A Court of Stars and Fire | ACOTAR Fanfic

Chapter 11 - Feyre

I turned back to face my mate and one of my best friends. He slept peacefully now, his chest rising with his even breaths.

The realization of what just happened finally caught up with me. I shuffled over, falling to my knees as I knelt on Cas' side, opposite of Rhys. Hot tears burned at my eyes, my throat tight as I stared.

"You idiot," I mumbled as I cried, laying my hands on his stomach. Tears dripped down my face before they began to flow like a river, unstoppable as the overwhelming waves of emotion that wrecked through me.

Rhys gripped my hand. I peered up at him, his eyes downcast to avert my gaze. "He taunted her with the name of her mate," I whispered, looking back at Cas.

Rhys' hand clenched mine, dried blood caking with the movement. "Her mate?" He whispered.

"I... her mate or her husband, I don't know," I confessed. "I told Az about it when I came home last night. When you two were drunk beyond belief. Cas must have overhead me."

"I don't..." Rhys began, glancing at Cas' sleeping face. "I didn't even hear. I don't remember anything from last night."

"It must've stuck in his memory... it's ok," I told him, squeezing his hand lightly as I swiped at my tears. "Don't murder Nyssa, please."

Rhys sighed, his eyes remained downcast. He was silent for a few moments before admitting, "I don't like not having power. She makes me feel powerless at times. She's a goddess of fucking magic. How do I protect my family against that?"

I closed my eyes, squeezing his hand tightly. "You don't," I whispered.

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of, Feyre," he sighed heavily.

"It scares me too," I whisper. He looks up at me, our eyes meeting. The faintest glimmer of tears welled in Rhys' eyes as they quickly glanced to Cassian, and back to me. "But she's genuinely here to help us. She has her own trauma to battle through."

"I don't want her battles to become ours," he responded, and I shut my mouth in defeat. He made a really good point. I was thinking about an answer when Cas stirred awake, his breathing catching as he snorted.

"I want to do that again," was the first thing Cassian said as he sat up, grabbing his side. He blinked a few times, Rhys and I backing up to give him space to adjust. He looked around, brows furrowing in confusion. "Where is everyone?"

"You fucking bastard," I breathed, slapping him once. His face flew to the side from the impact. He reached a hand up to rub his cheek,

"Ow," he whined. "That's gonna leave a ma-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence as I leapt forward and hugged him tightly. He jerked back at the contact, awkwardly patting my back. "What happened?" He asked Rhys over my shoulder.

"You tried to get yourself killed, that's what," Rhys said with a shake of his head as I detached myself from Cas, offering a hand to me. He pulled Cas up next, the Illyrian stretching with a slight grunt of pain.

"Hey," Cas said defensively, raising a lecturing finger, "She wouldn't have killed me. Her mortal body would have given out before my life force did."

"Well, tell that to Nesta," I muttered, rubbing at my eyes. "She pulled Nyssa off of you by her hair."

"That's my girl," Cas said proudly, his smile dropping off his face at my look. "What's wrong?"

"Nyssa tried to get back up and heal you, Nesta kicked her back, Elain tried to calm Nesta down, she hit Elain across the face, Feyre ordered Nesta out of the city, Nyssa snapped her own neck and made herself Fae again, healed you, then disappeared in thin air."