They had to be fae with their slightly tapered ears and willowy limbs. And just like my would-be-killer, they were descendants of the Night Court—a fact made obvious by the crescent moon pins they wore affixed to their fancy clothes, and their ashen taupe complexions.
I relaxed my shoulders when my call was picked up. “Leila! What’s up?”
“Hey, Hazel. Are you at Drake Hall right now, or House Medeis?” I asked. Since Hazel and Killian had become engaged, the pair split their time between the vampire hall and the magical wizard House.
“We just arrived at Drake Hall today! Did you want to come over for dinner?”
“Um, thank you, but no. But I could really use a little help right now.”
“Sure! What’s up?”
“A fae from the Night Court shot at me. I’m pretty sure he was trying to kill me, but he ran off when some strange magic intervened. Now I’ve got a couple fae walking across my lawn.”
“KILLIAN!” The line cut off, ending the call.
I could swallow, now. If Hazel and Killian were on their way, I’d survive this—vampires were that fast.
A fae in a navy blue suit offered his arm to the beautiful woman who’d driven one of the two cars. She was wearing a flowered, bright orange dress that would have looked more appropriate at a fancy afternoon tea than visiting the countryside.
The other car held an older, distinguished woman who wore such a prominent frown she looked like a frog despite her fae beauty, and three guards who wore black and carried daggers and swords strapped to their waists.
They have to be chasing after the fae—why else would they bring guards? I’m Unpledged, but that shouldn’t matter to them, even if they are from the Night Court.
Their presence made ice spread through my veins, and it wasn’t until Twilight nudged me that I was able to recover.
“Hello.” I walked past the edge of the barn, revealing myself to them. “Can I help you?”
I was grateful for the fae horses, who moved around me in a herd—suspiciously eyeing our guests. Comet sneered at them, and her red drool that dripped frightfully actually cheered me for once because all of the fae turned ashen when she aimed her coughing-bark at them.
One of the guards strode toward me, despite the shifty horses surrounding me. He lifted his sword and pointed at the wooden fence, mumbled a word, then chopped through the boards in one strike.
My jaw dropped. “That was ourfence! We need that for the horses you inconsiderate—” I angrily swallowed my words, even though I wanted to shake my fist at them.
No, I don’t want to argue with them, I want to get them out of here as quickly as possible. It’s. Fine.
It didn’t matter anyway. The fae ignored my outburst and were marching into the pasture with all the pomp and elegance they could muster.
This was why I didn’t like dealing with the fae. They were incrediblyselfish—and yes, I said that as a half fae.
The older, distinguished-appearing fae woman led them all. Her face twitched with disdain when she had to edge her way around a few piles of horse poop, but, hey, that’s what she got for breaking my fence!
I loosely dropped an arm over Eclipse’s neck when the mare stood next to me, an encouraging presence to me. “What brings you here?” I asked when the fae all stopped short of the fae horses and me.
“It cannot be you,” the old lady said. “You are not even a full fae!”
“You’re right,” I said brightly. “Thankfully, I’m only half. But you still haven’t told me why you’re here, ruining our fences.”
The old lady turned around. “You have misled us—our esteemed monarch could notpossiblybe half human!”
Esteemed monarch? What on earth is she talking about?
Suits—the fae in the navy blue suit—blinked. “I would not believe it either. However, doesn’t the night mares’ conduct prove it must be she?”
“It cannot be. We will have to release the night mares again. This will not be allowed,” the older fae declared.
I called her older, but truthfully she didn’t have many wrinkles—just a few lines at the edges of her eyes, which I’d bet were from scowling rather than smiling—and her gray hair was sleek and perfect.
Yeah, you could say the fae won the genetic lottery. Not only do they all have otherworldly looks and poise, but they age incredibly slowly and with a stupid amount of grace. I wasn’t too sad about inheriting that trait, but my fae blood came with a ton of baggage since fae are opinionated and political, so I still wasn’t a fan.
