Crown of Moonlight (Court of Midnight and Deception #2) - K.M. Shea Page 0,29

whisper. “Stop assuming he dislikes you. Take a look at his actions and you’ll see he occasionally steps out of his inaction to help you, and for a fae, that’s huge.”

“If you know me then you must know what he does,” I said. “There’s a big risk if I misread him.”

“It’s often been my experience that in relationships—whether it’s romantic, friendship, or familial—the biggest danger is always in staying silent and trudging on assuming you know what the other person is thinking rather than speaking up and voicing your own feelings.” She shrugged. “But what do I know? I’ve just been around since before your little Court was formed.”

I glanced back at Rigel. He yawned and looked disgustingly like a fae from an epic poem despite the mass of children that scampered past him, and the harried looking dad that almost collided with him.

“Is that relationship advice or romantic advice?” I asked.

The vampire adjusted her glasses and smirked as she sat back in the chair. “That’s up to you, Queen Leila. But if I were you, I’d be far more interested in getting much closer to him.” Her smirk grew for a moment, before—like quicksilver—it was gone. “You need him to survive the kind of odds you’re facing. Good luck.” She stuffed the cash in her kimono bag and went back to reading her book, totally disinterested in me.

I stared at her for a few moments, until Indigo popped out of the crowd.

“Here—I got a hot apple fritter. You’ll want to eat that now.” She handed me the donut, juggling a giant paper bag. “Mom says hello, by the way. She gave us a ton of goodies—she said you need it, and that Chase should be eating more, too.”

We wandered back to the werewolf and the assassin—Indigo yipped and held the bag over her head when Kevin gave it a sniff.

I took my first bite of the hot apple fritter when we reached Chase. “I love your family. I want to adopt you all.” The warm frosting melted in my mouth, and I hummed in appreciation.

“She’ll be glad to hear you enjoyed it. Here, Chase—and I have one for you, Consort Rigel, should you like to have one.” Indigo pulled an apple fritter out of the bag and gave it to Chase, then slowly held one out to Rigel.

He shook his head.

“I’ll take his!” I volunteered.

Indigo passed it off. “Enjoy.”

“Thank you,” I said with deep gratitude.

After I finished my apple fritter, but before I could suck down the second, I glanced at Rigel. I wonder why he decided to come today.

I got my chance to ask a little over an hour later.

“I’ve notified the human police, and sent word to the Curia Cloisters. They’re now aware of the…situation.” Skye clutched her cellphone as she glanced out at the much bigger crowd that had amassed in the last few minutes.

Apparently my Court had gotten word that I was at the market, because tons of Night Court fae, both nobles and common, stormed it. This drew admiration from the human attendees, who frequently asked my people for pictures.

I had called Skye to ask if it was okay, and she’d jumped into action, gathering more of Chase’s security team and sending them to us while she rushed to let the local government know that an entire Court was about to descend on Magiford before coming here herself.

I scratched under Kevin’s chin, making him wag his tail. “Sounds great, Skye. I think we’re all good, then. I saw two of Chase’s people directing the trolls so they could safely see the market, and the pixies were entertaining the group of school kids that the banshees accidentally scared,” I said.

Skye let out a whoosh of air. “Yes. I believe everything has been righted.”

I patted her shoulder. “Thanks, Skye. You were amazing with all of that.”

“It was an unexpected task.” She slouched a bit, making me believe I’d made a good decision a few minutes ago.

Skye—always graceful, always put together—had looked so troubled I’d sent Indigo off to get an apple fritter for her.

I waved to Lord Dion, who arrived shortly after an extremely harried Skye. “Why don’t you go find Indigo? She’s at the brownie bakery stand—I gave her cash, she was going to put an order in for you and get you a hot apple fritter.”

Skye wrinkled her forehead. “But then you’ll be alone.”

“Nah, Rigel’s here.” I jerked my thumb over my shoulder at the fae assassin. “And so are Kevin and Whiskers—and I