Crown of Moonlight (Court of Midnight and Deception #2) - K.M. Shea Page 0,56

shrugged—then me.

I blinked back at her. Cutting off political maneuvers and nonsense is your domain. You’re alone on this one.

“Are you okay, Lady Chrysanthe?” Leila finally asked.

“Of course.” Lady Chrysanthe frowned at her. “As a daughter of a noble house I could never be injured in such a distasteful scramble.”

Lelia opened her mouth and flicked up a finger, her expression alone showing she was going to remind Lady Chrysanthe of the plot her “friend,” Lord Myron, had cooked up against her that nearly resulted in her being killed. She must have thought better of it, though, because she tilted her head, then dropped her hand.

“I’m glad you are unhurt,” Lady Chrysanthe abruptly said. “I was very worried for you.”

It couldn’t have been a lie—she was fae, after all. But the line came out so canned-sounding it was still unbelievable.

Maybe she’s just twisting words? But I can’t feel any animosity coming off her. She really appears relieved—she’s not holding any specific guarding pattern; her muscles aren’t even tensed.

“Thank you, Lady Chrysanthe,” Leila said.

Lady Chrysanthe nodded to her, and as abruptly as she had arrived, she left—her chin high and her movements graceful.

“What is up with her?” Leila waited until the fae lady was on the other side of the lobby before she asked. “Was it just me, or was that weird?”

“She’s an odd one,” Indigo said. “But I don’t think it’s an act.”

Leila snorted. “How can it not be an act? She hated my guts just a few weeks ago.” She flicked her eyes up to me. “What do you think, Rigel?”

Do I want to tell her? This is the sort of thing I don’t like getting involved in.

Her eyes were bright with curiosity as she peered up at me, and in the fight with the snakes some of her hair had slipped from its elaborate braid, giving her a slightly disheveled look. It was strangely disarming and made a foreign emotion needle my chest.

I can comfortably blame her appearance for this moment of leniency.

“She no longer appears to hold any animosity for you,” I said.

Leila speculatively watched the lady in question. “I suppose, fae can change alliances in the blink of an eye.”

“I don’t think she’s doing it for political reasons,” Indigo said.

“What makes you say that?” Leila asked.

Realizing we were both staring at her, Indigo blushed slightly. “It’s, it’s the way she’s going about this. She lacks tact and is being kind of awkward. If this were some plan of hers it would be a lot smoother. And it’s just…” She trailed off and shook her head.

“We’ll keep an eye on her,” Leila said. “But I agree with you guys—I don’t think she’s got any tricks up her sleeves. But that almost makes me more worried.” She threw her shoulders back. “Wish me luck. I’m going to go do some PR until I get my coffee.”

“PR?” Indigo asked.

Leila nodded to the humans. “If we ever want to be invited back here, I need to make sure the humans aren’t upset about this. I’ll chat with the movie attendees for a bit and offer to pay for all the damages to the theater once they get a manager down here. Hopefully that won’t set my budget back too badly.”

“In that case, I’ll go get that coffee for you,” Indigo said.

“Thanks, Indigo.” Leila waved to her companion, then turned her hopeful eyes on me. “I don’t suppose you feel like doing PR with me?”

“No.”

She mashed her lips together, and for a moment I thought she might press it.

Try it. I’m not going to let myself be swayed by your eyes for a second time tonight.

Abruptly she sighed, and the fight went out of her. “Yeah, I don’t blame you.” She patted my arm as she passed. “But thank you for killing one of those snakes. And just so you know, I’m totally going to brag about you to all the monarchs next time we see them!”

She was smiling, but it didn’t feel true.

For a moment, I argued with myself—I was not a lenient person, and I’d already volunteered more than I normally would have on any given night.

But I’ve come to like her. That’s a rare thing—rare enough that she’s a special existence. No one from the Night Court is going to see me as soft for playing along with her, anyway.

Reluctantly, I said, “If you mention my abs to them, I’m going to skip the next three Court parties.”

Leila laughed, and her smile grew just as I wanted it to.