A Court of Ash and Necromancy

29. Raging Resolve

Estelle sat on the bed beside Nyx while Mikael hurried off to find Feyre, Rhys, and his fathers. Nyx was trembling, both with rage and terror. Estelle's shadows hovered around him, offering what comfort they could. They were even whispering to him, although he couldn't hear them.

"I'm going to flay that fucking bitch," Nyx seethed, the first words he'd spoken since revealing Venelia's kidnapping.

"You and every other person in this Palace." Estelle rested her hand on his shoulder. Nyx tensed, but didn't pull away. "I'm sorry, Nyx. I... If we'd been here..." Her cheeks heated with embarrassment.

"There's nothing you could have done. There was nothing I could do," he replied. "And no one would begrudge you time with your mate, despite what's going on. Don't be embarrassed, Essie."

Nyx loosed a shuddering breath, hiding his face in his hands. Estelle wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. After a moment, Nyx returned her embrace. She could practically feel the angry despair that radiated from him.

The door opened and Feyre hurried inside. "What happened?" She dropped down beside Nyx and squeezed his hand. Rhys, Mikael, Thesan, and Ameer trailed behind her. The door clicked shut once more. "How could Melantha have gotten through the wards?"

"It wasn't Melantha," Nyx said. "It was a corpse. A male corpse. He looked similar to the description Eris gave of the corpse who kidnapped Evren."

"That still doesn't explain how he got through the wards," Rhys pointed out.

Thesan stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Yes, it does." Everyone turned to him. "The wards detect living things, not dead ones. Melantha knew she couldn't get in and she sent one of her corpses instead. The wards couldn't detect the corpses, so they couldn't affect them."

Mikael appeared surprised, but understanding shone within his chestnut eyes. "It makes sense. How else could Melantha have kidnapped Venelia from inside the Palace, or Evren from the Forest House?"

"Cresseida was in the palace at Adriata," Rhys added.

"And Kallias said they found a few papers and a book of Wynter's discarded in the hallway of their own," Thesan said.

Estelle knit her brows. "But during the Blood Rite, Ze'ev was alive and still managed to get through the wards on Ramiel without being affected. Why couldn't Melantha do the same?"

Rhys shrugged. "We still don't know how Ze'ev was able to do that. We speculated his body had deteriorated enough that the wards didn't register him as a living being."

Mikael nodded. "That assumption is plausible. Ze'ev was using imitation necromancy. It was killing him. Melantha, however, uses necromancy in its true form. It doesn't affect her at all."

Ameer cleared his throat. "This is all fascinating but it doesn't help Nyx, or Venelia and the other kidnapped people."

"Nothing is going to help until we find out where Melantha has taken them and how we can defeat her," Nyx muttered. He shrugged away from Feyre and Estelle and stood. "I should tell Tamlin."

"No." Rhys cut him off as he started towards the door. "Don't tell Tamlin yet. We need him to be calm at the meeting tomorrow so that he'll actually help us, not make things worse." Nyx held his father's gaze. "You know how he'll react, especially if you tell him the whole truth."

"The whole truth?" Thesan echoed.

Nyx clenched his jaw, lowering his head. "Venelia is pregnant."

Estelle blinked, Venelia's face flashing before her eyes, growing hollow and decayed. Mikael shifted closer to her, his wings brushing against hers. He stroked the Bond. "How far along is she?" Thesan asked.