Crown of Shadows (Court of Midnight and Deception Book 1)

by K. M. Shea

  Leila

  Turns out, they wanted to go with me to get coffee.

  About half an hour later I was mounted up on Eclipse, squinting even though I wore sunglasses, as I studied Solstice—who was riderless but wearing a leather halter for our jaunt—and Chase—who was riding Fax.

  The helmet I borrowed from Dawn was squeezing my head a little, and everything felt a little off. Eclipse was so skinny the saddle sat differently on her, but her movements were a lot smoother than I’d prepared myself for.

  “Are we sure this is going to work?” I asked.

  “Absolutely, Queen Leila.” Dusk fed Solstice a chunk of carrot. “One of the reasons why the night mares are revered is because of their ability to make their own fae gates. They can walk into the Night Realm and then create another gate to drop you straight into the human realm. You just have to think of where you want the new gate to drop you.”

  “Yeah, but as much as I love my beauties, I don’t know how well they’re going to deal with all the noises and sights of downtown Magiford.” I glanced nervously down at Eclipse, who was standing placidly.

  Dusk brushed a leaf that was drooping over his right eye back into his hair. “It will be fine, Queen Leila.”

  “I don’t want them to make a gate to the café and then get scared because they hear a car horn,” I said.

  Dawn joined her brother, and the two stood shoulder to shoulder. “In truth, Queen Leila, the time when the night mares were most likely to…express themselves is when you first mounted Eclipse.” She glanced from Solstice to Eclipse, then added, “I don’t believe Dusk or I have seen anyone ride the night mares since we were kids.”

  That explains why they were nervous when I first hopped on.

  “They’re long lived, have been ridden into battle, and have roamed the human realm at their leisure for the past decade,” Dusk said. “They’ll be fine.”

  Eclipse swished her tail, and Solstice rested his chin on my foot.

  “Okay. I guess I’ll have to believe in them.” I twisted in the saddle to offer Chase a smile. “Are you ready for this?”

  Chase grinned—he’d loosened up a bit since hopping on Fax. “Yes, Queen Leila.”

  Thankfully Chase already knew how to ride horses—don’t ask me how that happened, because Chase didn’t tell me in the scuffle of getting the horses ready—and Dusk and Dawn had assured me Fax could have a screaming child draped on his neck and the placid gelding wouldn’t react.

  “Right.” I centered myself, then looked down at Eclipse’s bony neck. “So…Eclipse…you want to do the thing?”

  “Do the thing?” Dawn repeated, sounding shocked with my impressive wording.

  “I don’t know what to call it—”

  I cut myself off when I felt magic—not the whispery-but-sticky sensation of fae magic, but the same magic I’d felt when I first met the night mares and they pressed their muzzles against my temple. It was faint, but strong—like the light of a distant star.

  A hum—which may or may not have faintly reminded me of a lightsaber—made the air throb, before a stone archway and metal gate identical to the one in the garden assembled in front of us.

  The door swung open, revealing the misty black interior.

  “Ah. Yes. This doesn’t at all seem like a bad idea,” I said as Eclipse walked toward the door.

  I hurriedly turned in the saddle to address Dusk and Dawn one last time. “I have my cellphone. I’ll call you if I need you to come pick us up with the trailer!”

  “Think of where you want to go,” Dawn urged me.

  “Gotcha!” I faced forward and thought of King’s Court Café.

  Riding through the gate on Eclipse was a far more pleasant experience than when the Paragon had sent me through solo.

  I didn’t experience that terrible sensation of not knowing up from down. Sitting on Eclipse’s back with my legs pressed to her sides, I could feel her warmth and the leather saddle.

  The darkness held more swirls of blue and purple, and instead of light streaking by, when I looked out I swear I saw stars glittering in a beautiful ocean.

  And then Eclipse stepped into the Night Realm, popping us out in a grassy field just next to the dilapidated castle.

  Think of King’s Court Café, think of King’s Court Café!

  I hurriedly turned my thoughts to the pleasant and cute café—taking care to picture the café’s building and drive through, because I did not want the night mares dumping us inside the café.

  King’s Court was pet friendly, but I was pretty sure that invitation didn’t extend to horses inside the café.

  Eclipse gave me about two seconds to breathe in the cool but stale night air of the Night Realm before snapping another stone archway in place in front of us.

  More stars and clouds, and we were out, stepping into the parking lot King’s Court Café shared with the nearby buildings.

  “Wow.” I blinked—my eyes were struggling to adjust from the craziness of moving from light to dark and back to light again. “That was a ride.”

  I turned Eclipse in a circle and craned my neck while looking around.

  Yep, we were downtown all right.

  King’s Court was named after the little side street it crouched on, King’s Court Drive. It was just around the corner from Main Street, which was the heart and soul of Magiford. From this angle, you could see Royal Beach—a small greenspace and a tiny public beach the city maintained along with the boardwalk that encircled almost all of the two lakes that rested along Main Street.

  The closest lake, Fairy Lake—and no I’m not making this up, that’s really the lake’s name—sparkled extra under the intense summer sun.

  I could smell the pastries from the French-style bakery just a few doors down, and even though it was mid-morning, the gelato store had a steady stream of customers coming in and out.

  A car with a paddleboard tied to the roof slowed to a crawl when it saw Eclipse and me.

  I waved and tried to look as nonchalant as possible—which I realized might not be convincing considering I was sitting on top of a murderous-looking fae horse.

  I heard the totally-not-a-lightsaber-hum behind me, and turned Eclipse in a circle just in time to see Chase, Fax, and Solstice emerge from the gate, which sputtered shut behind them and disappeared with magic.

  “What do you think?” I asked Chase.

  He surveyed our surroundings. “I don’t believe there are any threats, but I will remain vigilant.”

  “No—I meant of Magiford!”

  “Oh. It’s sufficiently tourist-y to maintain a healthy local economy.”

  I was about to slap my hand to my face, but the serious werewolf continued.

  “Back at home we had to invest heavily in making our town a popular tourist destination to maintain a healthy and happy city. I am glad Magiford has done the same. Their efforts show—the city is quite adorable.”

  “Yeah—I’ve always loved living near Magiford,” I agreed. “But I’ll be the first to admit there is some manipulation at play. Since it’s the supernatural center of the Midwest, the Curia Cloisters spends a lot of money helping maintain downtown—I think it’s so they can manipulate things a little and show how beautiful and picture-perfect things are when humans live with supernaturals. But it’s a fun place to live.”

  Two cars almost collided in front of us because the drivers were gawking at Solstice, Eclipse, and Fax. Pedestrians had stopped and had their cellphones out—most likely taking pictures of us.

  I better get going—I’m not really sure I’m cleared by the Curia Cloisters to parade the night mares downtown, anyway.

  “Okay, I’ll go get my coffee. Are you sure you don’t want anything, Chase?”

  Chase somehow managed to bow, even from on Fax’s back. “Yes, Queen Leila.”

  “Okay, great. I’ll be right back—come on, Solstice!”

  King’s Court Drive was thankfully empty, so Eclipse and Solstice were able to walk shoulder to
shoulder, their silver shod hooves clattering on the pavement.

  I stood up briefly in the stirrups to fish my wallet out of my jeans, then stopped the night mares at a speaker.

  The speaker crackled, before a voice greeted me. “Welcome to King’s Court—what the!”

  The voice cut out briefly, but continued, slightly muffled.

  “Rhonda! Rhonda, we’ve got a rider of the apocalypse in the drive through!”

  Oohhh, that’s right—I forgot they have a camera pointed at the drive through.

  “Actually, they’re really rare fae horses called night mares!” I tried to sound extra friendly as I waved to the little camera that was pointed at us.

  “Calling them night mares doesn’t sound much better than a rider of the apocalypse. It sounds like they could kill you in your sleep,” the café employee said suspiciously.

  “Uhhh…”

  “Are your buddies Pestilence, War, and Famine getting ice cream up the street?”

  “My friend is riding the sun stallion at the front of the café.”

  “What? Where—WHAT?” The speaker blared with the volume the employee shouted. “We’ve got an angel horse up front and demon horses in the drive through! That’s it, the world is going to end. I knew I should have applied to work at the kayak stand!”

  “Their names are Eclipse and Solstice.” I draped myself over Eclipse’s neck, giving her a half hug.

  “Pretty names don’t change the fact that they look like they stepped out of one of those messed up surrealist paintings.”

  I sat up straight. “Hey, that’s mean—they’re adorable!”

  “Mmhmm, as adorable as sharks.”

  A new voice crackled over the speaker. “Landon, what are you shouting about?”

  Even though the speaker horribly mangled the voice, I still recognized it. “Hi Rhonda!” I waved again for the camera.

  King’s Court was my favorite café in Magiford, and when I was in college I stopped in once a week while on my way to classes. That was how I met Rhonda, the owner.

  “Give me that.” There was another loud crackle, and Rhonda’s voice was louder and clearer. “Leila, it’s been too long! I saw the article in the Curia Cloisters’ newsletter that you’d been made Queen of the Night Court.”

  “Article?” I absently patted Eclipse’s shoulder when she shook her head, getting rid of a fly and jangling the bridle.

  “Yeah, it talked about how you’d been chosen and that you were a local girl and one of our own. They had one of your high school pictures with it.”

  “My high school pictures? I must look like I’m about ten!”

  “I thought the braces were a cute touch.”

  I groaned and hung my head—talk about a way to make an impression.

  Rhonda laughed. “What can I get you, Your Majesty?”

  “No teasing, Rhonda, I can’t take it today. I want my summer usual—a medium iced caramel latte with whipped cream. And then two bacon and egg breakfast sandwiches—no, three.”

  “Okay. Anything else?”

  I glanced at Solstice.

  Even though he just had his halter on and he wasn’t tied to me or Eclipse, he was being a perfect boy, standing still and in line with Eclipse. It was pretty cute because he dwarfed her with his massive size.

  “Do you still sell fresh fruit?”

  “Yep!”

  “I’ll take three apples then. And make that four bacon egg sandwiches.”

  “Gotcha. If you move up to the window Landon will get your bill settled and make your latte. I’ll get on your sandwiches.”

  “Okay, thanks!”

  My stomach rumbled as my night mares politely walked up to the window, and I debated adding a fifth sandwich to my order, but as hungry as I was, I probably wasn’t going to be able to eat more than three. The last one was for Chase—even if he didn’t want anything, I would feel horridly guilty eating in front of the werewolf.

  “Landon,” a gangly teenage boy with a thick dusting of freckles and bright blond hair that sprang up in unruly cowlicks, was waiting for me at the window.

  He narrowed his eyes as he pushed the window open. “They’re not zombie horses, are they?”

  “They really are fae horses—they can do magic,” I said.

  Eclipse “smiled” at the boy, which involved peeling her lips back and revealing teeth that were too jagged—and too numerous—to belong to a normal horse.

  Landon took my credit card from me. “Mmhmm. They can do death magic, I bet.” He ran it through the machine and handed it back to me. “You’re a fae monarch—the new Night Queen?”

  “Yep.”

  “Then what are you doing getting a latte and food from a human café?” he asked.

  “Landon,” Rhonda growled from inside the café.

  Landon hunched his shoulders, but I laughed. He disappeared from view for a minute, then reappeared, holding a small brown paper bag and my iced latte. “Three apples for your demon horses and angel horse.”

  “Landon,” I called before the teenager could dart away again. “I’m getting my latte here because the fae don’t drink coffee—there isn’t any in my new home.”

  Landon’s eyes bulged. “Not even a coffee maker?”

  I took a sip of my latte and hummed with pleasure at the slightly bitter drink swirled with creamy sweetness. “Not even instant coffee.”

  Landon made a gagging noise. “My apologies, my queen! Stop by with your demon horses any time—I can make you my specialty drink. I call it the All Nighter!”

  I laughed, and noticed Chase had directed Fax around to the side of the building so he could keep an eye on me.

  I waved to him, then almost hit myself with my apple bag when I saw the people blatantly trying to take selfies with him and had to swallow my laughter.

  Really, I couldn’t blame the humans.

  We supernaturals tried really hard not to publicly invade the human realm much—we wanted them to think we were safe and not a threat.

  The downside of that was they didn’t see many vampires, werewolves, or other supernaturals, and they didn’t get to experience fun stuff like petting a sun stallion.

  I wish we could change that.

  “I’ve got your breakfast sandwiches here, Leila.” Rhonda edged past Landon, passing me a second paper sack. “Are they treating you okay in your Court?”

  I juggled my bags and latte. “Probably as good as could be expected.”

  Rhonda frowned. “That doesn’t sound encouraging.”

  I shrugged. “It’s the fae.”

  She pursed her lips slightly and folded her arms across her formidable chest. “Maybe, but you’re you.” She winked. “Give ’em all the trouble you’ve got, girl.”

  “I’ll try.”

  Rhonda cackled. “You’ll win,” she predicted. “They’ll regret the day they cross their lovely new queen.”

  I laughed as I nudged Eclipse into a walk. “Thanks, Rhonda.”

  “Of course—and if anyone asks, tell them your favorite café is King’s Court!”

  “Naturally!” Eclipse and Solstice picked their way across the parking lot, stopping when I pulled them to a halt just a bit short of Chase and Fax.

  “I got you a breakfast sandwich, Chase.” I held the bag up and shook it a little.

  “I said I didn’t need anything.” Chase watched a woman who was trying to take his picture and nudged Fax so the sun stallion turned his rear to the lady.

  “Yeah, but you’re a werewolf. You’re always hungry. Plus I was going to feel guilty eating in front of you. Should we head back home?”

  “Yes.”

  “Um, excuse me?” Surprised, I peered down, where I found two college-aged girls standing on the sidewalk. “Could we take a picture with you?”

  I blinked in surprise—I figured they’d want Chase’s picture, but not mine. “Um…sure?”

  “Thank you!” The spokesperson for the two turned around and held her phone back as the duo arra
nged themselves so they were in frame along with Eclipse and me.

  “You’re a fae warrior, right?” the second girl eagerly asked.

  “Nah, nothing like that,” I said.

  “She is Queen Leila of the Night Court,” Chase said.

  Both of the girls looked at me with dropped jaws. “You’re a queen?”

  “Reluctantly, yes.” I tried to give the duo a cheerful smile.

  “Oh wow—we’re taking our picture with royalty!” the chattier one squealed.

  “Smile!” the other one said.

  Once they finished, they thanked me, performed a few adorably bad curtseys that were still better than anything I could do, and were on their way.

  “That was fun,” I said as we turned the horses back into the parking lot, preparing to head back home. “I wish more of my role as queen involved fun stuff like this.”

  “In a week you’ll be participating in a Court-wide ride,” Chase pointed out.

  “Yeah, but it’s not the same.” I sighed, and my stomach took that opportune moment to rumble.

  Chase glanced in the direction of my stomach. “Perhaps we ought to head home.”

  “That sounds great.” I rearranged my bags, trying to balance them on my saddle, hold my latte, and grip the reins with one hand. “But while I have you alone, I wanted to ask you for a favor.”

  A favor—those were dangerous words to say to a fae. Favors meant minute shifts in power, and fae were famous for being able to manipulate something small—like answering a simple question—into something as big as a blood debt if you weren’t careful.

  Since Chase was a werewolf, he was the only supernatural on my staff I was comfortable talking to like this.

  Chase glanced at me, his golden eyes glowing. “I am yours to command.”

  “I’d like you to investigate Lord Linus,” I said. “I know you looked into him when he first came to the mansion, but I want to know more. Specifically, I want to know who he owes money to.”

  Chase nodded. “His debt is a dangerous liability.”

  “Exactly,” I said. “One I’d like to get settled as quickly as possible.”

  “I will look into it.”

  “Thanks, Chase. I appreciate it.”