“How do we make them choose again?” Suits helplessly gestured to the fae horses surrounding me. “It took months to convince them to begin the search. If we refute their first choice it may be a year before they are willing to look again.”
What the heck are they talking about?
Since the fae didn’t seem inclined to answer me, I turned to Eclipse. “That’s it—they’re part of a cult, aren’t they?”
The fae in the fancy day dress tossed her head, making her hair ripple flawlessly. “I refuse to believe it. The night mares searched for months, andthisis what they find? This must be their revenge.”
Nebula lunged at her, releasing a noise that started as a neigh and ended in that glass-piercing shriek all my fae horses could produce.
The woman screamed as she leaped backwards with an admirable amount of agility given that she was wearing high heels.
Apparently, this wasn’t enough, because Solstice reared, his nostrils flaring red as he also shrieked.
My heart squeezed with love for my homely horses as the fae went running back across the pasture and threw herself into one of the cars, shutting and locking the door behind her.
“Such a good boy.” I fondly patted Solstice on the shoulder.
“That’s a confirmation thattwohave chosen her.” The older fae woman peered down her nose at me. “But we ought to be able to make an appeal given her…humanblood.” She shuddered in open revulsion, and unknowingly hit my switch.
I like to think I’m a pretty chill person, but I was proud of my human blood. Heck, it was my fae half I wasn’t thrilled about. And I wasn’t going to put up with someone criticizing me for something I was proud of.
“Okay, that’s it.” I slid my arm off Eclipse and straightened up. “You barge in here, break my fence, insult me and take potshots at my horses without even introducing yourselves? You’re awful—not to mentionunwanted—guests,” I said, speaking the magic words.
All supernaturals have natural strengths and weaknesses.
Fae are really gifted with magic and are able to twist and meld it for tons of different uses—for everything from wards to mind reading to temporary love potions.
Fae also tend to be faster and stronger than the average human—although they’ve got nothing on vampires in the speed department or werewolves and shifters when it comes to strength.
The fae arepowerful. And yet, they’re kept in check by some pretty iron-clad rules.
First off, they can’t lie—they are physically incapable of it. Supposedly it has something to do with the way they use magic and their bodies process it, but I never really bothered to learn for sure.
Lying isn’t as hard for them to get around as you might think—some fancy wordsmithing, a few vague sayings, and they can still manage to cheat and deceive people.
But the second big rule is etiquette. The fae are bound to lots of outdated rules of conduct. I think it’s why they always prance around acting like old nobility from Europe.
The basic gist is that they have to obey and follow their monarchs—like lying, this rule is magic bound—but they’re also supposed to be excellent guests and hosts. This is more of a cultural thing. Magic doesn’t force them to do it, and they can get around it.
But you can still use it as a verbal weapon, which is exactly what I intended to do.
My accusation of their poor conduct made the fae stand tall.
“We,” the older woman ground out, “are representatives of the Night Court.”
“How surprising. What are you doing here?” I curled my hands into fists, dreading their answer.
“We are searching for our new ruler,” Suits said.
And there we have it. The biggest mess I could ever ask for.
The previous Queen of the Night Court died late in the fall. Since it was now May, that was a really long time to go without a monarch.
“Andwhywould you be searching for a fae monarch on human land?” I asked.
The old lady pointed accusingly at the horses. “It is the night mares.”
“What?” I asked.
