The Devil You Know

Part I: Chapter 9

*Year Forty-nine, the night of Calanmai*

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Years and years passed by, each as much of a nightmare as the previous one. Irelia was certain she was incapable of feeling anything at this point. She had escaped so far into her mind, she couldn't climb back out at times. The only thing keeping her sane was the small moments she had with Rhys alone in their room.

She sipped on a warm cup of tea, throat hoarse from all the screaming Amarantha had caused her to do last night as she had tortured her. Rhysand had healed her wounds before leaving to spy on Tamlin, but despite her skin being clear, she could never escape the feeling of Amarantha's claws ripping through her flesh.

Sometimes she wished the wounds would scar her because seeing herself in the mirror-the smooth skin seemingly untouched-made her feel like she was losing her mind...like all the torture she was enduring wasn't even real.

Yet, she could never rid herself of Amarantha-her touch, her smell, the sound of her moans. Sometimes she wanted to take Rhysand up on his offer to wipe her mind each night of all the awful memories. But then she would think of him having to live with all those memories himself.

No, she couldn't do that to him. Couldn't let him survive this on his own.

The door creaked open and Rhysand strolled in, closing it shut behind him. He seemed dazed, his hair disheveled and his eyes wide with some questionable emotion. She stood from her seat, looking at him with concern.

"What happened?" Those violet eyes met hers and she could see the slight fear behind them. "Rhys, what happened?"

"I found her," he mumbled, sitting on the edge of the bed and beginning to unbutton his shirt at the collar. "I found her tonight. The girl from my dreams."

For the past three years, Rhys had been telling her of this girl he dreamed of often-just short glimpses here and there. Her own eyes widened in surprise.

"So she's real," she breathed out. "Rhys...do you think-"

"I don't know, Lia," he cut her off, voice strained. "I don't know but she's human and she was there-in the Spring Court of all places."

"The curse," Lia gasped. "Do you think my father...do you think it's possible that she is the human that could free him from his curse?"

"Maybe," Rhysand said, pausing for a moment. "Amarantha can't find out about her. She'll bring her down here and have her tortured and killed."

"No one else from down here was allowed up tonight, right?" Lia asked and Rhys answered with a small nod. "Good, that means as of now, you're the only one who saw her there."

A few moments of silence passed before she finally spoke again. "Did you...did you see my father?"

Rhysand shook his head. "I didn't-not this time."

Irelia let out a long breath but nodded. Any day now Amarantha would drag Tamlin down here and she'd come face to face with her father for the first time in her life.

She looked over at Rhys again. He looked tormented, lost in thought. She set her book down and made her way over to him, standing in the space between his legs as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"It's almost over," she whispered. "We have to hope, Rhysie. You're going to get back to your family, your people. She will not win, we won't let her."

Rhys melted into her embrace. "You'll come with me right? When we get out, you'll come with me?"

Irelia smiled sadly, glad that his face was pressed against her stomach so he couldn't see it. She knew her time down here was drawing to a close. As soon as Tamlin was here, she'd be dangled in front of him and killed. That had been Amarantha's plan all along. She had been agonized by the truth of her fate for years.