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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

Nox pulled back a bit and shook her head slightly, but her courage had waxed and waned. Love had many names and faces, and this love stuck within her like dry medicine swallowed without water. It burned in the center of her throat, refusing to dissipate.

She couldn’t do it.

Not now.

Not tonight.

Her stomach was twisted with the nerves of her adrenaline. She had wanted to speak her heart for so long but never knew how. Nox closed her eyes and allowed herself the coward’s out. It was the assassin she feared. It was getting caught. It was the commotion. It was the cold. That was all.

Amaris’s brows knit ever so slightly, a gentle question on her lavender eyes.

If she didn’t get out of here, the tears would win. Nox stood, stifled her emotions, and asked, “Tomorrow?”

Amaris’s eyes widened. Even in the dark of the night, her purple irises caught on the moonlight filtering in through the windows. Her question came out in a dismayed choke. “Not tonight?”

“Farleigh is more guarded tonight than it has ever been before or will ever be again. I’m so sorry, Snowflake. There has never been a worse night to run.”

Amaris bit her lip and closed her eyes. Nox recognized the face the girl was trying to conceal. It was the same caged animal expression she’d seen before. Amaris needed to run, but she would not go alone.

“Amaris, I’m sorry…”

“You’re right.” She looked away.

Nox felt as though she were failing spectacularly once more. The broken pain in Amaris’s heart was transparent through her every subtle expression, from the slump of her shoulders to the wilt of her face. She parted her lips just enough to exhale slowly, calming herself. Her frosted white lashes fluttered open as she looked up into Nox’s and agreed with one final parting word.

“Tomorrow.”

The girls separated. Across the hall, Amaris would surely be hugging her pillow and drifting off to sleep. Nox closed her eyes, but her mind would not rest. Behind her lids, she saw the pieces, the players, the possibilities that played out before them. She watched it all behind the dark curtain of her lids, anticipating one hundred outcomes. Every move had a countermove, as each risk required a contingency. She knew they could do it.

Tomorrow, they would run.

Tomorrow, at long last, they would be together.

Eleven

It was an hour too early for even the chattering of birds as the purple-gray light of morning colored the room. Amaris saw the silhouettes of the other children in their beds, unmoving. The other girls in the dorm were still asleep. It took her a moment to understand why she’d awoken.

“Time to get up, little one,” Mable whispered, squeezing Amaris’s shoulder gently from where it rested beneath the covers.