The Prophecy - ACOTAR

Chapter 24

Astrid rushed from Eris's chamber, regret and a tinge of shame filling her. She would forever hate drunk Astrid, the side of herself that always let go just a bit too much. This time though, it tied for first place, tied with the time she had drunkenly wandered into Brannagh's room to be met with the sight of Dagdan taking her against the wall. That was one memory she wished would have stayed gone, but the Mother seemed to enjoy the torment it brought her.

Drunk Astrid seemed to have less inclination to wear clothes than sober Astrid did. Whether it was removing her clothes to lay with a male or going for a midnight swim nearby. So far, she had been lucky not to regret who she ended up with at the end of parties, but all luck must run out sometime.

Astrid found herself bursting into Wrenica's room, heading straight for the toilet, ready to purge herself of last night. She couldn't remember the exact activities that occurred in that cursed bedroom and she was taking no chances. She would rather tell Amarantha about Rhysand than take a chance that any of his bodily fluids resided in her body.

She knew Wrenica had stepped in when delicate hands pulled her hair back, accompanied by a light chuckle. Astrid continued to empty her stomach till she was dry heaving, making sure her stomach was good and empty. If she could, she would either burn or clean her pussy with alcohol. For now, though, she would have to settle for a thorough scrubbing of her skin and then find someone to make her a tonic. She would rather throw herself from the top of the mountain than risk having his children, the thought of a little Eris causing her to dry heave once more.

After a boiling hot bath, Astrid was now sitting in front of the fire with Wren. "So, are you going to tell me what that was about?" Wren questioned.

"I may or may not have woken up in a male bed..."

Wren's mouth dropped open in understanding, her hand shooting up to her mouth as a laugh burst from her chest. "Would this male happen to have red hair?"

"Shut up." Astrid murmured, shoving pieces of cheese into her mouth.

"How drunk did you get?"

"Apparently drunk enough..."

+

Astrid avoided any and all other parties like they contained a plague, just as she did the Vanserra brothers. Astrid wasn't normally one to choose avoidance, but she refused to acknowledge that night. She refused to acknowledge the consequences of her drunken actions. If she acknowledged that night, she would have to accept that she slept with Eris. A male she considered to be as far down the barrel as she could go.

Eris may have helped Wren escape before, but that didn't automatically make him her ally as well. He and his family were all too happy to follow the murderous Queen. She couldn't be sure if Eris was playing along like Rhys and her were, but the male had done nothing to show she could trust him.

He may be keeping her biggest secret, but not without the threat of death hanging over his shoulders.

Much to Astrid's dismay, Rhysand managed to find out about her drunken escapade. Something he was all too happy to tease her about and all too happy to ask if Eris's cock needed to be removed from his lanky body. The latter question resulted in a lengthy discussion about Astrid's ability to protect herself and remove body parts.

Astrid didn't miss the circles under her brothers' eyes growing darker. She knew what Amarantha had him doing, he didn't need to tell Astrid for her to know. She heard what many of the other fae called him, Amarantha's whore. The name alone told her all she needed to know about his situation, especially the more she got to know him. Especially after he told her about the young High Fae boy from the Summer Court, how Amarantha wanted the young boy's mind destroyed so he was just a walking vessel. How he had accidently killed him. Astrid would have done the same thing, so she knew that was his way of sparing the poor boy.