Moonshadow (Moonshadow #1)

That small, simple word warmed him.

Turning, he pulled her into his arms and soaked in the comfort she offered. Not that long ago, he had lived a barren existence where there had been no comfort to be found. “Yes, we have made huge strides.”

As the summer turned heavy, ripe and golden, the sale of the manor house went through, and Sophie became a wealthy woman. They celebrated by having a picnic on the floor of her new, four-room cottage. When the needs of the Dark Court became less urgent, she talked about searching for what happened to her family, but it was never with any sense of personal urgency. She knew her parents must be dead. She just wanted, someday, to discover their story.

Sophie and three Dark Court scholars began to inspect the contents of the library. It would take a while to get through everything. Many of the documents had been half eaten by mice, and none of it was organized. There were estate records, correspondence, bills of sale, and a hodgepodge of illustrated books that looked to be in the best shape, as they had been stored in trunks and apparently never handled or read.

The army engineers got scaffolding erected throughout the manor house to support the areas that had been weakened. Knowing they needed to complete many of the new buildings by winter, the barracks, communal halls, and small, individual houses were built quickly.

Those who had an affinity for land magic worked on healing the scars Morgan had created. They trucked in mature trees to replace copses and hired workers from town to handle electrical wiring, gas pipelines, and other modern Earth techniques that were foreign to the Dark Court engineers.

Nikolas had been concerned about how the townspeople in Westmarch would react to having such a strong Dark Court force on their doorstep, but they were such an economic boon to the area, everyone he talked to professed themselves delighted, especially when he coordinated with the local constabulary to increase security in the area.

Annwyn began to search for physicians who might be able to help with the malady that held Oberon in its icy grip. After talking with Sophie, Annwyn researched Kathryn Shaw’s background and made an initial approach to hire her for a consultation on Oberon’s condition.

Kathryn turned Annwyn down. While, Kathryn replied, she was sympathetic to the Dark Court’s plight, as the official doctor for the sentinels who governed the Wyr demesne in New York, she had her own duty to attend to, and the time slippage between Lyonesse and Earth was too extreme.

Nikolas moved into his house and got a new car since his Porsche had disappeared. Sophie moved into hers. In theory, separate dwellings were a good idea, but the reality was, either he slept at her place, or she slept at his.

Unless they fought. Then five acres didn’t seem like nearly enough space to put between them.

We, she had said.

Nikolas couldn’t let it go.

One morning in her cottage, Sophie announced, “My visa is going to expire in a few weeks. According to Paul, I’m going to have to leave the UK and come back in. It shouldn’t be that big of a deal. I’ll show proof that I have an income and apply for residency.”

“You don’t have to go through all that.” Nikolas gathered his clothing off the floor where they had dropped it the night before. “Apply for Dark Court citizenship. Annwyn will grant it in two seconds.”

“Not going to happen.” She shook her head.

He pulled his shirt over his head and frowned at her. “Why on earth not? You can still keep your American citizenship. You’ll have more legal protections, and you won’t have to leave and come back again.”

“No, Nik. I’m not going to become a citizen of your demesne.” She sat on the edge of the bed to tie her shoes.

“Of my demesne.” What happened to we? “You need to think about this rationally.”

“Oh, believe me,” she said. “I have.”

He planted his fists on his hips and glared at her. “Prove it.”

“If I become a citizen of your demesne, I become subject to your laws. And because you’re high up in the governance of the Dark Court, and you’re the commander of the military, I become subject to your authority. That’s not going to happen. You’re overpowering enough as it is. Remember, I am my own sovereign state.”

“That’s ridiculous,” he snapped. “Nobody is their own sovereign state. You’re subject to all kinds of laws. Besides, when you marry me, you’ll become a Dark Court citizen anyway.”

She wagged a finger. “Nope. Nopers. Noperooni.”

“Those aren’t even words!” he shouted.

She fixed him with a glare. “First of all, nobody has asked me to marry him, and I don’t randomly marry people because they order me to. Secondly, Sophie don’t do nothing Sophie don’t want. I’m not your employee, I’m not a soldier in your army, and I’m not going to become your subject. I am a consultant on vacation.”

He strode around the bed to take her by the arms. “You’re not on vacation! This—you—me—you made a commitment. Why wouldn’t we get married?”

“Wait a minute. Maybe this will bring it home to you.” She pulled out her phone. Holding on to his patience, he waited while she did some incomprehensible search. She stuck the screen of her phone into his face. “Here. This is me.”

He watched a clip of an octopus running away along the ocean floor. The words, “Nope. Nope. NOPE.” appeared at the bottom of the screen.

“What the hell am I looking at?” he barked.

“It’s a nope GIF. You’ve never seen a nope GIF? There are hundreds on the Internet.” She smiled. “We literally never have to have this conversation again. You’ll bring it up again, and I’ll just send you a GIF. Subject closed.”

But she didn’t wait for the topic to come up again. She started sending him nope GIFs anyway. In one, a gorilla stood on his hind legs and walked off into a forest. In another, a cartoon character built a rocket, climbed inside, and shot to the moon. In yet another, a dog wearing a Christmas sweater ran under a sofa.

For some reason the dog was the last straw. When Nikolas’s phone pinged and he saw that she had sent him yet another email, he stormed out of his office, which was located on the ground floor of his own house.

Sophie was supposed to be cooking dinner instead of harassing him. As he rounded the corner to the kitchen, he thundered, “Stop sending nope GIFs to my work email, or I’m going to plant my old-timey foot in your ass.”

There was silence in the kitchen. Sophie had opened the back door, and Annwyn and Gawain stood just outside. All three of them stared at him as if he had lost his mind.

He understood why Annwyn and Gawain looked at him that way. It was Sophie’s utterly unjust expression that sent him ballistic.

Gawain did that thing he did when he was trying to cover up a laugh by coughing into his hand.

Amusement gleamed in Annwyn’s eyes. She said, “I understood only three words in that sentence.”