𝐂𝐎𝐒𝐌𝐈𝐂 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 ! [ rhy...

By midnight_ink_

75.6K 3.8K 730

❛ a falling star fell from your heart and landed in my eyes ❜ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ "How . . ." She was at a loss... More

𝐂𝐎𝐒𝐌𝐈𝐂 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 !
𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄 , 𝐀𝐂𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐑 !
𝐢. christmas cheer !
𝐢𝐢. the spring court ?
𝐢𝐢𝐢. welcome , feyre !
𝐢𝐯. kitchen mishaps !
𝐯. a ride with a demon !
𝐯𝐢. the suriel !
𝐯𝐢𝐢. the truth ( sort of ) !
𝐯𝐢𝐢𝐢. tamlin sucks at flirting !
𝐱. bonding time !
𝐱𝐢. night in shining armor !
𝐱𝐢𝐢. angels and faeries !
𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐢. the solstice !
𝐱𝐢𝐯. high lord of the night court !
𝐱𝐯. family trees !
𝐱𝐯𝐢. amarantha's plaything !
𝐱𝐯𝐢𝐢. child of faerie and angel !
𝐱𝐯𝐢𝐢𝐢. a sadistic genie !
𝐱𝐢𝐱. the first task !
𝐱𝐱. give and take !
𝐱𝐱𝐢. love and lust !
𝐱𝐱𝐢𝐢. upwards and onwards !
𝐱𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐢. welcome home !
𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐓𝐖𝐎 , 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍 !
𝐢. nightmares and daydreams !
𝐢𝐢. welcome to velaris !
𝐢𝐢𝐢. the city of starlight !
𝐢𝐯. pieces of history !
𝐯. rita's !
QUICK QUESTION (will be removed)
𝐯𝐢. drunken memories !

𝐢𝐱. amarantha's first strike !

2.1K 113 13
By midnight_ink_

𝐂 𝐎 𝐒 𝐌 𝐈 𝐂   𝐋 𝐎 𝐕 𝐄   !

𝙲 𝙷 𝙰 𝙿 𝚃 𝙴 𝚁   𝙽 𝙸 𝙽 𝙴   !

( 𝔞𝔪𝔞𝔯𝔞𝔫𝔱𝔥𝔞'𝔰 𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔰𝔱 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔦𝔨𝔢 ! )

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯


          𝐀𝐍𝐀 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐒 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐒𝐇𝐄'𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐅𝐄𝐘𝐑𝐄 𝐒𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌. That morning, Feyre had been no where in the house, so Ana had spent her time wandering the expanse of the gardens to see if she'd missed anything during her other trips through the hedges and roses. 

While on this walk, Ana had received a fire message back from Izzy, which had nearly brought tears to her eyes. 

Ana,

     It's so good to hear from you! When we woke up on Christmas to find you gone, you should've seen how everyone literally tore apart the Institute to find you. Magnus nearly drove himself mad with tracking spells. 

     After receiving your letter, I showed it to Magnus who said worldly travels were possible, only if both leaders of those worlds approved of it. So Raziel and whoever controls the world you now are in agreed on sending you there. I asked Magnus if he knew about a place named Prythian, and he said he'd check with the Seelies to see if they knew of it or not. Hopefully the next letter will hold the answers.

     I hope you're doing okay. You really can't leave until you stop this Amarantha chick? Do you know how long that will take? There's no war going on here anymore, but being without my Parabatai is not preferred. I felt a tug through the bond a little bit before you sent the letter. Is everything okay there or was it an accident?

     Write to me again, soon! I miss you so much, Annie!

You're amazing Parabatai and bestie

Izzy!

She'd just finished reading through the letter when Feyre's screams filled the air, causing Ana to sprint toward the woods where it had come from. She was sure that she had never ran so fast toward danger in her entire life, her lungs burning and legs pumping as the urge to save Feyre grew stronger and stronger within her chest. 

By the time she'd reached the scene, the danger was gone. Black blood was spattered all over the place, covering the ground and Feyre herself. Tamlin stood beside her, looking around at the damage with inquisitive eyes, rage hiding behind them. Ana ignored him as she approached Feyre carefully, catching the girl as she collapsed from exhaustion. 

"You're okay, you're okay," Ana whispered, rubbing Feyre's hair and ignoring the warmth of the blood on her clothes. "Come on. Let's get you back to the house and cleaned up."

The two didn't spare Tamlin a glance as they made their way out of the woods and into the manor, Ana guiding Feyre toward her room while also asking for Alis to come and help. Ana knew what Feyre was going through. Fighting for your life was draining, and making the first human-like kill was always difficult. She'd be there for Feyre. Just like how her friends had been there for her. 

While Feyre was soaking in the bath, Ana sat in the bedroom, writing another letter to Izzy. Now that she knew she could communicate with her Parabatai through Fire Messages, she was going to write as often as she could. Parabatais were never meant to be apart from one another after the bond was made. They are, after all, partners in battle whose hearts beat as one. Being without a Parabatai felt like you were missing a part of yourself. 

Feyre finally came out of the bathroom after an hour, wrapped in her silk robe. Alis, who had made her hot chocolate to calm her nerves, guided her into a low-backed chair before the fireplace in the room and began to brush out her hair. Ana finished her letter and set fire to the paper, thinking about Izzy as she did so. When the paper was gone, Ana stood from the desk and approached Feyre and Alis.

"How're you feeling?" the blonde asked carefully.

Feyre shrugged. "Like I just ran for my life from evil faeries."

Ana chuckled. "Well, at least you didn't lose your sense of humor in that battle."

When the other maids had finally gone downstairs to help with the evening meal, Feyre asked Alis, "If more faeries keep crossing the court borders and attacking, is there going to be a war?"

Ana had been thinking of that after learning about the attack and seeing the damage. The naga, which were faeries from dark corners of Prythian, had heard when Feyre had captured a Suriel and came to claim it while also getting entertainment from killing a human. But a part of Ana believed that the naga hadn't come just because of the Suriel. Amarantha had sent them, she was sure of it. A warning to Tamlin to either give up or hurry the fuck up.

Alis stilled. "Don't ask such questions. You'll call down bad luck."

As if their luck isn't bad enough.

Feyre twisted in her seat and glared. "Why aren't the other High Lords keeping their subjects in line? Why are these awful creatures allowed to roam wherever they want? Someonesomeone began telling me a story about a king in Hybern"

Alis grabbed her shoulder and turned her back around. "It's none of your concern."

"Oh, I think it is." Feyre was not stopping. Ana just sat back and watched as the human glared at the faerie with such fire in her eyes. "If this spills into the human worldif there's a war, or this blight poisons our lands . . ."

The panic was evident in Feyre's voice.

"The less you know, the better. Let Lord Tamlin deal with ithe's the only one who can." Ana found herself disagreeing. She knew Rhys was fighting from the inside, so Tamlin wasn't the only one who could rid Prythian and the world of Amarantha. Sure, he was the only one who could kill her, but the other High Lords were doing their best (according to Rhys) to gain Amarantha's trust so when Tamlin did manage to break the curse, they could have her weakened. "You think no one would tell me what you asked the kitchen to give you today, or realize what you went to trap? Foolish, stupid girl. Had the Suriel not been in a benevolent mood, you would have deserved the death it gave you. I don't know what's worse: this, or your idiocy with the puca."

She had a point. Ana couldn't argue with Alis when she said Feyre was being an idiot that day. Going out alone without any training aside from the minimal sessions Ana and her had had over the past few days was suicide. 

"Would you have done anything else? If you had a family"

"I do have a family."

Ana was surprised, but also not. Alis acted in a motherly way toward them. It shouldn't have come as much of a shock. 

Alis noted their stares. "My sister and her mate were murdered nigh on fifty years ago, leaving two younglings behind. Everything I do, everything I work for, is for those boys. So you don't get the right to give me that look and ask me if I would do anything different, girl."

"Where are they?" Feyre asked. "Do they live here?"

Alis shook her head. "No, they don't live here," she said, too sharply. "They are somewhere elsefar away."

Ana stiffened as Alis glanced her way. Far away . . . holy shit! Alis nodded at the look in Ana's eyes. Her boys were living in Ana's world, safe from Amarantha and her curse. Raziel and the Fates or the Cauldron or something must've allowed it. Meaning . . . Ana had fought beside many Seelie children in the war. Maybe, just maybe, she'd fought with Alis's nephews. 

"Do faerie children age differently?" Feyre asked.

"Ah, some age like you and can breed as often as rabbits, but there are kindslike me, like the High Faewho are rarely able to produce younglings. The ones who are born age quite a bit slower. We all had a shock when my sister conceived the second one only five years laterand the eldest won't even reach adulthood until he's seventy-five. But they're so rareall our young areand more precious to us than jewels or gold." Alis clenched her jaw and both Ana and Feyre knew it was time to stop asking questions.

Feyre frowned. "I didn't mean to question your dedication to them. I understand what you meanabout doing everything for them."

Alis's lips thinned, but she said, "The next time that fool Lucien gives you advice on how to trap the Suriel, you come to me. Dead chickens, my sagging ass. All you needed to do was offer it a new robe, and it would have groveled at your feet."

Ana nudged her friend. "Or, you could have gone to me. I already trapped a Suriel and could have told you how to do it. But, this whole thing at least gives me an excuse to beat the shit out of Lucien. So thank you for that."

⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯

"You fucking asshole," Ana said, hitting Lucien upside the head when she saw him in the dining hall. Tamlin watched the two in confusion, not understanding why Ana was hitting Lucien and why Lucien was taking it without question. "You stupid, stupid, stupid faerie asshole! I oughta skin you alive for what you did!"

She knew he didn't understand the Russian, but he understood the anger in her eyes enough to remain silent. Ana let out a breath as she finally took her spot at the table, Feyre entering the room not too long after herself.

"Good evening," she said, moving to her usual seat.

Lucien slouched in his chair just a bit, relieved that his secret wasn't out. "I heard you two had a rather exciting afternoon. I wish I could have been there to help." A halfhearted apology at best, but it seemed as though Feyre accepted it, so Ana didn't say anything. "Well, you still look lovely, regardless of your Hell-sent afternoon."

Feyre snorted. "I thought faeries couldn't lie."

Tamlin choked on his wine while Lucien grinned, his scar shimmering in the light. "Who told you that?"

"Everyone knows it," Feyre said, piling food onto her plate. Ana listened intently, beginning to eat her scalloped potatoes. "Isn't that right, Ana?"

The blonde nodded. "The Seeliessorry, faeriesof my world are unable to tell a single lie."

Lucien leaned back in his chair, smiling with feline delight. "Of course we can lie. We find lying to be an art. And we lied when we told those ancient mortals that we couldn't speak an untruth. How else would we get them to trust us and do our bidding?"

Feyre stilled, swallowing thickly. "Iron?"

"Doesn't do us a lick of harm. Only ash, as you well know."

Ana perked a curious brow. "Does the ability to lie pertain only to High Fae, or is it spread throughout all types of faeries?"

Lucien hummed. "All faeries are able to lie, aside from the Suriel, who is forced to tell the truth when trapped."

Ana saw Feyre's shoulders relax just a bit. The blonde herself felt more loose and relaxed, knowing that what the Suriel had told her was truth and nothing else. At least one kind of Fae could be trusted around these lands.

"Even though Lucien revealed some of our closely guarded secrets," Tamlin said, throwing the last word at an unbothered Lucien, "we've never used your misinformation against you. We never willingly lied to you."

Ana rolled her eyes. "If this mushy shit continues, I'm gonna hurl."

"Me as well," Lucien muttered.

Tamlin and Feyre ignored the two as they continued gazing at one another. Ana could almost feel the tension in the room, suffocating her just a bit. By the Angel, it was like she was back with Clary and Jace when they first met. 

"Are you feeling . . . better?" Tamlin asked, his chin propped on his fist and concern dancing in his eyes.

Feyre swallowed hard. "If I never encounter a naga again, I'll consider myself fortunate."

"What were you doing out in the western woods?"

Feyre shrugged innocently. "I heard a legend once about a creature who answers your questions, if you can catch it."

Tamlin flinched as his claws shot out, slicing his face. He healed quickly, but Ana eyed him nonetheless. Panic flashed in his eyes, and Ana understood why. He was worried the Suriel had spilled his secrets to Feyre. 

Good on it if it had.

"You went to catch the Suriel?" he asked.

"I caught the Suriel," Feyre corrected.

"And did it tell you what you wanted to know?" Tamlin didn't appear to be breathing.

"We were interrupted by the naga before it could tell me anything worthwhile."

His mouth tightened. "I'd start shouting, but I think today was punishment enough." He shook his head. "You actually snared the Suriel. A human girl."

Ana perked an inquisitive brow. "Is it supposed to be hard? I actually found it to be pretty easy myself." She felt herself smirk. "Or do you think it's astonishing only because you lack the ability to catch one yourself, Tamlin?"

He gripped his fork tighter but steeled his emotions before they got out of control. He then reached into his pocket and pulled something out. "Well, if I'm lucky, I won't have to trap the Suriel to learn what this is about."

Ana's eyes widened at the crumpled list of words, her jaw going slack. Feyre's face fell. "It's . . ."

"Unusual? Queue? Slaying? Conflagration?" Ana felt her blood boil as he read through the list, spotting the embarrassment on Feyre's face. "Is this a poem about murdering me and then burning my body?"

"It will be if you don't shut the hell up," Ana practically growled, her grip so tight on her fork that the metal bent beneath her fingers. The others watched in amazement as the same golden light flickered in her eyes before fading away.

All Feyre did was stand and head for the door. "Good night.

"You love them very much, don't you?" Tamlin asked as she reached the door.

He was standing a respectable distance from her now, Feyre somewhat facing him while also facing the doorway. Lucien and Ana watched, intrigued. This was like a reality TV show.

Tamlin looked down at the list of words. "I wonder if your family realizes," he murmured, "that everything you've done wasn't about that promise to your mother, or for your sake, but for theirs." She remained quiet. "I knowI know that when I said it earlier, it didn't come out well, but I could help you write"

"Leave me alone," she said, moving through the door only to bump into him. Ana blinked. Wow, he'd moved quickly.

"I'm not insulting you."

"I don't need help. I have Ana."

"Clearly." He smiled, but it faded. "A human who can take down a faerie in a wolf's skin, who ensnared the Suriel and killed two naga on her own . . ." He choked on a laugh, and shook his head. "They're fools. Fools for not seeing it." He winced, but handed her the list of words. "Here."

Feyre shoved it in her pocket and went to go past him, but he grabbed her arm. "You gave up so much for them." He lifted his other hand to brush her cheek. "Do you even know how to laugh?"

Ana stilled. She'd been asked that question once, back when she'd first come to the Brooklyn Institute. A young girl with a troubled past who only spoke broken English and Russian. Maryse had asked her once if she remembered how to laugh, and Ana had nearly broken into tears at the thought of the last time she'd been happy enough to. 

Feyre ripped her arm from Tamlin's. "I don't want your pity."

Tamlin tilted his head. "What about a friend?"

"Can faeries be friends with mortals?"

"Five hundred years ago, enough faeries were friends with mortals that they went to war on their behalf."

"What?" Feyre seemed shocked. Clearly she hadn't known this part of her history.

"How do you think the human armies survived as long as they did, and did such damage that my kind even came to agree to a treaty? With ash weapons alone? There were faeries who fought and died at the humans' sides for their freedom, and who mourned when the only solution was to separate our peoples."

"Were you one of them?"

Ana waited with baited breath. She felt Lucien tense beside her. Which meant Tamlin was going to lie.

"I was a child at the time, too young to understand what was happeningor even to be told," he said. "But had I been old enough, I would have. Against slavery, against tyranny, I would gladly go to my death, no matter whose freedom I was defending." Ana didn't believe him. Something about him . . . it didn't sit well with her. "For what it's worth, your family knows you're safe. They have no memory of a beast bursting into their cottage, and think a long-lost, very wealthy aunt called you away to aid her on her deathbed. They know you're alive, and fed, and cared for. But they also know that there have been rumors of a . . . threat in Prythian, and are prepared to run should any of the warning signs about the wall falling occur."

"Youyou altered their memories?" Feyre took a step back, disgust in her eyes. Ana stood slowly, preparing to jump in if need be. 

"Glamoured their memorieslike putting a veil over them. I was afraid your father might come after you, or persuade some villagers to cross the wall with him and further violate the Treaty."

Feyre frowned. "You don't know him. My father wouldn't have bothered to do either."

Ana knew how Feyre felt about her family, the way she thought they didn't care enough about her like she did them. It hurt her, but Ana couldn't argue that her family put up much of a fight against those thoughts. 

Tamlin looked at her for a long moment. "Yes, he would have."

Feyre was silent as she thought, her eyes flashing with a mix of emotions. Ana turned to Lucien and mouthed, is he telling the truth? To which Lucien nodded. Not that that settled her doubts, but it helped a smidge. 

"You truly warned them aboutthe possible threat?"

A grave nod. "Not an outright warning, but . . . it's woven into the glamour on their memoriesalong with an order to run at the first sign of something being amiss."

Feyre stared at Tamlin for a long while. So long that Ana found herself waiting for Feyre to lean forward and plant one on Tamlin. But luckily, all Feyre did was smile slightly.

"Paint," she said. He cocked his head. "Ifif it's not too much to ask,  I'd like some paint. And brushes."

Tamlin blinked. "You likeart? You like to paint?"

Ana wanted to laugh, but the situation didn't call for it. "Yes," Feyre said. "I'm notnot any good, but if it's not too much trouble . . . I'll paint outside, so I don't make a mess, but"

"Outside, inside, on the roofpaint wherever you want. I don't care," he said. " But if you need paint and brushes, you'll also need paper and canvas."

Feyre fiddled with her fingers. "I can workhelp around the kitchen or in the gardensto pay for it."

"You'd be more of a hindrance. It might take a few days to track them down, but the paint, the brushes, the canvas, and the space are yours. Work wherever you want. This house is too clean, anyway."

Ana watched the smile grow on Feyre's face. "Thank youI mean it, truly. Thank you."

"Of course." She turned to leave. "Have you seen the gallery?"

Feyre whipped around. "There's a gallery in this house?"

He grinnedactually grinned. "I had it closed off when I inherited this place. It seemed like a waste of time to have the servants keep it clean." Ana rolled her eyes. "I'm busy tomorrow, and the gallery needs to be cleaned up, so . . . the next daylet me show it to you the next day." He rubbed his neck, and Ana swore she saw him blush. "Pleaseit would be my pleasure."

Feyre nodded dumbly. "I would like thatvery much."

Tamlin smiled at her as she walked out, and Ana noticed how Feyre's breath seemed to catch. Well, it seemed as though his plan of making her fall for him was working. But maybe, just maybe, he was falling for her, too. But if he screwed her over, Ana was going to kill him. No hesitation.

Ana stood from her spot and clapped slowly. "Beautiful performance, really. I especially like the blushing. Made it seem very sweet and true." Tamlin's cheeks flamed brighter than Lucien's hair. "Oh, and what you said about this house being too clean . . . does that mean only Feyre can make a mess, or am I included in that as well? Because there's this one science experiment I've been dying to show Feyre involving Mentos and soda that I'm sure she would find fascinating."

Tamlin blinked, dumbfounded. He only nodded, leaving Ana to grin broadly as she skipped out of the dining hall, already planning on making the biggest mess of the place so Tamlin would eat his words. 

⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯

Ana woke up to screaming. For a moment, just a brief second, she thought she was back in Russia. Back in the hands of Viktor, watching as he drove a scalpel into her skin to see what lay beneath. 

When she blinked, she was back in her room in the Spring Court, breathing heavily with salty tears falling down her cheeks. She brushed them away quickly as another screamone of painfilled the air once more. It had her slipping out of bed and running through the halls of the manor toward the lower floor.

There, she found something she thought she'd never see again.

Tamlin was running into the manor, a screaming faerie slung over his shoulder. 

The faerie was almost as big as Tamlin, and yet he carried them as if they were no more than a sack of grain. A species of lesser faerie, with his blue skin, gangly limbs, pointed ears, and long onyx hair. But that's not what had Ana stumbling to a stop at the top of the steps, nearly sobbing in surprise.

Blood was gushing along the faerie's back, coming from black stumps protruding from his shoulder blades. Blood that soaked the floors and Tamlin himself. 

Lucien ran into the foyer below just as Tamlin shouted, "The tableclear it off!" Lucien shoved the vase of flowers off the long table in the center of the hall. Ana didn't have time to think on why he hadn't taken the faerie to the infirmary as she rushed down the steps and went to their aid. She'd dealt with enough of these moments to know exactly what to do.

Ana wordlessly helped Tamlin ease the faerie onto the table, face-first to avoid injuring him anymore. His face was contorted in complete agony, no mask there to hide the tears that streamed down his cheeks.

"Scouts found him dumped just over the borderline," Tamlin explained to Lucien and Ana. "He's Summer Court."

"By the Cauldron," Lucien muttered, surveying the damage. 

"My wings!" the faerie choked out, his glossy black eyes wide and staring at nothing. "She took my wings."

Ana's blood turned to ice. Amarantha had taken this poor faerie's wings? What for? To make a point? To scare them? 

The blonde knelt down to the faerie's level, taking his smooth and wet cheeks between her steady hands. "It'll be okay," she muttered.

"She took my wings," said the faerie. "She took my wings."

"I know, I know," Ana whispered as Tamlin began whispering some prayer of sorts. She stood up and grabbed the edge of her pajama pants, ripping the cloth free. She wrapped it around her hand and pressed it down against the bleeding stumps of the faerie's wings. The faerie screamed, but Ana kept applying pressure. "I know it hurts, but pressure will stop the bleeding."

"She took my wings," the faerie sobbed again. 

"Keep still," Tamlin ordered. "You'll bleed out faster."

"N-n-no." The faerie began to writhe around, but Ana stopped him by adding more pressure. Her hands were covered in blood, but she didn't feel it. Blood had coated her hands one too many times for her to feel it. 

Tamlin glanced at Lucien, quietly commanding him to come and help. All he did was shake his head, back up a step, hurl into a potted plant, and run from the room. 

Ana sucked in a deep breath and ripped more cloth from her pants. "Please hold still. The bleeding is going to stop if you hold still."

"She took my wings," he sobbed. "She took them."

Ana handed the rags to Tamlin and knelt down in front of the faerie once more, holding his face in her bloody hands. "I know. I know."

The blood wasn't going to stop. She knew that, Tamlin knew that, but Ana wasn't going to tell this faerie that. He deserved to die peacefully, knowing he'd end up in a better place. One without this war going on. One where he'd get his wings back again. 

"Raziel, the Cauldron, whoever rules over this world, please send this faerie into a land of no pain. A land of serenity, where he gets his wings back and his freedom back. His freedom from Amarantha and her curse on this land." The words flew from her lips in a rushed whisper as she rubbed calming circles on the faerie's skin. 

"She took my wings," he whispered. 

Ana nodded sadly and took his hands, allowing his long and slender fingers to wrap around hers. "It will be alright. I promise you, whatever happens, it will be alright."

The faerie was beginning to weaken, his voice coming out as a hoarse whisper. "My wings."

"You will get them back," Ana promised, confidence in her voice. "You will get them back, I swear."

"You swear?" he asked, his eyes barely open.

Ana held both his hands in her own, squeezing them softly and gently as she felt the fight leave his body. Tamlin began speaking, "Cauldron save you. Mother hold you. Pass through the gates, and smell that immortal land of milk and honey. Fear no evil. Fear no pain. Go, and enter eternity."

The faerie heaved a final sigh, then he went limp. Ana didn't let go of his hands until minutes later, her feet soaking in the blood puddle as she remained in her spot. Finally, when she was sure there was nothing else she could do, she brushed the hair from his face and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. 

"To those after. To us now. And to those beyond. Seen but unseen. Here but not here," she whispered softly. 

Finally, she stood and stepped away from the body, feeling her throat close up as tears pressed against the backs of her eyes. She'd seen death before. She'd seen it in masses. And yet, watching this faerie die before her very eyes, without being able to help him . . . It brought her back to the time when she was so helpless. So unable to help anyone, including herself. 

"He's gone," Tamlin said softly.

Ana nodded. "We can't leave him there. Not for Feyre to see." She ran her fingers through her hair, ignoring the way the blood stained it. "Bury him, or whatever it is you Fae do. Just put him to rest."

Tamlin nodded. "You should get cleaned up."

"I will." She turned, preparing to leave, but Tamlin stopped her.

"Why?" he asked. "You never talk highly of our kind. Why did you do this for him?"

Ana licked her lips, doing her best to force down her tears. But her voice caught as she swallowed painfully. "Because, no matter who you are or what you've done, no one deserves to be left alone when dying. No one deserves to be left without hope of surviving. And if I were in his place, I would want someone to hold my hands and tell me that everything would be all right, even if I knew it wouldn't be." A single tear fell from her eyes and she sniffled. "This Amarantha bitch is going to die. I don't care if it's by your hands or mine, but she will be dead before the year's end."

And with that, Ana left, silent tears dripping down her cheeks as she climbed the steps and entered her room, breaking into sobs once the door was closed.


⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯


𝐀 𝐔 𝐓 𝐇 𝐎 𝐑 𝐒   𝐍 𝐎 𝐓 𝐄   !

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯


Fast update, I know, but this one is a bit heavier. I wanted Ana to be the one to deal with the faerie because she has experience in stuff like this. I wanted to show more of the way her past affects her, and I think that Ana would be the one to show up and help if she were actually in the series.

But on a positive note, Calanmai is only one or two chapters away! Tell me if there is anything you guys specifically want to see happen that night. Do you want her to fight off some faeries or something like that? Witness Tamlin's whole thing? Just let me know, because my idea was for Tamlin to pick Ana as his person since she smells a bit like Feyre from being around her so much, but then someone comes in and stops it. Do you want that or do you want something different?

Please comment and vote!

Love you all!

 a.h.

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