Crown of Moonlight (Court of Midnight and Deception #2) - K.M. Shea Page 0,98

and all her siblings could, but it would take most of the Court to achieve the same effect here.”

The monster whirled around, dragging its tail across the ground and cutting huge trenches in the dirt.

Dust filled the air, and I coughed into my sleeve, but headlights cut through the smog.

Three trucks—the beds filled with armor-wearing fae warriors—pulled up behind us.

Chase popped out of the front seat of one of the trucks. “Into position,” he shouted. “Go!”

“Chase?” I shouted. “How did you get trucks in here?”

“The night mares helped me bring them in a month ago,” Chase said.

His men leaped from the trucks and formed organized ranks, unholstering what looked like highly altered—perhaps even magical—rifles.

The monster took a swipe at one of the groups of guards with its clawed feet.

Using my charm bracelet, I formed a barrier, protecting them. But when the monster raked its claws across my purple shield, pain ripped through my mind, and I screamed as my barrier shuddered, fast losing magic due to contact with the monster.

When it pulled back, Chase shouted. “Fire!”

The two dozen guards opened fire on the monster, peppering it with shots that exploded on contact.

Even then, they did no damage.

The fires that licked at the creature’s body winked out, and its fur and feathers remained unsinged.

Shadows swirled around the creature, and it exhaled on a tree, turning it into ash, and then it swung its pale skull around to face us.

A gloom screamed and leapt at the monster.

“NO!” I shouted, putting every ounce of my will behind it.

If they touch it, it will kill them—suck the magic right out of their essence.

The cat twisted midair, cutting its leap short.

I sagged with relief, but it was short lived. The monster took a swipe at the cat with a clawed foot and barely missed it.

“We need to get it away from the realm wards,” I shouted to Chase and Rigel. “We have to split up.”

“Absolutely not,” Chase said.

“How do you expect to defeat it?” Rigel asked.

“Get the Day King,” I said. “He should have enough light in him to stop it. Maybe.”

The creature lunged at us. I barely grew a ward in time, screaming in pain as it sank its claws into the shield.

The pain was so intense I fell off Eclipse, but the monster didn’t back off. Its claws sounded like nails on a chalkboard as it tried to poke through my shimmering barrier.

Blood dripped from my nose, and it felt like the building pressure in my brain would make my head explode. Even worse, the magic flowing through my prism was slowing to a sputter. Just a few more seconds, and I wouldn’t have enough to keep the ward protecting us activated.

Rigel brushed past me.

There was a horrific crunch, and the pain retreated.

The monster raised its skull to the sky and screamed—a horrible, wet noise that made goosebumps pop up on my arms and legs.

When I could finally see straight Rigel was jogging back around the barrier, carrying a glowing sword.

“It seems it can be hurt,” Rigel said. “You just have to cut straight through.” He nodded to the chipped claw that lay just past my barrier.

He’d cut straight through it.

“Lord Linus said if we had a way to do it, we could behead the monster which would cut off the magic…” I trailed off when I finally got a good look at Rigel and realized the left sleeve of his jacket was torn, and blood dripped down his arm. “You’re hurt!”

Rigel shrugged. “It’s just a scratch,” he said. “It nicked me when it pulled back.” He rolled his shoulders back, not even a flicker of pain showing on his stoic face.

He’s hurt. Rigel is hurt. Rigel!

That, more than anything else, scared me.

I’d never seen Rigel injured before. That his left arm now dripped with blood was a very, very bad sign.

“We split up,” I repeated as I clambered onto Eclipse’s back. “Get help.”

I turned Eclipse away from Chase’s protests and shouted to my animals, “Scatter!” I put my magic behind the command, pleading with my night mares, shades, and glooms for their cooperation.

It worked.

The cats and dogs peeled off, fading back into the shadows, and the night mares took off—calling to one another as they wove through the ruined landscape.

I need to make sure it follows me. Eclipse might be the only one that can stay ahead of it.

I yanked magic through my prism and created a common light-orb with my magic. I held the glob of light in my fist and