Acotar and Tog [Discontinued, Will be deleted]

Rhys

But you could have tried. Tarquin might never had betrayed you. He trusted you. He welcomed you. You could have had a friend in this war, but you cursed his name and spat in his face instead...

My fingers tightened, daring to shatter the glass as I brought it to my lips and fought off the desire to rip my hair out.

“I didn’t like stealing from him. I didn’t like hurting his guards. I didn’t like vanishing without a word, when, ambition or no, he did truly want an alliance. Maybe even friendship. No other High Lords have ever bothered - or dared. But I think Tarquin wanted to be my friend.”

Feyre kept strictly serious at my side, either willfully ignoring what I’d said or too unsure what to even say as she went back to the box. “What is that?”

“Open it.” The lid gave a faint moan on its hinges beneath Feyre’s touch. She didn’t say anything as she saw the stones inside. “Blood rubies,” I told her silence. “In the Summer Court, when a grave insult has been committed, they send a blood ruby to the offender. An official declaration that there is a price on their head - that they are now hunted, and will soon be dead. The box arrived at the Court of Nightmares an hour ago.”

I felt more than saw Feyre draw a deep, slow breath. “I take it one of these has my name on it. And yours. And Amren’s.”

My eyes fell on the rubies and my power crackled out of me until the box had snapped shut. I didn’t want to look at them anymore. I wanted to hurl them into the Sidra a considerable distance away and never tell Amren, never see Tarquin again, or know that I had wronged him.

“I made a mistake,” I said as Feyre jumped back from the box. “I should have wiped the minds of the guards and let them continue on. Instead, I knocked them out. It’s been a while since I had to do any sort of physical...” my muscles still ached with the feeling of fist meeting flesh at the palace, “defending like that, and I was so focused on my Illyrian training that I forgot the other arsenal at my disposal. They probably awoke and went right to him.”

“He would have noticed the Book was missing soon enough.” Feyre sounded sharper. Clearer. It made me angry.

“We could have denied that we stole it and chalked it up to coincidence.” Could have saved... whatever trust had grown between us. I drained my glass, but managed not to throw it against the table. I would not be... violent. “I made a mistake.”

“It’s not the end of the world if you do that every now and then,” she said, understanding dripping from her lips so casually.

I scowled. “You’ve been told you are now public enemy number one of the Summer Court and you’re fine with it?”

“No. But I don’t blame you.” It was hard not to look at her then, but my eyes wouldn’t move. Wouldn’t budge as the sun dipped finally over the edge and the city refused to meet night, sparkling instead like a sheet of diamonds in the sky. Little lights twinkled everywhere, a friendly reminder of why I’d lost everything again.

My breath came out unevenly.

I blame me . That’s the problem . If we lose this because of what I did to him, it’s all my fault.

Feyre scooted a little closer to me. I almost wondered that she might reach out and touch me somehow, but she didn’t. I wasn’t sure if that emptiness made me relieved or all the more lonelier. “Perhaps you could return the Book once we’ve neutralized the Cauldron,” she suggested, “apologize.”

I snorted. “No. Amren will get that book for as long as she needs it.”

“Then make it up to him in some way.” She fidgeted, a trace of irritation behind the words. “Clearly, you wanted to be his friend as much as he wanted to be yours. You wouldn’t be so upset otherwise.”