Moonshadow (Moonshadow #1)

The monkey shook his head. “Still, I say no. What I would have bargained for, what I would have given my entire soul for, you already refused to give. I will consent to carry only one of you—for she is the only one who carried me and asked nothing in return.”

Sophie was so wrapped up in the conversation, and also so tired, it was only when everyone turned to look at her that she realized who the puck was talking about. “Who, me?” she said. “I can’t go to that place and talk to your people. They won’t trust me any more than they would Robin.”

Nikolas strode rapidly over to her.

He said, “Sophie, you have to. You’re dressed in Earth clothes. You speak in a strange accent. Annwyn will listen to what you say, especially if you take her this.” He twisted his signet ring off and offered it to her. “The only way you could be carrying the ring of the Dark Court commander is if you had traveled from Earth. Trust me—she will believe you.”

Every taut line of his body was an intense plea. It was impossible to come this far only to refuse him.

She sighed. “Oh God, fine. I’ll go.”

She held out her hand, and he slipped the ring on her thumb. In return, she handed him the skull. Power shimmered in the air. When she looked in the puck’s direction, the monkey had disappeared and a tall black stallion stood in its place.

He was magnificent, with fiery eyes and a mane and tail that flowed with magic. The pale moonlight shone on the muscled bulk of his shoulders and haunches. With a regal toss of his head, the puck sidestepped over to her.

She put a hand on his velvet nose and murmured, “I’ve never ridden a horse before.”

“I will not let you fall,” the puck told her.

When she turned back to Nikolas, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard. “None of us will be able to thank you enough for everything you’ve done.”

“Shut up,” she said. Of everything she might want to hear from him, gratitude didn’t play any part of it. This is why you don’t kiss assholes, Soph—yet still you keep kissing him and kissing him. The wind gusted, and she shivered harder. “Help me get up on his back before I change my mind.”

Setting the skull on the ground, Nikolas put his hands around her waist and lifted her effortlessly onto the stallion’s wide back. Thankfully, the puck radiated heat, so she had some hope of not freezing solid within the first ten yards.

As she glanced around at the men, they all looked so solemn it was beginning to scare her.

She sank her hands into the stallion’s mane. “Run your heart out, Robin.”

The stallion reared. When he came down, his huge hooves struck fiery sparks.

Robin said, “We will run our hearts out together, dear love.”





Chapter Twenty





Afterward, she was never able to fully describe the experience of that ride.

There was a wild speed and so much magic, and the land sped past impossibly fast. Sparks from the stallion’s hooves lit up the night, and something in the wind laughed in response.

Terrified and freezing, she lay along the stallion’s back and clung with her knees while clenching her hands so tightly in his mane she couldn’t feel her fingers. She tried to look out at the landscape, but the air was too frigid, and tears streamed down her face. Eventually she gave up and hid her face in the puck’s mane while he raced along precipices and leaped over ravines.

Just when she thought she couldn’t hold on any longer and she might fall off despite Robin’s help, he surged up a long incline, past torchlit sentries, tents, campfires, and makeshift houses. Shouts rose behind them, far too late to stop the puck’s forward movement.

Finally Robin galloped up to a stone building at the top of a bluff. As guards ran up, one made as if to put his hand on Robin, and the stallion screamed a warning and reared in response, kicking out so violently the guards scrambled back.

Someone ran into the building, while Robin whirled to threaten off the guards that circled them.

“Stop doing that or I might be sick!” Sophie called out hoarsely as the world spun.

Baring his teeth at the guards, Robin stopped spinning.

Soon several more guards poured out of the building, along with a tall, auburn-haired woman in armor. “What is going on? Robin! Where have you been?”

“Away,” said Robin. “I have been away and trapped by evil.”

“I need to speak to Annwyn.” Sophie’s teeth chattered. “We came from Earth, and it’s urgent.”

“I’m Annwyn,” the woman said, crossing her arms. “Get down and say what you’ve come to say.”

That was easier said than done. The ground was so far away, and her fists had stiffened in Robin’s mane. “Robin,” she muttered. “Help me.”

Bowing his head, the stallion went down on his front knees. Sophie slid off his back in an ungainly sprawl. When she yanked her hands free, she tore long black strands out of his mane, but he didn’t complain.

She didn’t trust herself to get to her feet. Instead, she turned on her knees to face Annwyn and the circle of suspicious guards staring down at her. Holding out her shaking hand, she showed them the gold commander’s ring on her thumb. For the first time, she noticed the lion rampant on the head of the ring.

“Nikolas,” Annwyn whispered. Lunging forward, she knelt in front of Sophie. “Bring a cloak and a hot drink!” Annwyn turned back to Sophie. “Are you wounded? You have blood all over you. You’re insane to ride out in this weather dressed like that. How did you come here—and where is Nikolas?”

“I was wounded, but I’m healed now. We don’t have time for niceties. Listen.” Sophie grabbed her hands, and while Annwyn froze at her presumptuous touch, the other woman did not shake her off.

Words tumbled out of Sophie. Earth. A stray dog. The house. Broken passageway. Nikolas and the other men. The pub attack. Lycanthropes. Morgan.

She didn’t mention Ashe. That matter felt too private and raw, and it deserved its own telling, by someone other than she.

“Wait!” This time it was Annwyn who grabbed hold of her. “They’re here, in Lyonesse? You’re saying you found a way through?”

“Yes, but we might l-l-lose it,” she stuttered. Someone settled a fur-lined cloak around her shoulders, and someone else thrust a tankard of mulled wine into her hands. It was too hot for her frigid skin, and the tankard slipped through her clumsy, cold-numbed fingers to spill on the frozen ground. “Time moves faster on Earth than it does here, and when we left, Morgan was trying to tear down the house. He might destroy the way back if we don’t stop him.”

Annwyn swore, then said behind her shoulder, “Muster a force of five hundred. We ride within the next half hour.” As guards raced to do her bidding, she said sharply, “Puck! Your master is in an enchanted sleep, and we need to search for help from Earth. If we don’t get Oberon the medical attention he needs, he’ll die, and the idea of Lyonesse will die with him. Will you let us ride in your wind? I fear if we ride on our own, we will be too slow—and we will arrive too late again.”