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The wave of fear coming from the bond almost completely paralyzed me, a feeling of dread that I knew wasn't coming from me caused my blood to freeze in my veins and I stopped speaking in the middle of a sentence.
I searched the bond between us and the only thing I felt were impressions of Feyre and Tamlin, and an icy wave of fear, feeling my mate's fear almost made me let go of the leash of my own power as I tried to look into the mind of Feyre and find out what had caused that reaction.
In front of me was Azriel, looking at me worriedly, but my attention was completely on Feyre, on that connection that united us, that bond that was as old as the courts. That bond that after seconds of terror had become as silent as when she...
I scolded myself for the thoughts and without saying anything I apparated from my office in Velaris after my companion.
It took seconds, just seconds, that it took me to appear in the Spring Court, but in those seconds my greatest fear happened for the second time, and I felt it as clearly as I had felt the moment Amaranta broke her neck of Feyre, I felt the impact against my companion through our connection, I felt the exact moment that table hit Feyre's head, and for the second time I felt the person who was the world to me die, I felt her soul leave this plane. The sound of her body impacting the floor was what greeted me when I showed up at Tamlin's office, which looked completely destroyed, the sight of Feyre's broken body made my heart stop, before I ran to where my companion had been. fallen, under a damn table.
In that moment, as I held Feyre's broken, bloody body in my arms, I was not the high lord of the night court, I was not the face of dreams and nightmares, I was just a broken man, who was watching his biggest nightmare unfold for the second time, and this time with no chance of a concert.
Behind me, a being that was more beast than man growled, still half-transformed, and tried to approach my Feyre's body, but was stopped by my own growl and the shield of shadows I summoned around both of us. the desire for revenge burned in my chest, my magic screamed in my veins and that empty place in my soul where our bond of mate once was demanded blood, demanded that I destroy the great lord who destroyed my beloved, but I I put all of down, and summoned Amren, who didn't need to hear any orders from me before using her powers to arrest the grand lord of spring and take him to a cell beneath the excavated city, where he would be imprisoned until the destroyed as completely as he destroyed the woman he claimed to love, so completely that he would beg me to destroy his mind.
The pain in my chest made it hard to breathe, like every piece of my heart was being cut out while it was still beating in my chest, and as I cradled Feyre's small, thin body I could only think one thing: I failed with her, I failed my companion for the second time, I let the most precious gift the cauldron gave me be taken away again.
And with those thoughts swirling in my mind, I finally broke down in tears right there in the middle of Tamlin's office, in the middle of the spring court. In the house of my greatest enemy, in a destroyed office, with my dead companion in my arms, her body already becoming rigid with death, that was where I let myself cry the tears that 50 years under the mountain had not wrung from me.
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At first I thought I had really gone crazy, I thought the pain had finally destroyed my mind and that my despair was making me see things, a figure passing by me, a presence in the back of my mind, a faint feeling that was not mine crossing me...
I thought it was a way for my brain to protect itself from the pain I was feeling, or that it was my sadness and lack of food making me delirious.
- Rhys, when was the last time you ate something?! - Mor asked, but I didn't feel any energy or willpower to respond, so I remained in the same silence as I had been since that day almost a week ago.
After crying so hard that I almost fainted, I picked up Feyre's body and apparated us to Velaris, where my inner circle was waiting for me. I don't remember much about what happened from then on, I only have flashes of memories of fighting with Az and Cass when they tried to convince me to let go of her body, in the end Amren had to intervene and knock me out, while Mor took the body From my Feyre to the priestesses, I think Az and Cass took me to bed, but I'm not sure. The next thing I remember is demanding that Mor send letters to all the remaining high lords to come to my court, my plan was to force them to give drops of their powers to Feyre again, but Mor understood my plan and quickly let me know him:
- Rhys, her body will not be able to be resurrected by the high lords again, the power would destroy her physical body in an instant.
After that I had to be restrained by Cass from apparating to other courts and continuing with my plan in the same way. Later that day Feyre's wake took place, she was buried in the place where one day my body will rest, if only that day came soon.
Mor sighed from where she was in front of me, she and the rest of my inner circle had been watching me since the event so that I wouldn't do something crazy, but even all of them together couldn't make me eat.
- You know she wouldn't want to see you suffering like that. - Mor whispered, and I got angry:
- It doesn't matter what she wants anymore! She is DEAD! DEAD! MY COMPANION IS DEAD AND IT'S ALL MY FAULT!
Mor didn't back down:
- It wasn't you who killed she Rhys, Tamlin did.
- Yes, and who left her with Tamlin in the first place?! Who saw her becoming a shadow of herself and still didn't take her out of that bastard's hands?!
- You did everything you could, she chose to stay with him, she....
- She couldn't imagine that the male for whom she sacrificed everything would kill her. I should....
Suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw something, like a figure, like a shadow, shapeless and at the same time with a shape that I recognized well, as soon as I looked in the corner the shadow disappeared, but at the feeling of sadness came from the back of my mind, it was a weak feeling, almost non-existent but it made me feel for the first time in a week that I could breathe again.
- Rhys? What it was? - My cousin asked, and her eyes widened when I whispered almost like a prayer:
- She's still here Mor, she didn't abandon me. - Mor looked at me strangely, certainly wondering if I had gone crazy but that didn't matter to me.
Because this time I had no doubt that that feeling came from Feyre, that that shadow was the remnant of the woman who meant my world, my Feyre was still here, she was with me and that realization made my eyes fill with tears.
My mate, that incredible, brave female who had survived everything they threw at her was somehow clinging to our mate bond, clinging to life like she did the first time, and I was going to cling to her like I did the first time too.
Mor went to open her mouth to speak, but my attention was once again taken from her to near the wall of my room, where I saw that shadow again, I saw what was left of my companion looking at me and, unable to contain myself, I went towards her.
Even her shadow was weak, little more than a figure, maintaining itself in the form of my Feyre with great difficulty, and when I got close enough to touch, I realized that I couldn't, which hurt the bottom of my soul, and due to the feeling of sadness and longing that I felt coming from our fragile bond, she was also feeling the same. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't and hung her head sadly. I couldn't leave her feeling like this, so I put a reassuring smile on my face:
- It's okay, honey, we'll figure it out.
She looked at me with doubt, it was strange but I could understand every expression she made even in this form. I swallowed all the pain of the last week, the important thing was to make my partner feel better, so I put my arrogant smile in place and said:
- Trust me, besides being beautiful I'm very intelligent, remember?
And when she rolled her eyes and I felt a sense of mockery coming from the bond, I smiled for the first time since leaving her at the spring court.
- Hello Feyre! - Mor said from where she was, and my Feyre's attention moved to my cousin, she waved her hand and Mor gave her one of her bright smiles before her attention was directed to me:
- I'll call Amren, maybe she knows how to help you defeat death for the second time. - My cousin winked at me and then left, leaving me alone with Feyre, I looked at her and it was as if I had no control over my mouth, maybe all the pain I went through had made me lose control of my words, because When I turned to my partner, who was little more than a shadow but who made me feel warm as if I were next to the sun, I said:
- I love you.
And the feeling I felt was like nothing before, after a while I would be able to decipher what the feeling she sent me was: love.
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- Is there no other way? - I asked through my teeth while looking at Amren, who didn't even deign to answer me, just looked at me seriously with those silver eyes that shone to show that she was not a fairy, but something much more powerful and dangerous. I sighed in defeat and looked to my right side, where Feyre's shadow was staring into space, as if she didn't have any energy to look into our defeated eyes.
- Maybe if we went to the bone carver... - Cass tried to suggest, but her own voice already demonstrated what we all thought: that was the only way I could get my mate back. I turned to my cousin, who was staring at me silently:
- Mor, bring me a lock of Feyre's hair. I'm leaving. - I said without hesitation, and my inner circle looked at me stunned as Mor left to carry out my orders:
- Rhys, isn't it better to do things calmly? Maybe it's better for one of us to go in your place - Cass tried to reason with me, and I almost laughed even without feeling any joy:
- My calm gave Tamlin the chance to kill her! Even now I can't close my eyes without seeing my companion's body falling to the floor... being crushed by a table, so no Cass, I can't take things slowly. - I whispered and turned my gaze to my beloved, who even now was by my side, even after I had failed her, even after I was to blame for her being in that situation.
A weak tug from our bond brought me out of my dark thoughts, and I heard a faint whisper in my mind, almost too faint to hear:
- It's not your fault.
- Yes it is, but don't worry, I'll fix it. - I promised, and she gave me a furious look, which I could easily translate into "- Stop being an idiot and stop blaming yourself", unfortunately I couldn't fulfill her request.
Just when it looked like she was going to try to communicate one more thing, Mor returned carrying with her a lock of Feyre's hair, which had been enchanted to keep it from rotting. I took that lock with the reverence of someone holding a rare jewel, and stored it. , then I looked at each of my friends, my family, who were there watching me once again leave them behind, I swallowed the lump in my throat and said:
- Amren and Mor will be in charge, things have been calm but we know that this could change quickly, especially now that Tamlin's body must have been found and Lucien was named high lord of the spring, he and Tamlin were very close so don't tell would be surprising if he decided to avenge his friend's death.
- There have been no attacks during these two months, not even a whisper of that possibility. - Az commented and Mor added:
- I heard that Lucien and Feyre were close friends, perhaps he also considers Tamlin's death deserved. Of course, it's still best to keep your eyes open for any convergence. - Out of the corner of my eye I saw my companion shrink, and I felt her sadness for the bond, truly Lucien and her were close, so she must be feeling sad about his situation. I raised my hand to put it on her shoulder, but I stopped before that, remembering that I couldn't touch her.
- Rhys, I know you're desperate to get Feyre back, but please reconsider, the cauldron was split into pieces, and those pieces could be ANYWHERE! - Mor exclaimed, but I was not dissuaded, I waited long enough to bring my companion back.
- See you as soon as I can. - I said, and with that farewell I apparated from Velaris in search of the only thing that could bring my Feyre back: the cauldron.
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- Did you know that from the moment I started dreaming about you, I considered you the most wonderful woman in the world? - I whispered to her in the stillness of the cave where we took shelter from the violent storm that was happening outside. She was lying next to me, so close that we could have touched if we had managed to, she was looking at me attentively, with curiosity, I soon continued:
- I had these glimpses of you while I was under the mountain, little glimpses of a girl I didn't know but who gave me hope when I had none, I think without those dreams I would have broken with no chance of a concert.
I looked at her, remembering what those days were like, when the darkness I was in felt like it would eat me from the inside out, when my only source of peace was the flexes of a mortal girl's life, who would have thought we would be here now, in a cave, on top of a mountain forgotten by mother, in a place that didn't even have a name, just the two of us and a piece of the cauldron that we managed to recover that morning.
- I dreamed about you for years before I met you, and I must say, Feyre, that dreams did not do justice to the sensational woman you are.
A smile, a tug at the bond, and a feeling of affection, that's what she gave me, and I considered myself the luckiest male in the world.
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- Are you well? - Her question made me focus, trying to ignore the mind-boggling pain in my right leg where that beast had bitten me to look at my companion, who was looking at me with veiled concern, for her it was difficult to speak even mentally, and after a few sentences Feyre was so weak that her shadow almost lost its human form and her grip on our bond almost slipped, which was why she normally didn't talk to me, her doing this now was a sign of how worried she was. I gave she him my arrogant smile:
- I'll be fine, Feyre dear, but if you want to kiss me to make the pain go away sooner I won't refuse. - It worked perfectly and soon the concern gave way to light mockery, while my magic healed me from the wound.
When I was feeling better, I looked at the dense forest around us and at the backpack in my hand, containing the second piece of the cauldron. We smile at each other, two down, three to go.
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- When did you know you loved me? - The question resounded through the cramped space where the two of us made our camp.
- I think I fell in love with you before I even met you in person that night, but if you want to know when I understood that only you could be my wife, then it was after you threw that bone like a spear at Amarantha, I swear at that moment I almost fell to my knees and asked him to marry me right there. - I confessed with a laugh, followed by Feyre's laugh:
- I think your reputation would be ruined if you did that. - She joked.
- I would have thrown my reputation into the mud if it would have made you give me the honor of having you as my wife. - I swore, smiling along with her, she looked like she was going to touch my face, but she stopped at the last moment, sadness in her eyes and in the bond we shared, but she put a smile on her face even with sad eyes because of our situation. I smiled, even though I felt the same as her:
- Don't worry dear, soon we'll be able to touch each other everywhere and as much as we want. - I winked at her as we looked at the three pieces of the cauldron.
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The starry sky of that place made me miss home, and I missed my family who took care of my court, we had taken the four legs of the cauldron, now only one part was missing, soon we would be home together.
- The people who look at the stars and wish, Rhys. - Feyre whispered in my ear, my heart skipped a beat in my chest:
- The stars that listen and the dreams that are answered, Feyre. - I replied and I swear I saw a shooting star pass out of the corner of my eye, I closed my eyes and prayed to mother that our wish would be granted.
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Our mission took 4 months, they weren't easy months but they were necessary to bring my companion back, and also for us to get to know each other better. During the time we were together looking for the pieces of the cauldron, Feyre and I put everything on the table, we talked about everything that happened, our feelings and what we thought about each other, we were honest and frank, and as that was exactly what we needed it, now we were united, in mind and heart, and if everything happens well, in body too.
In front of us the cauldron glowed with magic so powerful that even I could barely bear to be near it, I looked one last time at Feyre's shadow, she was smiling at me, a tug at the bond and a feeling of unconditional love coming from her, I I love her with all my strength and finally the moment we have been waiting for has arrived:
- Are you ready, Feyre dear?! - I asked while taking that lock of hair that Mor gave me months before.
- Rhys.
- Yes my dear?
- I love you. - And that was it, the words that she hadn't said before but that I could feel through the bond, I had already said that I loved her several times and she sang the feeling, but hearing her say the words made my heart beat faster, my hands sweating:
- I love you too Feyre, I will love you until the last day of my life, I think that even after death I will still love you. - I promised and threw the lock of hair into the cauldron.
A very bright light temporarily blinded me, the explosion of raw magic caused my own magic to come into action, darkness surrounding me, and moments later, my darkness was mixed with another, similar but different at the same time, familiar, and surrounding, and my darkness embraced her as if they were lovers, at the same time a small, familiar hand wrapped around mine, and joy filled my heart and the mating bond, I smiled at the female in front of me, her blue gray eyes looking at me with a glow of life, my Feyre's body was now tangible, and glowed faintly with the power of the court of Day, life radiated from her, and the power she emanated was something incredible and beautiful, but her smile , my partner's smile was without a shadow of a doubt the most beautiful thing in this world, she looked at me with love, and I knew that even if I died at that moment I would die as the happiest male in the world. She hugged me tightly, as if she would never let me go again, and I wouldn't mind if she did that, in my ear Feyre whispered, with the strong and playful voice that I missed so much:
- Hello Rhys, dear!
And I kissed her, I kissed my beloved who was alive in my arms and I thanked mother for the second chance she was giving us.
- I missed you, you beautiful and cruel thing.
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