Crown of Shadows (Court of Midnight and Deception #1) - K. M. Shea Page 0,112
as we thundered down the open stretch of the park, slowing down and eventually stopping.
“Night Court, Night Court!”
“All hail the queen!”
“No one crosses the demon horses!”
The night mares, elated with the win, shrieked and reared up, pawing at the sky.
I laughed as I clung to Blue Moon, who tossed his head and pranced with the rest of them. “You were amazing!”
At the very end of the park I slipped off Blue Moon. Instantly I was crowded by six night mares, pressing in on me.
I laughed and kissed their scratchy muzzles and cooed words of praise to each one of them. I lingered over Eclipse, stroking her neck—which was whole and unharmed without a single mark.
How the heck did that happen? Do they have healing powers I don’t know about?
It was something to ask Dusk and Dawn later.
“You’re okay.” My shoulders dropped in my relief, and I felt light headed. “We’re okay.”
“Queen Leila! Can we take your picture?”
The human observers crowded as close as they could behind the erected barriers.
Before I could respond, the night mares headed in their direction. I laughed and followed after them. “Yes, of course.”
I posed for the picture—my night mares surrounding me—and tried not to fidget as I felt blood crust on my back.
I didn’t think I was bleeding anymore, and I wasn’t feeling light headed, but I wanted to disinfect the claw marks on my back as soon as possible—who knew what kind of dirt got in them when I was rolling around the street?
Landon peered at me over the barrier as the rest of the humans kept taking pictures of the night mares. “I guess it’s good you’ve got demon horses with enemies like that,” he said.
I felt for the flower I’d stuffed in my pocket. “I guess.”
“Leila!”
Recognizing the voice, I turned around, then wheezed when Indigo slammed into me, hitting my gut.
“You idiot!” Indigo hiccupped. “We were so scared for you!”
“It was an unnecessary danger, Queen Leila,” Chase said as he and Skye approached us.
“Yeah, but we swept the race!” I grinned. “The first six places all go to the Night Court!”
I saw Skye’s tight facial expression, and for a moment my heart froze. “Right?”
“Lord Umer is contesting that the night mares should count as one entry since you all crossed the line together, but the placings for the top ten have been posted, and the officials granted you first through sixth,” Skye said.
“That’s great! But why do you look so grim?”
Indigo smacked my belly. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it was because you almost got yourself killed, and the drone cut off! We didn’t know what was happening!” Her voice went higher and higher until she shrieked at the end.
Skye started to circle around behind me, but she paused long enough to pull a sealed fae healing potion from the messenger bag she had slung over her shoulder. “How badly is your back injured?”
“I don’t think too badly—it doesn’t hurt a lot right now. Oh, but Chase, I have something for you.” I dug into my pocket and pulled out the chrysanthemum—which was now a little crushed. “The monster had this infused in its core. I’m not sure why—whatever that creature was, it was not made of fae magic.”
I handed the flower over, then took a swig of the healing potion as Skye tried to discreetly look at my back.
I choked on the flavor—usually fae healing potions tasted pretty delicious, like coconut or chocolate. This potion tasted like a pulverized cabbage and kale. “This is awful—what is this?”
“A healing potion—one that is less pricy because of the foul flavor,” Skye said.
“Why would you buy these?”
“Because they’re cheap.” Skye narrowed her dark eyes at me. “And because I intend to force-feed them to you whenever you recklessly put your life in danger.”
“Negative reinforcement—a good plan.” Indigo gave Skye a thumbs up.
Chase held the flower up to his sensitive nose and sniffed it. “It smells of Lady Chrysanthe.”
“For real?” I asked.
Chase tilted his head as he delicately smelled it. “Your scent is stuck to it as well, but her smell is predominant. She must have worn this in her hair for a full day.”
“Huh. Wow.” I took another sip of my healing potion and grimaced. “I thought it might be hers, but I didn’t think she’d be stupid enough to use a flower she’d worn when creating whatever that monster was. I’d like to find out how she did it—that weird magic was not fun to go up against.”