The Shadows Have No Face || 𝐀𝐂𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐑

Death Is Better Than A Numb Existence

I sat on the steep steps of the thin staircase. My arms wrapped tight around my knees, hands clasped together. I watched everyone in the room closely—too closely for it to be anything but unsettling.

The lingering echo of Amren's words still hung in the air. Rhysand sat back in his chair with a sigh. I couldn't tell if the slight smirk was amusement or fighting back the urge to turn me to dust.

"I really wish this was a joke," Mor said. "But it isn't."

"I got that from the tattoo," Cassian said. I pulled my arm behind my back to further hide in the shadows of the stairs.

It was shitty of me, very. Stupid and without thinking. But what else could I have done? I knew there was only one way to get them to agree, one way to make them help us. Of course I would risk it for their help. Who wouldn't?

Rhys shook his head and looked at me. "You're right. Mother forbid it, though. I would have done the same."

"Bullshit you would've," Cassian spat. "Threatened them, yes. But agree to a bargain that practically cemented your death, no."

"I've done similar things before," was his only response.

Amren turned to me from where she stood leaning against the counter. "I hope you understand that by killing the Three Sisters, you are killing the last of the Cauldrons history."

"Something that should have happened long ago," I said, voice low.

Mor tilted her head in Rhysand's direction, analyzing his tired expression. "How did it go today?" She asked, changing the subject.

Cassian spoke over him. "Devlon is pissed."

Mor rolled her eyes. "What could it possibly be now?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the fact that Az turned all his men into tenderized meat."

The shadowsinger chuckled from his spot in the farthest corner.

Cassian spun around and pointed a finger at him. "This is no laughing matter. You are more a brute than I. Now I'm gonna have to listen to Devlon complaining for the rest of the year."

"It'll give you something to do," Azriel said.

Cassian moved to him, but Amren reached a hand out to stop him dead in his tracks. "Don't start that shit now. At least wait until after the holiday."

"We're still celebrating this year?" Mor asked, arms crossed.

Rhys smiled. "It's a tradition. I'm not letting one thing keep us from celebrating together—as a family."

I couldn't help but smirk, hide a laugh in a breath. Perhaps I should go back to the Summer Court while they celebrate Starfall. Or just stay in my room. If they didn't want me going to this family event, I wished they wouldn't beat around the bush.

Azriel glanced at me for the first time in hours, his eyes practically glowing while the rest of his body hid away. I straightened my back and looked away quickly. What happened to my body when he rarely decided to look my way was entirely unwanted.

I hated it—I hated him. Or, at least I would try to convince myself that was the case.

Amren looked like an animal trapped in a cage, pacing around in an impatient waiting for release. She eyed me with death in her gaze, which made me shiver. If she wanted to, she could be absolutely terrifying.

"If you plan on staring me down the rest of the evening, go ahead. But if you have something to say, spit it out," I bit at her. Perhaps too much of a snap. But I hated when people didn't just say what they wanted to.