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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

In ten thousand nightmares and daydreams, she’d never imagined this to be their reunion. She’d dreamed of the moment they were finally together once more. She’d pictured it, she’d wished for it, she’d wanted it. Now, her love was an uncontrollable wave breaking against a cliff. In one moment they were hugging, and in the next, Nox’s mouth was on Amaris’s. It was not the mouth she had offered to patrons at the Selkie, as those had been born of survival and manipulation. They were not the lips she had given to Emily, for those kisses had been stolen, as Nox’s heart had always belonged to another. This salted, tear-soaked kiss was meant only for Amaris. Despite the anger and pain, despite the tension and tragedy, it was somehow tender, full of all the adoration she’d held in her heart for all of these years. Passion and hurt, separation and desperation met in the gentle, tragic connection of their lips.

Nox pulled away only long enough to truly absorb the dungeon. Rows of empty cells lined the curved halls, save for the two men who’d averted their eyes, presumably to allow Amaris her moment to mourn. She looked at the men only long enough to see the bread in their cells and how differently they’d been bound. Horrible truths clicked together. Nox pulled Amaris in closer, holding her, begging for an answer, kissing her with desperation. Their lips locked in anguish, mouths tasting of salt and plum and winter and dirt. This was not the moment they deserved.

“No.” Nox choked against the kiss, unable to reel in her pain. “No, this can’t be it.”

Nox knotted her fingers against the white braids of Amaris’s hair, tugging them into disarray as their kiss swelled with the love, sorrow, intensity, and agony of their seasons apart. She held her with a passion born from the fifteen wasted years before their fateful separation. The movement was shattered only by the ragged breaths of broken sobs as heartache and waves of emotion continued to crash over them.

Nox tore from the connection, touching her forehead to Amaris’s.

“I’m going to get you out of here.” Her voice was low and hurried, broken only by ragged sobs as she struggled to steady herself. Nox found her voice, whipping to the quiet centurion. Her dark eyes narrowed at the captain. “Eramus, where are the keys?”

Amaris’s lips parted in a wordless question as she noticed the captain as if for the first time.

Answering the darting question in Amaris’s eyes, Nox mumbled from the side of her mouth, “He’s with me.”

“The others—” Amaris had once been so articulate, but Nox could hardly blame her for the anguish that twisted her tongue.