𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚎(𝙰𝙲𝙾𝚃𝙰𝚁)

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖜𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖞-𝖘𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖓**

      I waited in the sitting room that afternoon, reading a book while I waited for everyone to show up. Rhys had told me that the two sisters were moving into the town house.

     Reading helped with my anxiety. It helped me take my mind off of things. When the memories were really getting to me, all I had to do was pick up a book. 

    Feyre winnowed in with Evelina and greeted me with a smile. We spoke about how her sisters were until Azriel arrived, no shadows to be seen, Elain a pale, golden mass in his arms.

    He set her down gently on the foyer carpet, having carried her in through the front door. Elain peered up at his patient, solemn face.

"Would you like me to show you the garden?" Azriel asked.

     Elain nodded once. I couldn't tell if she was looking at his blue Siphon or at his scarred skin beneath as she breathed, "Beautiful."

     Eve shot to her feet at the words and declared, "I think I'll join you two." Azriel let out a low chuckle, but offered an arm to his wife. I smiled as the three went out to the garden.

     A moment later, Nesta was stomping through the front door, her face a remarkable shade of green.

"I need—a toilet."

      Feyre wordlessly pointed Nesta toward the powder room beneath the stairs, and she vanished, slamming the door behind her.

     I shot Rhys a demanding expression, raising an eyebrow and crossing my arms as I waited for an explanation.

"You look like Mother when you do that," he told me. I threw my book at him, but he caught it with a grin.

     Cassian and Lucien appeared, neither looking at the other. But Lucien's attention went right to the hallway toward the back, his nostrils flaring as he scented Elain's direction. And who shed gone with.

     A low snarl slipped out of him—

"Relax," Rhys said. "Azriel isn't the ravishing type. He has a mate." Lucien cut him a glare.

      Nesta's retching filled the silence. Cassian gaped at Rhys. I groaned. "What did you do?"

"I asked him the same thing," Feyre said, crossing her arms. "He said he went fast."

      Nesta vomited again—then silence.

"I'm going to check on her," I decided.

      I went over to the bathroom, knocking before I stepped in. She was washing her hands, but when she saw me, she turned.

"Are you okay?" I asked quietly.

     Nesta's face was still greenish-pale, but  Her eyes burned. There was no way of describing that burning. Her eyes remained the same blue-gray. Molten ore was all I could think of. Quicksilver set aflame.

     She pushed past me and left the room. I followed after her quickly, watching as she stormed towards Rhys.

    Cassian casually stepped in her path, wings folded in tight. Feet braced apart on the carpet. A fighting stance—casual, but his Siphons glimmered.

"Do you know," Cassian drawled to her, "that the last time I got into a brawl in this house, I was kicked out for a month?"

     Nesta's burning gaze slid to him, still outraged—but hinted with incredulity.

"It was Amren's fault, of course, but no one believed me. And no one dared banish her."

     She blinked slowly. And the burning, molten gaze became mortal. Or as mortal as one of us could be.