and Its Shade
- The Night and Its Moon Playlist
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Back Cover
Usually, the Madame referred to her as the more pejorative “dear.” The usage of her name belied the jeweled woman’s nerves about the night to come. Nox had just returned from the brink of death days after an escape to Yelagin, and now she was to infiltrate the castle. Their relationship had undergone an undeniable shift that neither of them would address outright.
Millicent went on, “Perhaps we’re rushing our plan. Surely there will be a masque—”
“He will be at the Bird and the Pony. There’s no need to wait for an excuse.”
“But if he isn’t—”
Nox had no time for discussion. “If he isn’t, then he isn’t. Do you believe me to be clever?”
The Madame nodded somewhat reluctantly, and Nox knew why. Millicent would have been far happier if she’d found herself a simpler, more naive girl of such great, formidable, terrible power under her care. Yet it was the very same cleverness that might win them their captain and eventually their rank in the castle.
“Then trust me when I tell you, I will not fail tonight.”
Nox would not fail, nor would she return. After her feet crossed the pleasure house’s threshold into the city beyond, she swore she’d never look back. These would be her parting moments in the Selkie. If she came back, it would be to sit atop a mount outside while a fleet of men beholden to her rushed in to behead the Madame, not emerging unless they clutched her by her golden ringlets. That particular detail would have to stay concealed for now.
“Here,” Millicent said as she pushed three bejeweled hairpins into Nox’s hand. All three were meant to go above the same ear, slicking the hair back on one side. The underside of each pin had been sharpened into a thin, strong blade’s point. Nox felt a twinge of emotion. She hated Millicent with every fiber of her being, but the begrudging, distasteful alliance was unavoidable.
She was grateful for the covert weapons, slipping all three into her hair. They had been an excellent addition to her outfit, as she was to appear alluring and unarmed in every conceivable way. They were perfectly delicate, harmless adornments with a deadly purpose.
The time for arguments had come and gone. If Emily had reappeared, she would have used this time to say her final goodbyes. Instead, Nox walked rather unceremoniously from the front doors of the Selkie. Millicent, of course, had assumed return the next morning. Nox had no such intention.
The Madame sent her in her personal glossy, black carriage, though it did not fast travel to the castle. A woman and a carriage manifesting from thin air would draw more than a little suspicion, Nox supposed. She had wanted to take a horse but saw the wisdom of avoiding the elements of wind, salt, and air, staying in her most pristine condition. Tonight, she was both bait and huntress.
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