Crown of Moonlight (Court of Midnight and Deception #2) - K.M. Shea Page 0,111

more doable deadline.

But what about everyone else?

For a moment, Birch’s miserable expression, Rime’s bleak face, and Verdant’s puffy eyes from crying hit me much the same way I wanted to run Fell over with my truck.

They don’t want help. Verdant accepted it for the sake of her stag, but they’re too afraid. They’ll never ask for help—Fell proved that.

I felt it deep in my bones. No one—except possibly Solis—would ever ask for help if they badly needed it. They would rather suffer in silence than alert others to a potential weakness.

But does it really matter if they won’t ask for help? Shouldn’t I act anyway because it’s the right thing to do? …And then possibly get stabbed in the back because hah-hah, turns out one of them was behind the attacks the whole time?

I sighed, and nearly jumped in my chair when Rigel squeezed my hand.

“You forget, Leila. You’re half fae and half human,” he said. “And—as you once told our Court—you got the best of both bloodlines. You can do things others can’t.”

“Like lie?” I asked.

“Like see how the scramble for power is bred out of fear,” Rigel said. “And since you are not part of it, you can act outside of it.”

I stared at Rigel, and couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks, Rigel. You’re brilliant. That’s another reason why I love you.”

“If you want the Day King to hear, you’ll have to say that louder,” Rigel said.

Ahaha, once again my confession is given the smack down. It’s fine. Totally fine. Besides, that’s an issue to deal with later. I’ve made up my mind—I’m going to help those squirmy, twerpy monarchs whether they want it or not. I’m getting rid of their silly games, immediately. Even though they’ll probably keep trying to kill me as a result. Sorry, Mom, but it’s probably on you anyway for raising me this way.

Yes, that sounded like a totally healthy coping mechanism—blame someone else.

I smirked a little as I rotated away from my sadly-not-infatuated husband. “Hey, Solis!” I called out to the Day King. “Remember how I dragged your drunk butt back to your house after that boozer of a tea party the Paragon threw?”

“It was not a boozer,” the Paragon huffed into his clay cup.

Solis slightly inclined his head. “Indeed, a servant reminded me the following day when I woke up.”

“Great. I’m calling in that favor,” I said. “I want you to call a meeting with the other monarchs—those of us in the Fae Ring specifically—and host it in the Day Realm.”

“That’s all?”

“It’d be great if we could have it in a week, maybe. But yeah, that’s all,” I said.

Solis lifted a teacup to me in a sort of salute. “Consider it done. What excuse should I give them for such a meeting?”

“Say we have to talk about the skull monster or something—just don’t tell them I asked for it,” I said.

The Paragon peered at me over the top of Aphrodite’s head. “What are you planning?”

I grinned, purposely showing more of my teeth than a regular smile. “A good old fashioned coup d’état!”

I’m not sure what was louder. The rattle of Skye’s antacid tin, Indigo’s indignant “What?” or Aphrodite’s pleased “Mmert!”

Obviously, I had come up with a simply brilliant plan.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Leila

My palms were sweating like crazy as I stared at the door to the meeting room Solis had designated for us.

Rime was the last monarch to arrive—besides me—and I’d watched her go through the doors about a minute ago.

It was almost time for me to make my move.

I exhaled and fanned my sleeves slightly. While the autumn air was cold and icy in the human world, here in the Day Realm the sun beat with extra strength—I was going to become a sweaty mess if we stayed out here much longer.

I gripped the white stone bannister and tried not to look down—the Day Palace was made of several really tall towers that stretched high to the sky in an effort to take in as much sunlight as possible. We were pretty high up here, and while I didn’t know if I was afraid of heights or not, now was not an ideal time to find out if I was.

Indigo patted my hands. “You’ll do fantastic,” she said.

I tried to smile, but my lips wouldn’t move. “Thanks. Is the tea ready?”

“I’ve got it brewed—just keeping a charm on it so it stays warm,” Indigo nodded to the tea cart parked next to the room. She put her fists on her hips as she looked