A Love From A Different World

Chapter 79

Rhysand felt numb. He felt nothing. Not sadness, or hurt, or even jealousy. He could not find it in himself to feel anything. If anything, he had been disgusted with himself. Disgusted that even with the world falling apart around, all he could think about was Celeana. Thinking about where she was when he had gone to her room the night before. Disgusted that he had gone to bed, tormenting himself about if she was with someone. The High Lord of the Night Court, the most powerful one to ever grace Prythian- utterly pathetic.

He had tried not to think too much of why Azriel had been late to their meeting. Tried not to wonder what could have possibly made him sleep in for the first time in his life. Tried to keep his breath steady when he had shown up looking so dishevelled. Azriel, his spymaster, his Shadowsinger, a total mess. Even during battle, his brother was always put together. And then he smelt it.

Breathed in the enticing scent of jasmine and lemon verbena. The very same scent that he identified as Celeana. Only it wasn't Celeana. It had taken a split second to understand what that meant. It took him another second to figure out what to say. It had been hard to think or speak, or hell, even breath. The words he had managed to chock out had taken considerable effort.

And then when Azriel said those three words, Rhysand's heart had frozen.

She's my mate.

Since he had met Celeana he wondered at how she could destroy him with just a few words. He'd never imagined that his brother would be capable of breaking him so easily, too. His soul hurt. His mind was in turmoil, his heart shattered. And he had no right. Because how dare he covet his brother's mate? How dare he even look at her with desire, with longing? How could he do this to his brother? How could he be jealous of him? He was disgusting.

So in those quick moments, after Azriel divulge the mating bond, he closed off his heart. He swore to himself that he will never again think about Celeana that way, look at her that way, want her that way. He locked away his feelinsg in the deepest part of his heart, vowing to never free that part of him.

So now he felt nothing. And now that he had disassociated himself from Celeana, he could think clearly. It was almost as if a fog that cleared up, as if he could see properly for the first time in a very long time He was able to conjure thoughts properly, able to realize how blind he had been. But never again.

"She's planning on opening a portal." It was about time he told them. Having kept it to himself all this time had been stupid and dangerous. It was not up to him to protect Celeana. Not anymore.

"What?" His cousin was looking at him with a mix of confusion and something he could not name.

"How do you know?" Cas asked, standing next to a silent Azriel.

"She told me so, quite a few times actually," Lacing his hands together, he looked at his broken family, trying not to glance at Azriel.

"And you kept this from us? What the hell, Rhys?" Mor certainly was not pleased.

"How long have you known?" It was a struggle meeting his brother's gaze. A fight not to flinch or look away with shame. Eventually, he did meet those hazel eyes, which were impossible to read.

"Since we visited the Bone Carver."

"What the hell-" Mor repeated, walking back and forth while shooting him glares.

"And she can now," Spoke his Second, her eyes fierce. "We have both halves here,"

"Does she know that the book can open one?"

"Yes,"

"Shit!" Something was thrown and it shattered on the ground. Cassian was not taking the news very well. "Did you not hear Amren? We have the book here-"

"I heard her," Rhys interrupted. "It still hasn't been decoded, she cannot use it."

"Maybe not, but she can steal, you idiot!"

His brother was right. He had been an idiot. He had been blind with lust and allowed an enemy into his home, into his heart.

Cassian looked at Azriel in a panic. "Are you sure she's sleeping?"

The room stilled as the possibility hung in the air.

Before anyone could do anything, say anything, the ground trembled. Like ink dropped in water.

And then the screaming began.

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Hello everyone. As you may have noticed, I published more than five chapters this week. If you have been following my story on AO3 thus far, you may have noticed that I updated the story from where it was on that platform. I have been unjustly suspended on AO3 (the person I accused of stealing my work instead claimed that I plagiarized theirs-even though my story was posted a year before theirs). The situation is messy right now, and seeing how incompetent and unfair I have been treated, I may not even return to AO3 even if it is all resolved. Furthermore, due to the suspension, my work A Love From A Different world was temporarily removed, and I cannot edit, post, or seemingly do anything on the platform-not even comment to my readers to let them know of the suspension. I cannot do anything on the platform for two weeks, so both A Love From A Different World and Accidentally Fated will both be posted and uploaded here instead. Like always, a new chapter on Accidentally Fated will be posted today, and A Love From A Different World will be posted tomorrow. If there are any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to let me know. Lastly, if anyone reading this from AO3 would be so kind as to let users on that platform know of the situation, that I would be ever grateful. You can copy and paste this link to bring readers directly to my story; https://www.wattpad.com/1186872083-a-love-from-a-different-world-author%27s-note. 

-Haloham