CARDIGAN, acotar ¹

chapter twenty two

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CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

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SHADOWS AND STARLIGHT rushed in rhysand's violet eyes, as if the high lord held the very night sky hostage within his gaze. he stared down at carson with an emotion that sent eris's defensive instincts ricocheting. she still looked like cecelia, he remembered. and rhysand ... he'd been looking for her, for his wife —

eris's magic swept out, shattering the glamour.

a heartbeat faster than rhysand's own power, shielding carson from what he thought was an attack against cecelia. rhysand's violet eyes became dangerous as carson inhaled sharply, as if she'd felt the rough impact.

eris's chest tightened as rhysand watched the long, golden hair tucked behind her ears fade into dark brown, then her eyes turn lighter in shade, taking on a cerulean blue. and her ears, which had been pointed, became rounded once more. carson's mortal heartbeat echoed through the forest, through the roots of prythian.

when rhysand said nothing, silently observing, carson retreated. she kept her axe tightly gripped in her left hand as she joined eris's side.

only for him to step in front of her, flames dancing at his fingertips.

rhysand's eyes immediately shifted back to carson and as if she'd been strangled, she let out a sharp gasp and unknowingly clutched onto his hand. by the look on her face, so locked with panic and dread, he knew what rhysand was doing. he was attempting to go through every memory, every event, to place why she had looked like cecelia. a snarl ripped through his throat, a war sound.

"stop," eris growled out, breaking rhysand free of his focus. he pushed carson further behind him, as if that would stop rhysand from prying at her mind.

with a blink, he could very well kill her. could make her heartbeat slow, or rip her apart, piece by piece. eris didn't know what to say or do to prevent that, now that he'd revealed carson as a human to rhysand.

he tilted his head, the movement purely predator. "i thought you would have learned not to dabble with mortals after lucien's ... tragedy, eris."

eris shrugged, altering slightly once more, so that carson wasn't in his direct line of sight, even as his bones and muscles ached, willing him to stop moving because of the beating he'd taken by his father last night. "i suppose my brother and i are more alike than we thought," he replied simply.

after hearing that, carson's hand went cold in his.

rhysand held eris's stare for a moment longer, but then looked over his shoulder. as he spoke, he tucked his hands into his pockets. his body and face a mask of pure indifference. "how do you know cecelia?"

carson's hand slipped out of his grip as she stepped around eris, to stand at his side. any other human would have ran at the sight of the high lord of the night court, but she lifted her chin. vain and unyielding tot he bitter end.

"what's it to you?" she questioned,

rhysand lifted a brow. "she's my wife," he stated.