Crown of Moonlight (Court of Midnight and Deception #2) - K.M. Shea Page 0,34

about choosing the narrative or act they wanted to impress upon the day.

Lady Chrysanthe’s floral dress was a lot simpler than anything I’d seen her in before, same to her sun hat.

And what is that supposed to say?

Deciding it was a lost cause, I jerked my thumb over my shoulder. “I better go talk with Chase about…this.”

“Naturally,” Lady Chrysanthe said. Her voice was a scoff—but not the disgusted one she usually used around me. It sounded hollow—or like a motion with no thoughts behind it.

I shook my head slightly as I left her and headed for Chase.

Something weird is going on with her.

I strolled up to where Chase was speaking with a few of his men. “Any clues?”

Chase’s golden eyes glittered in the shadows—a striking comparison to his warm, sepia-brown skintone. “Not this soon into the investigation. The perpetrator did not conveniently leave bits of evidence out in obvious spots that are easy to collect.”

“Sorry, I know I’m impatient.” I glanced over at Kevin—who was now standing with his nose raised in the air.

Whiskers had rolled on to his back, baring his belly for the very hesitant dryad that was dribbling the blue healing potions into the gloom’s cuts.

“I’ve made arrangements for you to get home,” Chase said.

I frowned a little. “Isn’t Azure still here? She can drive me—unless you meant you were calling for back up security.”

“No,” Chase said. “I sent for transportation of a different kind.”

There was a metallic clang, and when I swung around again, a metal archway with a fancy iron gate stood in the middle of the parking lot. The gate swung open, and the archway was filled with misty black magic.

Six night mares, one sun stallion, and a donkey hee-hawing loudly enough to alert the entire market of his presence drifted through the door.

I ran to the night mares and flung myself at the closest one, hugging its thin, bony neck as a couple of muzzles nudged me.

The night mares—due to years of neglect under the rule of the previous queen—were all emaciated with scraggly manes and tails and coarse hair. They all looked sickly and rather…well…nightmarish since they had glowing yellow eyes, nostrils that always flared red, and mouths filled with serrated teeth that weren’t natural on any sort of equine.

Their presence made the fae leery, though I’d noticed that since I’d won the race with the six of them—five of them going riderless—my peoples’ fear seemed tinged with respect. Now they nodded to the horses as if they were fellow fae.

I made my way around the circle of night mares, cooing to every mount—including Fax, my placid but adorably giant sun stallion I’d inherited as queen; and Bagel, the long-eared donkey I’d brought from my parents’ place.

Bagel smiled up at me, peeling his lips back as I itched a spot on his forehead while Solstice rested his scratchy muzzle on my shoulder.

“Thanks for coming, guys. Did Dusk and Dawn tell you?” I asked, referring to the brother/sister dryads who were in charge of the stables, but also cared for all the glooms and shades, too.

Fax nodded, and his mane—made of blue and white flames—flickered higher than usual.

I spun around and had to stand on my tip toes to drape myself over Solstice’s back. “Thanks for sending for them, Chase.”

Chase shrugged a little. “It’s the safest way to get you home, and I thought their presence might reassure you.”

“Aww, you big softie!”

I heard a noise at the gate, and turned around to see a gloom and two shades wander through.

It wasn’t the ones that had declared themselves house pets, but the ones I’d named that lived in the stables. I recognized the gloom as the one I’d named Fluffy, and Bob and Larry were the shades that were now industriously sniffing in the shady spots where the creatures had emerged.

Chase’s people very respectfully stepped backwards as the shades marched through, following a scent trail of some sort. Fluffy padded behind them, pausing long enough to emit one of his angry-goblin screams that I was about 90% sure was supposed to be friendly but came off as intimidating, the poor kitty.

“It looks like you’re getting help?” I said.

“So it seems,” Chase said. “You ought to head back.”

“Yeah, I will. But where did Rigel end up—” I yelped when I turned back around and found Rigel standing with me in the center of the equine huddle. “Sheesh—you’re like a ghost.”

Rigel raised an eyebrow at me. “One would almost think that’s how I got the name