I mean, there was no way this horse was wild. I live in the Midwest, halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee. We don’t have wild horses around here.
I grimaced as I saw the individual ribs in its side. “You need to put on some weight. Your owner half-starved you.” I fed Bagel another carrot, then offered another piece to the fae horse. “I’ll get some hay for you—you deserve it after helping me out. Thank you.”
The fae horse crunched on its carrot, and surprisingly followed after me as I headed for the barn.
It walked fast enough that it caught up and walked at my side, its head bobbing a little since it had a jolting walk.
I made myself breathe normally as I slowly raised my hand and eventually brushed its neck with one figure.
The horse threw its head and shied to the side.
I calmly stopped, trying not to alarm it.
The fae horse arched its neck, but after a few moments passed it ambled up to me, blowing hot, almost sulfuric scented breath on my fingers as it sniffed my hand.
I held my hand up for better inspection.
Once the horse was satisfied it raised its muzzle, and pressed it to my temple.
I felt something…strange. I shivered without explanation, and I could have sworn I felt a bit of magic, but it was gone so fast I couldn’t be certain.
The fae horse smeared its lips on me—probably leaving spit behind, but it didn’t matter, there was no way I was going to drop off my resume looking like this—then it reclaimed its spot next to me.
“So much for becoming a Responsible Adult.” I grimaced as I peered down at my gunk-spattered slacks. “But I have another set of business casual clothes. I’ll shower to get the spider stink out of my hair, andthenI’ll go drop off my resume. I will own this—my entire life’s goal!”
I pumped my hand in the air, but neither Bagel nor the fae horse seemed particularly impressed. Didn’t matter—I wasdeterminedto live out my life in as human a way as possible.
That might sound like a ridiculously small life goal, but as a half fae, it was beyond most people like me. Fae loved to play mind games and push Court politics. I wanted a peaceful, stress-free life, so my greatest hope was to live like a human, get a regular job with insurance, vacation time, and every other beautifully mundane benefit. Crushing fae spiders was the most excitement I ever wanted to face.
I glanced at the fae horse, which was staying in step with me even though it was capable of zooming ahead. This time, when I placed my hand on its neck, the fae horse shivered, but it didn’t react.
I pressed my lips together. “I don’t think owning a fae horse counts as a life of excitement,” I said. “Or really, we’re not going to let it count. I’m going to get some weight on you, and you can live out a peaceful human life here with me.”
The horse made a noise in its throat that sounded weirdly like a chortle, but it didn’t even flick an ear when Bagel released his gusty, deafening hee-haw.
As I patted the horse, it didn’t occur to me to be wary of it for any reason besides the possible physical threat it could have been.
I’d never seen a horse like it before, and with good reason. Almost no one outside fae Courts had ever seen a night mare before, so I had no way of knowing that—for me—its presence was a harbinger of the worst kind.
Chapter Two
Rigel
Iused a fragile sheet of rice paper to clean my dagger, wiping it free of dust and excessive oil as I waited in the shadows for my target.
A cat pounced on a mouse hiding in a fresh pile of wood shavings, one of the grooms picked up a leather saddle, which creaked as he carried it off, and the quiet tap of footsteps on stone announced two fae had arrived.
I looked away from my blade long enough to peer through a crack in the hayloft I had chosen for my position.
One of the new arrivals was one of the two stable managers. He whipped his baseball hat off and picked a leaf from his hair as he and his companion entered the shadow of the stables.
“It’s as I’ve told you,” the stable manager said. “We set the night mares loose every night, just as we have for the past two months. About a week ago, one of them didn’t come back. Almost every morning since then, a new one has been missing.”
His companion was a fae noble I vaguely recognized as a peon to the previous Night Court monarch, Queen Nyte. Or rather, he’d been her peon, before she’d lost all her sense and picked a fight with the most lethal vampire Family in the Midwest, who killed her for her numerous assassination attempts against their leader and his pet wizard.
The noble tilted his chin back and looked imperiously down his nose at the stable manager. “I cannot believe you are so inept at your job that you do not knowwherethe night mares have gone.”
The stable manager was a dryad, but the green hue to his skin was a sickly yellow-green rather than the usual healthy moss color. “We give them free rein—we have to. They won’t go anywhere if we try to handle ’em, and we can’t keep up with ’em once they set out.”
