Throne of Glass and ACOTAR Crossover (complete)

Chapter 16 - Aelin

Manon is alive. Manon is here. Manon has been here for 6 thousand years.

The words keep replaying over and over in my head, like if I hear them enough times they will make sense. 

Manon is alive. 

Manon is alive. 

Suddenly we all turn in response to the voice coming from the back of the group, the voice belonging to the mortal man we had all pretty much forgotten about. 

he has a blade, a wooden blade, held against the throat of a Fae girl I don't recognize. She must be one of Feyre's sisters. The man is spouting off, something about how he'll kill the girl if we don't tell him what he wants to know. 

That brings my mind crashing back to reality all right. 

The captive girl is holding still, so still she could be made of stone. Only her slow breathing and the steady blinking of her eyes let us know she's alive at all. 

There is a deafening roar from beside me. Cass' face is screwed up, barely controlled fury bubbling just below his skin. I store his protectiveness of the girl up as useful information for later. If she survives this. 

Feyre shoots Cass a look, a 'calm down we have to figure this out' look. It doesn't help. Cass looks about ready to jump on the man and tear him apart, limb by limb. he takes a menacing step forward, but before he can go any farther than that Amren, Manon,  steps in his way. I can't hear what she says to him, but he stops advancing. It doesn't calm down the fury in his eyes though. I don't envy the mortal. 

Feyre turns back to the man. "Let her go," she says, her voice soft and convincing, but full of iron hard determination "I'll warn you once."

The mortal just grips the girl all the tighter. "First" he says, "tell me where we are. And why we're here. And who you all are."

His gaze drifts to me. I smile at him, a deadly razor of a smile, and he quickly looks away. 

Feyre closes her eyes, and I swear I can see the regret leaking out of her pores. 

I feel the exact moment when Feyre reaches out with her power. The air around us changes, becoming heavy and laden, as though charged. The mortal's eyes go glassy, and he releases his hold on the girl. His companions stare at him with angry, incredulous eyes, but they don't move. Maybe even they can sense the danger they'd be in if they did. 

Feyre is shaking now, her whole body trembling with the effort of sustaining the magic, but not taking it too far. I know the feeling. Just as I sense she's about to lost control, Rhys walks over to her and puts a hand on her shoulder. Almost immediately the power dissipates, the glassy look dissolving from the man's eyes. 

Feyre opens her eyes slowly, and when she does they are full of unshed tears. The male is looking at her, his fear and fury palpable things.

"You bitch!" he screams, charging her with the dagger, "What did you do to me?"

Before he can make it even two steps Cass is in front of him, a blade held in his hand. "Make another move," he growls, "And I will take your head off. Don't think I won't."

I watch the man gulp and reluctantly stop moving. But he doesn't drop his weapon, and his eyes are glued to Feyre. 

"19 years," he says, "19 years I put into you. And this is what you've become. A hard, cold killer made of ice and cruelty. This is what you've become."

His voice is cracked, crazed, but I see the effect his words have on Feyre. I watch each one hit her like a dagger to the heart. 

I step forward, towards the man. I can feel Rowan's warning glare on the back of my neck, but I ignore it. I will my walk to be light, my movements graceful and easy.

When I reach him I say, my voice light, but sharp as the edge of a blade, "I will say this once, old man, and only once. I have not been here long, I do not know these people well, but what I do know is that you owe them a debt of gratitude that you could never pay, not in a thousand lifetimes. I know that they are the only things standing between you and a fate worse than death. A fate worse than eternal torture. A fate worse than anything you could ever imagine. And they are doing this without asking for a thank you. And yet still you have the audacity to come here, to insult them, to hold blades to their throats, when in reality you should be on your knees screaming 'we are not worthy!'. And know, this is not the haughty fae asking for your supplication. We don't want your supplication. It's rather tiresome, and it gets in the way. But don't come here, blades in hand and tell us that we have ruined your life. And don't blame it on Feyre. It breaks her heart that her sisters are here. It is destroying her that she couldn't save them. And you, you of all people don't get to come in here and tell her what she has done wrong. She was doing the very best she could to save you. You. Now get out of my sight. if I see you again, I will gut you. Slowly." 

When I finish the whole room is silent. Everybody is staring at me. I look quickly at Feyre. There's pain in her eyes, ever present pain, but under it I think I can see gratitude. And maybe the barest trace of a smile. 

It's all I need. I turn back to the man before me, the broken useless excuse of a man, and say, my voice suddenly honey sweet "Toodles!" Then I wiggle my fingers at him and skip out of the room. 

The last thing I hear before the door swings shut behind me is Manon, Amren (gods that's going to get confusing), laughing. 

No cliff hanger ... It's my late Christmas gift to you!

As always I hope you enjoyed it!

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