A VOW OF STARS ---- [ACOTAR]

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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

the skyline falls as I try to make sense of it all

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Elayla was no stranger to the streets of Velaris, Hell, she knew them the same way she knew her bedroom's ceiling. Desperately so.

Every street in it held a secret of hers, an embarassing drunk night, a tryst with a male who's her interest in didn't go past the night they'd spend together never to meet again, a fight or a brawl or an emotional meltdown.

Standing there with Rhysand was odd.

It was too much like the days when she was a child, holding his hand as they strolled through the crowded streets, with her staring around in pure awe and him answering every question she asked no matter how small and unimportant.

She could almost see their phantoms walking right in front of her, little Layla hiding behind her father at the sight of the disappointment she had turned out to be.

God, why did he bring them there.

"What are we doing here?" She finally dared to snap out of her thoughts, looking up at Rhysand.

His face was marred with concern and something else, she didn't really know what to name it, something so tragically bittersweet.

His eyes softened just enough for her to glimpse the real him right in his gaze, the Rhys that didn't shut his brothers out, the Rhys that wasn't plagued by never ending nightmare and maddening feelings for a female that was not interested in him.

"Walking," He shrugged as if it was so damn simple. "Burning energy."

The answer was ironic, seeing as that was her usual excuse whenever she burst out of the house when someone got under her skin.

"Why did The Attor bring me up?" She asked, following him in his slow paced steps. "I haven't been... There." She winced, unable to talk about Under The Mountain with him, of all people. "How does he know about me?"

"I don't know." He answered stiffly, "If I knew, I'd tell you."

"No, you wouldn't." She retorted without thinking. 

He stopped in his trails, brows furrowing in confusion. "You don't know what you're saying." He said in a grunt, barely containing his irritation.

"You hid the trap from your mate-" She practically spat out the last two words as if they were poison.

His mate...

Her father had a mate...

"That's not your problem to fight me over it." He dismissed, clenching his jaw tight. 

"How can I believe that you'd trust me with information when you don't even trust her with it?" She shot back.

Trust me...

Believe me...

Look at me...

"Because you're my daughter." He answered firmly. "I've never lied to you, Elayla." His gaze met hers, stern but sincere. "You could hate me all you want, but I have never told you anything but the truth, and I will not stop doing so just because you think that pushing me away spare you from my affection.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, not budging but her posture relaxing just enough for him to notice. 

She knew he was telling the truth, he had never been one to sugarcoat reality for her, apart from that one time he walked out and never came back. He'd been honest about her mother not coming back, about having to raise her away from sights because of what happened with his mother and sister.

He told the truth, and even when he didn't, he just hid the information altogether, no twisted facts, no false statements.

"Fair enough." She finally relented. "What is it that you do know, then?"

"The Nightingale remark?" He all but rasped out. "That was intentional."

She felt something like guilt radiate off him in merciless waves.

He didn't tell her, but sometimes when Under The Mountain, especially on his most desperate nights, when all he wanted was to crawl back home and curl back in his bed.

He'd whistle the familiar time of a Nightingale, imagining that he was back home, taking in the fading babyish smell of his daughter, pretending his brother's were right outside the door.

They were foolish, useless fantasies, but they kept him alive long enough to go back home.

Amarantha must've noticed something, she must've pulled strings and connected dots and made conclusions.

"He knew my mother's name." Elayla replied somberly. "How do you think he got it?"

There it was again, the part that scared him the most. How could they know about Elira when even he didn't know where she disappeared.

"I'll find out." He assured. 

She wasn't really convinced by his words, but she didn't answer either. Suddenly, something wet splashed on her face, she lifted her eyes up to the sky in a startled motion.

The sky had turned a gloomy shade of gray, heavy clouds looming over the city of starlight. "It's going to rain," Said Rhysand. "Let's go home."

She didn't follow him, simply stared at the sky with the hint of a smile. Rain was good, rain meant that everything's gonna be okay, and she clung to that hope the tightest she could.

Then it started pouring, soaking her down to the bone, she couldn't help but crack a shaky laugh.

Rhysand just stared, unable to look away, because at the moment, she was his little Layla again, quirky and odd and so damn loved.

What would he not do to get that little girl back?