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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

It was a warm enough spring evening that she didn’t bother with socks or sweaters. Her thin nightdress clung to her, betraying evidence of chill as they headed for the back door. It was dangerous to get caught after bedtime. Even if the matrons wouldn’t leave lasting marks on the children, the threat of closets one could be locked in, darkened spaces in which one could be shut, or forced skipping meals, served as adequate punishments.

On a night like this, the crime was more than worth the risk of consequence.

Nox and Amaris slipped down the stairs that led from the second floor to the exit just off the kitchen. The door seemed to approve of their plan as its well-oiled hinges opened and closed silently behind them. Fresh air and privacy greeted them the moment they stepped beyond the listening walls of the manor.

The full moon guided them as the girls headed for the stables. They scampered on bare feet, knowing the sooner they could round the corner out of view of anyone who might peer through a window, the safer they’d be. A horse whinnied softly from within the stable, but the silence reassured them that no one else was out.

They positioned the walls of the stables between themselves and the windows of Farleigh, sandwiching themselves between the wooded structure and the looming shadows of the forest that encircled the property. The silver moonlight bathed them, illuminating the pair where they stood.

“Goddess damn it!” Amaris panted. After hours of simmering in the blackened cauldron of what had transpired, her anger had its chance to truly boil over. She fumed, “How did this happen? How can this be my fate?”

Nox slumped to the ground with her back to the stable wall, eyes glazed as she faced the dark forest beyond. It had been hours, and she still had no words for what had occurred. The shock she felt had seeped into her like wet tights freezing within one’s boots.

Amaris didn’t sit. Nox tracked her movements as her friend paced in tight, anxious repetitions. The moon painted curves and lines against her lithe figure, her hair, the tilt of her nose, her hips, her legs. It was hard to tell where the silky white of her nightdress ended and her skin began, as her entire body was painted from the same shade of dipped silver. Nox watched the way the moonlight reflected off the girl, so pale she might have been carved from chips of its surface.

Nox frowned, averting her gaze. Her friend was in pain. That was the only thought that mattered. She allowed Amaris her space, not interrupting her rhythmic march. Nox felt her chest tighten against the deep, terrible wound. She closed her eyes, allowing the throb of the unseen injury to consume her.