Midnight

HarperVoyager

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street,

London SE1 9GF

www.harpervoyagerbooks.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperVoyager 2017

Copyright © Christi J. Whitney 2017

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2017.

Cover photographs © Shutterstock.com

Christi J. Whitney asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Digital eFirst: Automatically produced by Atomik ePublisher from Easypress.

Ebook Edition © May 2017 ISBN: 9780008122416

Version: 2017-10-19

To my love

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

1. Josephine

2. Josephine

3. Josephine

4. Sebastian

5. Sebastian

6. Sebastian

7. Josephine

8. Josephine

9. Josephine

10. Sebastian

11. Josephine

12. Josephine

13. Sebastian

14. Josephine

15. Josephine

16. Sebastian

17. Josephine

18. Josephine

19. Josephine

20. Josephine

21. Sebastian

22. Sebastian

23. Josephine

24. Josephine

25. Sebastian

26. Josephine

27. Sebastian

28. Josephine

29. Josephine

30. Josephine

31. Sebastian

32. Josephine

33. Sebastian

34. Josephine

35. Josephine

36. Josephine

37. Josephine

38. Josephine

39. Josephine

40. Josephine

41. Josephine

42. Sebastian

43. Josephine

44. Sebastian

Epilogue – Sebastian

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Also by Christi J. Whitney

About the Publisher

‘They’re putting Sebastian on trial.’

I stopped walking and stared hard at my brother, trying to wrap my head around his words. Fifteen minutes ago, Sebastian and I had been on our way back to the Circe de Romany from our picnic. Then Quentin and his Marksmen met us at the gate, and turned everything upside down.

‘What are you saying, Francis?’ I demanded. ‘Putting him on trial for what?’

‘We have to go, Josephine. It’s starting.’

My brother took me under the arm and hurried me through the opening of the red and gold tent. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Our entire clan had gathered in the Circe’s large Holding Tent. People stood along the canvas walls or squeezed themselves onto the long benches, talking in low, questioning voices.

A table had been set up on the far side of the tent and our father, Nicolas Romany, sat blank-faced in the center. I recognized the men positioned on either side of him. They were judges, appointed by each family in our clan to preside over a trial. One of them was Andre, my Circe partner. And another was Quentin.

My heart dropped like a heavy weight inside me.

Francis followed my gaze, and his green eyes mirrored mine. His jaw tightened. ‘Father called the kris a half-hour ago and ordered everyone to be present. We’ve been waiting for you to get back from your trip to Copper Mountain.’ My brother nodded towards the entrance. ‘Both of you.’

‘Francis, what—’

‘It’s not good, Josephine,’ he said, cutting me off. ‘It’s really not good.’

I allowed him to lead me through the center of the tent. I felt eyes on me from every direction, like bugs crawling all over my body. I held my chin high and kept my face wiped clean of any expression, but my insides churned.

I took my place, standing behind the table next to my mother. She didn’t look at me. Francis stayed on my other side, his shoulder pressing comfortingly into mine. Leo, the head judge, stood up from the table and motioned to the Marksmen standing on either side of the tent door.

‘Bring it in.’

My stomach clenched with nausea as the guards opened the flaps and Sebastian was shoved forcefully through the opening. He went down on one knee, but only for a moment before he was yanked to his feet. I winced at the sight of him. They’d strapped his gigantic wings to his back with tight cords, and their clawed tips dragged along the ground behind him. His arms were also pinned behind him, heavily chained across his wings.

Sebastian stumbled to the center, looking weak and disoriented. He shook his head several times, like he was trying to clear whatever it was away. His pewter hair fell across his forehead. Marksmen forced him down onto his knees, but he looked up sharply, his strange, silver eyes focusing on the people at the table. And then, his gaze landed on me.