A Court of Rising Starlight

Chapter XVI

I wake suddenly, pain shooting through my stomach. I gasp, rolling onto my left side. Slowly, the pain dulls, then fades completely. I feel fingers running through my hair. "Acacia. Look at me." I don't turn. Derek sighs behind me. "This is the third morning you've woken like this. I'm worried about you. Say something to them. Please."

"No," I state firmly. "You don't say anything either. It doesn't matter. They're worried enough right now with all of the other stuff going on."

"Well, happy birthday," he huffs.

And it was here. The day all of us were now dreading. While I could see she was bothered as much as everyone else, Mor was trying to keep the house from falling into a gloomy atmosphere. I sigh, walking down the stairs. The smell of bacon had already hit me just as I woke.

Mor and Az both smile at me. "Good morning," they say, Az standing to hug me.

"Happy birthday," he says, embracing me completely.

"I swear they love you more than me," I hear Nicole grumble from behind me. Despite her comment, she's hugging me as soon as Az lets me go. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks."

She seemed to look a lot better today, maybe just to try to help with the happy mood. I still ask her with a look. She gives me a small smile. I needed to keep an eye on her. I sit down, rolling my eyes as Derek pulls my chair out for me. I see Nicole look down in shame. It finally hits me. She thought that she wasn't good enough. She thought he had chosen that other girl because she was stronger. Been a heartless bastard because she wasn't worth anything to him. She should be his whole world and he treated her like she didn't exist.

"What's wrong?" Derek asks, following my gaze.

She tenses under everyone's worried stare. "I'm fine." Mor starts to try and persuade her to explain. "I'm fine," she snaps again.

I start to stand to ask her for a private conversation but the short ping of the doorbell stops me. "I'll get it," I say quickly. I open the door and freeze. I could have been staring straight into a mirror. "Lily?" My voice was low but the remaining conversation in the kitchen came to an abrupt halt. "I thought...I remember...How?"

"Let's just say I have a savior I hate."

"What do you mean you remember?" I hear Az ask behind me.

"A while ago my nightmares changed. I realized they were altered when I had one where Lily and I were running together. I remember it all properly now."

There was a hint of accusation in my voice, as I knew they were responsible for my lack of knowledge originally. Only when I hug my twin do I realized who stood behind her. By the look on Nicole's face I catch after turning I can tell she had made the same connection. Grace is Lily's middle name.

I hesitate before closing the door as Lily is greeted by everyone else. "I knew it would click some day," she teases Derek. "I was wondering if she was ever gonna forgive you though."

He meets my eyes. "Second chances are certainly a blessing, aren't they?" His attention is redirected. "Did this happen when you moved here or before?"

"Before. We may not be mates but..." His few last words made me hate him even even more than I already did. "We've known each other for a long while now."

After we all ate breakfast, the majority of us in an extremely good mood, we sat and talked for hours. It was only when the topic of the past weeks surfaced that the room's mood became morose. It was as if every shadow in the house was a new pressing threat. It was my question that brought it on.

"What did you mean when you came in earlier? You said you had a savior you hated. What makes them so bad?"

"He's the enemy. He knows about The Rising and he's been preparing for it for years. We can make preparations though. When Prythian does return, Logan, and the other High Lords will all be naturally brought together. If you form a sort of council, you can defeat Kier and his followers with a couple inside voices."

"Lily, you are not going back to his side as a-"

"Morrigan, we need the assistance," Az says. "So. I guess it's just a matter of when."

I see Nicole get off the couch. "I need to go upstairs for a second."

The slight quiver I detected behind her words made me stand, starting to follow her upstairs. I freeze halfway up. "Do you every think about what it could have been like? Do you ever care that she's been hurting these past weeks because of you? If it were anyone else..."

I knock before opening the door. I sit beside Nicole on her bed, taking her hand. She wore the same expression she had worn this morning. "Don't. You are better than he deserves. Even if he tries to fix everything, you will deserve better."

"I already told you why it bothers me. I thought for a split second I had a chance. I see the adoration that my parents have, that you and Derek have, even Logan and Megan. You're his whole world, Acacia. If you get so much as a scratch he'll baby you to no end, paranoid every time you walk out of the house you'll end up getting killed. And I'm jealous. Why couldn't I be lucky enough to have a mate that looked at me with even the slightest admiration?

"I just want a moment. A single moment to feel what our bond could have been like. I want to know if there would ever be a moment that I could feel the emotions I am forced to see every day. I just want to feel love." Tears start to tumble down her cheeks. "It looks like he already has that," she finishes in a whisper.

I hear shouting from downstairs and I smile. "I take it Lily and Garrett are done now. Let's just say, I may have said a few words to make him feel guilty. And put him on the spot. Derek's gonna kill him for hurting you."

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Derek rushed into the room looking extremely angry. His emotion completely flipped when he spotted his sister. "I'm so sorry, Nicki." He dropped to a knee in front of her, kissing her forehead. "Please don't hide things like this from me anymore. If I had known..."

"If you had known earlier you would've been suspended."

"Probably," he laughs.

I leave the siblings to talk, walking over to my own sister. "I didn't know," she told me.

"I know. Nicki and I were eavesdropping," I admit. "We've known about The Rising for a few weeks now. That's what really broke her, when she heard him tell you that he loved you."

My sister continues to talk but I can't focus on her words. Dizziness crashed over me in waves and I take in a sharp breath. It was harder to breathe now. The pain in my abdomen returned, now feeling ten times worse. I struggle to find a handhold of any sort. My fingertips barely skim the doorframe before I collapse, now deaf to my family's cries.