Crown of Moonlight (Court of Midnight and Deception #2) - K.M. Shea Page 0,11

a fancy black shirt that buttoned at the shoulder. He also still wore his leather bracers that held hidden daggers, but I’d be willing to risk my Court’s hard-earned money that he had some hidden in his boots and belt, too. “Ah. Rigel. Hello there.”

Rigel nodded to me, then glanced at Hazel and Killian.

“You’re right, I should make the introductions. Hazel, Killian, this is my…er…husband, Consort Rigel. Rigel, these are my dear friends, Adept Hazel Medeis and her fiancé Eminent Killian Drake.” I made the smallest grimace—a little upset that I still stumbled over calling Rigel my husband. It seemed weird and foreign, but if I wanted to learn to keep a straight face around the other monarchs, I needed to build a bridge and get over it.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Lord Rigel,” Hazel said.

Rigel wordlessly nodded. With his slightly tapered ears, copper skin, and intimidating wardrobe, there was something about him that seemed wild, and out of place among the modern conveniences of my mansion.

The doorbell rang.

Skye glided across the room to get it in Eventide’s absence, and I smiled apologetically.

“I really need to greet the other guests, but I’ll find you later tonight—I want to introduce you to my new pets!”

“Great! We’ll keep an eye out for you. Come on, Killian. Let’s go see that shooting range.”

“I would have thought you’d want to witness Rupert’s humiliation at karaoke.” Killian offered his arm, and Hazel took it.

“I want to see that, too,” Hazel assured him. “But I’ve never had the chance to fire a weapon loaded with fae magic! It’s going to be so cool.”

Killian smirked down at her. “I really do love you more and more each day,” he announced with zero sense of embarrassment—good for him!

Skye opened the door before the power couple left, so when Lady Chrysanthe and her grandmother Lady Demetria entered the room, they could see the pair.

“I told you it was a waste to come this early,” Lady Demetria barked at her granddaughter, ignoring me. “No being of fashionable taste and reasonable power would deign to arrive at this—” Her lecture ground to a halt when Hazel laughed at something Killian said as they strolled off.

“That’s Eminent Killian Drake and Adept Hazel Medeis,” I helpfully supplied. She obviously already knew, but I’d made it a hobby to troll my dear subjects since becoming queen.

Lady Demetria’s face was set in stone as she stared—which was about equal to shrieking and gawking for a fae since they were usually guarded in expressing their feelings.

“Good evening, Queen Leila, and congratulations.” Lady Chrysanthe ignored her grandmother’s stunned silence and curtsied to me.

“Welcome, Lady Chrysanthe and Lady Demetria,” I greeted. “Please come in.”

Lady Chrysanthe glided inside without hesitation, but Lady Demetria was a few moments delayed, which is how the Paragon almost ran her down.

“They’re here already, aren’t they?” the Paragon panted as he stood in the door.

“Killian and Hazel?” I guessed—the Paragon was famously attached to the pair. “Yes. They went out back to the shooting range.”

“I knew it! I knew they’d come early!” He twisted around to scowl behind him and shouted to his traveling companions. “This is all your fault, Bellus!”

Sulking, the Paragon stepped through the door, making way for the head wizard in the Midwest, Elite Bellus.

Well dressed in a navy-blue pinstripe suit with a crisp handkerchief poking out of his pocket, Elite Bellus gave off a professorly aura, but I was pretty sure he had the twisty sort of mind that could keep up with a fae—though he was far more kind.

“Queen Leila, what a pleasure it is to meet you.” Elite Bellus offered me a slight bow, then extended his hand. His smile was pleasant and obviously well used, and his silvery hair was slicked back while his goatee was meticulously trimmed.

I shook his hand. “The pleasure is all mine. I was quite excited when you sent in your RSVP. Hazel has told me a lot about you.”

I only invited Elite Bellus because Hazel was his protegee and she asked me to, but I was glad to have him here.

Behind me, Lady Demetria made a strangled noise.

Ahhh, yes. Shocked at the quality of my guests, hmm?

Before Skye could close the door, four more guests filled the doorway. I curiously studied them—three of them were werewolves based on the gold and brilliant-blue eyes they sported—before making the decision to call for backup. “Chase?”

My director of security was at my side in an instant. “Queen Leila, allow me to present Pre-Dominant Harka, her