ACOWAR (Rhysand's POV)

Chapter 7

(Rhysand's POV)

I skidded to a stop in the living room, nearly crashing into the tall wooden bookcase. I heard chairs scrape in the adjacent dining area, footsteps rushing toward me. 

"Where the hell were you?" Cassian's eyes swept over me frantically, assessing for wounds.

"I'm fine," I panted, waving them off. 

"Rhys," Mor pushed past the warrior, coming to stand next to me, reaching her hands out hesitantly, "What the hell happened? You just. . . You disappeared." 

I didn't look up to see what swam in Cassian's eyes. I could feel their stare. I knew it would be more hurt, more pain. 

"It was Feyre," I said, squeezing the words out between breaths. "The bond went dark and I. .  " 

Both Cassian and Azriel stiffened, hands instinctively going to their weapons. It was an innate response to imposed harm on their High Lady, even if she wasn't in the room. 

"I went. To the Spring Court." 

"You WHAT?" Amren stormed forward next, eyes ablaze. Mor turned to her, crouching in front of me in a protective gesture. 

I shook my head, trying to find the will to explain. I was still so exhausted. I wasn't even sure how I was standing. "Tamlin was searching for her. She left them. With Lucien. I tried to follow but, there was no scent. Nothing." As if it had taken the last of my strength, I collapsed on the final word. Mor turned back to me, hands gently on my shoulders. 

"I came back to make sure. Make sure Tamlin didn't come here." 

My family exchanged worried glances. I had instantly known, once arriving, that no harm had come to my city. No harm had come to my court. With whatever ties a High Lord had to his people, through the magic of the Court, I had known. 

"Well, what happened?" Mor was rubbing light circles with her thumbs, like she had done that night I came back from Amarantha, as I had cried in her arms. "If the bond went dark, if you can no longer feel her, then how do we know she's not in danger. How do we know if-"

"I don't know." I said.

Amren huffed impatiently. "Rhysand. We need to-"

"I DON'T KNOW." I said, louder. The room fell silent as I tried to clear my mind once again. The continued silence of the bond grated against my nerves, leaving me on edge. The hairs on my arms bristled with my rising fear. The grasp on my power slipped, and a darkness rumbled along the floorboards.

Mor continued the idle strokes of her fingers. The rest of them stood in a half-circle, waiting— I realized—for me to direct them. I rested my back against the wooden wainscoting of the room, my head still hanging between my knees. Deep breaths, in and out. Focus, I told myself. I stared at the paisley pattern of the carpet, it twisted into branches and leaves that seemed to reach out and drag me back under. I closed my eyes against it, trying to resurface. 

"Az," I breathed, "I need you to watch Tamlin. Find out what the aftermath looks like. How much he knows, if they're planning to take action." I looked up to find the spymaster already swathed in his shadows, truth-teller at his waist. He nodded once before heading out the door.  Cassian watched the male go, his eyes distant.