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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

He pushed past her as he crossed the threshold. The Gray Matron let out an irritated protest, but the man didn’t seem to care. He stopped on the landing and presented a large, covered bundle that he’d tucked carefully under his arm. He lifted the treasure into the space between the two of them. Wanting to know what the man held, Nox leaned forward as far as she could. She frowned, realizing she wouldn’t be able to see his treasure without giving herself away.

Water droplets dripped from the blankets that shielded the bundle onto the rug below. The matron glared, whispering something in sharp, angry tones. Nox strained her ears but couldn’t discern one verbal hiss from the other. The pounding rain and angry howls of wind drowned out whatever the two were saying. She wished they’d shut the door. The storm was wetting the carpet and drenching the matron’s nightclothes, hair, and face. A few stray droplets carried in on the wind and pressed chilly kisses into Nox’s face, hands, and knees.

The Gray Matron tried again to usher the man out of the hall, but he disregarded her efforts entirely.

The man began to uncover the bundle. Matron Agnes shook her head again, volume growing with her anger.

“I don’t do that anymore,” she said.

The man’s eyes seemed to sparkle with a smile, though his mouth did not curve as it should. Nox’s stomach twisted uncomfortably at the man’s unsavory delight. He grinned. “You mean you didn’t do this anymore. That was before you saw what I’ve brought you.” He peeled off the sopping wet top layer of blankets, continuing to unwrap what appeared to be a wicker basket. He lifted the bundle, urging the matron to peer inside.

Matron Agnes lifted her candle close to the bundle and let out a small gasp as its glow illuminated whatever it contained. “Wait,” she breathed.

Even from her puddle of shadow, Nox could feel the way the energy shifted.

The Gray Matron hurried to the door and closed it the rest of the way, shutting out the world beyond and the storms that raged. She ushered the man a few more steps inside the manor onto dry carpet. The new silence had a smothering effect. With the door latched once again, the wind, rain, and thunder were muted with unnatural intensity. The silence was so pressing that Nox wondered if they could hear her little heart as it thundered with curious anticipation.

She clutched herself more tightly, not only to protect herself from the cold but to hold herself back from the temptation to see what had caused the Gray Matron to gasp.