All Chapters of Will Bear the Moon: Chapter 331

*Nicoli*The scent of pine and spiced wine clung thick in the air, mingling with the ghostly smoke from braziers and the rustle of silk as nobles swept past in their elaborate gowns. Nicoli slipped between a veiled woman and her partner, her jewelry chiming softly as she turned. "Pardon me," he murmured—half out of habit, half out of desperation that clawed at his throat.The words barely registered past his lips. He was drowning in sensation: the warm pulse of firelight painting everything amber and gold, the fire pits crackling like distant thunder, the chill from the open patio doors that made the marble floor bite through his thin-soled shoes. But the cold was nothing compared to the fire racing through his veins.He wasn't cold. He was burning.He was close.His shoes made soft, measured taps against the marble—a rhythm far too controlled for his pulse, which hammered against his ribs like a caged bird desperate for flight. The thunderous beating should have drowned out everythi