The Prophecy - ACOTAR

Chapter 54

She stood in the foyer with her friends and family, her body buzzing with nerves and excitement to return back to her past home and cause as many problems as she could, within the plan of course. Astrid's sword was holstered on her back, the blue stones sparkling brighter the closer she was to Azriel, and her various acquired daggers strapped across her front and on her thighs. Rhysand stood next to Feyre who was wearing more weapons than ever. Mor was whispering to Wren a bit away from the group, while Azriel and Cassian stood on either side of Astrid, ready in their scale-like armor.

Amren approached from behind Astrid, smirking slightly when Astrid jerked in surprise, "The King of Hybern is old – very old. Do not linger."

Astrid scrunched her eyebrows together when she noticed a slight tic of Feyre's jaw. There was something happening that Astrid couldn't hear and she didn't like that, she was nosey and needed to know what it was. She looked over at Az to see if he knew anything about what she didn't, but she already knew he didn't, because if he did, he would have told her.

Before she knew it, Az was pulling her into a tight hug, "I'll meet you after we drop of Rhys."

"I'll see you there." Astrid stood up on her tip toes and kissed him quickly before letting the shadows swarm around her.

The coolness of the shadows nipped at her arms and face, calmness and contentment washed over her as they swept her from the townhouse and into the open night sky near Hybern. The shadows slithered along her body to burst into form on her back, her wings caught the wind and jerked her body up, stopping her from free-falling into the ocean.

Her head swung around when she heard a quiet squeal, finding Cass grabbing Feyre and Mor winnowing out of the air. Her eyes scanned the sky again quickly until she found her mate moving swiftly over the black water. Once she had found each of her friends, Astrid shot towards the landmass with bone-white cliffs that sent shivers through her body.

Memories worked to claw their way to the front of her mind, begging to remind her why this place was her own personal hell. She gritted her teeth as she worked to breath and calm her heart down. As she fought against the onslaught of nightmarish memories, a familiar scent washed over her, night-chilled mist and Cedar.

Astrid glanced over to her right to find Az now flying beside her. His hazel eyes studied her, his dark brows brought together in worry. She flashed him a tight smile, she'd let him worry over her later, right now, they needed to focus on their mission. They needed to focus on finding the cauldron and disabling it before the king could use it against them. She could feel it in every fiber of her being, that if they don't succeed today, darkness was imminent. Her entire world would change. She didn't know how, and she didn't want to find out.

Astrid and Az landed swiftly and silently beside Mor at the base of the cliffs, where she had the sea door open. They both walked straight in, scouting ahead before Feyre makes her way inside.

Before they had left, Rhys had pulled Astrid aside to make sure there was no bad blood between her and Feyre anymore. Astrid couldn't help the small pang of hurt at the idea that she might not fully try and protect Feyre, especially coming from Rhys, her brother. But she also recognized that they didn't know each other well at all, they were both over 500 years old and had only spent a few months together. She also could understand how fiercely he needed to protect Feyre, because she would rip the world apart for her mate.

The whole conversation had begun to form a dark, black void of depression in her chest. Rhys should be one of the people in her life that knew her better than anyone, but centuries had been stolen from them, countless memories had been ripped from them before he could even meet her. But as she looked over at Az, some of that unease slithered away.