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

hands into Whiskers’ fur, and Skye took a step closer to me. “Queen Leila,” she whispered.

I slipped my glass prism—the royal magical artifact I used to channel magic—out of the pocket of my blue jeans, but I smiled as the creature approached.

“Hey there, cutie,” I greeted.

Indigo made a high-pitched squeak, like a balloon losing air.

The hydra stopped just short of me, tilting its four heads as it studied me with yellow eyes.

I stepped forward, offering my hand. “How are you?”

No, I’m not an idiot. I know wild animals are dangerous. But fae have natural magic that effortlessly oozes out of them. Typically it’s something that makes them extra beautiful or graceful, but I was lucky enough to get something useful—I have natural magic that makes animals like me, and any creature I work with long enough gets smarter.

Plus, as Night Queen, I had dominion over the Night Court and Realm. While Skye reminded me frequently that my subjects’ inability to kill me—locked in by the magic that made the foundation of the Court—didn’t extend to the creatures of the Night Realm, I was pretty sure it was what had attracted the glooms and shades to me—and now possibly a hydra.

I wasn’t too surprised when one of the hydra heads inched forward enough to sniff my hand, and then the creature thumped its massive tail on the ground like a happy dog.

A second head invaded my space, resting its large chin on my hand, before a third head slammed into it, knocking it out of the way, making room for the fourth head to stretch out and lick my hair.

“I’m glad you approve,” I said.

The soft sensation of my natural magic flowed around me as I patted large, stone-like scales.

All four of the hydra heads settled down to sniff me, which—not gonna lie—was pretty intimidating. Having four serpent heads—accented with glittering teeth that I could see because the fangs poked past the hydra’s lips—sniffing my shoulders, waist, and legs was enough to make my belly flop around in my gut.

I wasn’t sad when all but one of the heads retreated. I fondly patted the last head. “Do you need something?”

The hydra’s heads looked down at Whiskers and Kevin. Whiskers screeched at it—which sounded like a goblin getting run over by a golf cart—then purred deep in his chest.

The hydra’s stretched out head gently nudged my cheek, then as fast as it arrived, it marched off, heading into the gardens.

I dusted my hands off on my thighs. “Do creatures just meander around the castle? Or was that a tame hydra?”

“There is no such thing as a tame hydra,” Skye said. “And no. The creatures of the Night Realm typically do not wander around the castle grounds. They have been wild for decades, and most of them are extremely dangerous.”

Oh. Well. Would have been nice to know that before I greeted it. But I suppose everyone freaks out about the night mares all the time, and they’re as sweet as ponies. Maybe the hydra just offends the fae’s obsession with beauty and power?

“It’s fine,” I said.

“You most often say ‘it’s fine’ when it, in fact, is not fine,” Skye said.

“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure it was just greeting me. I don’t think it’s going to go on a murder spree. It was actually a lot smaller than I thought it would be.”

“That was a juvenile,” Skye said.

“A what?”

“It’s not full grown.” Indigo used her artifact—a ring slipped on her thumb—to create a second orb of light—one for each hand. “Although it’s still dangerous—especially because that was the one Queen Nyte used an enslavement spell on and forced to fight when she faced off with the Drake Family vampires and the House Medeis wizards. Wasn’t it, Skye?”

“I believe so.” Skye tapped her tablet screen. “There are only a few hydra that technically belong to the Night Court. Most of them live in the Night Realm and are rarely seen.”

“Wow, poor thing. I should have seen if it wanted to stay in the stables with the night mares,” I said.

“Hydra prefer a landscape with access to large bodies of water,” Skye informed me.

“Oh. Then it would have had to stay down by the mansion’s lake, and I’m guessing the mermaids and naiads wouldn’t have liked that,” I said.

“A possibly dangerous creature that will continue to grow for most of its life? Yes, they would not like that,” Skye confirmed.

I absently patted Kevin’s head. “It seemed like it accomplished whatever it was that it wanted. Shall