SINS OF THE FATHER

PROLOGUE

Nyx watched his father at the head of the table, his palm resting gently on his mother's tattooed hand.

Rhysand laughed at something Mor was saying, the sound pure and happy.

Nyx stared with such intensity that it was noticed by the Inner Circle. His father turned to him, a small smile on his lips. He was so elated to have his son home once more.

Nyx wanted to break something.

"Are you real?" He whispered out loud.

His father's smile faltered. Feyre tensed at her son's hoarse voice. He hadn't spoken since that morning, but then again that was nothing new. Nyx rarely spoke these days.

"Nyx, my darling?" She asked softly.

Nyx had only eyes for his father.

"How can you stand it?" He asked, he sounded tired even to his own ears, "How can you sit there...and act happy?"

His father sucked in a breath, and leaned closer as if to offer some sort of comfort. "I am happy, Nyx. I'm not pretending."

Nyx flinched. Rhysand's face shattered. He stilled. Nyx watched him swallow.

"I know what she's done to you..." Nyx said, "Amarantha told me exactly how she hurt you. She hurt me in the exact same way-"

"Nyx," Feyre sniffed, "Please."

Nyx ignored her pain, in truth he was so overruled by his own misery that he felt empty. If he hadn't been so blinded by the darkness weighing him down, he would have noticed the pale faces of his uncles. His aunt Mor, comforting his mother. Or even Amren's angry eyes. But he saw none of that. He only had eyes for his father.

"I-" Rhysand began, "Your mother makes me happy. You make me happy. Our family is here together. Our court."

His mother sobbed at the confession.

"You cannot let her win, Nyx." Rhysand's voice was soft. "She can't win-"

"But she has already won, dad." Nyx said, and there were tears running down his face. "She broke me."

The ringing silence in the dining room was alarming. The Inner Circle's family dinners were famed for joy and laughter. Not this wretched hurt, piercing each member painfully in the heart.

"When she sawed off my wings, she used a rusted knife." Nyx said. He'd never spoken to his family about any of it before. "I was delirious from the pain. But also...the faebane blocked my recovery. I had a fever,"

Nyx barely remembered those nights, sweating and shivering and hallucinating. Danae's golden hair hanging over him like the soft rays of sunlight. Stay with me. Please stay with me.

"At some point, the fever broke and I woke up to screams, inside the cage she'd put us in. And I was so upset...that my body would betray me so. That it would not do me the kindness of giving up."

Rhysand shut his eyes tightly against the confession. The image of his baby boy in such agony-

"I am so tired." Nyx said, "I don't want to live like this. She took everything from me. My wings. My freedom. My dignity. I just want to die-"

"Stop." Feyre cried. "Please. Nyx. Stop. You don't mean that."

Nyx finally turned to look at his mother. There was such understanding in her eyes.

"What else is there?" He said before leaving the room entirely.

#

Rhysand gasped as he awoke. He gulped down, tears rolling on his face. Feyre's warm fingers grazed his frozen cheeks.

"Darling," Feyre whispered, "it's alright."

He cupped her hand against his face, "Feyre."

"I'm here."

He sobbed, "Gods, Feyre."

"Shh." Feyre kissed his shoulder, and he turned to sob into the crook of her neck, her scent calming him, "We are alright, we made it out."

Rhysand guided them back onto the pillows, never once untangling from her embrace. Feyre lovingly stroked his hair.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked, softly.

Rhysand stiffened, "She had gotten to Nyx..."

He did not need to utter her name. There would only ever be one she between them. Amarantha.

"Gods, Feyre," he trembled, "it was all of my worst nightmares coming to life. It felt so real. She'd-"

He swallowed the bile that rose in his throat.

"She'd taken his wings...she'd raped him."

Feyre tried not to flinch. But failed.

"It was only a nightmare," she murmured, "he is safe. We will never let anyone hurt him."

How wrong they'd both been.