Page 12 of Only in Moonlight
“I already shapeshifted in front of him. He knows.” I turned her around and pressed my meager coin purse into her hands. “Go back to the farm. Tell them I got abducted by bandits or something. I’ll be back soon. You know I’m resourceful.”
“No. Please, Emmeline.”
The whispered words cut like a knife to my chest.
“I’ll be fine.” My throat felt raw, and I squeezed her hands. “I love you. You’re worth so much more than those ignorant assholes could ever know. Take care of yourself until I come back.”
She broke into sobs, and I hugged her tightly.
“We’ve squandered enough time here,” Valen said.
Coldhearted bastard. I planted a kiss on my mother’s forehead and stalked back toward his pegasus. He heaved me up into the saddle like he was dragging a drunk out of the gutter before the watch came.
“I’ll be back soon,” I told my mother. “I promise.”
Then Valen set the pegasus off at a gallop, and I nearly fell.
Oh hell. Were we going to fly again? But no. With one hand on the reins, Valen used the other to hold out a small wand. Silvery wood made up the base, elegantly carved, and at its tip rested a glimmering blue crystal.
Valen pointed it ahead and waved it in a circular motion. I’d stolen a similar wand to get to the Moonlit Court before, so I wasn’t surprised when it opened a portal in front of us. It was like a doorway in thin air. Instead of the green woods, gray sand and a starry night sky awaited on the other side, the scene enveloped by an otherworldly blue glow.
“Emmeline!” my mother screamed.
Then we galloped through the portal and were gone.
Chapter 7
Emmeline
My eyes needed a moment to adjust to the lunar twilight. The air smelled sharper, and the pegasus’s wings settled behind us with a whisper of feathers. When I could see clearly, the view took my breath away.
We were on a plateau overlooking a vast and wondrous landscape. Rolling hills of indigo hid beneath mist, a shining river winding through them toward a sea of melted silver. Colossal mountains rose in the distance, and there, nestled in the vast crater below, was a city I’d seen only once before.
Novi Lunium, capital of the Moonlit Kingdom, looked like a star that had fallen and taken root. Towers of opalescent crystal spiraled upward, their structures impossibly delicate, reaching heights never seen on Earth. Bridges stretched between them like rivers of light, and domed roofs gleamed like giant pearls.
Above the city, the stars appeared more numerous and brilliant than I’d ever seen, twinkling in an obsidian sky. And there, surrounded by clouds in a dazzling array of violet and blue, floated Earth.
Maman was so far away.
The spell broke, and the past several minutes came back in a sickening rush. I felt nauseous thinking of how I’d left my mother behind. Now I was trapped on the moon with an inhuman stranger and might never see her again.
No. Iwouldsee her again. One way or another, I’d get back to her, and I’d bring a fortune with me.
Valen dismounted and offered me his hand. I ignored it and climbed off the pegasus myself, my boots kicking up clouds of gray sand when I hit the ground. The plateau was barren: just sand, stones, and one small tree with vivid purple leaves.
“I thought we were going to the Moonlit Court.”
I gestured at the city, though only a small fraction of its population belonged to the Court.
“We need to discuss some details away from prying ears.”
“Right. Like what you want me to steal.”
“Like that.”
He took off his helmet and shook out his hair. Of course it wasn’t tangled or matted to his head with sweat. The dark brown hair barely brushed his shoulders, looking so silky soft that I had the senseless urge to run my fingers through it. The shock of this ordeal was obviously getting to me.
“It’s called the Selenian Jewel,” he said. “A historical relic. Blue, teardrop-shaped, about three inches long. It’s set in a necklace with a silver band.”
