I stayed still as the monster brought its head closer, letting me see the lake scum and seaweed that was caught in the crevices of its scales.
YOU ARE THE QUEEN OF THE NIGHT COURT,the hydra said.AND YOU HAVE SEEN ONE OF MY KINSMEN.
It took me a moment to remember the much, much,muchsmaller hydra I’d seen in August.Ahah—yes. Yes I have. He was very…um…cute?
A few of the heads swiveled around, taking stock of the realm.
WE WILL RETURN TO OUR SLEEP. WE DO NOT CARE FOR THIS REALM NOW THAT THE ELVES DO NOT WALK IT. BUT YOU INTEREST US, LITTLE QUEEN. WE WILL LISTEN FOR YOU, AND RISE WHEN WE WISH TO.
That’s great, I weakly thought.Just wonderful. I’ll keep an eye out for you.
The hydra abruptly retracted the head closest to me. All nine heads gave me a tiny nod, and then the necks lowered, snaking downward. The hydra dove back underwater, splashing up enough lake water to create waves bigger than cars.
I lifted the staff above my head and ran farther up the sandy shore, making my way to my friends as the last hydra head disappeared underwater. I had to run as water surged up the shore, splashing my already soaked blue jeans.
“It’s fine,” I called to my friends as I cleared the water and staggered closer.
“Fine?” Fell sneered—evidently he’d woken up, though it looked like Indigo had bashed him pretty hard because a bump was forming on his forehead. “Fine? You just woke up a hydra—and you call that fine?!”
“It’s going back to sleep.” I frowned, then scowled. “And what areyoucomplaining for? You brought that monster here! Do you have any idea how much that thing could have damaged my realm or hurt my people?”
“It would be your fault for being weak,” Fell haughtily said.
“That’s it,” I said. “I can’t stand hearing hisannoyingvoice anymore. Someone knock him out, again, please.”
“Knock me out?” Fell narrowed his eyes. “I am the King of the Autumn Court and a member of the Fae Ring! You can’t just—”
Rigel became my second favorite person of the day—Indigo was going to stay first due to Fell’s original beatdown—and struck Fell on the side of his neck.
Fell’s eyes rolled back, and he crumpled. To keep him from smacking the ground, Rigel caught him by the back collar of his tunic, so the Autumn King dangled in his grasp, choking and helpless.
“I did a good day’s work when I married you,” I said.
Rigel very expressively shrugged.
“Eclipse!” I called to my mare. “I need your help—I want to throw Fell at his realm before he wakes up and I contemplate killing him. Can you make me a gate?”
“Are we seriously just going to skip over the fact that you’re using the Original King’s staff and that you just called the biggest hydra I’ve ever heard of from the realm lake—which, I’m not embarrassed to say, I am never going near again.” Indigo shivered.
“Isn’t the skull monster proof that Fell’s the one who’s been trying to kill you?” Although Lord Linus was asking me, his eyes flicked to Chase.
“The monster used the same magic as the shadow snakes from the movie theater, and the shadow creatures at the market,” Chase confirmed. “I can smell it. But I don’t know if it’s as clear proof as one would think. Those other two attacks were laced with fae magic, but this one lacked it entirely.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “It had that ancient magic I’ve felt a few times now. Do you know what that is?”
Chase shook his head. “Nothing I’ve come across. I asked my packmates, and none of them recognized the scent, either.”
“That’s troubling,” Skye said. “Though perhaps it is merely an indication that King Fell is taking more serious action against my Sovereign?”
I tried to shove the staff deeper into the ground—the thing weighed a ton and was going to be a pain to drag around. But even I—a vocal hater of the Original Creep—had to admit as far as artifacts went, it was top notch. “Someone call the Paragon and tell him to get over here—he might be able to help us, and he owes me after that tea party of his.”
Chase nodded, and got on his phone.
“I must admit, I thought you’d be madder about this.” Indigo nodded to the gurgling-and-blessedly-still-unconscious Fell.
“Oh, I’mfurious,” I said. “But I just had an ancient hydra speak with me mind to mind. I’m kind of numb at the moment—or I’d be beating the stuffing out of Fell like he’s a scarecrow. Eclipse?”
The mare swished her tail, and the familiar archway of stone and iron appeared.
