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Chapter Text

“Sister.” Her brother’s voice boomed in the empty great hall of the manor. He made an imposing figure, lounging on the throne, his golden hair crowned by golden laurel leaves. He looked like their father and the thought sent a shudder through her. 

Their father had been dead for ten years and Seren’s memories of the man were as mixed up and as twisted as he had been. She loved him in the same breath that she wasn’t sure if she could ever fully trust him or depend on him. Her mother had certainly never depended on him. Not for anything. She supposed she had inherited her feelings on the matter.

Seren folded her hands in front of her. If she didn’t squeeze them, she was worried she would give into the habit she had of biting her fingernails to the quick. Her mother had chided her about it often enough, but Seren had never been able to quit the habit. Besides, no one in the woods cared if she bit her nails or not. But it was different here. She knew that. 

Talan was an indication of that. Her brother’s gaze drifted downwards. His green eyes revealed nothing but his lip curled in disgust, as if he could see the ugliness of her nails. She fought the urge to hide them behind her back. Perhaps she would care more about her brother’s opinion if she saw him more often than once a year.

Seren didn’t stay at Court, so she did not often care for her physical appearance. But under her brother’s sharp gaze, it felt like a character flaw.

“Brother,” she said in a tone that she hoped was confident. 

“Come closer.” He bent his fingers. It relayed the arrogance of a High Lord. “It has been a while since I have seen you.” 

“You do not invite me to Court,” Seren replied, unable to help the slight edge that had entered her voice.

She and her mother had resided closer to the manor when her father had been alive. They had never been present for many Court events, like Nynsar or the Summer Solstice, but they had seen her father often enough. Her brother Talan had not invited them to Court since he had taken the throne. Seren had never held it against him, because she did not care about Court all that much. But it still felt like a bit of an insult. She was a High Lord’s daughter, even if her mother was a lesser faerie. Surely she deserved more respect than not being invited to the Spring Court celebrations.

She tried not to let her thoughts show on her face as she walked closer to his throne.

“Yes.” Her brother’s green eyes stared at her as she came to stop on the bottom step. “I am sorry about that. And how is your mother?”

“My mother is well.” Seren offered him a smile. Her brother blinked, as if in surprise. “We tend to our trees most days.”

“Hm. And are you…satisfied with that life?” Talan sounded uncertain. She supposed it would be difficult to imagine a life of simplicity, like her and her mother’s. Talan had been born and bred to be the Heir of Spring. He looked like it, too, with his hair as golden and his eyes as green as their father’s.

It was the only physical similarity between them. Those green eyes. 

“I do love the woods,” she responded, in an answer she knew was not really an answer at all. But her father had taught her how to play the Court’s games. Never reveal your true intentions or feelings , he had said to her.

“The Autumn Court has lovely forests.” Talan surprised her with his statement. He smirked at whatever was on her face and went on, “Their leaves are practically enchanted. The color is unlike anything I have ever seen.”

“I would like to see the Autumn Wood. And The Forest House.” The ancient abode of the Autumn Court was well known, especially to the creatures of the wood. The Forest house was made of trees, hills, and stone. There was not a house like it in all of Prythian. It spread for miles and miles. At least, that is what the books Seren had read told her. 

“That’s right. You have never even been outside of Spring, have you, sister?” Talan asked.

“No.” Seren tilted her head at him. Her brother knew very well that she had never been anywhere. Seren had been content with that in all of her thirty eight years of her young life, but lately she had been aching to explore the land of Prythian. Her mother was the only thing keeping her back. She did not want Seren to venture past the woods near the Spring Court border.

“Well, I think I can make that happen.” Her brother crossed his fingers into a steeple in front of his face. “You’ve had a marriage offer. A very generous one, I might add. You could leave for the Autumn Court tomorrow, if you wish.”

Seren blinked. She had many thoughts running through her head but the first thing that came out was, “They do not care about my heritage? That I am only half High Fae?”

Her fingers absently brushed over the elongated tips of her ears, slightly longer than most High Fae’s. It was the only telltale sign of her lesser faerie heritage. That, and the fact that her teeth could become sharper at will. Her mother’s were permanently pointed, but Seren could transform her own. Some lingering gift of her father’s. 

Talan’s gaze tracked the movement before he studied her ears. 

“He is willing to overlook that based on…other things.” Her brother gestured towards her face. “The male is very aware of your beauty.”

Seren frowned at him. “Beauty?”

“Yes. Surely you’re not unaware of your…unnaturally good looks.” Talan shifted on his seat. For the first time, he looked uncomfortable. “I suppose you’re not around civilized company enough for them to tell you.”

“My mother has always called me beautiful but that is what mothers are supposed to tell their children,” Seren replied. 

“Well, trust me when I say this. You are very beautiful. And the male agrees. No lord wants an ugly wife,” Talan retorted.

Seren’s ears perked up. “A lord? What lord? I have never heard of one that does not care about lesser faerie lineage.” 

“An Autumn lord. And he does not care on that count because dryads are very fertile, sister. It would be an asset to any lord.” Talan was beginning to look frustrated. He likely thought she would have agreed by now. 

Seren felt a wave of dislike wash over her. Seren loved children and dreamed of having her own some day, but that was not her only dream in life. And she wished to marry for more than just being a mother to her husband’s brood. That kind of marriage sounded hard and lonely. 

Her parents had never been married, although they had been mates. And even that was not even the right term for it. Seren had always hoped that a mate was a soul mate, but that was not the case with her parents and she doubted it would be the case with whatever Autumn lord Talan was referring to. 

“I am not sure that I want to be viewed as a commodity,” Seren hesitantly responded. 

“You would be as good as a princess. You would be a Vanserra,” Talan revealed.

“I am already a princess. Our father was a High Lord,” she returned.

“I think you mistake me. I am not asking. You will obey me on this, Seren.” Talan rose to his feet, his green cloak trailing behind him. Seren was tall, but Talan was taller than her and much broader. “This is an order from your High Lord.” 

Her heart began to pound. Of course she wanted to see the world, to see the Autumn Court, and to marry. But she had heard tales of the Vanserra brood. Eris Vanserra was High Lord of Autumn and had three living brothers. One of them was Lucien Vanserra, who had married a firebird queen. Only one of the Vanserra males was unmarried. Seren wondered if that was who wished to marry her, or if it was Eris Vanserra’s son. She squeezed her hands even tighter together.

“Father wished for me to marry for love,” Seren stated. 

“Father is dead.” Talan’s voice was as hard as stone. “There is only me. And our Court is poor and still recovering from the damage that Feyre Cursebreaker inflicted on it decades ago. Your marriage to Evyn Vanserra would provide us with the finances to repair things that have long been left in disarray.” 

Seren flinched at the name Feyre Cursebreaker, in the same moment that Talan had. Seren knew she had been the Savior of Prythian but she had also been the Scourge of Spring. Even when her father had taken her mother to mate, Seren knew that he had died hating and loving Feyre Cursebreaker. Seren felt her own amount of conflicting feelings over the female. She knew she owed the High Lady of Night her life, but she had also destroyed her father. She wondered if he might have been a different male without her. But then again, if her father had never loved Feyre Cursebreaker, Seren might have never been born and Prythian might still have been under the thrall of the horrid Amarantha. 

Seren had never noticed the poverty of her own Court. Of course, she had grown up hearing the laments of ladies complaining that their dresses were years out of fashion compared to other places like Summer or Autumn. On holidays even like Calanmai, the food was never plentiful and abounding. And there had not been a Tithe in the Spring Court for many decades. The Spring Court was now a disjointed land of mostly agriculture and lesser fairies. Most of the High Fae had left for other Courts long ago, and if any had stayed, they stayed in the Manor.

But none of them were present today. She wondered if that was by design.

“Help me understand,” she asked her brother. “If I am to do this for our home, I would like to understand why.”

A muscle feathered in her brother’s jaw before he turned away. He strode off the dias, his boots clacking over the marbled floors. She had never seen Talan look so disturbed. Her brother was every inch the warrior beast their father had been, but he had always kept it contained. Seren wondered what he had witnessed from their father, growing up under the same roof as him. Perhaps it had made it harder for Talan to love their father, if he had often seen the beastly side of him. 

A shadow of claws flashed before her mind.

“Trouble is brewing on our southern borders. Lord Graysen’s grandchildren have proven a headache.” Talan brushed a hand through his shoulder length golden hair. “Our borders have been left unprotected for so long I suppose they think Spring Court land is theirs for the taking.”

“We have sentries,” Seren offered. 

Talan shook his head. “Barely any and they are not enough. The children of that family have held a long burning hatred of our race. I do not have the funds, or the guards, to fight them.”

He said it quietly, as if he was ashamed. Seren knew her brother was a proud male, probably even prouder than most due to his status as High Lord. Pride ran in their blood and at that moment it was a fierce flicker in her veins. Seren did not want to see her home destroyed. There were good folk in these lands.

“And Evyn Vanserra is keen to fight this battle for you?”

“He is thirsty for blood. Like his father Beron.”

Seren swallowed the lump in her throat. Her chest felt as heavy, as if a mountain sat on top of it. The Sacred Mountain of Prythian itself. That was the magnitude of what was pressing down on her. Seren took a breath before approaching her brother. He watched her through hard green eyes. She laid a hand on his shoulder and prepared for her next words.

Could she sacrifice her dreams for her home? Could she be the female that Feyre Cursebreaker had been? It should have been an easy answer and yet Seren felt selfish as she wrestled with it. She knew how females in the Autumn Court were treated. What they had done to the Morrigan was a well known tale. And Seren had no desire to be a breeding ground for the likes of Evyn Vanserra.

Still, she said, “I will agree to marry him, Talan. But I must meet him first.”

Her brother stared at her, before his lips curled. “Done. I will invite him here before a fortnight has passed.” His eyes brushed over her dress. It was sleeveless and made out of white muslin that cinched at the waist. “I’ll have someone make up a dress for you.”

Seren liked her clothes how they were. The ones who dwelled in the wood cared little for clothes and oftentimes they didn’t wear any at all. Talan would be scandalized to hear that, she was sure of it. 

Yes, Seren liked her clothes. But she said, “If you wish.”

A punch to the face was a normal way to start his day, especially considering it came from his best friend. Who also happened to be his cousin, but most of the people who were closest to Nyx were his family. And he wouldn’t have it any other way, so great was his love for them.

“Too easy,” taunted Bran. Jeers erupted from the crowd of onlookers, which also mostly consisted of his family. 

“Cheap shot, Bran!” called his younger sister.

Nyx shook off the slight pain with a smirk. “I let you have that one.”

“Oh ho, big words from the little lord.” Bran had a shit eating grin on his face. Nyx laughed darkly.

Truthfully, Bran was bigger than Nyx, but that was because Bran’s father was built like a mountain. But what Nyx lacked in brawn (compared to Bran, at least) he made up for in speed, which was something his father had always instilled in him. Know your opponent and work them to your advantage.

Nyx struck fast, darting around Bran’s guard. He landed his first hit and the second, right to Bran’s ribs. Bran crashed to his knees, the breath leaving him in a whoosh. Nyx moved before he could, drawing him in a tight headlock. Bran kicked back, like Nyx knew he would. He braced himself for the impact of the fall, but slipped from under Bran’s cage of arms. Bran got in another hit to the sternum, but Nyx kneed him in the groin before rolling to his back. He pinned Bran in an armbar that Nyx knew was almost impossible to escape.

Bran tapped out moments later and cheers erupted from their family. 

They collapsed on the ground for a brief moment. Nyx laid on the grass outside of the House of Wind, wiping the sweat from his brow with the leather braces wrapped around his forearms. His wings spread out behind him, soaking up the summer sun. It was an unusually hot day in Velaris, but Nyx enjoyed it. Nothing compared to the crystal clear cold of winter in the Night Court, though.

“Good one,” Bran breathed, drawing him away from his thoughts. “You won’t beat me twice in a row, though.”

Nyx sighed. “I never do.” 

A shadow fell over them and Nyx squinted to see past the silhouette of darkness. Their cousin Silas stood over them, a grin on his face. He offered them both a hand up and Nyx winced as Silas pulled him up. Bran was no better. They would both be sore from the training today. Zephra would no doubt taunt them for it.

As soon as he thought it, his sister sauntered over. She was smirking. “Out of shape, boys?”

She shrieked as Bran pulled her under his armpit, tussling the top of her dark hair. Nyx and Silas laughed and Zephra’s violet eyes glared at them when she managed to escape Bran’s hold. She smoothed her hair back down, looking very prim and pissed.

A hand came down on Nyx’s shoulder and he turned to find his other cousin Alessian standing beside him. Les’s wings brushed Nyx’s own. His brown eyes were filled with warmth as they met Nyx’s. There was very little physical similarity between them aside from their height and their wings. Les smiled at him before tilting his head. 

“Your father is asking for you,” Les said. “You too, Zeph.” 

“What about me?” chimed Bran, as Nyx made his way over to the wooden bench where his shirt had been tossed. Bran followed after him, slipping on the same type of black fitted shirt that clasped around the wings. Nyx could weave his clothes to his wings with magic, much like his father, but oftentimes he wore the same type of Illyrian clothes that his cousins did. 

Bran took a swig of water from his leatherskin before offering it to Nyx. Nyx poured some over his head before taking a long drag. The cool water was a balm to his parched throat.

Zephra had been born without wings, which had bothered his sister to no end when they were younger. However, Zeph had learned to shapeshift like their mother and could now summon her wings as she wished to. Nyx’s wings were more permanent in nature and took more of his magic if he wished to vanish them away, which wasn’t often. In fact, he rarely had, except during visits to the Court of Nightmares and once by accident when he was a child.

“Don’t know,” responded Les. “Uncle Cass is at the River House too, though.”

“I’ll go, then,” Bran said, exchanging a look with Nyx.

“Where’s your sister, Les?” Zephra asked as they gathered up the last of their things. Zephra was rechecking the daggers strapped to her fighting leathers. 

“Britta’s with my mother at the market day,” Les responded. “They took Ivy out.”

“Is Uncle Az with them?” Nyx asked.

Les sighed. “Do I look like a walking fountain of knowledge? I don’t know where Da is.”

“Probably at the house, if that’s where everyone else is,” Silas responded. He backed away, in a different direction. Nyx stared after him with an arched brow.

“You’re not going with us?” Nyx questioned. 

“No. I’ll see you later.” Silas gave them a salute before winnowing away. 

“Where’s he going?” Bran asked, looking cross. “He’s been disappearing more and more lately.”

“I think he has a girlfriend,” Les supplied quietly. Like his father, he was the most perceptive of their group, aside from Nyx. Les often caught things that most others did not. He had been wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps for years, but for some reason, Azriel had always seemed hesitant to train him to take over as spymaster of the Night Court. 

There was little need for it now, anyways. They lived in mostly peaceful times, thanks to all of their parents’ hardwork and sacrifice. It made Nyx feel guilty sometimes, when he thought of all that their parents had accomplished. His mother had been younger than he was now when she had gone Under the Mountain as a mortal girl to save Prythian from the evil queen. Hybern’s general. 

Hybern was little more than a legend now, though sometimes the echoes of the war against him could still be felt. Most notably in the southern part of Prythian, where the fighting had been the heaviest in the war.

“A girlfriend?” Zeph questioned. The arch of her dark eyebrows was so similar to Nyx’s own. “Does his mother know?”

“Which one?” Bran chuckled.

“Mor’s at the house,” Les said in response.

Nyx grabbed Bran and they winnowed away, Zeph following with Les not a second after. Nyx and Zeph were one of the few people who could winnow directly into the River House. Only their mother’s sisters and Mor had direct access. His uncles couldn’t winnow, but Nyx knew that there were no wards that barred them from entering either. It was secure in their family.

Nyx winnowed them into the living room, where he spotted his mother first. She was talking quietly with his Aunt Nesta. His father was talking with his uncles, which was nothing unusual, but Nyx’s eyes widened as he saw the other figure in their huddle. A female of short stature, but whose presence was like a male’s three times her size. 

Nyx grinned and sauntered over. “Amren!”

Those silver eyes turned towards him. He had been scared of Amren as a child, but now viewed her as another aunt. Although she refused to be called that. She only liked to be called by her name. Nyx had seen that for himself. Amren got pissy when his Uncle Cassian called her ‘Tiny Ancient One.’ 

She split her time between the Night Court and the Summer Court, where her husband Varian was a prince. 

“I think you’ve grown,” she said, pleasantly. “And you look much better than your father did at your age.”

The group laughed at the words and Nyx’s father pulled him to his side for a brief hug. 

Nyx. It was his father’s familiar voice. Nyx dropped his shields to let him in. You win?

Yes, sir. 

They grinned at each other. That’s my boy.

“I can never tell if you favor your father or mother more,” Amren was saying. She tapped her foot. Before she could get another word out, they heard Zeph’s bright laughter and she stood talking with Bran and Les. Amren gave them a pointed glance. “But she is just like you, Rhys.”

“Don’t I know it,” his father sighed. 

Cassian laughed. “That’s what you get, for all those years you put us through.”

“ I put you through? You put through the most bullshit, Cass,” his father shot back.

Azriel made a grunt that sounded like an agreement.  A shadow whispered by his ear and his dark head turned towards the hallway. Not a second later, his wife and daughters came through. Elain was wearing a simple pink frock, carrying a small baby in her arms. 

Nyx’s youngest cousin Ivy had been born earlier that spring. It was his aunt and uncle’s first natural birth. Les and Britta had been adopted as infants. Nyx remembered the hushed discussions that had happened over the years, the ones he knew he wasn’t supposed to be listening in on. But Nyx was always nosy, something he’d inherited from his mother. Something his father called being a busybody. Nyx hadn’t meant to overhear his aunt crying in Azriel’s arms as a teenager,  after they’d received the news they’d never have children. He’d never seen so much emotion on his uncle’s face. In fact, Nyx only saw that much emotion on Azriel’s face whenever he was around his wife and children.

But forty years later, his Aunt Elain had gotten pregnant. And Ivy had been born without wings. Nyx had always been referred to as the miracle baby and he was glad the title had gotten passed down to his little cousin. 

“Hello,” beamed his aunt. His Uncle Az pressed a kiss to her temple before taking the baby from her. Ivy was sleeping soundly, but stirred slightly to nestle into the crook of her father’s neck. “Amren, good to see you.”

“Elain,” Amren returned.

“Is Varian here?” Britta asked. She’d always had a small crush on Varian’s cousin Tarquin, which she had mostly outgrown. It was a bit of a running joke in the family, though Britta threatened to cast a spell on anyone who whispered a word of it. There had been plenty of teasing since.

“He’s in Summer. I won’t be here long,” Amren supplied.

Nyx turned away from them to meet his father’s eye. They were of the same height now. It had only taken Nyx fifty nine years to catch up with him. 

“Les said you were asking for me,” Nyx began. “What is it?”

“Your mother and I are going to the Summer Court for Summer Solstice. Tarquin has invited us and the rest of the family,” Rhysand said.

Nyx cocked a brow. “They can hold all of us?”

His father snorted. “Your Aunt Elain and the girls are staying here with Azriel. Mor and Emerie are staying here as well.”

“Alright. When do we leave?” Nyx asked. He wondered if that was all his father had to tell him. Surely he wouldn’t summon him all the way here just for that. He could’ve told him that at dinner. 

He heard his mother’s approach before he felt a slender hand brush across his back. His mother smiled at him and Nyx felt warmth bloom in his chest. Although he had always tried to be like his father, Nyx had always possessed his mother’s heart. He often struggled with the fears of his own human heart. They were so deep rooted inside of him that he felt hesitant to mention it to anyone, not even to Bran or Zephra. 

They would assure him that having a human soft heart was a strength. But Nyx thought it was a weakness. His father had never struggled with hard decisions. He had always done what needed to be done. Nyx didn’t know if he could do the same.

“Nyx.” His mother must’ve read something on his face. “Has your father told you? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he supplied quickly, giving them a smile. “Da mentioned we’ll be visiting the Summer Court.”

His mother gave his father a look that Nyx couldn’t decipher. He got the feeling his father didn’t tell him everything. Nyx’s shoulders tensed.

“What else?” he asked.

“Tarquin and Gwyn’s daughter…she’s reached her majority,” his mother began. One of her tattooed hands rested on her swollen belly. Nyx sensed her tiredness, but he suspected she was weary from more than just pregnancy pains. “She’s interested.”

“In me?” Nyx crossed his arms. “You always said I could choose.”

“You can,” his father hurried to say. “But their daughter is very powerful and like calls to like, Nyx.” 

“You think she could be my mate?” Nyx asked in a quiet voice. He made sure shields were in place so not even his uncle’s shadows could catch the words.

His father slipped his hands into the pockets of his dark pants. “It’s possible. I doubt there’s someone equally matched to you, aside from your sister, in all of Prythian. But she might be close.”

His parents’ love story was one told as a comforting bedtime story in the land of Prythian. How true love had triumphed against impossible odds. Of course, there were those who still whispered that the High Lord of Night was still the villain who stole away the bride of Spring, but that was harder to say now that his father was hailed as a war hero. Nyx could only hope for the same love that his parents had fought and his father had died for. 

Nyx took a breath. “You should have told me sooner. But I will go in with an open mind.”

His mother gave him a guilty look but his father nodded. 

“We should have. But we could not ask for more from you, son.” His father clapped his shoulder and that was that. It was enough for Nyx that Rhys was pleased with him. 

The day that Evyn Vanserra arrived at the Spring Court, it had rained. Which was most unusual. Usually, the weather was sunny and fair. But not that day. Seren took it as a bad omen. Her mother had not agreed with her, but she hadn't exactly disagreed either. She had told her to follow her intuition. 

Her mother had finished fastening her cloak around Seren’s shoulders. “You were always fated for more than the forest, dear one.”

“But this is my home. I’ve never wanted more than that.”

Her mother gave her a stern look. “Do not lie to me. I know you’ve hungered for other lands of late.”

Seren set her chin and gave her mother a glare. It only lasted for a moment before she laughed and hugged her. “I confess that sometimes I look up at the stars and I wonder about what is out there. I like to dream.”

Her mother had placed a kiss on her forehead. “My little dreamer. Go on, now. And if that fire lord hurts you, you send him here and the woods will take care of him.”

Those had been her mother’s parting words and Seren remembered them now as she stood in front of the male her brother wanted her to marry. She kept her head held high. Her father had been a High Lord. She was a lady in her own right, no matter if her ears were pointed a little differently.

“Lord Vanserra,” she intoned politely, offering a small bow. 

The dress Talan had chosen for her made it a lot harder to move around. In fact, she thought it was a bit silly that any female would voluntarily wear a dress shaped like a cloud, as that one was. But it was what her brother had asked for her Court. And it was what she owed them.

“Lady Seren,” Evyn returned, tilting his head. It would have been respectful, except for the look in his eye. It looked like hunger. Like he wanted to devour her until she was nothing.

He escorted her to the banquet table, where other Spring Court nobles had gathered. Her brother sat at his usual spot at the head of the table. The rest of the partygoers only sat after her brother did. Evyn pulled out a seat for Seren.

Talan caught her gaze. He gave her a hard look which Seren thought he meant as an encouragement. She took a sip of wine before turning to Vanserra.

“Did you have a pleasant journey?” she asked.

“It wasn’t much of a journey,” Evyn responded. “We winnowed here.”

“Oh.” Seren stumbled over what to say next. She had never winnowed. “That must make things convenient.”

“It does, in fact.” Evyn gave her another gleaming look. 

Seren took another sip of wine.

“What do you enjoy spending your time doing?” he asked, after they had passed a few moments in silence next to her.

The rest of the court chittered around them, forks scraping on plates and glasses tinkling as wine refilled in the glasses. Her brother had spared no expense for this feast. Seren wondered how much it had cost them.

“I enjoy tending to the woods and the animals,” Seren said, a smile on her face. “I have a dog that I am very fond of. His name is Shadow.”

“How nice,” Evyn said in a way that made it seem not nice at all. He went into a long spew over the woods that covered the Autumn Court (as if Seren did not know). She hardly got a word in. Evyn seemed very content to hear himself talk.

After a while, Seren stopped paying attention. She let out a hmmm and a really? when it seemed appropriate, but otherwise she didn’t say anything at all. No wonder her mother had never wanted to be around these people, if this was how they acted. 

“You’re very beautiful,” Evyn said sometime later.

Seren was startled out of her inner thoughts. “Thank you.”

“Our children will be powerful and good looking. What more could a parent want?” Evyn grinned, as if she would agree with him.

She frowned. “I want much more. I would want my children to be kind, to be smart, to be empathetic. How they look is the least of my concerns.”

“That’s just like a female.” Evyn chuckled.

Seren was beginning to think she could never marry this Vanserra, not even for the sake of Spring. It would kill her. She would surely die.

After the horrendous dinner, the party made its way outside to the gardens, which was the biggest attraction at the manor. Seren was desperate to talk to her brother, but every time he saw her approach, he suddenly found a different place to be. Seren ached to get away from this place, but instead, found herself again on the arm of Evyn Vanserra.

“I’m feeling ill,” she was beginning to say. “I think I should return home.”

No sooner had she uttered the words than Vanserra tugged her close to his body. She squirmed, but he gripped her tighter and it a flash, he winnowed her away. It was a strange feeling, like she was flying through complete dark.

Seren stumbled when they came to a stop. She scrambled to get out of his grip, her breaths coming in short puffs. The soil underneath her feet was damp from the rain but she couldn’t recognize where she was. Seren knew every part of the woods in the Spring Court but she was so panicked she couldn’t get her bearings.

“Take me back,” she demanded. She forced her voice to sound firm. “Now.”

Evyn smiled. “I don’t think I will. And I don’t think your brother will mind what I do to you, either.”

It was the only warning she got before he pounced on her. The bark of the tree pressed hard into her back and Evyn pressed hard into her front. His hands rucked up her skirts, his palms sliding over her breast. 

Seren thought she was going to be sick. “Don’t touch me!”

Evyn laughed before he slapped her. “Hush. You’ll like it, I promise. You’ve never done this before, I can tell. That will make it so much sweeter. Mine for the taking. You'll like it, they always do.”

Seren felt dizzy but she managed to rear her head back and spit on him for his horrible words. She wondered if he had often attacked females like this. And if he did-did her brother know? She wished she had brought her knife. And had he really said she would like it? The male was delusional.

Evyn moved a hand from her breast to wipe her spittle away from his cheek. When he smiled that time, Seren thought her heart was going to beat right out of her chest. His hand came to wrap around her throat, his body weight pressing into her. His other hand pulled at the waistband of her drawers.

Seren shut her eyes. She shut out Evyn’s cruel, coarse words and his heavy breathing. She felt the hum of the earth beneath her feet and it matched the same hum that was inside her. 

Help me, she whispered to the trees. I summon you now. I am a daughter of Spring and a daughter of the wood. Help me.

Help me.

Help me.

And just as Evyn’s hand wandered to the center of her, roots from deep in the ground erupted to drag him back by the throat. His face turned to the color of his red hair as he sputtered and choked. 

“These woods are mine. And you will not touch me,” Seren wheezed, past the pain in her throat. 

“Bitch,” Evyn groaned. 

“You will not touch me,” Seren said again and she left him there, trapped in the roots of the trees because she had willed it so. 

And then she ran. She ran as hard as she could, blindly tearing through the forest that she did not recognize. She didn’t even know if she was in the Spring Court anymore, but the trees had still recognized her voice. 

The court that had always been her home now felt like a violation to her spirit. Her brother had let that monster into her home, was going to let that monster marry her. 

Against her will, tears fell down her cheeks but she didn’t bother wiping them away. Not as she ran, branches tearing at her skin and clothes. She’d run until she died.

But that didn’t happen.

She stumbled upon a camp in the woods and she stopped before she could disrupt them anymore than she already had. They were a strange mix. Lesser faeries, a female who looked High Fae, and one man who even looked mortal. They sat around a fire, tents pitched behind them. Horses grazed nearby, next to a wooden cart. 

They took one look at her and offered her a place to sit by the fire. The High Fae female gave her a mug of warm broth. 

And that was how Seren found herself joining a group of traveling performers, on their way to the Summer Court for the Summer Solstice. The trees would tell her mother where she had gone and she hoped it would not get back to her brother. Let her brother marry. Why had she been the one asked to sacrifice? She would’ve been giving up her autonomy, her home, her very mind if she had married Evyn Vanserra. Had her brother known what he’d been asking of her?

The questions plagued her through the night.

Seren laid there under the stars that night, the ones that had always made her wish, and dreamed that they would take her to a better future than the one Talan had promised her to.

Than her father had left to her.

Chapter Text

The Summer Court’s capital city was a place called Adriata and Seren was surprised by how much she loved it, despite there not being many tree. The beauty of the glittering city helped assuage any guilt she felt over leaving her brother with no word. He had set her up to marry a madman, after all. She would find another way to help her Court, or Talan could marry. Eris Vanserra had a daughter a little younger than Talan was. 

“Let’s hurry,” said Pyria, who was the High Fae female who had fed Seren that first night. Two days had passed since then and Seren had been fully pulled into the performing operation. “We need to set up the booth in a good spot.” 

The streets of Adriata were full. It was the day before Summer Solstice and there were High Fae and faeries from all over Prythian in the Summer Court to celebrate. Most of the celebrations would take place starting at dawn tomorrow, but there was still plenty of fun to be had today. There were skits being acted out in the streets, water wielders performing on the sidewalks, and vendors selling delicious smelling snacks. It made Seren’s mouth water. There were spices and herbs in the air that she had never smelled before. She was always content with what the woods in Spring had provided her, but she was curious to try everything that Summer had to offer.

Seren dodged a careening faerie who looked as if they had too much to drink. She set them on their feet before gripping her canvas bag tighter and moved on, catching up with Pyria. Pyria’s mother had been from the Summer Court and she claimed she knew the streets of Adriata like the back of her hand. So far, she hadn’t been proven wrong. 

There had never been any celebrations of this magnitude in the Spring Court. The people of her Court were indeed poor and ragged, compared to the splendor of Summer. Seren almost felt ashamed, but she wasn’t sure why. Did it come from being surrounded by the glimmering opulence of the Summer Court, the abundant food, the sound of the sea in the distance? Or did it come from being in a place where they’d hardly had the joy to celebrate the Spring Equinox, the most important holiday in their court? Maybe it was a combination of both.

Had it been all her father’s fault, the way that Spring had collapsed? She knew it was his own decisions that had led Hybern to run through the court, but was the fault all his? He’d tried his best to correct his mistakes. But the damage had been done. 

“You haven’t said anything all morning,” commented Pyria.

Seren smiled sheepishly. “Just taking in the sights. I’ve never seen so many people at once.”

“Really? You must come from a small town.”

“You could say that.”

Seren had only given them the barest details and the group hadn’t asked much else. She knew they assumed she’d run away from an abusive relationship, which wasn’t far from the truth. They seemed content to know that she meant them no harm and had wanted to provide shelter. For which Seren was grateful for. She knew that there weren’t many other groups who would offer that to a stranger. Many people had faced worse and had no comfort afterwards. She hoped Evyn Vanserra was stuck in the roots of the forest for a long while.

Pyria veered off into a courtyard, where a box had been marked off with paint. The rest of their crew had already set up the stage for their acts. Seren set her stuff on the table, pulling out her crystal ball. Apparently, to join the performers, you had to have a talent yourself. Seren’s talents lied in wood lore and the healing arts, but that didn’t draw crowd numbers. Pyria had handed her the purple crystal ball and explained that no one really cared if you could read their fortune or not. They just wanted a little fun on Solstice. 

Seren had never been a particularly good liar, so she was about to put Pyria’s theory to the test. She set up her little table rather quickly. She was anxious to take in the other sights and sounds of the day as people bustled by. It was hard to believe that a hundred years ago, Adriata had been sacked by Amarantha and then decades after that, attacked by Hybern. The city was thriving now, though if Seren looked hard enough, she could still see the remnants of war in cracked buildings and slight scorch marks. 

It didn’t diminish the beauty of the city to Seren. If anything, it only added to it. That Adriata had been through so much and had thrived in spite of it was a testament to the strength of its people. Seren ached for her own Court to have the same sort of resilience. Would they be able to move forward under Talan in a way that they had not under her father? But who could judge progress? And would the skirmishes along the southern border ruin everything that had been regained?

Seren forced herself to stop thinking about it. She would attract no customers with an anxious frown on her face. So she pasted a smile on and hoped for the best. Perhaps she could contact the High Lord of Summer and beg for his help…He’d always been a kinder High Lord, if the rumors were to be believed. 

His people were certainly kind. And curious enough to have their fortunes read.

“You will be…great in your own right,” Seren told one High Fae, with what she hoped was an air of mysterious authority. “I see many great riches in your future.”

The young female moved on, giggling, but she had dropped a good number of coins in Seren’s jar. They would split their earnings at the end of the night, and though Seren would get a lesser cut than everyone else, she felt a bit of excitement at the thought. She’d never earned a wage before. She’d never had any need to.

Seren made things up all throughout the day. During lunch break, Pyria had told her that she could not give everyone a good fortune or people would start to get suspicious. She had to throw in some pain and heartbreak. Seren felt awful about that, so she limited the pain and heartbreak to a lost earring, or a book that would haunt them for the rest of their life. 

By the end of the day, she had run out of things to say, but there was one last group. Only one of them stood in line. It was a lesser faerie male, with broad black wings, behind him. They were a dull matte in the light of the moon, but Seren could’ve sworn she saw stars trail in the shadows of the wings the male left behind. He cut an imposing figure and even from sitting down, she suspected he was two heads taller than she was.

She tried not to look at him too closely, because it made it easier to lie to his face about his future. Seren hoped none of her customers took anything she’d said with too much seriousness. Especially this male, because he looked rather tough.

“Ah, yes. Your future.” She could feel his eyes burning into her but she kept a stubborn look on the crystal ball. She hadn’t had a customer with such a scourging gaze, however. It practically set her cheeks on fire. She looked up, unable to stop her curiosity from getting the better of her. And the faerie in front of her took her breath away. 

His dark eyes were already on her own and there was a slight shimmer in them, as if they were lit from moonligt within. She couldn’t tell what color they were, in the low light of the street lamps . His hair was dark and fell slightly curled just past his ears. He was wearing a fine set of clothes and Seren guessed he must be rich. His hands rested casually in his pockets.

“You were telling me of my future,” he prompted, a slight tilt to his full mouth. 

Seren flushed. “Yes. Your future.” She stared back down at the crystal ball. What would she tell this male? “In your future, you find happiness.”

His friends behind him snickered. The female had no wings, but the male did. Maybe the female was High Fae? Seren wondered where they were from. The group seemed close, almost like family. Seren felt a bit envious of them. Her own family was rather miserable. The female behind him taunted, “That’s a real shocker, right there.”

The male in front of her arched a brow and propped his hip against the small wooden table. He leaned down closer to Seren. 

“Can you tell me more about this happiness, sweet fortune teller?” He smirked, taking his hands from his pockets to tap the side of his head. “I’ll know if you are lying.”

Seren’s eyes widened. For some reason, she believed him. Maybe it was the darkness that seemed to be drawn to him from the shadows of the streets, or the way his eyes were lit. But she believed him. She didn’t sense any ill intent from him, but then again, she hadn’t sensed any from Evyn before he’d winnowed her away and attacked her. And this male was very clearly more of a fighter than Vanserra had been. Seren shifted in her seat a bit uneasily.

The male opened his mouth again but Seren rushed out to cut him off before he could say anything else. And she spoke the truth. “I believe that you will fulfill your dreams in the future. And much more besides.”

He said nothing for so long that she was forced to look up at him again. He tilted his dark head, his wings rustling slightly behind him. And then his mouth curled in a slow smile that left her feeling rather breathless. Really, she’d never seen such a beautiful male before. Her hand came up to brush against her throat and though his eyes never left hers, she had a feeling he was aware of every movement she made.

“I believe you,” he said at least. But he bent down again, close enough so that his words brushed across her cheek. “Though I know you’re no fortune teller.”

“And what makes you think that, sir?” Seren gaped. She didn’t know why she’d called him that. He didn’t look to be any older than she was, perhaps a few years. But age was often tricky to figure out, when everyone was immortal. He didn’t have many lines around his eyes, though. And that was always a sign of youth.

He laughed. “My aunt has the Sight. She’s never used a crystal ball.” He arched a brow. “And you have the look of the wild about you.”

It sounded like a compliment. Seren tried not to preen. 

“There are many paths in the mystical arts,” she declared, hoping she sounded knowledgeable. The male just smirked.

“Leave the girl alone. I’m hungry,” the other winged male called. “You wanted to go here. Now it’s my turn to pick.”

The male turned around to glare at his companions, who only chuckled at him. When he turned back, his shoulders were tense, but he offered his head in a polite bow to her. “Will you be here again tomorrow?”

“I should think so,” Seren responded, “as long as you don’t give away my secret.” 

“Of which I suspect you have many. Your secret is safe with me.” The male smirked. He mimed putting a hand over his lips before he slipped his hands back in his pockets. “Till next time, fair fortune teller.”

He disappeared and the shadows of the night seemed to trailed after him. The courtyard remained bathed in moonlight, but he’d been crowned with darkness. Seren wondered what sort of creature he was. She’d never encountered anything like him, certainly not in the wood and not in the Spring Court. She liked that his lips had been twisted in humor.

She looked in the money jar. He’d left a fat wad of bills. She grinned.

Whatever sort of creature he was, he was a rich one. And a generous one.

Nyx had been to Adriata many times over the course of his life. It was a special place to his parents, oddly enough, and now that Amren resided there part of the year, the Inner Circle had visited more times than he could count. But he’d never gone with any… expectations before.

Marina, The Heir to Summer, was very smart and powerful. She was well educated and had debated Nyx on many politics of Prythian. She was well read, likely thanks to her mother, and they had many of the same favorite novels in common. She was beautiful and had her mother’s light eyes and her father’s ebony skin. Absolutely perfect, in theory. Yet Nyx felt absolutely nothing when he looked at her. 

Maybe the warmth of friendship, but nothing more than that. He felt no thrum of the bond that his parents had spoken of and no desire to see her beyond when the rest of the family was there as well. Nyx wondered if that made him a bad male.

He met his mother’s eyes from across the room and he felt her against the shielded walls of his mind before he could blink. Nyx opened the gate of his mind the tiniest bit for her.

Anything? she asked, from across the room. She was talking to Gwyn and Nesta. Zephra stood nearby, wearing traditional Summer Court garb and looking very at ease with Princess Cresseida. 

Nyx stood propped against the wall with Bran. Neither of them were feeling too social that afternoon. He hoped the others of the Summer Court wouldn’t think him rude, but if he had to talk about the weather or how business was going one more time, he was going to fade into the shadows like his Uncle Az was prone to do. They’d been up early that morning for the Solstice service on the beach. It was now almost seven hours past dawn. And they still had many hours to go. 

It was the longest day of the year. The direct opposite to Nyx’s favorite holiday, the longest night of the year. The Winter Solstice in Velaris was a special thing, although his family always took it one step further. As they tended to do with everything else. 

Not a thing, Nyx said to his mother. She’s nice. Maybe try to set her up with Les.

His mother tsked at him. Les needs a girl from the Night Court.

And I don’t? He chuckled, drawing a glance from Bran. He made a face at him.

You’ve always been different. 

Nyx wasn’t sure if that was a compliment. I’ve always been the High Lord’s son, you mean. I can’t settle for any ordinary female.

That’s not what I meant. You know we don’t care about that. We want you to find your mate, just as we did. He could hear the frown in his mother’s voice.

As long as she’s the daughter of some High Lord.

He shut his mind and Nyx felt his mother’s pride in his ability to remove her from his mind as much as he felt her frustration at his withdrawal. He could feel her eyes on him but he kept his gaze carefully averted. He looked for his father but his stomach sank when he found him. He was deep in conversation with Tarquin and Marina. Nyx hoped his father wouldn’t be too disappointed in him. His father’s opinion had always weighed heavily on him. Whenever Nyx had upset him as a child, he’d cry for hours afterwards. He wasn’t exactly sure that it wasn’t all that different now.

Bran clapped a hand on his shoulder, dragging Nyx away from his morose thoughts. “Want to get out of here? Invite Marina and Zeph?”

Nyx sipped his drink. He was in the loose style tunic of the Summer Court. His mother said the light blue color complimented his eyes, but Nyx couldn’t care less. He’d never been one for fashion, not like his father and Mor. Bran wore the same type of shirt but Nyx knew his cousin cared about clothes the same as he did.

“What do you think about her? About Marina?” Nyx asked him.

“I think that she’ll be a fine High Lady of Summer,” Bran responded.

Nyx huffed a laugh. “But not of Night.”

“Not at all.” His cousin winked.

Amren sauntered up to them, interrupting any further conversation. Nyx straightened from his slouch against the wall and Bran did the same. They had often called Amren the general when they were children, so great was their fear of her until they realized that Amren loved them, in her own way. They also managed to stay in her good graces by giving her jewels every Winter Solstice. Zephra and Britta had always given her the best pieces, although Les had given her a golden pendant one year that Amren still wore to this day.

It had her and Varian’s initials on it, of all things.

“So,” Amren began, that very same pendant shining on her throat. “Am I to hear of a unification in marriage between Night and Summer?”

Nyx pursed his lips. His eyes darted to his father before looking back towards Amren. If his father was disappointed in him, so be it. “No, Amren. I don’t think so. Unless he wants to.” 

Nyx gestured towards Bran and Bran shoved Nyx’s hand away from his face.

“No thanks. I’d make a shitty ruler,” Bran said in response.

Amren and Nyx rolled their eyes. Bran playfully punched him, but as Nyx chuckled, he could feel Amren’s sharp gaze on him. His family talked about how Amren’s gaze used to be and if it was terrifying now, Nyx didn’t want to imagine what it had been like before his father had brought her back from the Cauldron.

“Did you meet anyone here that you liked?” she asked again.

Inexplicably, Nyx thought of the slightly wild fortune teller from the night before. Zephra, Bran, and he had gone out the night before to explore the city and see what they could get into. Nyx had been walking along, wondering if he should stop and flirt with the pretty High Fae female who’d been making eyes at him, when he’d felt a tug in his gut to go. To keep walking. And he had, until he’d gotten to that courtyard section off the main drag, and had seen the fortune telling booth and the tug in his gut had dissipated.

Zephra and Bran hadn’t suspected anything else when he’d told them he wanted to see if the fortune teller was a real seer or not. And why would they? The three of them were always getting into trouble. But this was something different.

When Nyx had gotten to her table, he noticed at first glance the glamor around her neck. It disguised a horrendous bruise forming and Nyx felt his anger light up at the sight. Were her employers beating her? He’d cast out his mind to the rest of the performers, but they’d had nothing to hide. It’d been too easy to slip into their thoughts and read their minds. At least Nyx knew they’d held no ill intent. 

Nyx had seen in the female called Pyria’s memories, how the fortune teller had only just recently joined the crew and had appeared looking like she’d just fought the Bogge. 

Then, as Nyx studied her further, wondering what he story was, he was struck by the forest green of her eyes. There was something familiar about her, though he couldn’t place it in his mind. This made him extraordinarily suspicious and he wondered if that was the tug that had pulled him to that spot. To see if they were somehow in danger from this lying, fake fortune teller, who has bruises around her neck. 

Nyx could not enter her mind as easily as the others. When she told him of his future, he decided that he didn’t want to enter her mind. It felt strange to even consider it. So he read her in other ways, and by the end of their little interaction, he determined that she might have been troubled but she was no threat to the Night Court or to Prythian.

He didn’t know why he asked her if she would be there today. It was like he’d been unable to help himself. He told himself he was just following the tug in his gut, that it was just curiosity. But he knew that wasn’t entirely true, not when Nyx couldn’t stop thinking about those green eyes or the delicate arch of her throat, or how her slender fingers had touched her neck-

He forced himself to concentrate back on Amren, who watched him with narrowed eyes. Nyx offered her a careless smile, crossing his arms. Hopefully she did not pick up whatever would give him away on his scent. His mother would come sniffing around because she was nosy, like him, and Nyx simply did not want that to happen.

“No,” he lied.

Amren made a noise that could have been a scoff or a laugh in the back of her throat. “Keep your secrets, then, young lord.”

Nyx and Bran watched her go with no small amounts of relief. 

“ Did you meet somebody?” Bran asked him in a whisper, clutching his flute of some blue sparkling drink.

Nyx rolled his eyes. “Why do you look so terrified of that?”

“Because Silas already has a secret lover and now you suddenly do, too?” Bran complained. “No more secrets.” 

“Trust me, there is no secret lover for me,” Nyx laughed, clapping him on the shoulder. “I would have to move fast if I’d entered into a liaison with someone in the Summer Court.”

“You’ve moved faster to get lovers before,” Bran deadpanned. “Me and Les are witnesses.” 

“What the hell did I just walk up on?” Zephra asked, startling them out of their conversation. She was better at sneaking around than any of them. Probably because she’d spent so much time with Britta growing up that Azriel’s mannerisms had somehow leaked into her own. 

“Nyx’s secret Summer lover,” Bran explained.

“Who doesn’t even exist,” Nyx added drily.

“Weirdos,” Zeph said, although there was affection in her violet colored eyes. “Learning about my brother’s love life is the last thing I’d ever want. When are we going back into the city?”

Zeph’s gauzy sleeves on her dress revealed the tattoo that ran from her shoulder to her bicep. It was the same one on Nyx’s own left arm, from a pact between brother and sister that they had made long ago. Nyx had his own Illyrian tattoos on his chest, from completing the Blood Rite forty years past. Bran and Les had been with him. They had fought and proven themselves to be every inch the Illyrian warriors that their fathers were. 

Zephra had trained and entered the Blood Rite a decade later. Silas had gone with her, though he was a bit uncaring of his Illyrian heritage. Even though he had been adopted out of Illyria, even though his mother Emerie had grown up there, had managed to escape the future written for her when she’d had her wings clipped, Silas had always eschewed that part of his heritage. He’d hated the people that had treated his mother so badly. But he’d trained, and though he’d never stayed at a war camp, Silas was eligible enough to enter the Blood Rite. Zephra and Silas had stood atop Ramiel as victors.

All of them came from proud parents but Nyx was glad of their own accomplishments. They’d completed the Blood Rite based on skill and determination. Not because of who their parents were. 

He felt his father’s presence, a gentle scrape of talons down the walls of his mind. Nyx knew that his own mental presence was similar, because Les had told him one time he could not distinguish between Nyx and his father in his mind at first. Nyx ignored his father for now. He was still standing with Tarquin and Marina and Nyx didn’t want to put a damper on his good mood.

“How about after the dusk ceremony? Shortly after nightfall?” Nyx suggested.

“Good with me,” Zeph replied. She looked longingly at the balconies to the side of the room, as if she might just jump off one. Nyx knew that it was a real possibility, knowing his sister as he did.

The scrape of talons against his mind turned more insistent. Nyx opened his walls, just a sliver, but it was enough for his father to sip in.

Yes?   Nyx asked, sending the mental image of an angry looking Amren tapping her foot. 

His father’s chuckle echoed darkly in his head. Your mother tells me Marina is not the one.

I felt nothing. Nyx cast his father a glance, but his father was still in deep conversation with the Summer High Lord and his daughter. No sign of the conversation that was happening between Rhysand and his son. Will it ruin very many of your plans?

Of course not. There was a soothing tone in the wave of emotion that Rhys sent over. This whole trip was for you. To test the waters. If nothing else comes of it, that’s fine.

Nyx shifted on his feet. Something about that sentence made him uneasy. Despite his parents' assurances, he couldn’t help but feel as if he had let them down. The Summer Court was already a powerful ally, but if they were united by marriage, that alliance would shift into something more permanent. Despite the complication of both Marina and Nyx being next in line to the throne of their own respective courts. How would ruling together ever work? Should he force himself to try and feel something for Marina when his thoughts kept wandering back to the lying fortune teller?

Alright, Nyx sent back. Good day, father.

At sundown, another long ceremony occurred in one of the temples near the seashore. Everyone was in their finest clothes, almost all of them wearing colors that reflected the sun or the sky. Nyx had chosen to wear Night Court black, although his mother was wearing a Summer Court style dress. Nyx was charming when spoken to and flirtatious when he had to be. Events like these were always somewhat of a pageant show. Tarquin made a comment to his mother about breaking into warded buildings that Nyx, Bran, and Zeph didn’t quite understand. It had made his father and mother laugh, though.

After the ceremony, performed by a High Priestess who kept looking him over, Nyx couldn’t get away fast enough. Bran flicked his eyes towards an opening in the crowd. Nyx gave him a slight nod of confirmation, about to speak to his sister, when a voice stopped him

“Slipping off?” Marina asked, her voice as strong and cold as the sea.

Nyx inclined his head. “You’ve caught me, it seems. I can stay here, if you prefer?”

Marina only shook her head, her hair the same white color the rest of her family’s was. She gave him a knowing look. “I’ve told my father there will be no marriage between us.”

Nyx almost laughed at her bluntness. Instead, he offered her a smile. “Our thoughts are the same on this matter, then.”

Marina gave a firm nod. “Is the priestess joining you? I saw her looking. She’s older than you, but young by some standards, I suppose.”

“I think the priestess has found someone else to celebrate with,” Nyx said, inclining his head to where the female stood with a different member of Marina’s household. Some distant cousin of their family, if Nyx’s memory was correct. He gave a respectful bow to Marina, thankful that they would not be marrying each other. “Lady Marina. Happy Solstice.”

When Nyx slipped from the crowd, Bran and Zephra were waiting for him on the docks that were placed on the outskirts of the city. Nyx loved the mountains in his home, but he couldn’t deny that the slight summer breeze filled with salty sea air had its own appeal. Zeph’s arms were crossed, but Bran said something to make her laugh. Nyx smiled when he joined him, though his sister frowned at him some more.

“What took you so long?” she asked.

“Had to talk to Marina,” Nyx divulged. He patted his sister’s head and she ducked away from him. “You could use a little more patience.”

“Spare me the lecture, oh great lord,” Zeph shot back. Bran laughed at their bickering as they made their way back to the city. Adriata had put its best face on display for the night of the Summer Solstice. It was almost as beautiful as Velaris. 

Nyx danced with his family when they asked him to, bought drinks, and even flirted with the pretty barmaid. When an acceptable time had passed, he told Bran he was slipping away. Bran waggled his brows, no doubt thinking he was off for a good lay. Nyx didn’t correct him as he slipped from the crowd of the dance hall. 

The courtyard where the performers’ booth had been was nearby. Nyx hurried through the throng of people, glad that most of them either did not recognize him or did not care that the Heir Of Night was in their midst. There was that tugging in his gut again, urging him to the place where she should be. 

But her booth was empty. 

Nyx’s heart sank. He was too late, just as he feared he would be. She’d said she would be here again but the hour was already late. Would she have waited for him if he had asked her to? He didn’t know why he cared so much.

His ears picked up the slight sound of footfalls coming from the canvas covered wagon. He recognized the High Fae female as Pyria from her memories. Nyx wondered what her story was. He could probably piece it together if he entered her mind again, but that would be stepping over the line. 

When she noticed him standing in the shadows, she jumped a little. Nyx smiled.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to frighten you,” Nyx said in an apologetic tone. “I was looking for the fortune teller of your group.”

“We’re done for the Solstice,” Pyria said. Indeed, she was taking down the banners that marked their group’s prices and trades. She gave him a once over, and though Nyx didn’t miss the appreciative gleam in her eye, she said nothing about it. “Lyn doesn’t need any trouble.”

For some reason, that didn’t ring true for Nyx. A Fae as beautiful as she had been did not have a name like Lyn . The curiosity in his gut grew to a buzzing in his veins. “I mean no harm. Where can I find her?”

Pyria studied him for a brief moment. Then she tilted her head to the tavern across the street. “Over there. But if you try anything funny, I’ll make sure you regret it. She’s already had enough grief.”

If what was in her memories was true, Nyx knew she was right. He was glad the female had someone who cared enough to defend her to strangers. The thought sent his lips upward. 

He patted his chest where his heart beat. “I give you permission to run me through yourself if I harm her.”

Pyria seemed satisfied with that answer and Nyx left her standing there. He couldn’t help but flaunt a bit of his power. He made sure a few shadows swirled in the space that he had left behind. And then for good measure, a few stars in the mix. He heard Pyria’s gasp and he grinned as he crossed the street. The tavern was lit up and the noise from the crowd could even be heard from outside. Music poured from the cracked windows.

Nyx entered the tavern, both his eyes and mind scanning the crowd. It didn’t take long to find her. She was dancing for the crowd, who were clapping their hands and laughing along with her. The fiddlers in the corner were playing a jaunty tune, one that Nyx recognized as being a Prythian common song. She was wearing a simple blue colored dress and her hair, the color of deep earth, was flowing unbound. It was almost to her waist in length. Nyx watched as the fortune teller tilted her head back and laughed as her arms came to sway above her head. Her form was exquisite but when Nyx cast a glance about the room, he realized he wasn’t the only male appreciating it. The thought made him frown.

Nyx pushed his way through the crowd, most of the people in attendance letting him by easily enough. When he finally broke the front of the crowd, his heart sped up a little faster. The way she danced was mesmerizing. And when she turned, she spotted him almost immediately, as if she had been drawn to him like the ocean was drawn to the moon. Nyx grinned at her look of surprise.

Then it was his turn to be surprised as she smiled and held out her hand to him. Did she want him to dance with her? 

Someone shoved him forward. Nyx’s wings flared in protest and the male behind him immediately backed off from touching him. He still said, “Go on, then!”

“Don’t turn a pretty female down!” another voice called.

When Nyx’s fingers closed around hers, something in him settled into place. Like an answer to a question that he had asked a long time ago. His shoulders dropped. He hadn’t realized they’d even been tense, until he’d seen her. 

“You came!” she said, a bit breathlessly. Her green eyes were lit up as she looked up at him from thick lashes. 

“I couldn’t stay away,” he admitted. He pulled her closer to him, before spinning her back away. She laughed. She was light as a feather in his hands and a perfect dancer. She would put his Aunt Nesta to shame. 

They followed each other, twirling in and out, back and around. Nyx kept his hands on the curve of her waist or clasped to her own at all times. Her skin was a shade of warm nut brown and whenever she would press her back against his front, her scent drifted up to him. It was as heady as a glass of wine. 

There was something woodsy about her scent, like she had been born from the roots of the earth. She smelt like pine and soil and honeysuckle. A fresh breeze. Something familiar was also woven into her scent, but Nyx couldn’t place it. Not with the feeling of her soft ass pressing into him. He had to take a step back, lest his good intentions that he’d stated in front of Pyria float away. She looked at him with wide eyes but Nyx only winked at her as he launched her into a dip that had the crowd roaring. 

Soon, others joined them, but Nyx didn’t pay them any attention except for an initial scan of threats. Other males tried to partner with the fortune teller, but Nyx got an immense amount of pleasure from watching her turn them down. She only wanted to dance with him. He could practically purr with satisfaction. 

The song ended sooner than he would’ve liked. He could’ve danced with her for hours longer, but she looked a little flush. Nyx placed a hand on the small of her back.

“Want a drink?” he asked. At her nod, he led them through the crush of people to the counter. The crowd parted easily enough for him, people staring at his wings as they passed. Nyx let her order the drinks for them and when she turned back around, she smiled at him again. She’d been afraid to meet his gaze at first yesterday, but tonight, she was relaxed. There was no hesitancy in her as she stood close enough for him to touch.

He kept a hand on her back, unable to help himself. And to warn other males away. She’d chosen him to dance with and nobody else. And damn if that didn’t do something to him.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” she confessed.

“I had to know more about my future,” Nyx teased.

She laughed. “I think you and I both know I’m not much of a fortune teller.”

The barkeep slid them their pints and Nyx slid him a few coins in return. The fortune teller thanked him with another smile before they each took a sip of their drinks. A second later, they both almost spit them back out.

“Cauldron, is that troll piss?” Nyx coughed.

She took another cautious sip. “It’s not as bad the second time.”

Nyx arched an eyebrow and she laughed. He took another sip and had to admit she was right. The drink was strong, but it had a colorful flavor. It was almost spicy in nature. “Is this what you ordered?”

“I’m not sure what I ordered, really. I’ve never been to a tavern like this before,” she replied and then flushed, as if she’d revealed something she hadn’t meant to. 

Nyx studied her. These types of places were common all over Prythian. Perhaps she had never traveled much? She shifted on her feet, as if she was nervous. Nyx sent her a smile. “I’ve never seen anyone dance like you. Like a wild thing. Where did you learn?”

“We danced all the time back home. All the time. My favorite time to dance were nights like these, under the starry sky,” she said, a distant look in her eye.

“And where’s home?” he prompted, trying to put more of her story together.

She hesitated. “The trees in the wood.” 

Nyx didn’t get the sense that she was lying, but he didn’t feel as if she was telling the whole truth either. Every court in Prythian had trees, so that didn’t narrow it down much. Perhaps Autumn, where the woods were the finest? He wondered why she didn’t mention the court she came from. Unless she was on the run from something. Nyx felt a flicker of rage when he thought about the bruises on her neck. He took a long sip of the spiced drink to calm down.

“You’re a fine dancer yourself,” she commented. She took a small sip of her own drink. She made a face every time she drank, which Nyx thought was endearing. “And where did you learn?”

“My aunt,” Nyx supplied with a smirk.

“The same one who is a seer?”

Nyx felt pleased that she had remembered. “No, a different one.”

“You must have a large family,” she said.

Nyx nodded and was about to say more when someone bumped into him from behind. His wings flared out slightly to correct himself. He didn’t miss the way her eyes ran over them and Nyx couldn’t help but keep them flared for her to see. Her eyes darkened. Nyx practically preened. 

“Do you want to go somewhere less crowded? It must feel cramped in here with your…wings,” she stuttered, waving a hand to him. Nyx grinned.

“Lead the way,” he offered. 

She held on to his hand as they made their way from the tavern and out into the summer night. The temperatures didn’t change much in this court and it was almost as balmy as it was during the height of the day. Nyx had only been away for a short while but he already missed the chilled summer nights in his mountain city. They’d be returning home two more weeks from now. The thought made his heart skip a beat and he darted a glance towards the fortune teller, who was looking ahead towards the sound of the sea. When would she leave? Tomorrow? 

“Did you have a good Solstice?” Nyx asked, desperate to know more about her.

She nodded. “I’ve never celebrated one before…like this.. Back home, holidays were more subdued. Nothing as extravagant as this.”

“There’s nothing like a Summer Solstice celebration in Adriata,” Nyx agreed, although he wondered if she was going to say that she’d never celebrated one ever . 

“Have you been here before, then?” 

Nyx nodded. “Many times. My family often stays in Adriata, for one reason or another.”

She brushed her hair behind her ears, revealing a pointed edge that was slightly longer than most. He felt strangely aroused by the sight, or maybe that was from the way the breeze carried her scent back to him. She looked like High Fae, but her ears were not like any other High Fae that Nyx had seen. Some sort of faerie, then. Whatever she was, Nyx didn’t care. She must be some sort of witch, because he was already far too enchanted with her.

“I’ve never seen so many people at once.” She took a breath. “High Fae and lesser fairies, like us, mingling about so freely. And no one cares.”

Nyx raised his eyebrows. If she was surprised at that, then she definitely came from a court with more traditional classes…like Autumn. Or maybe even Spring. The possibility alarmed him, but he brushed it off. 

“Tarquin has strived to make his Court an example for others to follow. He’s a forward thinker. A dreamer,” Nyx supplied. He brushed back his dark hair and showed her his own ears. She gasped at the sight.

“But-with the wings…I supposed I just assumed you were like me.” A flush rose on her cheeks again and Nyx wanted to kiss the pink spots with his mouth. An image of his mouth on her rose up in his mind but he shoved it back down. He concentrated on her words instead.

“Both of my parents are High Fae,” he told her. “But we’ve always been a little different.”

“Because of the wings?” She looked puzzled. She lifted a hand, almost as if she would reach out and touch them, before yanking it back.

Nyx almost groaned. “You can touch them.”

He rarely let females touch his wings, only his mother and sister. For anyone to have touched them during sex was too intimate for Nyx to allow. It was a sacred thing in Illyrian culture, for anyone to touch anyone’s wings. If anyone did, it was only with permission and only with those you trusted or loved. But he was desperate for her to put her hands on him. She seemed to sense this, and with that flush still on her cheeks, she reached out a hand.

Her hands were soft, but with callouses, ones that he could appreciate as they scraped slightly against the texture of his wings. She touched him on the ridge of his right wing and Nyx couldn’t help the shudder that ran through his wings at the sensation. No one’s hands on him had ever felt this good. And she was only touching the very tip of him. She looked at his wings in wonder.

“They’re not soft,” she declared. 

Nyx laughed so he wouldn’t groan out loud. “No.”

“Are they heavy to hold up?” she inquired, brushing that same hand down the ridge of his wing. 

He had to think of something else, anything else-Bran’s underwear, his dead mortal grandfather-to stop his cock from twitching awake in his pants. He’d never been so aroused in his life and she was barely touching him. 

“Not now,” he gritted out. “But they were when I was growing up. You…build up the strength in your back and core.”

Her eyes roved over his biceps, the muscles obvious even through his long sleeved black shirt. 

“I can tell,” she muttered. Her shoulders drew up around her ears in embarrassment, but then she laughed. And Nyx chuckled along with her.

Her hand dropped as another couple passed them by. They exchanged words of “Happy Solstice!” before moving on. Nyx wanted to yell at them for interrupting. He had practically been in heaven when her hands had been on him. But she didn’t seem inclined to touch him again, at least in that moment. The fortune teller began strolling back down the sidewalk and Nyx followed after her. She rubbed the palms of her hands over her arms. 

“I realize I never learned your name,” Nyx prompted, ignoring the fact that Pyria had her called Lyn earlier. He was sure that wasn’t her real name. “My name is Nyx.”

He waited for some recognition to register in his eyes, but she only looked faintly alarmed. There weren’t many Fae named Nyx in Prythian that had wings. In fact, Nyx was sure he was the only one. But she didn’t appear to grasp who he was, which made him wonder. This truly must have been the first time venturing from her court.

“Like the old goddess,” she murmured. 

“Of night,” Nyx added, to see if she had a reaction.

There was a furrow in her brow for a brief moment, like she was making a decision within herself, before her expression cleared. She looked at him with open green eyes. “My name is Seren.”

His heart thudded in his chest. He took a step closer to her, brushing a tendril of hair away from her cheek. Seren’s breath came out in a little gasp. Nyx wanted to devour the sound. She didn’t back away from his touch. Nyx stepped closer to her and she leaned against the marble building behind her. Nyx’s other hand came to rest on the wall behind her. His wings spread up behind them, forming a little cocoon. There was only Nyx and Seren in the world. 

She peered up at him, and though her eyes were wide, she slid her hands up his shoulders and then down to rest on his chest. 

“Star,” he translated.

“What?” she whispered.

“Your name,” he said, bending close to whisper the words near her ear. He felt, more than saw, her shiver. “It means star in the Old Language.”

“Funny,” she said. “If our names are star and night.”

He drew back to peer into her eyes. He was struck again by the thought that there was something vaguely familiar about her, but he couldn’t exactly figure out what. Maybe it was the vast feeling he got whenever she smiled at him-that his soul had known hers for his whole life.

A feeling of knowing settled into his gut. 

“When are you leaving Adriata?” Nyx asked. “And where are you going?”

“I-I don’t know. Day Court, maybe?” She sighed. “We’re leaving tomorrow.”

“Meet me tomorrow morning. At dawn,” he said. “On the beach. I want to see you before you go.”

“I’d like that,” Seren whispered. She drew closer to him, arching off the wall. Nyx leaned down when she tugged him to her. His heart stirred when she said, “I want to see you, too.”

Chapter Text

Seren slipped from the wagon a little bit before dawn. She’d only told Pyria where she was going, and that was only after Pyria had asked about the handsome winged male that had come looking for her. It made Seren flush with pleasure, though she wasn’t so overtaken as to not leave with any defense. 

She brought along a knife from Pyria, just in case she met any trouble as she walked down the darkened streets. The city was mostly quiet now, although it had only been that way for an hour or two. People had been out celebrating the Summer Solstice for the better part of the early morning. Seren had gone to bed shortly after she’d left Nyx last night, although she had been too giddy to sleep. Standing near him, dancing with him, touching his wings….it had been like drinking too much faerie wine.

It was strange, she thought, how she was rushing to meet a male alone when she’d just been accosted by one three days ago in the darkened wood. But she knew, deep down, Nyx would never harm her. To compare males like Evyn Vanserra and Nyx would be like comparing a pile of dung to a chocolate bar. Evyn being the pile of dung, of course. 

She’d finally learned what color Nyx’s eyes were. They were a steel blue, but in certain light they looked dark enough to be a deep purple or even black. But their true color was blue. She’d seen it when they’d been dancing in the tavern, and his eyes had twinkled, like stars winking in the sky. He had strange eyes, she decided. They weren’t like any High Fae’s she’d ever seen. They lacked a certain hardness and sometimes when he had looked at her, they’d even seem soft. Seren would even venture to say his eyes almost reminded her of…a mortal. 

He was the strangest male she’d ever met. He was unlike anyone she had ever encountered in her thirty nine years of life. She could tell herself her burning curiosity was why she was rushing to meet him. But Seren knew it was more than that. 

It was a tugging in her soul. The same feeling she got whenever she’d look up at the night sky, with her mother. When they’d lay on the forest floor and peer up at the stars through the trees. They’d done that, so often, Seren associated the night sky with some of her best memories with her mother. And looking up at the stars had always made her dream of stranger things. Of better things.

Once Seren made her way past the docks and the stone staircase that led to the beach, her eyes caught on a lone winged figure. She smiled, unable to stop her heart from pounding. 

And Seren wondered if all those times looking at the stars had not only allowed her to dream of other things in the world…but to dream of Nyx as well. 

The horizon was just starting to light up when she reached him. He was wearing a set of gray trousers and a navy blue shirt that clasped around his wings. A sword hung from his belt and Seren doubted it was just for decoration. No male with that much muscle wore a sword like that for fun. No, Seren had a feeling that Nyx was a warrior, in every sense of the word. Her little knife felt paltry in comparison. 

The warm breeze tousled his dark curls. He gave her a small smile. “You made it.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t come?” she asked, a bit breathlessly. 

He shook his head. “I should’ve come to get you, but I could only manage to sneak away a few minutes ago. Too many eyes watching.”

Seren wondered why he had to sneak off at all, or why so many eyes would be on him. But she’d also snuck away, so maybe Nyx had the same reasons.

“I want to show you something,” he murmured. He held out his hands. “But I’ll have to fly us there. Is that alright?”

Seren took a slow step forward. She was a little bit afraid. Not of Nyx, but of what this could mean for her. Her father had died and her brother had forgotten about her, until it was convenient for him to remember. She was running away from her home, abandoning her Court. She’d been attacked by an Autumn lord. So many things had happened and then Nyx had shown up at her table, asking for his fortune to be read. 

It had seemed like more pivotal of a moment then when her brother had demanded that she marry Evyn Vanserra. 

And she knew that it meant something. That the tugging in her gut meant something. So yes, she was afraid, but not of Nyx. She was only afraid of what he might mean to her and what this would come to mean for her. The future stretched out, wide and unimaginable, as she stood there staring at his hands. She wished that she did possess the sight, if only to know whether this would end badly or not.

Nyx was watching her with an unreadable look on his beautiful face. His blue eyes were dark in the lowlight of the early morning. Seren decided to shove those fears aside as she stepped into the circle of his arms. Nyx squeezed her waist once before wrapping his arms fully around her.

Seren squeaked as he swept her off her feet and carried them into the sky. 

Nyx’s laugh sounded in her ears as she burrowed his face into her neck. She’d climbed trees as tall as mountains, but there was something different about a flying male carrying her in his arms. 

“I won’t drop you,” Nyx said in her ear over the whistle of the wind. “You can trust me.”

Seren just clung harder to his neck in response. Nyx’s chuckle rumbled through his chest under her ear. She could hear the roar of the ocean and the wind was a gentle caters on her face. She had convinced herself to look down when Nyx had dropped down and landed on the roof of a building that jutted out to sea.

Seren kept one of her hands in his own as she stood there, her knees a bit shaky. “Where are we?”

“On the temple. It’s the best place to see the sunrise,” Nyx explained. He snapped his fingers and a blanket appeared out of thin air. That kind of magic seemed small but Seren knew how much control over magic it took to do things like that. She was impressed by it. She remembered when Talan had been training and how he’d struggled to summon even the smallest of things. 

She sat down on the blanket. Nyx was already sitting down, his wings spread out behind him. They had a perfect view of the horizon in between the two bell towers of the temple. And then they waited. 

“My mother and I used to lay under the trees and look up at the night sky,” she found herself telling him. “But we never really looked for the sunrise. I’m not sure why.”

“My mother loves the night sky as well. So does my father. But my mother…she made sure I grew up paying attention to everything. The colors of the dawn, the darkness of the clouds before a storm. She likes to think about things in color.” Nyx leaned back on his forearms, his face a picture of contentment.

“That’s very poetic,” Seren said.

Nyx smirked. “My mother is an artist,” he revealed, as if that explained everything.

She liked knowing that about him. That he paid attention to the colors of nature, that his mother was an artist. She’d never really gotten to know anyone before, because she had never really been around strangers. But even that word wasn’t the right way to describe Nyx. He felt like more than a stranger to her. 

Seren didn’t realize she was staring at him until he arched an eyebrow at her. She was fascinated by the way his dark hair fell across his brow, the way a muscle ticked in his square jaw. She felt in awe that someone like Nyx could be interested in watching a sunrise with her. Her brother would laugh. 

Seren turned away and set her eyes on the horizon that was lighting up as the sun crested over the skyline. They were facing north, towards the Dawn Court, where Seren imagined the sun rose more beautifully every day. 

The sky lit up in shades of pink and burnt orange, before the sun rose higher in the sky, to chase away the last of the stars. The sun rose faster than she thought it would, and once it reached a certain level, Seren realized why Nyx had brought her here. There were shiny specks built into the stone of the Summer Court temple, perhaps jewels or shells. But they caught the light of the sun and lit up and reflected the sky, until Seren and Nyx were bathed in hues of pink, red, and orange.

Seren gasped before she laughed. She turned towards Nyx, to find that he was not looking at the rising sun, but at her. He smiled. 

He looked different in the light of the early day. The shadows that she swore so often trailed him has lightened up. The golden hues of the sun cast a warm glow on his light brown face. Even his dark, steely blue eyes seemed lighter in the bright light of dawn. 

“Thank you for showing me this,” Seren said. “I like it very much.”

His lips tugged up at the edges. She shifted closer to him and he turned his body towards her. So that he could face her fully. Before Seren lost her nerve, she rose on her knees to place a gentle kiss on his cheek. When she pulled back, Nyx’s eyes widened slightly in a look of surprise. She had a feeling it wasn’t a look that he wore very often.

“You’re welcome,” he said. Nyx turned away from her but not before she caught the smile on his face. “I’m glad to share the sunrise with you.”

“Do you share the sunrise with many females?” Seren blurted, before she could stop herself. She had no trouble imagining that Nyx got plenty of female attention. 

But he shook his head. “I’ve never brought anyone here.”

This pleased her, though she didn’t let it show. What would be the point? This sunrise was all that they could share. She was still on the run and she was leaving the Summer Court later today. Nyx was very obviously a powerful High Fae male. Even with the wings, which were a bit unusual.

Nyx patted the spot next to him on the blanket. 

“Come closer,” he said and there was a bit of pure command in his voice.

Seren shuffled closer to him. There was a predatory glint in his eye, but instead of scaring her, it sent a thrill straight to her bones. Even with the soft light of dawn, Nyx seemed cloaked in a seducing darkness. Their hands brushed and a shock brushed down her arm. She turned away from the intensity in his gaze.

“This is very beautiful,” she remarked, staring stonily at the brightening horizon, desperate for something to say.

She saw from the corner of her eye as Nyx brushed a soft finger against her neck. It was still tender from Evyn Vanserra’s attack, but Nyx’s touch felt good. Seren forced herself to stay still. She’d placed a glamor over her bruises, so that others wouldn’t ask questions, and she hoped that glamor held in place now. She wouldn’t want Nyx to think her weak-or to dig more into her past. 

“Very beautiful,” Nyx agreed, but he was looking at her when he said it. 

Burning heat crawled across her chest and into her face. When he took the hand near her face and gently cupped her chin, drawing her near him, she felt something catch in her breath. He might as well have set her on fire. That is what his touch did to her.

His deep blue eyes roved over her features, like he was committing them to memory. He stared at the dotting of freckles on her cheeks and nose. She caught her full bottom lip against her teeth and his eyes darkened at the sight. There was a hunger in his gaze, but unlike Evyn Vanserra, Nyx looked at her like he was looking at a great treasure to be earned, and not a prize to be given to. 

“I should go,” she whispered, but made no move to leave. 

Nyx made no move either. In fact, he drew closer to her, his head tilting down. Seren closed her eyes and her lips parted on a sigh as she waited for the kiss.

Instead, Nyx’s lips landed on her throat, right over the place where Evyn Vanserra had left his bruises. Seren jerked back in response and Nyx’s hands fell away to let her go. Her hands flew to her throat, as if to protect her from those too clever blue eyes.

“You-you saw? Through the glamor?” she demanded.

“Tell me who did that to you,” Nyx spoke softly in reply. 

She shook her head, still clutching her throat. Her brown hair fell in soft waves around her shoulders. Another shield.

“Tell me who hurt you,” Nyx said again, “and I will make sure they never move again.”

Seren gaped at him. Not even her father would have made that kind of threat against a Vanserra. Who was Nyx, really? 

“I can’t,” she groaned. “And you can’t do that either.”

She stood on hasty feet, slightly swaying. The world felt like it was spinning out from under her, in more ways than one. Nyx was offering to kill someone for her and he had only just met her. That tug in her gut tightened, something in her mind that was saying yes yes yes this is it. Nyx was quick on his feet after her, his mouth twisted in a frown. There was a darkness to his features now that hadn’t been there a moment ago. 

“I assure you I can,” he promised. “Tell me who hurt you.”

Seren stubbornly shook her head. “I can’t tell you. He was-is-a very powerful lord and it would bring death upon your own head if you went after him, Nyx. Please. Leave it alone.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. He opened his mouth to say something more, but then shook his head. His hands came to rest on his hips and he stared off at the horizon. Seren hoped she never forgot what he looked like then, half of him illuminated by the rising sun and the other half still caught in the nighttime darkness. With his wings, he looked like some old god.

When he looked back at her, there was a bit of a plea in his eyes. “I know you’re running from something, Seren. Tell me and I can help you. Please.”

She wondered how often he said that word. A shiver went down her spine at the sound of her name spoken in his husky tone. Still, she knew she couldn’t tell him. Seren had no desire to see Nyx hurt. Or the possibility that he might fail, anyways. Evyn Vanserra was son of a High Lord and brother to another. He wouldn’t take a challenge like Nyx lightly.

“I can’t tell you anything.” She shifted on her feet. “Please, just forget this happened, Nyx. It was a moment on Solstice and nothing more. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“I will never forget,” he vowed, stepping closer, as if he would take her hand. But she moved out of his reach.

“Take me back,” she demanded, although it was more of a plea. “Please.”

Nyx gave her another glance, eyes spreading over her before he shut his eyes and turned around. He vanished the blanket away and when he turned back around, his face was unreadable, the coldness in his eyes like it had been when she had first seen him. She felt the loss of him very keenly. Seren felt desperate to repair whatever rift had just been created, but she knew it was for the best. 

Seren was in deep trouble and she would not drag Nyx with her.

Nyx held out his arm but said nothing as she stepped into him. He just launched them from the roof of the temple and into the colorful sky. Seren turned her face from his neck. This time, she forced herself to look down.

They flew above the sea and yet close enough that she could feel a bit of the salt spray on her face. It was a pleasant sensation. She tried to focus on the glimmer of the water over the feeling of Nyx’s hard body pressed into her side. Do not think about him right now , she told herself. A pod of dolphins broke the surface, which made her feel a little better as she listened to their happy chittering. 

When Nyx landed, she stepped away from him as quickly as she could. There were a few other people out on the docks, mostly fishermen getting an early start to their day. They paid Seren no attention, but some of them stared at Nyx as they hustled by. Seren could see why. Darkness rippled from him in cold waves. Another muscle ticked in his jaw but all he did was shove his hands into his pockets. 

A smirk curled on his lips. “Tell me, fortune teller, if we meet again in the future.”

Seren shook her head, a hopeless laugh tumbling from her lips. “Even if I could, I don’t think we will.”

“You’re wrong,” Nyx said simply. “We will see each other again.”

Seren blinked. He sounded very sure of himself and Seren wondered if he possessed a bit of the Sight. Or perhaps he had the same feeling she did-that they were somehow bound together. Seren dared not put a name on it and Nyx made no mention of it either. He made no move to stop her as she backed away.

He did not say goodbye and neither did Seren. But she felt his eyes, all the way through the city, where she was sure he flew overhead to make sure she made it safely back.

Pyria was awake and staring at her with wide eyes when she stepped inside the tent. A smile was on her bright face. Seren only shook her head and Pyria asked no more about it. Even as Seren moped through the day, going through the motions of packing away their things. As she clutched the crystal ball, she wondered if she was making a grave mistake.

If she had found something the stars had led her to, only to run from it because she was scared. Of too many things. 

Almost two weeks had passed since they had left Adriata. The group had traveled north, to the borders the Summer Court shared with Winter. It was too close to the Autumn Court for Seren’s liking. She had not been able to relax in days. She felt as if every male she passed could be Evyn Vanserra, or her brother looking for her. 

So far, nothing had happened.

For the past two days, they had been camped outside of town right along the Winter Court border. It was strange. She could see the clouds and feel the snowy breeze from the Winter Court, but from where they were in Summer, it was still warm. The temperature did drop significantly at night, however. It was similar to Spring in that regard. She wondered what Nyx would think of it.

Seren was drawn from her homesick thoughts by a High Fae female dumping a coin into her jar. The female looked at her through narrowed blue eyes. They made her think of another pair, dark and hard as steel. Seren fought the urge to bite her nails. She needed to stop thinking about Nyx. No good would come from it.

“I want to know if you can tell me if my lover is cheating on me,” the female inquired, crossing her arms.

“Well, I cannot access Fate in that way,” Seren responded, as if she had any authority over the matter. The female’s shoulders dropped and Seren hated to see it. “If they are, they are not worth your time.”

The female looked startled by her response. But a hesitant smile broke out on her face.

“The best thing to do would just be to ask them yourself,” Seren advised. “Be brave.”

The female thanked her and left the street corner where Seren had set up her little booth. The rest of the performing group was right across the street. Baldrick (the mortal man) was drawing in the crowds with his fire swallowing act. Pyria and another faerie were performing their ax throwing routine, which Seren had to admit was impressive. She suspected some of the crowd was drawn in just by taking a glance at Pyria’s pretty face. Combining her golden hair with the fierce expression she possessed when she threw an ax from twenty paces away made for a very alluring performance.

Seren always had to laugh when a few males, and even some females, worked up the nerve to offer to buy Pyria a drink at the nearest tavern. Pyria always said no, much to Seren’s puzzlement. She had found out that Pyria had been traveling with the group for a long time, almost ever since the New Treaty had been formed after the War with Hybern. Seren thought she must be lonely, but then stopped herself.

She had not been lonely when all she had were the woods and her mother for company. She’d had a home with other dryads and it had always been a comfort to her. Seren had been raised by a village, by a strong group of female faeries. Another wave of homesickness ran through Seren and she ached to talk with her mother. She knew she couldn’t send any letter- her brother was probably tracking anything that came to and from the Spring Court. She wouldn’t risk jeopardizing her mother or herself. 

A group of raucous males walked by her booth and Seren frowned. They’d walked by her before, though now that the sun had set they seemed even worse. They reminded her of Evyn Vanserra, swaggering about, so sure of their own power. Seren shifted in her seat, brushing a hand across the knife strapped under her dress. She’d never been so anxious to draw a weapon before. In the forest, there had hardly ever been a need for it. Everyone protected each other and those that came into the woods with harmful intentions never went back out. 

No one else came to get their fortune told for the rest of the night. Seren packed up her things quickly, keeping an eye out for that roaming group of males. She practically marched across the street in her haste. Pyria watched her approach with raised eyebrows.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing. I’m just hungry,” Seren quipped. 

Baldrick laughed from nearby. “Then let’s go get some supper. Whatever is cooking in that tavern smells delicious.”

It smelled like some sort of roast. With her heightened sense of smell, Seren could almost pick out the different types of herbs that the meat had been seasoned with. Rosemary and thyme, two of her favorites. She’d been gathering those plants from the ground as soon as she’d been able to walk.

Seren fell into step with Pyria as they walked across the street. Baldrick held the door open for them and after stepping inside, they found the place was packed. Apparently, everyone else had thought that the roast had smelled delicious as well. The group managed to find a table by the window that everyone was able to squeeze around.

Seren felt restless for some reason. It could be from any number of things. She was anxious about quite a lot these days. She tucked her hair behind her ears, not caring if anyone else saw her elongated ears. The Summer Court hadn’t been too concerned with her being half Fae. Nyx hadn’t cared either, but he didn’t strike her as a Summer Court High Fae. He was something different. And that darkness that had come from him would have been perfectly matched with the Night Court.

Seren blindly took a sip of her ale. She guessed that it would never have worked out between them, even if Seren didn’t have so many circumstances working against her. She didn’t know if she could be anyone from the Night Court. From the Court of Nightmares. Not knowing what its ruler had done to destroy her own home. And had given no apology for it, either. Seren fidgeted with her hands. Had Nyx known about her Court? He’d known about plenty of other things. Like the bruises around her neck or the fact that she had been on the run from someone. He was cunning. If she had stayed around him longer, she had no doubt he would figure out all of her secrets. 

“What’s wrong?” Pyria asked again quietly. “You seem tense.”

Pyria had become a friend. Seren was starting to feel a bit bad about not giving Pyria her real name. But then if she told her friend that now, Pyria would know that she had lied about things. And then she would likely have more questions that Seren had the answers to.

Seren shook her head and tried to offer a genuine smile. “Just thinking about home.”

“Are you thinking about leaving?” Pyria’s voice had dropped even lower.

Seren looked at her with wide eyes. She shook her head in response. She didn’t know if she was lying to her friend or not.

“Don’t leave just yet. It’s not safe this close to Autumn,” Pyria advised. “They don’t do much for their females.”

“Trust me,” Seren assured. “I know.”

Pyria threw her a questioning glance but didn’t ask about it any further. That was the thing she liked about Pyria, Seren realized, that she liked so much. She knew went to not pry but she also still offered that silent comfort of acknowledgement. 

A little while later, that group of males walked into the tavern. Seren tensed. One of them had red hair. Seren hadn’t realized that before but it was as startling as a cold bucket of water to the face. She watched them out of the corner of her eye all night. She relaxed when they did nothing except drink. Perhaps too much, as they were shouting drunkenly by the end of the night. Seren’s group left soon after that.

Later that night, Seren decided to sit under the trees before she settled into her tent for the night. She’d finally managed to get her own tent, thanks to the money she’d earned already. Baldrick had declared her an official circus performer after she’d bought her tent. She knew he’d meant it as a complement, but all it had done was make Seren wish for her home in the woods.

She rested with her back against the trunk and her hands roaming over the roots. She shut her eyes as she took in the sounds of the forest. A lone bird sounded in the night and she heard the din of crickets. A brook trickled somewhere nearby. And underneath all of that, Seren caught the sweet hum of the earth. She’d always been able to hear it, although it sounded a little different in Summer than it did in Spring. She clutched the roots tighter beneath her hands. Tentatively, she reached out with her mind.

Hello, she said to the oak tree. Can you hear me? 

Seren waited, for moments, minutes, and maybe even hours. After a few more hellos, a dryad emerged from her tree. She had the same tall pointed ears as Seren, but she also possessed hair a deep shade of green and skin like the tree she’d emerged from. She stared at Seren with wide eyes.

“You are a long way from home, daughter of Spring,” the dryad spoke.

“I had to leave,” Seren rushed to say. “A male attacked me in my home. And my brother…he let it happen. I just-had to leave.”

The dryad studied her for a while. Seren thought must have been as old as the mountains themselves. Some dryads, although they were hard to find, had been there as long as Prythian. Or at least that’s what her mother had always told her. This dryad had eyes ancient enough that Seren believed the tale.

“You are not the first female to flee for your safety,” the dryad allowed. “Nor will you be the last.”

“I will return there,” Seren promised. The dryad nodded. “I was wondering if you could send a message back to my mother.”

The dryad tilted her head. “What message would the daughter of the Springtime Lord have me relay?”

“Just that you saw me and that I am alright. That I miss her and I love her. And that I plan on coming home,” Seren said. “But you don’t have to send a message just because my father was a High Lord.”

The dryad laughed and it sounded like wind whistling through tree branches. It was comforting to hear. It reminded Seren of her mother. 

“I am not sending this for your father’s sake.” The dryad leaned close to pat Seren’s head and Seren felt something stick there, even as the dryad removed her hand. “I will do it because you are my sister. You are a daughter of the wood.”

The dryad went back to her tree, but the crown of oak leaves remained on Seren’s head. And her parting words remained in Seren’s heart. 

There were no performances the next day. They spent the day traveling, crossing the border of the Winter Court. Seren remained tense. They were still at that corner of the territory that ran next to Autumn. Every noise had her patting down her skirt for her knife. Pyria picked up on her mood. They walked side by side down the old wagon trail. The others rode in the wagon that Baldrick drove.

“Is it the Autumn Court that makes you so nervous?” Pyria questioned. Her golden brows were furrowed in concern.

“Yes,” Seren admitted. “I’ll be glad when we are far from the border.” 

“Me too,” Pyria said. “I originally came from the Autumn Court. It’s where I learned how to throw axes.”

Seren looked at her in surprise. “You’ve never mentioned it before.”

“And you’ve never told me why you were running when we found you that night.” Pyria gave her a pointed glance. “I suppose our reasons are the same. I was running from a male, too.”

“They must be the bane of our existence,” Seren complained. Pyria laughed. Baldrick looked over from his perch on the wagon. Seren caught his gaze but he quickly averted his eyes. She nudged Pyria’s side. “I think Baldrick likes you.”

“What makes you say that?” Pyria asked sharply.

“He was looking at you from the wagon. And he always washes your dishes when we camp.”

Her friend made a noncommittal sound.

“He does,” Pyria said at last. “But it would be foolish to love a mortal.”

“I think it would be beautiful,” Seren countered. “To love someone so much in such a short period of time.” 

“Is that how you felt for your winged male?” Pyria teased, likely to get the attention off of herself.

Seren flushed. “I wouldn’t say that, but…”

But she had definitely felt something more for Nyx. There was something that had led him to her booth that night. How else would he have found her, in a city of thousands celebrating the biggest Summer Court event of the year? He had found her and had sought her out again the next night. He’d danced with her and showed her the dawn. 

Seren had only shared feelings with another male only once before. He’d been a childhood friend and had come from a family of beech trees. Their romance fizzled out after a while. He’d found his mate and Seren had been left alone with her own grove of trees. But her friend, even in years of knowing him, hadn’t ever made her feel half of what Nyx had, in three days. 

“But what?” Pyria prompted.

“I think he might have been my mate,” Seren confessed in a rush.

Pyria gasped. “And what? You left him? You crazy faerie!”

“How could I be sure?” Seren moaned. “I thought it was the right thing to do. I’m on the run from trouble and I didn’t want to drag him with me. And…he didn’t say anything about feeling the same way. About the mating bond, I mean. So I didn’t mention it either.”

“He seemed more than able to handle any trouble that came his way. He was taller than most males I know and that darkness around him…” Pyria shivered. “I’d never want to cross him. But I saw the way he looked at you when you were dancing. Whatever you felt, he was definitely feeling it, too.”

“Then why didn’t he say anything?”

“Hm…I said he was fit, not that he was smart.” Pyria chuckled. “Males always need it spelled out for them.” 

Seren laughed. “He said he would meet me again. And I believe him.”

“Then that’s what matters,” Pyria said. She laid a hand on Seren’s arm. “Don’t worry about Autumn. You’re safe with us. We’ll protect you now.” 

For a while, Seren rested in that fact. Her worries about Evyn Vanserra, her brother, and the Spring Court all faded away. She enjoyed the company of her new friends and didn’t let the nearness of the Autumn Border distract her. 

But when night fell, all those anxieties came rushing back. They set up camp quickly that night. Olive, one of the faeries, cooked a meal of broiled cabbage with crumbling bread. Pyria and Baldrick washed the dishes and Seren put them back in the wooded chest when they were all done. Usually, they would sit around the campfire and trade stories or songs before bed. But everyone was tired from a long day of travel. They said their goodnights and slipped into their tents. Seren noticed Pyria going to Baldrick’s tent and waggled her eyebrows at her. Her friend rolled her eyes, but she slipped inside Baldrick’s tent anyways.

Seren hoped she enjoyed herself.

She slipped into her nightgown, one that Pyria had let her borrow. Her pallet wasn’t much, but it was comfortable enough. The tents had some sort of magic on them that kept them protected from the harsh winds of Winter, so Seren hadn’t needed many blankets. Still, she pulled her covers around her, close to her chin. And slipped her knife under her pillow. 

She drifted into a restless sleep. Her dreams varied between walking in the woods with her mother, but then her mother turned into Evyn Vanserra and he kept chasing her. Seren ran as hard as she could when she smacked into her father. His green eyes, the ones that he had left her, were filled mocking. As if he had known she had met with Nyx, a male from the Night Court.

“You cannot run from me,” her father warned her. 

Seren kept running. Her father’s roar echoed through the woods but she ran farther than she had ever gone from her home. She heard her father’s words echo around the dark forest. They struck her like arrows. You cannot run from what is in your blood forever.

Seren screamed. 

When she woke up, it was still dark outside of her little tent but she could see dawn beginning to scrape above the winter horizon. Sweat clung to her but it felt like the temperature had dropped in the night. The chill had made its way even through her enchanted tent.

Seren focused on breathing in and out, but something made her stop breathing entirely. It was entirely too silent in the camp. Usually, she heard someone stirring in their sleep, or the horses’ soft whinnies. But there was absolutely nothing. Even the sounds of nature seemed hushed. Seren grabbed her knife from under her pillow and listened more carefully. 

She heard a muffled thud. A splat of something on the ground. And dread began to grow in her belly.

Run run run, the earth beneath her seemed to say. Danger danger danger.

Ever so slowly, Seren began to crawl through the back of her small tent. She was up against a small rock face. She wished she’d had trees at her back instead. The wind nipped at her heels. Seren peered around the edge of her tent to survey the situation.

Through the lightening haze of early morning, she could just make out the silhouettes of three males. She did not recognize them. She sniffed and the copper smell of blood filled her nose. Seren put a hand over her mouth to cover her gasp. Mother . What was she going to do? 

She desperately searched the other parts of camp, but she could see none of her other fellow performers. Had they all been murdered in their sleep? The thought was paralyzing but she forced herself to move. To think. 

She was shaking as she saw the horses, about twenty paces away from where she was now crouched behind her tent. Her best bet was making a run for the horse and getting out of there. Getting to the craggy winter forest. And just hoping that the males couldn’t winnow.

Seren clutched her knife. She counted to three. And then she ran.

At first, ducking behind the tents, it was still dark enough that the group hadn’t noticed her. But then  a shout broke out and she knew she had been spotted. She’d only taken about ten steps when she was tackled from the side. Seren rolled away as quickly as she could, managing to keep a grip on her knife that seemed flimsy when compared to the swords that were now pointed at her throat. 

One male stood out from the rest of them. He had red hair. She recognized him from the town before. Seren swallowed. Had he come for her? He stepped forward, grinning and eyes blown wide. Seren wanted to gag at the blood that covered him. Gag and scream.

Because that was the blood of her performers. She could smell it on him.

She could smell-Pyria. Oh gods, no. Seren let out a helpless sob as she darted a glance to the left. Her golden haired friend had spilled out of Baldrick’s tent, an ax just out of reach. Pyria was facedown in the dirt but Seren could see the dark substance leaking from her onto the rocky ground. Her lifeblood. She’d been slain no better than an animal.

But she had gone down fighting.

Something lit in Seren’s veins as she turned her gaze back to the murderers.

“You’re a hard one to track down, lady,” the redhead said. 

“What do you want with me?” Her voice came out steady.

“I don’t want anything with you. Well, maybe. I didn’t know you’d be such a looker, for a lesser faerie,” the redhead chortled. His friends laughed and the sound made Seren want to rip out their throats. How could they laugh when they had just killed innocent people? The male went on, “There’s a price for your return in Autumn. Dead or alive. Of course, your brother wants you to come back breathing, but I’m sure Lord Evyn would understand if things didn’t go…as planned.”

“Why did you kill them?” Seren asked, her tone somewhere between demanding and broken. Her rage was so great she couldn’t even really grasp what he had said. That there was a price for her in Autumn, but her brother wanted her alive. No. She could only think about that grief. “They were innocent . You’re all murderers.”

The smell of blood was growing stronger now, as the sun began to rise. As if the earth was warming up to the scent. 

“You’ll be calling me much worse than that before the day’s over,” the male promised. He grinned at her again. Seren hated him. She didn’t care that he might have a family back home, or a life. No. In that moment, she judged that he should die because he had just murdered innocent people for a bag of money.

Seren debated if she hated the Autumn Court more than the Night at that moment.

As one of them made a grab for her, she swung her knife in a wide arc. Three of the others seemed to hesitate. But the redhead was angry.

“C’mon. She’s just a spirit of the wood,” he scoffed.

At the words, Seren dropped her knife. She looked at where Pyria was on the ground, her hands reaching for that ax. And she remembered her father’s words from her dream. You cannot run from what is in your blood forever.

She would not run. Not this time. Not like she had with Evyn. Not like she had in the dream.

This time, she would fight. For Pyria and Baldrick’s sake. For her own sake. She owed it to them and to herself. And oddly enough, Seren was not afraid. If she would go down fighting for herself and for her friends, then she would consider it a good end. The only thing she would regret is that she would not see Nyx again. 

She would’ve liked to have seen him again, at least once.

Her attackers laughed at the sight of her discarded knife. But those laughs froze in their throats as claws shoved out of her hands. A gift from her father, come to save her at last. 

“I am a spirit of the wood,” she told him. “But my father was High Lord.”

And Seren gave herself fully over to the beast that had prowled beneath her skin since her birth. She would not run from what was in her blood. 

She would be covered in it by the end. 

Chapter Text

Nyx had not stopped thinking about her. It had made his time in Summer absolutely miserable. All he wanted to do was to go find her and beg her to let him…let him come with her. Let him touch her, taste her. Let him do nothing at all, as long as she was right there with him. 

But he didn’t do any of those things, because Seren had left, of her own free will. And he believed himself when he said that they would meet again. There was something greater than their own selves at work. He had been drawn to her by the tides of the stars and that meant that nothing could put them asunder.

He took a sip of hot tea. His booted feet were propped on the ledge of the balcony. He watched as the sun went down over Adriata and wished that he could be back in the Night Court for when the stars came out. He didn’t know how long he sat there, looking at the night sky. He missed home…and he missed Seren. Nyx absently rubbed a hand over his chest where his heart was. It felt like Seren had taken a piece of it with her. 

A familiar scent drifted to him and he smelled lilacs before he felt a slender hand on his shoulder. He turned to find his mother behind him and she gave him a warm smile before sitting on one of the wooden reclining chairs next to him. She kept a hand on her belly before accepting the cup of tea Nyx poured for her. She took it with a squeeze of his hand.

“You’re up late,” she commented, giving him a look out of the corner of her eye.

“Can’t sleep,” Nyx responded. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” she gently probed. His mother never pried and had always given him the space to talk about his feelings. 

“Not really,” Nyx sighed. He took another sip of tea before studying his mother. She looked as beautiful as ever, though there were slight purple smudges under her eyes. She must be entering the part of pregnancy that made it hard to sleep, even with a Fae advantage. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay,” she said, laying a hand on her belly. “This one is restless, like your sister. And I can’t stand the smell of tomato sauce. I was hoping the baby would have your spirit. You were a perfect angel, despite the circumstances. Or perhaps because of it.”

“Don’t tell Zephra that. She already thinks I’m the favorite child,” Nyx joked. Her mother chided him for it but there was fondness in her tone.

Nyx shook his head and chuckled. He thought about his mother’s words. Restless was one way to describe Zephra. She had gotten into more trouble than he had growing up, that was for sure. And when she and Bran were together…Mother help them. Nyx remembered when Zeph had first been born. She was so tiny and he had marveled at how perfect her little hands fit into his own child’s palms. He’d loved her at first sight and Nyx had no doubt he’d feel the same about his next baby sibling.

After Nyx had been born, his parents had said that they had not planned for another child for a long while. It wasn’t until Nyx was older that he’d understood that Zephra had been a surprise for all of them. Her birth was apparently much easier on his mother than Nyx’s birth had been. 

This baby had been long awaited. For decades. It was not easy for Fae to conceive, but maybe his mother’s mortal lineage had something to do with it.

“Do you think the baby is going to be a boy or a girl?” Nyx asked.

“Your father thinks it’s a girl.” His mother smiled. “But I think it’s a boy. What do you think?”

“I agree with whatever you say,” Nyx responded and his mother laughed.

“Smart male,” came his father’s voice from behind. Nyx took a deep breath. His father smelled like Velaris. He briefly touched Nyx’s shoulder before he sat next to his mate, brushing a kiss to her hair and a palm to her belly. He looked at Nyx. “You’re up late.”

Nyx groaned. “Mam said the same thing. I suppose you all know that I usually go to bed earlier than this.”

His parents exchanged a look.

“I do!” Nyx protested. “Unless we go to Rita’s and dance all night. And I know you used to do the same thing. Don’t try to deny it. Uncle Cass has told me plenty of stories.”

“Of course he has,” his father grumbled. His mother patted him on the back. Nyx smiled at them before taking another sip of tea.

“Why’re you up so late?” Nyx asked.

His father sighed. “Azriel’s sent reports on some stirrings in the Hewn City. Nothing major, but I should probably go check on Keir just in case.”

“I’ll go,” Nyx offered. 

Rhys looked at him in surprise. For the past decade, Nyx had been slowly amassing more responsibilities. His father and him both ran things in Velaris now. He was a bit more hesitant to let Nyx handle more of the Court of Nightmares, but Nyx was ready. He was well past his majority and itched for more of a role in the Court. He wanted to alleviate some of his parents’ burden. Bran was already a general helping his father in the Illyrian army and Les was right up there with him, although he mostly oversaw things between the Illyrians and Keir’s Darkbringers. 

“You’d rather go there than be here?” his father questioned.

“There’s nothing keeping me here. You stay here with Mam. It might be your last trip before the baby is born,” Nyx suggested. “Enjoy it.”

“You hate the Court of Nightmares,” his mother commented.

“So do you.”

“If you want to go, by all means,” Rhys said. “Of course that is fine with me. I’ll give you Azriel’s report.”

He gave a nod. “I’ll leave before first light in the morning. How does that sound?”

“Sounds good to me,” his father replied. Those violet eyes studied him and Nyx averted his gaze. His father saw too much most of the time. He was too smart for his own good, but at least he’d passed some of that intelligence on to Nyx and Zeph. “Is everything alright? I know things didn’t work out with Marina but-”

“-I’m glad things didn’t work out with her,” Nyx interrupted. “I’m not upset about it.”

Both of his parents paused at that.

“You’ve been talking about having a mate ever since you were little,” his mother said gently. “We just didn’t want you to be disappointed that it didn’t work out after…after we had gotten your hopes up.”

Nyx groaned and covered his eyes with his arm. His voice was muffled. “You make me sound desperate.”

His father laughed and Nyx felt a soothing night kissed breeze ruffle over him. The gentlest part of his father’s power. “You’re a romantic. Like your mother.”

His mother scoffed. “You mean, a romantic like you . I’ve shown Nyx the things you made me write when you were teaching me how to read.”

“Not all of them, I hope,” Rhys chuckled.

Nyx groaned but the truth was, he was very glad to have parents who loved each other so much. That had fought, sacrificed, and died for it. That he had aunts and uncles who felt the same way. They had all taught him the meaning of the word. He knew not every family was built on love as the Court of Dreams was. It was a gift.

“Please spare me of your flirtations,” he mumbled. 

“You love us,” his mother crooned.

And it was true.

His father was up and waiting by his door the next morning. Nyx had slipped on his Illyrian fighting leathers and strapped his daggers to the max. Azriel’s intel was in an inner pocket, but he patted his pocket down just in case. It was an early start to what had been a late night before, but Nyx didn’t feel tired.

He was anxious to get out of the city and to have something meaningful to do, even something as horrifying as checking on Keir. Anything to keep his thoughts off of Seren and wondering what she was doing, where she was, who she was with, what she was running from…

Nyx stopped himself before his father could somehow read his thoughts, even past his mental shields.

“You have everything?” his father asked, rechecking the straps on Nyx’s upper body knife holsters. 

“Yes, Father,” he replied, giving him a sigh. “I’ve done this before.”

“I know.” Rhys laid a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Please let me know how it goes. I’ll be waiting to hear from you. Will you return here after you’re done?”

“Maybe,” Nyx said, but in reality he was thinking no. 

His father seemed to realize that, but he said nothing more on it. “Alright. See you soon.”

“Give my love to Mam.”

And with that, Nyx was off and into the skies. He looked back down, at palace only once, and he could just make out his father, standing on a balcony, watching him fly away. Nyx’s heart tugged at that and he hoped his father saw the wave that he sent his way.

Then Nyx turned his focus north.

It would have been faster to winnow to the Court of Nightmares, but Nyx was aching for a flight. Something to brush off the tips of his power that always hovered under the surface of his skin. His father had understood. He’d wanted him to winnow, but Rhys had understood all the same when Nyx had said he needed the release of flying. They were both Illyrian, after all. 

Even if Bran, Les, and Britta had more of an Illyrian claim than Nyx did. Bran’s father was the General Commander of the Illyrian Armies. And Les was a full blooded Illyrian male, while Nyx’s lineage only came from his full blooded grandmother. The one that he had never met. He’d never met any of his grandparents. But it was the same for Les and Britta, he realized. Les had been adopted out of an Illyrian war camp when he was six years old and Britta had been just a babe. Nyx used to be jealous of them, for their brown hair and hazel eyes, and he’d told them as much when they were teenagers. 

Bran hadn’t understood it but Les looked at him with a knowing glint in his eye. He knew how it felt to want to belong somewhere. And he’d found that with his parents-Nyx’s aunt and uncle. No one loved Les and Britta more than his mother and father. If someone added the word ‘adopted’ in front of the word child as it pertained to Les and Britta, they were likely to be skewered and then once Aunt Elain was done with them, Nyx didn’t want to contemplate what his uncle’s shadows would get up to. 

Loyalty was something Nyx’s family understood very well. They’d give anything for each other, would die for each other without hesitating. It was their greatest weakness as much as it was their greatest strength. Luckily, thus far, it had not been tested. Nyx dreaded to see the day that someone tried to come between the Archeron sisters and their loved ones. His father, Uncle Cass, and Uncle Az not included. Not to mention Amren or Mor. He knew that there was a reason they were his father’s Second and Third. 

Nyx flew north on a cold draft from the Winter Court. Instead of hanging west towards the coast, like he was prone to do, something in him suggested going up the middle of Prythian. It was worth checking over the lands, although some borders, like the Winter and Dawn Courts, were more heavily guarded. The Autumn Court’s borders were nigh on impenetrable. A court locked within itself, not unlike the Spring Court. But unlike Autumn, Spring had the most easily accessed wards. Nyx didn’t let himself think about why too often. 

The collapse of the Spring Court was well justified, in his opinion. Especially considering they had brought war to Prythian in the first place. Not to mention their treatment of his mother. It sent a wave of fury through him just at the thought. 

Nyx knew he wouldn’t fly all the way back to the Night Court, but it was good to stretch his wings for so long. He hadn’t really flown since he’d brought Seren to the top of the temple in Summer. The thought sent a pang through him and he focused on the rising sun to banish away any thoughts.

He was nearing the corner of the Courts, where Winter, Summer, and Autumn all touched. He dove, closing in on the surface of the ground. He’d winnow out from there. But before he got too close, he smelled something. Something so wrong that he kept flying. The smell became stronger-it was bloody and pungent. If it was this bad from the air, Nyx didn’t want to imagine how bad it was close to the ground. Nyx tensed and reached for his daggers, strapped to his chest and thighs. His ears pricked up.

He heard screaming then and the roar of some beast. Ny flew directly to the sound, if not to interfere than just to observe. But something in him said to hurry .

He’d just passed the border of Winter, the wards letting him through, when he saw the skirmish below. A group of two or three males poked and prodded some sort of shifter. Its fur was dark as chestnuts. The thought gave him pause and Nyx flew closer. He threw up his shields, willing the darkness that still lingered from the night to come close to him. It was best if they did not see him until he assessed the situation more fully.

Another scent, somehow above the smell of the blood, drifted towards him. And it was familiar . The smell of trees and honeysuckle. Seren. It almost sent him into a panic and he flew closer still, looking down at what must have been a campsite. There were faeries cut down in their beds, one High Fae sprawled out on the earth. Nyx felt something unholy rip through him. If these males had murdered Seren, there was no god on the earth that could save them now. He searched for her, but he hadn’t spotted her body.

One of the males got too close to the clawed beast and the beast ripped his guts clean out. The other male got a hit in from behind, a dagger straight to the beast’s side. It cried out, a terrible sound, and Nyx understood in that moment why that dagger had hurt it so bad. It was an ash dagger, very illegal to have.

Nyx landed on the ground quickly, his wings flared behind him as he drew his Illyrian blades from the scabbards on his back. The males paused and even the beast’s pants and whimper grew quiet. 

And Nyx grinned as he let his darkness ripple out, letting those stars shine in his eyes, the way his father’s did. He pointed the tips of his swords at the attackers. It would be easier to crush their minds and their brains, but that was no fun. Nyx wanted their pain long and drawn out, for what they had to Seren’s friends and possibly Seren herself. 

“The Dark Son,” muttered a redhead. “We have no quarrel with you.” 

Nyx didn’t pause to wonder how they knew who he was. His reputation preceded him.

“You’ve killed these innocent people,” Nyx drawled. “I suspect they had no quarrel with you, either.”

The males glared. Nyx saw the decision in their eyes before they made the first move. They attacked, all at once, but Nyx parried their blows with ease. He’d been trained by his father and the two greatest Illyrian warriors in history. This would be easy. Nyx ducked around one of their blades, swiping his sword to cut the male’s tendons as he went. He shoved the male at the other one, but something stole his attention for just a moment. When he stumbled upon a realization.

The beast had familiar green eyes. He’d seen them before, in two different Fae. The thought caused his heart to stutter. The last male took advantage of his distraction and struck at him so fast that Nyx barely had time to raise his sword. But the blow never landed. The beast- Seren - had jumped in between them and right in the path of the male’s sword.

At her cry, something locked in Nyx’s blood. 

The mating bond.

And a certain knowledge that had him inwardly reeling. But he shook it off at that moment as rage washed over him. Seren’s blood was on the ground and he’d make that bastard pay. The male seemed to realize that Nyx was now even angrier than before.

A wave of darkness overtook the male as Nyx stalked towards him.

“You’re fucking dead,” he snarled.

In two moves, Nyx had disarmed him and then dismembered him. When the male had screamed, louder than Seren ever had, Nyx chopped off his head. He wasn’t thinking clearly. Usually he would take the time to break them, ask them questions, to use that violence for information as his Uncle Azriel had taught him. But Nyx was in a haze of rage. All he could think about was Seren’s green eyes and the fact that she had taken a blade meant for him.

When the male’s head fell to the earth, Nyx turned around. Seren laid on the ground, barely moving. That ash dagger was still in her side, likely preventing her from shifting back. She looked almost exactly like her father, with her curled horns and claws. Her chest rose and fell in heavy breaths and her gaze was wild as those eyes made contact with his.

He dropped to his knees.

He ran a gentle hand over her fur, checking for more injuries. His hand came away red, but luckily the blood seemed to be mostly from the males she had clawed down. Her biggest injury was the ash dagger in her side. Nyx considered his options. He knew he shouldn’t remove the object, but if the ash stayed in her system for much longer, it could kill her. Bleeding out or dying from poison-and neither of those options were acceptable. Seren watched him, her breaths becoming frighteningly slow. Something like both betrayal and trust were in her eyes. 

Nyx looked away, back at the wound. “I’m going to pull this out, Seren. And then I am going to winnow us back home. My home.” 

Seren said nothing. Nyx didn’t even know if she could speak like this. He had a hard time reconciling the gentle faerie he’d met to this beast. The daughter of fucking Tamlin. It made him feel as if he hardly knew her, when only days before, he’d been absolutely certain that his soul had known hers forever. And there was a reason for that.

She was his…

She was his mate. And she was bleeding out.

Nyx took a deep breath. When he pulled out the dagger, her keening cry sent a pain through him so profound, it was as if he had been the one stabbed. When the dagger was out, she slid back into her faerie form, her brown skin covered in blood and scratches. She was wearing a nightgown that Nyx immediately slit to form a bandage to press against her side.

Seren whimpered, her eyes going hazy. Nyx carefully bent to pick her up and her head rolled listlessly against his chest. Nyx was more frightened than he had ever been in his life. He’d been just given this beautiful gift, confusing but beautiful. He wanted to hold onto it for all he was worth.

“Hold tight,” he told her. “I’ve got you.”

Seren made no move that she’d heard. Her eyes were shut. Nyx clutched her closer to his chest, wanting to resurrect those males just so he could slaughter them all over again. He kept replaying that moment over and over again in his mind. She had jumped in front of that sword for him. For him . The son of the bitter enemy of her father. Or did she know that?

“Why did you do that?” he asked hoarsely, as he prepared to winnow away.

At those words, her eyes opened. There were too many emotions swimming in those green eyes, hazy with pain, for him to pick them all out and name them.

“You know why,” she croaked.

He did. “Thank you.”

But all Nyx could think, as he took them to the moonstone palace, was that those green eyes had looked familiar to him before for a reason. Tamlin’s daughter was his mate.

His mate. 

Nyx sent for someone named Madja as soon as he winnowed them into a palace. It was the nicest place Seren had ever seen, from what she could see.

Her eyes could barely hold themselves open. It felt like her blood was on fire in her veins. Everything narrowed down to the place where she had been stabbed. Seren had never felt like she was going to die before, but she thought this was what it was like.

She was slightly jostled as Nyx carried her up the stairs and Seren couldn’t help the groan that escaped her lips.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. He carried her to a bedroom on the left of the large landing. The bedroom was large, larger than any room in the Spring Court manor. It had pillars that opened up to a balcony with mountains in the background. Seren had no sense of how the room stayed warm, even in the mountain air. She could only focus on those mountains. 

She was in the Night Court. Because Nyx was from the Night Court. Nyx was…The Heir of the Night Court.

She was here because he was her mate and she had known this from the night that she had first seen him. Where they had met under the stars, right before the longest day of the year. She could not believe she was in the Night Court. What was going to happen to her?

She whimpered at the thought as Nyx set her down on the bed.

Nyx brushed her sweaty, tangled hair from her forehead in soothing motions. “Madja will be here soon. She’s a healer.”

Seren couldn’t say that she really cared. Her eyes began to close but Nyx squeezed her hand. 

“Stay awake, Seren.” Pure command in his voice.

Inexplicably, it made Seren want to cry. Tears pooled in her eyes and slipped down her cheeks unbidden. She could hardly breathe out of her nose. What was her mother going to think? She was the daughter of the Night Court’s worst enemy. Amarantha had made her Court after what she had seen in the Night Court. At least, that’s what Seren’s father had said, the few times that he had spoken about all of that. What would they do to her here? 

Nyx had been so kind in Adriata, even if he had been a bit arrogant and cold at first. Would he kill his own mate? But no-those weren’t the right thoughts to have. Not as she managed to see the worry in the crease of his eyebrows as he looked down at her.

“What’s going to happen to me?” Seren whispered, tears still running down her cheeks. She didn’t mean right then and not with the blood pouring out of her side. She meant after all of this. And Nyx seemed to somehow understand.

“I don’t know.” She couldn’t read his voice. But she felt Nyx wipe the tears from her cheeks. “But you’re going to be all right. You’re going to be just fine.”

As if in direct opposition to his words, her side began to burn even worse. Her thoughts felt sluggish and her tongue felt heavy. She grasped her side with a cry. She thought that her blood was running black. The sheets around her were red. 

Nyx reached out a hand to cover her own. He pressed down firmly on the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. His head glanced from her face to the whole in her side and the wound in her shoulder, where the sword had stabbed her. The sword wound felt like nothing compared to the ash dagger wound. 

The blood leaking from her reminded her of Pyria. She began to cry harder.

“They’re all dead, Nyx, they’re all dead,” she blubbered.

“You have to breathe, Seren.” He brushed another hand over her forehead.

“Dead and gone,” she said hysterically. “It hurts so bad.”

She cried and cried.

Seren.

She shook her head. His voice was inside of her mind. Her father had said those from the Night Court do that, control whoever they wanted to. He was going to kill her, to hurt her. She thrased on the bed.

It’s the ash, Seren. It’s poison.  

Seren screamed. 

When Seren came to, the first thing she noticed was how clear the air in her bedroom was. The second thing she noticed was the absence of pain in her blood. Although she was still tender and there was a bandage wrapped around her shoulder from the sword, the wound that had almost ended her was mostly healed.

She realized she wasn’t wearing any clothes when she noticed how nasty the scar right under her left breast was. She hesitantly lifted a hand to touch it. As soon as she did, all of her memories came rushing back. Her head fell back against her silk pillow. 

She didn’t know how long she laid there, in the quiet of her bedroom, thinking about what had happened. Pyria was gone. So was Baldrick, and all the other fairies. Seren pressed the heels of her palms to her eyes, but it did nothing to stop the flow of tears. Those males from the Autumn Court had killed them.

Because of her.

It was her fault they were dead.

Maybe she should have married Evyn Vanserra, if only so she could have avoided this. But then she never would have met them in the first place…and maybe she wouldn’t have met Nyx. Her heart nearly stopped beating at the thought of him.

He was her mate. The Dark Son. 

It was the only name she had ever heard the Night Court Heir referred to as. Her father and her brother had never spoken of his name. They’d only called him the Dark Son. Seren had asked her father why he was called that one day. Tamlin had explained it was because the Night Court Heir had decimated a small legion of High Fae from another continent, who had sought to expand their territory during Prythian’s weakness after the war. But they’d chosen the wrong Court. Nyx had been waiting and his father hadn’t been present when he’d met those soldiers. He’d done it all on his own. 

The Mother must have had a sense of humor to do this. To make Nyx her mate. 

A gentle hand swept across her brow and Seren opened her eyes to find a High Fae female standing over her. Interestingly enough, there were a few strands of gray in her hair. But she had kind eyes. Standing next to her was Nyx. 

Seren swallowed.

“You gave us quite a scare, young lady,” the female said. “If Nyx had gotten you here even a few minutes later, it might have been too late for me to heal you.”

Nyx laid a hand on the female’s shoulder. “You came as soon as I called, Madja. I will give you whatever you ask.”

But the female shook her head.

Madja. Seren remembered in the murky depths of her first moments here that Nyx had sent for a Madja. She must have been the healer. Then Seren thought back to Madja’s earlier words. If Nyx had gotten you here even a few minutes later… She swallowed again. Nyx had winnowed half the distance of Prythian. In one jump.  

That kind of power…

She took a breath of air.

“Thank you,” she croaked.

“Of course,” Madja replied. “A friend of Nyx’s is a friend of mine.”

Seren’s eyes flew to Nyx’s own at that. A friend. Was that what he had told Madja? Maybe she had dreamed the mating bond up in all of the frenzy that had taken place. Too much had been going on for her to think straight. 

Nyx gave her a searing look. And Seren knew she hadn’t made it up.

He offered her a glass of water after summoning it into existence. Seren took it with a grateful murmur. Madja watched them with curious eyes, though she made no comment. The healer’s eyes drifted to her ears. Seren braced herself for any lesser fairie comments, but the healer said nothing. She just turned back towards Nyx.

“All Seren needs now is rest and sleep,” Madja informed him. “If she feels too much lingering pain, give her one of these.”

She handed him a small corked bottle. 

“Thank you,” Nyx said. “I have one more thing to ask. If you could keep this between us, Madja, I’d be grateful.”

The healer arched a brow. “And by this, you mean…?”

A muscle pulsed in Nyx’s jaw. He darted a glance towards Seren before looking back at Madja. “Please do not tell anyone that Seren is here.”

“Hmph.” Madja turned away from him and began to pack up her things. Seren wondered at the nonchalance with which she handled the Heir of the Night Court. “I will say nothing about this, young lord. But your parents will learn soon enough.”

“But not from you,” Nyx said, although it was more of a demand.

“Not from me,” Madja agreed. Then she winnowed away. 

And then it was just the two of them, looking at each other. Nyx blew out a puff of air from between his cheeks. He looked out to the mountains before he came and sat down on the side of the bed. Hesitantly, he reached out a hand as if he would touch her, but then he withdrew it just as quickly.

Seren tried not to let it show how much it stung.

“How are you feeling?” Nyx asked.

“Better,” she said, feeling a flush rise on her cheeks. She was completely naked under the covers. She knew nothing would be happening, not with how conflicted Nyx looked. But it was still a strange sensation. She’d never been naked with a male before.

Seren sunk deeper under the covers. Nyx watched her movements with unreadable blue eyes, dark as night. 

“Did you know who I was, in Summer?” he asked.

“No.” It was the truth. She hadn’t even known the Night Court Heir’s name, much less what he looked like. “You didn’t know me, either.”

Nyx’s eyes narrowed. “Tell me this, Seren. Are you a spy for your brother?”

“No!” she gaped. “How could you ask that?”

“I always knew there was more than what you were telling me,” Nyx went on. He ran a hand through his dark curls and gave a bitter laugh. “What a damn mess.” 

Seren gritted her teeth. Her newly formed scar was pulsing. “I am sorry that you feel that way about being mated to me.”

“ Do not say that right now.” Nyx stood abruptly, throwing his hand in the direction of a wardrobe she hadn’t noticed before. “You’ll find clothes to change into in there. I’ll send up a meal. Just try to get some rest and I’ll…I’ll be back in the morning. To see…to see what’s going to happen.”

“You can’t leave,” she gasped. “Nyx! Don’t!”

But he was gone, vanished away in smoke and shadow.

For the second time in the span of a few days, Nyx winnowed half the distance of Prythian. He made sure to shield and cloak himself. It would not bode well if someone discovered him lurking around the Spring Court. They’d think the worst. And it wasn’t like he could ask Uncle Azriel to do any spying, either, considering he hadn’t told anybody about his current situation. He considered asking Les but then he’d thought that his cousin might feel the need to inform his father, who would probably inform Nyx’s father.

So Nyx was going to do some spying of his own.

He’d strapped himself full of Illyrian steel, cinching his leathers tight over his body. He’d checked on Seren before he left and he’d found her sleeping deeply, curled into the bed. She needed the rest, after the day she’d had before.

Nyx would never forget the feeling of her jumping in front of him or the way she’d transformed into his arms, covered in blood. Nyx had already dreamt about it, in the three hours of sleep he’d managed to get the previous night.

He hadn’t even checked on Keir yet. His father would be checkin in soon, but Nyx couldn’t worry about that right now. He was able to get into the Spring Court. The wards around the Court were practically nonexistent as he flew over the land.

In fact, it felt as if the whole Court was nonexistent. 

There were a few villages dotted here and there, some farming outposts. But Nyx barely even saw any people. There were no sentries. There were no children laughing. Not like in Velaris. The Spring Court was beautiful, but empty. Like a mausoleum of some sort. But he could see Seren fitting in here. The trees were green and full, and the flowers bloomed in bright color. Whatever magic Talan had, it kept the Spring Court preserved in its usual season. That was something, at least.

Nyx rechecked his shields around himself when he neared the manor. He felt a shiver wrack through him as he landed. He stared at it for a moment. This was the place where his mother had lived, before she’d fallen in love with his father. She’d been trapped here, like the living dead. Tamlin had locked her in. But his father and Mor had gotten her out.

Nyx took a deep breath. He didn’t understand how Seren could be Tamlin’s daughter. He’d never seen or even heard of her before. Talan he had met on a few different occasions, at High Lord meetings and various societal events. They’d both been the few born Heirs of the Prythian Courts. Until Tamlin had been killed and Talan had taken his place as High Lord. Nyx thought he was as much of a prick as his father, but maybe that was just because Nyx had loathed Spring on principle.

A strange feeling passed through Nyx. He’d felt nothing when Tamlin had died, but Seren…that was his mate’s father. What had she felt about it? Had she been mad? Sad? Even happy? Nyx had never stopped to consider if anyone had loved Tamlin. Not when no one in his family did.

He shut his eyes and concentrated on doing a mental sweep of the house. The wards on the manor were in somewhat better shape than the wards around the Court, but not by much. Nyx could squeeze by them easily. His father could probably smash through them in a heartbeat. 

The manor was not the bustling hive of activity Nyx thought it might be. There were only about two dozen people in the whole place. Nyx was searching for one person in particular and paused immediately when he found them.

“...need to get here as quickly as possible,” Talan’s voice was saying.

“We have tried and they will not accept any treatise,” a different male voice responded. Nyx did not recognize the voice.

Talan cursed. “Then we try Winter.”

“They have also sent their regrets.”

Nyx wondered why Talan was contacting the Courts. Some sort of attack? Nyx frowned. The Spring Court was too empty to pose much of a threat to anyone. Nyx had never stopped to think what a bad thing it could be. How much disarray it could cast on Prythian.

“This shit is not what we needed,” Talan said. “A war with Autumn over my sister. Graysen’s Fae hating descendants on the borders.”

Graysen’s mortal descendents were encroaching on Spring lands? Nyx wondered if his parents knew this. And what exactly they would do with that information. And why would Autumn be at war over Seren? It confirmed his suspicions that those males that had attacked her were indeed from the Autumn Court. But not why. He thought it had just been random but that was so stupid of him. He could hear his Uncle Az’s voice reprimanding him in the distance. 

“We need not go to war with Autumn,” the other male was saying.

“You’re joking, right, Flavian? Evyn Vanserra tried to rape my sister and then had the nerve to lie to my face about it. Now he thinks he’s entitled to some compensation. In my opinion, the only compensation he is entitled to is a pile of shit,” Talan sneered. He rose in esteem in Nyx’s eyes.

But anger burned in Nyx’s gut at the knowledge Talan had just revealed. Evyn Vanserra had tried to harm Seren. He was the male that she had been running from. When he’d first learned of who Seren was, he thought she might have been running from her brother. Now he knew it was Evyn Vanserra. Vanserra was dead already.

“Rash words,” the male-Flavian-droned. “May I remind you, my Lord, that you are the one who proposed the marriage alliance with Autumn in the first place?”

He heard Talan curse. “At least I can always count on you to be honest.” He heard the High Lord of Spring sigh. “Yes, I am aware it is my fault. I could blame my father for a lot of things but he would never have let Seren be harmed.”

“Or to flee from Spring lands,” Flavian added. Rather unhelpfully. 

“No word on that front either?” Talan asked. Flavian must have made some nonverbal response because he heard Talan curse again and then sigh. “What a fucking mess.” 

Nyx was inclined to agree, but he slipped his mind from the house. He had enough information at his fingertips now to at least get a grasp on things. Seren was not a spy. It had been idiotic of him to have suggested that in the first place. Seren wasn’t a spy. She was a survivor. She was his mate. And Nyx would do everything in his power now to put her ahead. 

And if that meant facing his inner demons about the Spring Court, then so be it. 

She was downstairs in the moonstone palace when he returned back to the Night Court. She had changed clothes and taken a bath, apparently. Nyx tried not to let his eyes linger on the way the cuffed pants hugged her or the way loose fabric of her shirt revealed a tiny sliver of her soft navel. The dark green color of the set complimented her skin and eyes perfectly. Nyx couldn’t believe how beautiful she was. 

Seren was flipping through a book and sipping on a cup of tea. He watched her for a moment, feeling overwhelmed that she had ended up with him. When she had started fleeing her home court, from Evyn Vanserra. She had run straight to him and neither of them had known it. Nyx swallowed the lump in his throat. 

He cleared his throat to make his presence known when he entered the room. She slammed the teacup down in surprise when she saw him. Her rosy mouth dropped wide open, as if she had never expected to see him again. Nyx slid his hands into his pocket. 

“I went to the Spring Court,” he began.

“The Night Court Heir? Stepping foot in Spring?” she floundered. 

“What do you mean by that?”

“It is surprising.” 

“You are my mate and you are from Spring. When I met you, you were running from something. Why would I not see what you were running from?”

Seren’s eyes flashed. “Oh, are we allowed to say that word now? Mate ?”

Nyx clenched his jaw. “Yes. And I am sorry for the way I acted yesterday. It’s no excuse but I suppose..I was just overwhelmed by everything.”

He saw her posture soften at that, but her eyes were still blazing. “I was overwhelmed, too, Nyx. You are the son of my father’s worst enemy. They still tell children bedtime stories about your court to scare them into behaving.”

Nyx stalked closer to where she had risen from the couch. Her cheeks were flushed but Nyx stomped on the arousal he felt at the sight of it. He concentrated on her words instead. The horrible words about his Court. 

“You are the daughter of my parents’ worst enemy,” he countered. “You think I was not surprised, to learn that the man who had my mother locked up and caged, was the same one who fathered my mate?”

Seren’s eyes flashed. “Your mother destroyed my home.”

Nyx was going to say that her father was the man to blame for that but he paused. He didn’t think that would help things. “She regrets that.” She hadn’t said that in so much words, but Nyx got the sense sometimes that she had regretted some of her actions at the beginning of the war. Some might argue that the destruction of the Spring Court was just and necessary, but Feyre Cursebreaker possessed a human heart…and so did Nyx.

“I have seen nothing of her regret,” Seren declared. “I have only seen my brother flounder for control of a Court with no sentries to protect it. So much so that he wanted me to marry a horrible male to gain help. I have only seen the way my people go hungry after a failed harvest because there are no Fae to work the farms.”

What she said…it could be true. The Spring Court had been remarkably empty. Nyx ran a hand through his hair. What she was saying was altering his whole perspective on things. He looked at Seren with bleak eyes. He felt a bit helpless, in the knowledge that what she was saying wasn’t wrong and that maybe his parents had done something bad.

He could only choke the next words out.

“But your father betrayed my father. He killed my grandmother and sister. He helped them cut off their wings. My father buried their bodies.” 

Seren’s face fell. “I have never heard that.” She clasped her hands in front of her, eyes darting away, before they rested on his face again. Tamlin’s fucking eyes were staring at him. “He was…he was not a perfect man. I’m not even sure if he was a good one. But I am sure he regretted that.”

“So many regrets,” Nyx murmured, taking a step closer. He grabbed Seren’s hands, unfurling her fingers. He raised them to his face and he took a breath of her earthy scent. And then, ever so softly, he placed a kiss to each of her palms. Her breath faltered. He held her hands against his face. “But we are not our parents. Let there be no regrets between us, fortune teller. I choose you.”

A sheen rose in her eyes. Seren blinked back her tears in a show of strength. It made Nyx’s heart ache. “I must tell you everything that’s happened, Nyx, before you decide anything.” 

He dropped her hands, but didn’t let go as he brought them over to the couch. The back on it was low enough, built to accommodate wings. They flared slightly behind him as he sat down. Seren made to sit beside him, but Nyx tugged her to himself. She yielded to him as he slid her onto his lap, her side pressed to her front with her feet hanging over his knees. He pulled her closer, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

“I may know a little,” Nyx confessed. “I sort of spied on your brother.”

She gasped. “But what happened?”

“He was concerned about you and regretted what happened.” Nyx studied her face for her reaction.

She brows lowered and she bit her bottom lip. “I had wondered…if he knew what Evyn Vanserra was like and just didn’t care.”

Nyx shook his head. “From what I could tell, he seemed sorry about it. He appears to be in trouble with Autumn. He did not like…what Vanserra did. Don’t feel like you must tell me, but…when you are ready I would like to know what happened with him.”

Seren shook her head. “My brother wanted an alliance with Autumn to help with trouble on the southern border. I agreed, but only after meeting Vanserra. And it was awful. I’d decided that I didn’t even know if saving the Sprint Court was worth marrying that male. He- he brought me away and attacked me, but I got away. That’s when I came upon…Pyria.”

Her voice broke at the name and Nyx ran a hand along her hair. She leaned into his touch. Nyx wished he could take away the pain she felt. She’d gone through so much in such a short amount of time. It hadn’t been that long after Evyn Vanserra’s attack when she had met him. And still, she had danced with him that Solstice night. Nyx couldn’t help but feel in awe of how strong she was.

But she was not feeling as strong now, so Nyx cupped her chin and looked at her until she returned his gaze.

“What happened with Pyria and the others was not your fault,” Nyx enunciated. “The blame solely lies with those males. They are the ones who decided to do that. Not you, Seren.” 

“Logically, I know that. But in my heart…I feel like I am the reason they are dead,” she whispered. 

“Then I will be here to remind you, every day, that it is not your fault,” Nyx promised her. 

They sat there in silence for a while, just content to soak up each other’s presence. Nyx didn’t press her for anything more, but his mind was flashing through everything that would have to happen in the coming weeks. For one, he was not letting Seren go back to Spring without him. It was too dangerous. 

If she even wanted to go back to Spring.

“What now?” she asked, as if she had read his thoughts.

“What now?” he mused. “I’ve got business to tend to for my father…and then we will see to your brother’s situation. What are you thinking, fortune?”

“Fortune?” Seren arched a brown brow.

“Well, it was fortune teller. But since I know you are not one, and instead are my treasure, I will call you my fortune .” He brushed a loose curl of brown hair away from her face.

And then she smiled at him. And it fucking ruined him.

“What are you thinking?” he asked again, this time more quietly.

“I am thinking,” she murmured, leaning closer, “that I want you to kiss me.”

Nyx tilted his head. “As my lady commands.”

His hands slid up her back to cup the back of her head. Nyx felt bumps rise on her skin in response. He looked down to see that she had closed her eyes. He gave into the impulse to kiss each one of her eyelids, and then her cheeks. Then her forehead, and the tip of her nose. Seren was laughing now. So he kissed each corner of her laughing mouth, dragging her closer to him. His heart was pounding.

He placed slow, open mouthed kisses on the edge of her jaw. Her skin tasted like she smelled, sweet as honeysuckle and as fresh as the earth. He wondered what the center of her would taste like and his eyes almost rolled back in his head at the thought. Seren’s hands tightened on his shoulders as he kissed his way down her throat. 

“So sweet,” he whispered. 

He found her pulse point and closed his mouth on it, gently scraping there with his teeth. Her soft gasp only encouraged him. He sucked at the pulse, wanting to leave a mark there, wanting to leave marks all over her. Nyx laved at that spot, where she tasted so sweet, with his tongue. Seren let out a little moan and he wanted to devour the sound, to keep it bottled up somewhere so he could play it whenever he wanted to. Nyx closed his lips and sucked on that pulse for a beat. Two beats. 

“Nyx,” she breathed.

His name had never sounded so good from anyone else’s lips.

“Kiss me, please,” she begged. 

He drew his head up and slid his hands to move her forward, so that she was straddling him. He leaned down to finally press his lips to hers when he heard a sound from the entrance of the house. Nyx’s head snapped up.

Seren’s eyes flew open, but Nyx placed a finger on her lips. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were a bit dazed but she nodded. She understood the gesture. Nyx gently moved her to the sofa and stood, adjusting himself as quickly as he could before drawing his sword. No one was supposed to be in the house at the moment.

The scent hit Nyx before the male entered. 

Nyx clenched his jaw. 

“Who is that?” Seren whispered.

“The business I have to take care of for my father,” Nyx muttered.

A golden haired male made his way leisurely down the hallway. He smiled when he saw Nyx standing there, with his sword drawn.  Nyx’s wings flared as the male took in Seren, who was also now standing with her hands crossed in front of her. 

“Hello, Nyx. What a way to be greeted,” the male said, a slight sneer on his face.

“Hello, Keir.” 

Chapter Text

Seren had heard of Keir, even from her limited knowledge of things outside of the Spring Court. Keir was the leader of the Darkbringers and a relative of the current ruling Night Court family. She supposed that made Nyx his sort-of cousin. Nyx didn’t greet him with any warmth and barely any familiarity. Seren privately pondered it. He very obviously had not wanted Keir around her. 

And now, apparently, they were going to the Court of Nightmares. Keir kept giving her glances, his eyes perusing over her body with a mix of distrust and disgust. Maybe even arousal, as he took in her curves. On Nyx’s recommendation, Seren had changed into a gown she’d found in the wardrobe. It was the color of dark onyx and had tiny jewels sewn in the fabric. It had a plunging neckline and a practically nonexistent back. Seren had never worn anything so daring, but if Nyx’s reaction was any indication, maybe she ought to dress like that more often. 

She kept close pace behind Nyx and Keir, as they walked in a hallway deep in the mountain. The moonstone palace sat on top of this place. The one that Nyx had called the Court of Nightmares. Seren was curious to see what made it so dreadful, but she couldn’t deny the goosebumps that had broken over her skin as they delved through the ancient stone halls. 

“The Court of Nightmares is as horrible as it sounds,” Nyx had said. “Any bedtime horror stories you’ve heard about the Night Court likely came from the Hewn City.”

And city was a perfectly apt name for what Seren was now seeing. The city had been hollowed out from the mountain by some ancient work. There were tall buildings, balconies that came from inside the mountain , bridges, and everything in between. Faelights lit the way for stone bridges and paths that twisted off into dark hallways. It was very beautiful, but very cold. It almost felt cruel, especially when she bypassed carvings of writhing serpents. 

Seren would be miserable here. There was not one tree in sight. 

She shivered and drifted closer to Nyx. Keir noticed and gave her a hateful smirk. Seren pretended that she did not see. She’d not been worried about others’ opinions of her for the entirety of her life. She would not start now by fretting over someone who looked at Nyx like he was something to scrape from the bottom of a shoe.

They were walking into a long room, where music played. Food was out displayed in full. There were High Fae talking and laughing, some dancing, and some doing more than dancing together. Seren averted her eyes. That was not the kind of dancing they did in the woods. She forced her gaze elsewhere but her eyes met Keir’s again. He raised his eyebrows, as if he was daring her.

Nyx stepped slightly in front of her, cutting her off from Keir’s line of sight. Seren took a deep breath in an attempt to relax. Nyx had not mentioned their relationship to Keir, only introducing her as a visiting noble from a neighboring court. Keir had nodded but his mouth had twisted so sharply into a sneer, Seren doubted if he believed them. Another male came to join Nyx and Keir, launching into a discussion about trade. Seren wondered the business Nyx had to attend to for his father exactly entailed. A High Fae female drifted by in front of her. When she saw Seren looking, she licked her lips and snarled. Seren only frowned.

She was still frowning when a presence, like a soft wave in a peaceful lake, hesitated at her mind. It had a feeling of darkness and shadows. It was Nyx in her mind. She had heard his voice in her head before, but she had though it had just been a figment of her imagination. But this was real. Slowly, she let him in. 

I am sorry that this is your first introduction to my Court , Nyx apologized.

Is there more to it than this? Seren asked, only partially joking.

She felt something like a soothing motion, almost as if he was wrapping her in his arms. Much more .

When she looked over at him, he was still in conversation with the other nobles, looking cold and half bored. Nyx had warned her that he wore a different mask in the Court of Nightmares. Looking at his dark crown now, she understood perfectly. He played the powerful and cruel Heir to the most powerful High Lord in history. The mortal human look that had always lingered in his blue eyes was entirely gone, replaced by winking starlight. He was truly the Heir to Night Triumphant and Stars Eternal. The Dark Son, as they said.

As if he felt her gaze, he turned his head and gave her a discreet wink. It sent a bit of comfort through her. Seren fought the smile that threatened to emerge on her face. Nyx had told her that she didn’t have to change who she was, but that it might be better if the Fae below the Mountain did not understand her in any way.

A few minutes later, Nyx finally stepped away from the males and back to her side. 

“We’ll be going now,” Nyx told them, his voice a vague sound of cold politeness. 

Keir stepped in front of his path. “There are some performers that I think you might particularly enjoy, my lord. And maybe your… friend will as well.”

The threat behind Keir’s words was clearly understood. Nyx stared at him for a moment before he tilted his head. There was a dark glint in his eye, one that Seren would not have taken as lightly as Keir seemed to. The man should have been more afraid. He might have been older but Nyx was far more powerful.

“I think I would enjoy nothing more than leaving you to your own pleasures, Keir,” Nyx drawled. Nyx turned his head, as if Keir wasn’t worth his time. I’ve done what we needed to. Let’s not linger here any long.

Fine with me, Seren thought back. She loved that Nyx had the ability to talk to her in a way that nobody else could. In a way that nobody else could understand. These words were just for them. This isn’t who you really are. You’re not a nightmare, Nyx. 

She felt a bit of humor from him, but also a glimmer of warmth. Thank you, fortune.

They were walking by when she heard someone murmur half breed dog as they passed. Seren turned quickly enough to see a male sneering at her and Nyx. He looked pleased enough with himself. Seren loathed the look on her face. She felt Nyx tense and then power that drifted from him in droves. Like waves of smoke spreading out into the night. 

Seren looked at the male who had insulted either one or both of them. She said, “Where I come from, subordinates respect their future High Lord. Is it not the same here, Nyx?”

“Of course,” came Nyx’s purr. He stepped up beside her, that darkness slowly wrapping around the male. The raucous noise from the crowd drew to a lull as Nyx tilted his head, like a predator honing in on a kill. “And those that forget their manners, what is their punishment in your court?”

“They do not speak for a month,” Seren replied, surprising herself with the harshness of her made-up judgment. But this male had just insulted Nyx-called him an awful slur. 

Nyx chuckled as the male in front of them began choking. His pallid, handsome face was now as red as a fresh tomato. Nyx reached out a hand and the darkness that swirled around the male disappeared. It shook Seren, but not because she was afraid. But because she wasn’t.

She’d never been afraid of Nyx.  

“You will not speak for a day.” At Nyx’s words, the male began screaming. Chitters of nervous chatter erupted from the crowd. “In my power, I spared you. Am I not merciful, for being a half breed dog?”

The crowd said nothing.

“Keir here will tell me if you break your punishment, Gladwyn.” Then he faced the crowd. “Enjoy the party.”

And with that, they left. 

They had dinner together that night. The magic that kept the house warm and in good condition also ran in the kitchen. Nyx and Seren were able to sit down for a nice dinner of toast and potatoes. It was nice, but nothing as good as what they would have in Velaris. Nyx couldn’t wait to take Seren there, especially after she’d witnessed the horrors of the Hewn City. 

The first thing she’d said to him after they’d gotten back was, “How could they call you that, Nyx?”

“They’ve always called my father that, behind closed doors. His mother, my grandmother, wasn’t High Fae. And they have always been obsessed with pure bloodlines,” Nyx had explained. “I suppose Gladwyn just thought I wouldn’t hear.”

“And that doesn’t bother you?” Seren’s green eyes were brimming with concern. 

“I do not need the acceptance of those people. I only need their fear.”

They’d gone up to change after that, but Nyx could still see the worry in Seren’s face. Now, even in a relaxed setting, he could still see it lingering. In the furrow between her brows and the slight tenseness of her shoulders. She was wearing the same dark green set that she had been wearing earlier and Nyx found his eyes straying to her more often than he had been focusing on eating. 

He’d rather devour the sight of her.

“I’m sorry you had to go there,” Nyx said, breaking the companionable silence. “I thought Keir would have questioned why I didn’t want you to come. I think…he could tell there was something between us.”

Seren speared her potatoes before taking a bite. “I agreed to go. And I wanted to come with you, anyways. To see more of how…the Night Court works.”

“That’s only a small fraction of this Court,” Nyx hurried to say. “But now that you’ve seen the worst of it, I want you to see the very best. Tomorrow we can go to Velaris.”

“I think I’ve heard of it,” Seren replied, giving him a small smile. “The City of Starlight. It sounds like a magical place, Nyx. But I’m having trouble understanding how two things can coexist in the same Court and how you rule over both.”

“The Court of Nightmares mostly rules itself.” At Seren’s questioning glance, Nyx took a sip of wine. And then went on, “I’ll try to explain. The short version of everything is that thousands of years ago, one of my forefathers had a different vision for the Night Court. Than what he had been dealt with at the Hewn City.”

“A dreamer,” Seren breathed.

Nyx gave her a small smile. “So he built Velaris but kept it secret from the rest of the land. In an agreement for the Hewn City to leave it be, they agreed to appoint their own sort of governor. Even though the ruling lord still answers to us. To my father.”

“But Velaris isn’t a secret now. It hasn’t been for a long time.” She pushed the potatoes around her plate, rather thoughtlessly, because her eyes were completely focused on him. 

“That’s because my father gave up the location to the mortal queens during the war as a gesture of peace and goodwill. And in turn, they attacked the city.” Nyx shook his head. “It remains a hub for artists, builders, and dreamers. Anyone who wants a better life. That was my father’s dream. To protect that city and the people in it, dreamed like he did. But its borders are open now, so it’s been a bit of an adjustment.”

“The mortal queens…my father spoke badly of them. The one Briallyn especially,” Seren revealed.

“They betrayed many people. And certainly caused trouble,” Nyx responded. “Even now, everything is not as it should be.” He noticed that she mentioned nothing of Velaris, or what had happened to it. What his parents and the rest of his family had decided to do.

Seren was quiet for a few moments. Nyx was in no rush to make her speak. He had just told her many different things, and she was likely feeling the same way he had when he’d gone and seen the emptiness of the Spring Court. The collision of what he’d always believed and what was true. Nyx would have to do something about the Spring Court, they both would. There was no avoiding it now, as he’d been prone to do his whole life. But for a little while, he wanted things to be just for them. He didn’t want to think about his mother, or her father. He only wanted to think about Seren. He hadn’t even told his parents yet. Or his sister.

If they could get over the fact of her being Tamlin’s daughter, he knew his family would love Seren instantly. 

“Your father must have sacrificed a lot to keep the city safe for so long. Especially during Amarantha,” Seren quietly said. 

Nyx was almost startled at the ease with which she said Amarantha’s name. They had hardly even spoken of it in their house growing up. And Nyx had never wanted to hear it, if he were being honest. It was hard to think of his father being anything other than the strong, powerful, and loving male that Nyx knew him as.

“He did,” Nyx confirmed. “If I can be half the male he is one day, I can be proud of myself.”

Seren’s green eyes moved over his face. “You admire him so much.”

“Did you expect me not to?” Nyx arched a dark brow and took another sip of wine.

They were treading on careful ground now.

“I suppose not…” Seren let out a breath, moving her hands to brush back her curly hair. “It’s just that my father never had any good things to say about yours. And he never spoke of your mother. Of course, I was always grateful for the fact that she saved all of us, but it was more of just a compulsory action. Because I’ve also always associated her with the poverty of my own court…and the unhappiness of my family. Even though I know all of it is not her fault.”

Nyx’s heart stuttered when Seren placed her hands over her face, covering those beautiful freckled cheeks and those shining green eyes. He left his chair immediately, coming over to kneel by her, placing his hands on her thighs. 

“It’s possible to feel both of those things about someone all at once,” Nyx murmured. He reached up to gently pry her hands away from her eyes. A few tears trailed down her face. Nyx placed kisses to the palms of her hands.

Hesitantly, Seren raised her eyes. She looked a bit frightened. And then she gave a little laugh that was half sob. “Aside from what happened the other night, when you said not to say the word mate, you seem to be taking all of this really well.”

Nyx shook his head. “I’m also feeling two things at once.”

She waited for him to go on, tears drying on her cheeks.

Nyx shifted his weight from one leg to the other. “I’ve loathed your father my entire life, but now I find it difficult for me to hate him. I feel grateful to him. Because he made you . My greatest treasure.” 

The smile that broke out on her flushed features took his breath away.

“Everything’s complicated, isn’t it?”

“Between you and me, it’s simple. Natural.” Nyx placed a kiss on each of her thighs, the soft fabric of her pants cool against his lips. When he looked up, there was a look of wonder on her face. “And that’s all that matters. Everything else can be figured out.”

“But what about your parents, Nyx? What are they going to say about me ?” she blurted. 

“They will love you,” he assured her. “It might take time, but they will. Are you done eating?”

Seren looked puzzled at his subject change but she nodded in reply. He stood and then swept her into his arms. He liked holding her close. It was like they had been made to hold each other. Nyx had a hard time not holding her every second that she was around him.

“I’m taking you to bed,” Nyx declared.

“To bed? Or to sleep?” Seren asked as Nyx made his way from the dining room to the large staircase. 

Nyx raised his eyebrows. “Which do you prefer?”

His heart actually leapt when she thought about it. But there was no heated look in her eye. It had been a long day and they both deserved some peace.

“To sleep,” she decided. And then, in a smaller voice, as if afraid he would say no (as if he could ever say no to her), she added, “But can we talk some more?”

“Of course,” Nyx agreed. 

And nothing had been easier. Nyx checked in with his father as they readied for bed. It was harder to communicate when they were further apart, but not impossible. His father’s reach was great and Nyx’s own mental prowess was powerful enough. 

Father, he said, spearing his mind towards him. 

He waited a few moments for a reply. He sat propped on the bed, watching as Seren brushed out her long brown curls. The sight sent a feeling of warmth through, the act simple yet domestic enough that it satisfied some instinctually Fae male part of him.

Nyx. Everything alright? his father’s worried tone came down the line.

Everything is fine. Just the usually grumblings in the Hewn City. Keir’s made no contact with Spring, from what I can tell, Nyx thought.

Hm. It makes me wonder what Talan has planned. There’s a stirring happening over there, Rhys thought back. He sounded contemplative. We need to figure out why. Before anybody else does.

Nyx clenched his jaw. He thought about telling his father then, about Seren, but something in him hesitated. For all his reassurances to her, he didn’t know how his parents would react. Of course, they loved Nyx. But his father had also spent many years resisting the urge to murder Tamlin, not only for what he’d done to his mother and sister, but also to his mate, when he’d locked her up. Would they hold the sins of the father on his child? 

Seren made way to him and he followed the swaying of her hips underneath her silk pajamas. Her beauty stunned him, sometimes. No wonder Evyn had agreed to marry her so quickly. She could bring any male to his knees. 

Seren crawled under the sheets and scooted in close. Nyx put an arm around her and tugged her in, so that her cheek was against his chest. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, inhaling her deep, earthy scent. It was the most delicious thing he’d ever smelled, even more so than Velaris.

Nyx? his father questioned.

Sorry, Nyx apologized quickly, lest his father get suspicious. I think Spring is having trouble on their borders. Both with Autumn and with the mortals close to their south border.

His father paused in his mind, almost like he was in surprise. I haven’t heard of this, but perhaps Azriel has. We’ll talk to him tonight. Good work, son.

Goodnight, Nyx thought. As if he weren’t lying to both of his parents by holding back the admission that he had found his mate.

The next morning, Seren woke up, feeling large amounts of warmth and peace in equal measure. She became aware of the solid, burning presence at her back. A muscled forearm was draped over her middle, Nyx’s other arm reaching under her head. He’d held her close through the night. And sometime during that, he’d draped one of his wings over them both.

They were in their own little corner of the world. 

She remembered what Nyx had said the night before, that although their histories might have been complicated, everything was natural between them. Laying there now, wrapped in his arms with his wings like a shield over them, Seren had an easy time believing it was true. She remembered all those nights, she had stared up at the stars, loving her forest home but wondering what else in the world was out there. What else the Mother, the stars, the Fates, had in store for her. 

And it was this.

Remembering the night in the Summer Court when she had touched his wings, Seren lifted a finger to trace it down the rigid muscle, where the veins had become illuminated in the morning sun to a bronzed golden color. Normally, his wings were something very intimidating to look at, but now they looked practically soft. It made her smile because she knew there was nothing soft about it, not as she moved her hand to stroke down a different side.

The hand around her stomach wrapped around her fingers. She turned her head to watch Nyx staring at her, something dark in his eyes. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and Seren’s eyes darted from his face to the black, swirling tattoos on his chest. She wanted to trace them, too.

“Wings are very sensitive, Seren,” Nyx bit out. “Especially in the morning.”

She pursed her lips. “Does that mean…you do not want me to touch them?”

The arm that was pillowing her head flexed underneath her. “No. I will never say that I do not want you to touch me. Ever.”

Seren rolled over to face him. But instead of touching his wing, which had flared out, she lifted her hands to trace the tattoos on his chest. The markings were harsh and bold, as if they’d been painted by a wide brush. But they were beautiful, too. The same way his wings were. She heard Nyx’s breath hitch and it pleased her to know he was so affected by her. By even this simple touch. 

“What do they mean?” she asked.

“They are Illyrian markings,” he revealed in a low tone. “I got them when I completed the Blood Rite. They are Carynthian.”

“I have heard of this. The challenge to conquer Ramiel,” Seren said, tracing a swirling pattern that spread from his chest to his left bicep. A vein rain down his bicep and she followed that one with her hands. Then she thought about tracing it with her mouth…tracing all of him with her mouth. Her heart sped up at the thought.

“Seren,” Nyx said, although it was almost like a groan. “You can’t be looking at me like that when you’re touching me.”

“Why not?” she returned, lifting her gaze to his. 

“Because it tempts me.”

She bit her lip and his eyes tracked the movement. His pupils were blown wide now and that point in his throat bobbed as he watched her. 

“ You are tempting me. With your shirt off and wings flared,” Seren breathed.

“Come here,” he growled. Nyx didn’t wait for her to move before his hands slid to her hips and he pressed her against the bed. He rose above her, his wings fully flared now, as if he couldn’t help himself. He looked down at her, darkness and stars in his blue eyes. His tattoos were stark, even against his golden brown skin. She thought he looked magnificent above her in the early morning light. But he tilted his head, a hand moving from the bed to brush a stray piece of hair from her forehead. “Is this okay?”

She nodded. There was no panic in her. Only that warm feeling she’d woken up with…and a desire that pulled low in her belly. Seren was no stranger to acts of passion, but there’d only been one male. And she knew he wouldn’t ever compare with Nyx. She stroked her hands from his chest to his shoulders, gently scraping her nails along the way. Nyx shut his eyes briefly and tilted his face towards the ceiling before he looked back down at her.

“Kiss me, Nyx,” she said.

And he did.

It was not as gentle as she thought it might have been. No, Nyx was kissing her with a passion that she’d never felt from another person. He plundered her mouth with ease, his teeth nibbling on her top lip before biting. She let out a helpless moan before he sucked on it to smooth away any discomfort. Seren’s hands moved to cup his cheeks and she felt the muscles in his jaw work as his tongue swiped against the seam of her lips. She caved immediately. The way his tongue moved against her stoked a fire in her belly and her hips moved instinctively upwards, seeking pressure. Seeking some relief.

She wanted and needed so much. Seren didn’t even know where to start. She’d never been kissed like this. It felt like he was tasting her soul.

Her hands drifted from his face as a hand came up to place light pressure on her throat. Nyx’s lips moved from her mouth to slide down her neck, in hot, open mouthed kisses. Her hips moved against his, where she could sense his own hard arousal. Seren moaned and her hands fell from his face to cling to the back of his neck. One accidentally brushed against the place where his wings met his shoulders and Seren gasped as that hand tightened on her throat.

Nyx pulled back to study her, through half lidded eyes. A question was in his eyes, his thumbs rubbing gentle circles on her neck. He bent down to pepper little kisses there, and they were gentle, and loving. I’m sorry, he said in her mind. I didn’t mean to hurt you there. 

It’s not tender anymore, she said. You know the bruises are gone. 

Just making sure. I want you to feel good. 

“I feel so good, Nyx,” she whispered out loud. “ You feel so good.”

His hands moved over her chest and he twisted one of the peaks in his hand. Seren cried out, moving her hips. 

“You like that?” he whispered. She could only whimper in response. Nyx drew away and tugged on the hem of her shirt. Seren helped him toss it aside, rather eagerly. Nyx sent her an arrogant look, which she decided to ignore in favor of other things. Like his mouth on her breast. He alternated between one and the other, licking and sucking like it was his own feast.

She must’ve thought as much to him, or said it out loud, because he taunted, “I haven’t even started feasting on you, sweet fortune.”

He placed kisses down her stomach, until he reached the hem of her silk pajamas. And then he ripped them from her body. Seren could only gasp as she watched him toss the pants behind him and they floated somewhere to the ground. She was so startled she let out a breathless laugh. Nyx lifted his darkened gaze from her naked form to her face. He gave her a devilish grin, the sly curl of his lips sending a pool of heat straight to her core.

She was wearing nothing underneath and his eyes gleamed appreciatively. He alternated between looking in her eyes and the softest place of her as he leaned down close. 

“So sweet,” he groaned along her skin, pressing a thumb to that bundle of nerves. “So ready for me.”

“Nyx, please,” she groaned. “Please.”

“You don’t have to beg me, Seren,” Nyx said, kneeling even closer to her. The sight of his dark head between her thighs… “I’m already on my knees for you.”

Seren choked as he pressed his mouth to her. Her hands fisted in the sheets at his attention. He attacked with a singular focus, his passion almost like he was fighting an opponent in battle. Stars began to gather behind her eyelids. Nyx was making her feel things she’d never had before. She grabbed his head helplessly with one hand, while the other went straight to his wings.

“Fuck, Seren, touch me there,” Nyx murmured. His lips were gleaming from her as he looked up. He looked positively ruined. She had a feeling she looked the same way. Nyx groaned again. “I can’t believe you exist. I can’t believe you’re fucking real.”

It made her smile, as she stroked that place he told her to. Nyx threw his head back and groaned. She loved to watch him. She moved her hand more forcefully, to see how he’d react. His head ducked down to taste her again and she cried out, because he’d added a finger to press against that one spot at the apex of her thighs. It didn’t take very long after that until she found her release.

“Nyx!” she said as stars exploded behind her eyes. It felt like her stomach had bottomed out, like she’d float away.

“That’s it, Seren,” Nyx coaxed. “My fucking mate in my bed.”

Seren grabbed him tightly, stroking her hands along his wings, and said, “You’re mine.”

And then Nyx was the one groaning her name, like it was an ancient prayer, his spend on the sheets around them. Seren blinked up at him, wondering if this feeling bursting forward from her chest  could ever be put into words.

She pulled him into her arms immediately, and he brushed his hands through the tangles in her hair. She pressed kisses to his forehead, his biceps, his chest. Anywhere she could reach, desperate to cover him in her love. 

“I can’t believe I found you,” she whispered.

“I will never get over it,” Nyx returned. He looked up at her, from where he was laying on her chest. “You’re better than anything I could have ever dreamed for myself, Seren. I meant what I said. I can’t believe you exist.” 

She squeezed him and they laid there in silence and in peace. The morning sun streamed in from the balcony to the left of them. She figured it was only an hour or two past dawn. Seren decided she wanted to spend all of her mornings waking up like this, with him. They had many things to face, but let them come. She frowned when she thought of her brother, or the trouble on the Spring Court’s borders. Or Evyn Vanserra. Nyx had told her what Talan had said about Autumn’s hunger for war with Spring. Something would have to be done.

A hand fluttered along her cheek. Nyx peered up at her with deep blue eyes. “What are you thinking about?”

“My brother and Spring,” Seren admitted. She didn’t have to bear her worries by herself. She’d always worried about her court, but her mother had never been a worrier. If anything, she’d been the opposite. Almost careless. She’d never understood Seren’s worry for the other Fae. Seren didn’t know if it was because her mother was a dryad and had been looked down upon in Spring. But Seren had always cared. It was why she’d agree to hear Evyn Vanserra out in the first place.

“I’m going to send a message to Eris,” Nyx said. “Let him know about things between us. I think it will send a warning to Evyn, enough to back off. And Eris will support us if he knows that we are mates. Mating bond claims are highly valued in Autumn.”

Nyx peered up at her when she said nothing. He rolled to the side, propping his head on his fist. His other hand made idle strokes up her stomach. 

“That is, if you think it is a good idea,” he pressed.

Seren nodded. “I think it’s a good option. We’ll need to tell my brother as well, though. And your parents.”

“I’ll tell my parents soon,” Nyx said. A muscle ticked in his jaw. “As for your brother…I think a visit might be in order.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You’d visit Spring?”

“I’ve gone there before, Seren. With my father. But only ever to the manor. I guess it’s why I’d never realized things were that…bad,” he admitted. “I knew they were bad after the war. My father told me that Tam-your father hardly ever came out of his beast form.”

Seren let out a breath, turning her face away. She fidgeted with her hands. “That was true for a while, I think. Mostly before I was born, but I think my brother saw more of his beast than I did. Even though…I inherited it.”

She could feel his eyes peering into her. “Have you…have you ever shifted like that? Before that day?”

Seren nodded. “Once. With my father. He taught me how.”

She’d been young, in her teenaged years. It’d been one of the times her father had come to the forest, to stay for a few days. Those were some of Seren’s fondest memories with him. She’d been scared of a faerie they’d come across in the woods and her claws had unsheathed themselves by accident. She’d told her father it’d been happening for a while. He’d led her to a quiet meadow and they’d worked on shifting that whole day. There had been daisies and yarrow in the field.

Nyx was silent, not pressing on her memories, but she could feel his curiosity. She turned back to look at him.

“I never liked it,” she told him. “But it made me feel close to my father. We’d train in a field of wildflowers.”

Nyx smiled. “That sounds like a beautiful memory.”

“Can you tell me about your mother? Feyre Cursebreaker?” Seren asked quietly. “I want to know her as the artist. And your father…her mate.” 

“Hmm. I’ll tell you a story.” Nyx reached over to squeeze her hand. “There was this one time, I got into my mother’s paints. She has a painting gallery in Velaris-I’ll have to take you there. But I’d been watching her paint for hours and I’d decided that I would try too. She was painting a family portrait, of all of us, for my father and I’d decided that I’d add to it when she stepped away for a moment. When she got back, I’d added bright green swirls of paint over all of their faces. And I added wings to everybody. I’m not sure why, looking back on it.”

Seren laughed. “So then what happened?”

“Oh, I got in trouble,” Nyx chuckled. “I was the only one who saw myself as an artistic genius. But my father…he kept it like that and hung it in his office. Where everyone else could see it. Whenever anyone would ask, he’d tell them that his mate and son had painted it together. And he always sounded proud about it, too.”

Nyx was smiling, a soft smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes. It was one she’d never seen on his face before. She’d begun to realize that Nyx wore his face like a mask sometimes, hard and impenetrable. But between them now, in that moment, there were no secrets.

“I’d like to see that.” Seren smiled. 

“My sister and I got into a lot of fights when we were younger, but she’s one of my best friends now. Her, and my cousins, Bran and Les. You’ll like them,” Nyx assured her, the look in his gaze so soft it made her toes curl.

But she thought back to the night she first met him. There’d been a dark haired female with him, with no wings. “Your sister. She was there, the night I first saw you.”

Nyx nodded. “Zephra. And Bran was the other one with us.” 

“Does your family often travel like that together?”

“Sometimes. It depends on where we are going. But my Aunt Nesta’s good friend is High Lady of the Summer Court, so they all went,” Nyx explained. “My Aunt Elain, the seer, she stayed here with my uncle Azriel and their children.”

“You have such a large family. Compared to mine,” Seren couldn’t help but add, a bit sadly. “And Talan and I…were never close. I was always kept away from official Spring Court business.”

Nyx brushed a hand over her head. “I’d wondered why I’d never seen of you. Or heard of you.”

“I never knew if it was because my father wanted to protect me…or if he was ashamed of me,” Seren confessed. “For being half dryad. And I wonder if your family will feel the same way.”

Nyx tugged her close to his chest. “They won’t. My uncles don’t consider themselves High Fae and none of my other family care. That isn’t important, Seren. You heard what they said in the Hewn City. It isn’t like that in the Court of Dreams.”

“The Court of Dreams,” she echoed. “I like that.”

“It’s your court now,” he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “You belong there.”

Seren was about to reply when a knock echoed throughout the palace.It sounded very far away, but sound carried in the empty house. Nyx cocked his head, his shoulders tensing. Seren tried to listen, the same as him, but she could hear nothing. At least, nothing from what she could tell.

But Nyx said, “It’s my Uncle Azriel.”

The shadowsinger. Seren had heard of him. She was sure there wasn’t a person in the entirety of Prythian who hadn’t.

Chapter Text

Nyx said nothing as they sat in one of the ornate parlor rooms downstairs in the palace. His Uncle Azriel was sitting in a stuffed chair, his gaze sliding between Nyx and Seren. His scarred fingers idly tapped a pattern on the thigh of his leg. 

His uncle spoke at last, but his words were directed at Seren. “I’m Azriel.” 

“Seren,” she replied, offering his uncle a hesitant smile.

Something curled in the corner of Azriel’s lips at the sight but he turned his eyes back to Nyx. They were unreadable. His uncle’s face was often like that, inscrutable and sometimes near unknowable. And Les was just like him. Nyx was plenty used to them by now.“Want to tell me what’s going on, Nyx?”

“Seren is my mate,” Nyx told him without hesitation. But he heard the faint exhale that Seren let out beside him.

A blink was his Uncle Azriel’s only sign of surprise. “I was wondering what you were doing in the Hewn City with a female from Spring that my spies reported smelled like Tamlin’s brood.”

Nyx tilted his head. “And my father sent you to come here to drag me back?”

Azriel shook his head. “I assume your father doesn’t know, if you have not told him.”

Nyx noticed Seren’s shoulders sag in relief beside him. He wondered what she thought of all of this. If she knew his Uncle Azriel’s reputation as the spymaster of the Night Court. Surely, she had. Like his Uncle Cassian, Azriel’s reputation was well known. They were both nearing six hundred years old, like his father, and each of them legends in their own right. Since long before the War with Hybern. 

Each of their children had that legacy to contend with. It was something that Nyx thought about quite often, and he knew Zeph, Bran, and Les all did the same. He narrowed his eyes at his uncle, wondering why he hadn’t told his father yet.

His uncle must have seen the briefest bit of surprise on Nyx’s face. “Unless it’s a matter of life or death, my spies report to me first and then your father. But you know that.”

“I suppose I’m more surprised that you haven’t told Father,” Nyx let out.

Azriel did not respond to him. Instead, he turned his full intention to Seren. And even though no bond had even been formally accepted between the two of them, something sank low in Nyx’s gut. He wanted to jump between them and tell his uncle to never look in her direction again. Not when Nyx could still taste her on his mouth. Nyx let out a breath. He wondered what was wrong with him. Did everyone feel this crazy around their mate?

“You’re Tamlin’s daughter.” There was no question in Uncle Az’s voice as he turned his attention to Seren.

“Yes, I am,” Seren answered, her voice quiet but strong. 

Azriel gave a single nod. “Your father kept you away from court dealings. Your brother had fallen into his same patterns, but I’m assuming something must have happened if you’re here now, with Nyx.”

“With my mate,” Seren corrected. 

Nyx felt a burst of pride at the words. His uncle still looked faintly amused and waved a hand, as if telling her to go on. His shadows swirled in a haze at his feet, as if content to lie there for now. But Nyx had no doubt there were some flitting about the palace, making sure everything was in order.

When they were children, Nyx, Bran, and Les would make a game of trying to catch those shadows. They were the closest in age, though Nyx was the oldest. Les was only three years younger than him and Bran a year younger than Les. Nyx couldn’t really remember a time before them. And he certainly never forgot how they would chase Azriel’s dark shadows around the house. They’d managed to catch one in their hands a few times and Nyx always had a suspicion that the shadows had let them. Not his uncle, but the shadows themselves. 

When Zephra, Britta, and Silas were old enough, they fell into the same pattern of chasing the shadows around. At that point, the boys had already mostly outgrown it. Mostly . Nyx still had vivid memories of Bran camping out in the living room at the River House on Solstice, swearing this would be the year that he would sneak up on the shadows.

Nyx watched as one darted across the room to curl under the couch, near Seren’s foot. He kept a careful eye on it and Seren spoke.

“My brother wanted me to marry Evyn Vanserra, who turned out to be a horrible male. I ran and met next in Adriata for the Summer Solstice. We parted ways, but he found me the morning I was…attacked.” Seren’s voice wobbled by the end.

Nyx sent a brush of fingers along her mental shields before he reached over to interlock her fingers with his own. His uncle tracked the movement with a flick of his eyes, but seemed unaffected by their touching. In fact, he seemed rather unaffected about the whole thing.

Nyx supposed that he had seen worse in his six centuries.

“There’s a price for your return in Autumn. In Spring as well, though your brother wants you alive,” Uncle Az replied. He gave Nyx a warning look. “I’ve had my people shut down any information leaks but I’d meet with her brother sooner than later.”

Nyx gave a single nod. “There’s trouble on the Spring Court borders with the mortal lands, as well. I’m planning on offering my aid in whatever way I can.”

Seren squeezed his fingers.

Azriel arched a brow. “And when will you be telling your parents?”

Nyx exchanged a look with Seren. Her brows were furrowed in concern, though her green eyes were clear. She trusted him, the same way he trusted her. Whatever feelings she had about his parents were likely as complicated as what Nyx was feeling about Tamlin. And yet, she was trusting him to know what to do about his own family. Nyx briefly thought again how overwhelming it was that she had found him. 

Out of all the places that the traveling performer’s group could have picked, they had decided to go to Adriata. The same time Nyx’s family had gone. Where would Seren be now, if she hadn’t found them? Nyx prayed that they were having a restful afterlife. He would forever be in their debt for the way they took care of his mate when she needed it.

Nyx drew his attention back to his uncle and the question he had posed.

“I planned to take Seren to Velaris. And tell my parents there. To be honest, Uncle…I’m not sure how my mother will react. Or my father,” Nyx admitted.

Seren squeezed his fingers again. 

His uncle blew out a breath. “Your parents love you and they will love your mate, regardless of her parentage.”

“I’m not who they would have chosen for him, I’m sure,” Seren said, “but that doesn’t matter to me.”

Azriel studied Seren for a moment, those hazel eyes peering deeply, seeing more things that most people wouldn’t. If Nyx wasn’t mistaken, a gleam of approval darted across his face. That meant more to Nyx than words could say. 

His uncle drew in a deep breath. “Whatever Rhysand and Feyre want for Nyx matters less than what you want for yourselves. It’s important, of course. But only you can decide your choices. Your parents will respect them.”

“You seem confident,” Nyx prompted.

His uncle’s hazel eyes gleamed as he leaned back further in his chair. A shadow darted around his neck and stayed there. He cut an imposing figure, though he looked totally at ease in the finely furnished palace. “This is a story I’m sure you’ve never heard, Nyx, but your Aunt Elain isn’t my Cauldron given mate.”

Nyx fet a dart go through him at the words. Seren wasn’t as surprised, but then again, she had never even met any of his family before. She seemed to sense Nyx’s shock, and she leaned into him ever so slightly. Giving him her support.

“But-how? I always thought you were better suited than any of our family,” Nyx said. And it was true. While he knew his parents were soulmates, and his Uncle Cassian and Aunt Nesta were whatever they were, Azriel and Elain had always complimented each other the most. Their ability to see into things most people kept hidden, the gentleness with which they handled those they loved. His entire family seemed to draw strength from them both. His Aunt Elain had always had an air of peace and kindness about her, and his Uncle Azriel had always been the quiet and steady presence everyone had always leaned on. They just fit. 

To hear, now, that they weren’t mates, at least on some biological level…it was a shock.

“Don’t let your father hear that,” Azriel said drily, drawing him back into the present. “It is a long and messy tale. I’d always felt a faint connection to her when she was human, but when your aunt was Made Fae, she was given to another. It caused a tense situation with Autumn.”

A muscle ticked in his uncle’s jaw.

The Autumn Court again, forever a thorn in the Night Court’s side, apparently.

“What happened?” Seren asked softly. 

“Nyx’s father told me to stay away from her and that I shouldn’t question the order of things.” His uncle smirked.

Nyx was not amused. “My father has always valued choice. It was why Mother fell in love with him.”

Azriel gave a single shake of his head, a chuckle escaping his lips. “His hands were tied when he gave that command. Obviously, I did not listen. There’s more to say, but eventually your father came around and your mother supported us from the beginning. They valued our choices and they will value yours, Nyx. They love you.”

Nyx rubbed a hand through his hair. It was a lot to take in, but to know that his father had tried to keep his aunt and uncle separated at one point, and then eventually blessed their union, gave him some measure of comfort. Surely his and Seren’s situation wasn’t as bad as all of that.

“Three sisters and three brothers.” Seren shivered. “You think that would be fated.”

“Fate is nothing compared to the love that we have for each other.” His uncle stood. “That’s what your aunt and I are bound by. Our own fates and our own bonds. Love is what’s held this Court of Dreams together for as long as it has.”

Nyx and Seren stood with him, silence now falling in the room as they took in his words. Nyx brushed another mental wave against Seren’s shields. 

You alright? He thought.

Yes , she replied. I just can’t believe Azriel the Shadowsinger knows that we are mates. And that he is talking to us about love.

Nyx let her feel his wave of amusement. He’s always been a bit poetic.

“Get to Velaris,” his uncle said. “And then tell your parents, Nyx.”

Nyx gave him a nod of confirmation. His uncle began to disappeared in a swirl of shadows before his voice carried out. “By the way, Les will want to know about this. He’ll be waiting for you.”

Nyx groaned and Seren laughed. That sounded more like his uncle, and less like the spymaster of the Night Court. 

The City of Starlight was the most beautiful place Seren had ever been. It was different than what she found beautiful about the woods, but it had a kind of appeal of its own. The city seemed happy and alive , if such a thing were possible. Jasmine and salty sea air floated on the breeze. Children laughed in the streets. The city was built rambling around the base of the mountains, which Seren could see something built on it, way up high. She remembered Nyx telling her about something called the House of Wind and she figured that was the structure built on the peaks. It must have been a magnificent view of the city and the sea below, shining like glittering jewels.

It was a very old city and one filled with so much joy that Seren stumbled to a stop on the stone bridge.

She grabbed onto a railing as a few High Fae passed them, giving Nyx respectful nods but nothing more. They only looked at her curiously before moving on. No doubt she looked strange, stumbling and grabbing on to the railing of the bridge. Seren felt a bit strange, if she were being honest. Nyx’s dark brows furrowed as he looked at her and came to a stop.

“I’m afraid,” she admitted to Nyx.

He slipped up behind her, wrapping his strong arms around her waist. His chin came to rest on her shoulder and they looked out at the city together. Nyx had grown up here, she realized. Her heart swelled in her chest. This was his home and he was excited to show it to her. Despite their parents’ flawed history. Despite the fact that Seren had grown up hearing horror stories of his home. This was a new chance, she realized, to start over. To create a history of their own. 

Nyx must’ve felt something tense in her shoulders, because he squeezed her gently towards him. His voice was as soft as night behind her. “Why?”

One of her hands held desperately onto his forearm while the other gestured helplessly at the scene in front of them. Pointing at the city nearby.

“I know it will be wonderful,” she murmured. “And it’s hard, knowing that I spent most of my life hating-or at least not understanding-something this beautiful.”

Nyx squeezed her once more, before slipping away to stand at her side. He kept one hand around her waist, looking out to the city beyond. “It’s hard for me, too. But I’m thinking…I’m thinking about how you have the rest of your life to love it.”

That human look was back in his eyes, the ones that made his eyes look wider and more earnest. There was nothing cruel there. Especially not as he took her hand, the one that clutched around the railing. And then he led her off the wide stone bridge, to the other side and into the city. 

Seren smiled at him and he ducked his head. “That’s true.”

They kept walking, down the cobbled pathways, to the City of Starlight. The tallest building was only about three stories. Some of the buildings had balconies, where High Fae and faeries alike sat talking, or reading. Some of the buildings had chimes or flower boxes, overloaded with creeping snapdragon and river daisies. It was a little reminder of home, to see the vibrant flowers tucked in the City of Starlight. 

Seren took a deep breath. They would have to return to her home court soon, to see her brother.

“Do you think everything is moving too fast?” Seren asked him, as they finally moved past the river that Nyx told her was called the Sidra. It split off, headed towards the sea, while Nyx took her to a different quarter, something called the Palace of Hoof and Leaf. 

Seren wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but she had a feeling she would like it.

“Between us?” Nyx asked, focusing on maneuvering her through the crowd. There were many people out and about, though none of them stopped to gawk at Nyx. Seren supposed he was here often enough that it must have been a common sight to see the Heir of the Night Court here. There were more curious glances her way, but no one said anything unkind to her, or demanded that she be cast out. 

Seren didn’t know what she had been expecting. It wasn’t as if she was walking around with a sign that said I AM TAMLIN’S DAUGHTER. And maybe her father wasn’t even that big of a villain here, in this lovely place. It hardly seemed like a place that bad things touched. Both High Fae and faeries smiled at her as they passed the colorful shops, some of which had delicious smells wafting from it. 

She looked sideways at Nyx, who seemed much more relaxed here than at the Hewn City. His shoulders were eased back, his wings spread casually behind them. It was easy to see why. She could see that some part of Nyx, perhaps the part that made his eyes look so human, belonged more in this City of Starlight than anywhere else. 

Was this what made his mother fall in love with this place? To leave the Spring Court and her father? It must be. That much was becoming clearer by the second.

“Yes, between us,” she said, resuming their conversation. 

Nyx stopped and looked at her for a moment. “Not at all. I’ve been waiting for you my whole life.”

And then he walked on and Seren walked beside him, those words sinking into her gut. They were finally in the Palace of Hoof and Leaf, but it felt like she was floating elsewhere. He’d been waiting for her-and far away, deep in the heart of Spring, she had spent her time looking up at the stars and dreaming. Dreaming of other worlds and dreaming of him. And wasn’t that a pleasant thought? 

She squeezed his hand and leaned in close to whisper, “You’re better than any dream, Nyx.”

He gave her a glance that was delight and surprise, all in one. Then a slow smile spread across his golden face. She’d never seen him look so happy. He tilted his head. “C’mon. You’ll like this place.”

And Nyx was right. They had all sorts of flowers and herbs here, most of which Seren recognized and knew by name. She talked with vendors and petted the horses they had for sale. She haggled with an older female faerie about the type of herbs she was selling. Nyx hadn’t said much, seemingly content to quietly observe everything. But even keeping his distance, there was a power that emanated off of him. One that caused the folk around them to lower their heads in respect, whenever he passed.

She’d seen it plenty in Spring. High Fae lowered themselves all the time in her father and brother’s presence, though they couldn’t have been bothered to show her the same respect. There was no doubt of them respecting her father’s power. Though he had surely been diminished, he had still been a powerful beast and warrior. Talan was the same and had garnered the same amount of deference. But here, it was different. The female she haggled with gave her wink, but a respectful bow. Others did as well. 

And the difference, she realized, was love.

The Spring Court had respected her father and brother, but they hadn’t loved them. Not the way she could see these people loved Nyx. Some would walk right up to him and kiss his cheek. Males would shake his hand and little children came running to give him little trinkets. There were even a few females that cast him sly looks, but after a few glares from Seren, they stopped. Nyx was easy to like and love, she thought.

It was in the way he always stopped to listen when others talked to him. The way he offered genuine smiles and handshakes. How he laughed with the children. There was already evidence of it in her own life, as well. The way that he had danced with her on Summer Solstice sent a blush to her cheeks. He was a dancer, a male who had flown her to the sunrise, but he was also a fierce defender. She thought of the way he had battled those other males for her. 

Nyx caught her staring and leaned in close. “If you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to kiss you. And possibly do more, in the alleyway behind here.”

“So scandalous, young lord,” she whispered to him. Her heart skipped a beat. 

Nyx smirked before placing a soft, brief kiss on her lips. It was enough to send lightning through her whole body and she clutched his forearm. He was still smirking at her when he drew away. 

“For your lady,” a female High Fae said, flowers in her hand. She’d walked up to them, at the edge of the Palace. She was smiling at Nyx and Seren, her dark eyes alight with kindness. “Your very fair lady.” 

“Thank you.” Seren blushed and took the bouquet. Nyx plucked one of the flowers from its stem to tuck it behind her ear. They were a dark purple in color and they complimented the lilac color of her clothing, the matching set that seemed to be a popular style in the Night Court. She brushed her hands over the soft petals. “I don’t recognize this flower.”

“It’s a Night Court native,” the female supplied. “They’re called Queen of the Night. They bloom best when the moon is full and at its peak.”

“The Queen of Night,” Nyx murmured. He was staring at her, something simmering in his gaze. “How fitting.” 

Seren flushed again and busied herself by taking a sniff of the blossoms. They smelled wonderful and it distracted her from the heat of Nyx’s gaze. She would be his lady-the Lady of the Night Court, one day. Or would it be High Lady? Would he carry on the tradition of his father? It had been adopted in Summer, with High Lady Gwyneth and in Winter. But those were the only other two Courts to do so. 

“Thank you,” she said again. “I love them.”

The female gave her a respectful incline of her head and they moved on. Seren reached out to place her palm in Nyx’s hand. He carried the flowers for her so she could stop and look at other things while they walked. It was the most at peace Seren had felt in a long time.

“I’ve never seen so many beautiful things at once,” Seren said. “Except for in the woods.”

“And how does the Night Court compare now?” Nyx asked.

“Much improved, from what was in the Hewn City,” Seren replied tartly.

Starlight twinkled in Nyx’s eyes as he smirked. “You haven’t seen everything yet.”

Nyx took her to dinner at a small restaurant beside the Sidra River. It was cozy, and filled with vibrant hues of gold and green. Some of the tables opened up to a little patio that was built on the Sidra. Faelights hung from strings overhead, creating a warm glowing atmosphere as the sun sank behind the sky. 

Nyx greeted the owner by name. “Sevenda, lovely to see you. This is Seren.”

“Hello,” the female said, eyeing her curiously. “What could I get for you, dear?”

“What do you recommend?” Seren asked, looking from her to Nyx. 

Sevenda made her recommendations and Nyx ordered his ‘usual.’ Seren made an order based on what the matron had said and Sevenda went away with a promise to be back soon with her best wine. Nyx thanked her with a wink. Seren rested her head on her fists. Nyx looked lovely in the dimming light, the stars just becoming visible in the sky. He looked in the distance, where the sun was setting over the sea. 

“This is the first restaurant my father took my mother to,” Nyx said, gesturing to the small two story building. “It’s special to them.”

“It’s very charming,” Seren replied. She brushed her hands against the tablecloth before hesitantly saying, “I’ve never been to a restaurant before, Nyx. I probably sound so simple to you, but I spent almost my whole entire life in the woods.”

Nyx tilted his head. “It doesn’t sound simple. But perhaps…lonely.”

“I never thought it was. My mother and I had the trees for company. And I always ran free.” Seren shook her head. “But I never knew that there were places like this. Modern, but yet still beautiful. With people so friendly it feels like a warm hug. Even the smells…I love how I can smell the tang of the sea, but with the breeze coming from the mountains. It smells like jasmine and lemons. I love it.”

Nyx smiled at her. He opened his mouth to say something more, but Sevenda was back with their wine and their food. The first bite sent an explosion of flavors over Seren’s tongue and she looked up at Nyx in surprise. He gave her a knowing smirk.

“Try the bread,” he said.

It was warm and flaky, practically melting in her mouth. “Even the food is perfect.”

They ate with gusto that came from walking around all day. The food was gone quickly, until it was just the wine. They stayed there at the table, after the restaurant’s patrons slowly started to disappear. Sevenda didn’t appear to be in a hurry to kick them out, though. The perks of being the Heir, Seren supposed. But she loved sitting there, sipping wine with Nyx, under the Night Court sky. 

Nyx brushed a hand through his dark hair. It was curling slightly behind his ears. 

“Could you see yourself being happy here?” he asked quietly, as if he was a little afraid to hear her answer.

Seren thought about her response for a moment. She swirled the wine around in her glass before tipping her head up to look up at the sky. She had never seen the stars shine so bright and so lovely.

“I think a part of me will always belong to the wood, Nyx,” Seren said. “Maybe even to Spring.”

He let out a breath, nodding his head.

“But I belong here, too.” Seren reached over the table to squeeze his hand. He was still giving her a hesitant look so she smiled at him. “I belong where you are. And you so clearly belong here, Nyx. You were born to rule this place.”

Nyx made a noise caught between a scoff and a laugh. “I’m not so sure about that. But I want you to be happy here. And if that’s not possible, then…then I’ll live in the woods. In Spring if I have to.”

Seren gave a startled laugh. “We can definitely visit, if my brother allows it. But you belong here. We belong here.”

“Your brother does not allow you to do anything,” Nyx growled. “We’ll go if you want to.”

“She’s right,” a smooth voice interjected. Seren snapped her head behind them to see a smirking male, with wings like Nyx’s, standing there. His eyes were hazel. “You belong here, Nyxie.”

Nyx groaned as the male sauntered over, pulling out a chair. Seren looked at him in surprise, noting the broad shoulders, and the gleaming stones on his hands. They were a dusky rose color and they let out a faint glow in the dark. Seren had never seen such a thing.

“Seren, this is my cousin, Alessian. Les, this is Seren,” Nyx introduced, leaning up from his casual position on the iron chair. 

Les inclined his head. “My cousin’s mate. Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Seren said, nodding her own head. Her gaze dropped to the rose colored stones again, before she looked back at Nyx. “You must be Azriel’s son.”

Les smirked and the expression was so similar to Nyx’s own, she almost laughed. They hardly looked alike, except for their build and their wings, but that expression was practically identical between them. She wondered if their smiles or laughs were the same. 

“That’s my father,” Les admitted. He pilfered Nyx’s wine, after a short hand shoving contest between the two males. It was such a  juvenile move between two males, clearly so powerful, that Seren almost laughed . “How do you like Velaris?”

“It’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen,” Seren admitted. 

“More than Spring?” the male probed. “Though I can’t imagine living there. No offense, Seren.”

“Les,” Nyx muttered, sending him a warning glance. 

“Well, I had never imagined myself living in the Night Court,” Seren replied. “But here I am. You might find yourself in a strange place one day, too, Alessian.”

The male chuckled, the brown of his hazel eyes overtaking the green. “Well said.”

“Les likes to say things to figure people out,” Nyx informed her, sending another glare to his cousin. “Feel free to ignore him.”

“I’m nowhere near as bad as your sister,” Les defended, wagging a finger at them. “Or Bran. Bran loves to stir things up.”

“I could tell that, I think, from the little bit of them that I’ve seen,” Seren laughed. “They seemed to enjoy giving Nyx a hard time.”

“We all love to do that.” Les smirked. Though he seemed friendly, there was a bit of edge to all of his words. And Seren noticed how tightly coiled he kept his body, as if waiting to strike at something, should the need arise. Nyx’s posture was relaxed, though. He seemed to completely trust the male. And why wouldn’t he? They were obviously more like brothers than cousins.“It keeps him humble.”

Nyx rolled his eyes. “How’d you find us?”

“I was flying all day,” Les said, “until my mother said it was alright for me to come see the both of you.”

“Snoop,” Nyx teased.

“Your mother. The seer,” Seren said.

“Yes. Though you can call her Elain,” Les replied. “Or Aunt Elain, if you and Nyx are to be mated. She’ll love that.”

Sere flushed as Nyx looked at her with darkening blue eyes. Les chuckled before taking another sip of wine. Seren wondered why he was wearing stones on his hands.

“They’re Siphons,” Les said, noticing her gaze. “They help Illyrians harness our magic. Most of them wear one or two.” 

“Les wears four,” Nyx informed her drily. “But not to dinner, apparently.”

“I wanted to make a good impression.”

“Consider me impressed,” Seren said.

Les chuckled. “It may be more than the average Illyrian male, but it’s still less than my father and Uncle Cass.”

“And how many do they wear?” Seren asked.

“Seven,” Nyx and Les said at the same time.

Seren’s eyes widened. She tilted her head at Nyx. He had never worn any stones like that, not even when he had battled those awful males from Autumn. “I’ve never seen you wear Siphons.”

“I don’t wear them,” Nyx said. “My father doesn’t either.”

“Nyx is too powerful for Siphons. They shattered, just like his father’s did.” Les shook his head. “But we don’t talk about that too often, because we have to keep Nyx humble. He gets a big head.”

“Anything that’s big is hard for Les to comprehend,” Nyx shot back. Seren laughed and it wasn’t too long before the two males joined her. They quieted after a moment, but no one seemed to want to break the silence. It was companionable and pleasant. Seren hadn’t felt that way since…Pyria. Since her mother.

She took a deep breath. 

Les studied her, sensing her change in mood. “Thank you, for taking that ash blade for Nyx.”

“I would do it again,” she said quietly.

Les nodded. “I’m sure you would. But I want you to know now, that I would take one for you. Whatever comes, from Autumn, or from your brother, you have me. And Zephra, and Britta, and Bran, and Silas. You’re our family. Our future queen. We’re behind you.”

Seren felt a burning well up behind her eyes and she had to blink away the rush of tears. She could only stare at him with a pained smile on her face. She would never stop being grateful for Pyria, and how the female had inspired her to fight back. If she hadn’t, Seren would’ve quite possibly never been there, sitting at the restaurant by the Sidra. With Nyx and his cousin, who had just declared himself family.

Seren had never had that before. And maybe Les knew that, somehow. Maybe he could see it in her gaze. That she’d never had loved ones willing to be family for her, to die for her, to die for her, aside from her mother. Her father had loved her, but it had been quiet, and almost strained. Her brother…Seren wasn’t sure what exactly Talan felt towards her. But it hadn’t been what Les so clearly felt for Nyx. Yes, there was teasing, but it was from love and admiration. And when Les inclined his head, Seren wondered if he was offering her the same.

So she said, “Thank you.”

Seren and Nyx spent the next two days in quiet bliss. Nyx showed her around Velaris again and then had flown her to the House of Wind. He’d taken her to the old townhouse, where his Aunt Elain now lived. He’d told Seren stories about the townhouse that had been told and passed down to him. How his mother had slowly gained back her life there. Seren always listened in rapt attention. She was hungry to know his parents in a different way than she had always been taught. 

And Nyx wanted to do the same with her. He wanted to know everything about her, more than he had wanted to know anything else. He wanted to know her happiest memories and her saddest. He wanted to know what it was like having a dryad for a mother and a High Lord for a father.  He wanted to see Spring through her eyes. Nyx wanted to know about anyone who had ever hurt her, so he could repay them in kind. 

He thought about seeking out Evyn Vanserra every day, but he knew he would have to wait for the opportunity to arise. 

He was planning on taking her back to Spring soon, after he talked with his parents. His parents, who still didn’t know about his mate. Nyx was planning on telling them today, when they would return from their short stay at the Day Court. He was a bit nervous to tell them, despite Azriel’s assurances. Even though his Aunt Elain had taken a liking to Seren right away. She had never had personal dealings with Seren’s father like his mother had, though. 

Nyx paused. That wasn’t exactly true. It was partly Tamlin’s fault that his aunts had gone into the Cauldron, that fateful day in Hybern. Of course, his Aunt Elain had never had a relationship with Tamlin…but still. If she could love Seren, then surely his mother could? Was Nyx making things more complicated than he should be? Were his fears for nothing?

Nyx shook the thoughts away and pulled Seren closer to his side.

She darted up a questioning glance, but she smiled at his face. He felt his own lips tilt up in response and he bent to press a kiss to her forehead. He hadn’t tasted her since that morning in the moonstone palace, but it was time to remedy that. He wanted her writing underneath him, screaming his name, because she was his mate. Some ancient primal part of him wanted to shout it from the rooftops in Velaris. 

“Your eyes are going to set me on fire, if you keep looking at me like that,” Seren teased. 

“Good. Then I’ll burn with you.” Nyx bent down to purr in her ear, “I’m thinking of how delicious you taste, mate.”

Seren blushed but she didn’t pull away from him. And there was no mistaking that pleased gleam in her bright green eyes. He loved that look on her face. 

“We haven’t been here before, have we?” she said, looking away from him, to fix her attention on the city. 

“No. I was saving the best part of the city for last .” Nyx grinned at her. “Welcome to the Rainbow.”

He had been waiting to show her the Rainbow of Velaris until this morning. The Rainbow was hosting an art walk for the day and everyone’s best work was on display. Seren took it all in with wide green eyes. She seemed particularly interested in the wood carvings that some artisans displayed along with the pottery. 

Some people stopped and talked to Nyx. He noticed how often their curious gazes slid to Seren. Nyx let her handle the introductions- she could introduce herself as she wished to. She only ever introduced herself as Seren and nothing else. Nyx wanted to shout to them all that she was his mate, but he’d wait, if that was what she wanted. It was probably the smarter idea, considering Nyx’s parents still needed to know everything.

They had not spoken about formally accepting any bond. Not yet. There had been so many other things to discuss, they’d hardly even broached the topic. But it was always in the back of Nyx’s head. He couldn’t wait until they were formally mated. He could only hope that Seren had felt the same. That seeing the Rainbow today had smoothed over any lingering dread she’d had about his home. 

Nyx brushed a hand over her back as he steered her towards a quieter street. He gestured towards the two story gallery in front of them.

“This is my mother’s studio. She teaches art classes there,” Nyx said.

Seren’s eyebrows raised in surprise. No doubt shocked that a High Lady would be teaching art classes at a shop downtown. But his mother had always been different from the other ladies and she always would be. 

“Can we go inside?” Seren asked.

Nyx offered her a smirk and opened the door in response. He showed her the gallery downstairs, telling stories of his mother’s paintings and some of the other work that was displayed, some little more than scribbles of charcoal and dabbles of paint.

“These aren’t your mother’s, I take?” Seren asked, stepping closer to peer at a painting of a simple sailboat on the Sidra. Nyx stepped beside her, his wings flaring out slightly behind him. He slid an arm around her waist because he couldn’t help it. It was all he could to ignore his instincts that demanded he touch her, taste her, take her-

Nyx cleared his throat. “My mother offers free classes to children. She likes to display their work. Some of these were painted a long time ago, by children who are now a little older than I am. She started it after the war with Hybern. To give them a space to create and express themselves.”

“That’s lovely,” Seren responded, leaning close to him. Her eyes darted to another painting and a smile lit up her face. “This one has your name on it! I can tell that’s you because of the wings and the blue eyes. But what’s that beside you? A dog?”

Nyx chuckled. “It’s my sister.”

Seren gasped before she burst out laughing. “Cauldron, Nyx. Why is she so short and round?”

“She was a baby,” Nyx defended. “That’s what babies look like.”

“I’ve never seen a baby look like that. Please do not tell your sister I thought she was a dog. She’s intimidating already.” Seren shuddered.

“More intimidating than me?” Nyx said, poking out his bottom lip. Seren playfully shoved him. 

“I was…somewhat intimidated. But I think that’s because I was thinking that I’d never seen anybody so good looking before,” Seren confessed, a blush rising to her cheeks. Her hands raised to cup his shoulders. “But I was never frightened of you, even with your wings and shadows.” 

Nyx stepped closer. “That must be why my enemies are afraid of me. Because I’m so good looking.”

Seren huffed. “Yes, anytime you must win a battle, just smile instead. Your enemies will fall to their knees.”

“Somehow I doubt that tactic will work on Vanserra.” Nyx wrapped one arm around her waist, the other one hand threading through her hair to cup the back of her head. Her dark curls were soft in his hand. Her green eyes glimmered in the sunlight that came through the gallery windows. “When I first met you, I was suspicious. I knew you were no fortune teller. It seemed to me that you were hiding something.”

“You weren’t wrong,” Seren said, her hands paying with the loose ties of his shirt. 

“But I couldn’t get you out of my head. I kept thinking about you and how beautiful you were. How you seemed to hate to tell anyone bad news, even when your coworkers chided you for it.” Nyx’s thumb rubbed slow circles along her scalp. “Amren noticed how distracted I was and even asked if I’d met someone. I think she knew, somehow, that I’d found my mate.” 

Seren smiled at him before one her hands reached up to tug on his head. Nyx acquiesced without another thought, his head dipping to meet her lips in a searing kiss. It was like pure starlight flooded his veins, every time he tasted her. Nyx’s wings flared on instinct as Seren’s tongue stroked at his own. His fingers tightened in her hair so he could turn her head, deepening the kiss.

Every slide of her lips against his own had him hardening in his trousers. Nyx pressed her hips more firmly to his and Seren moaned against his tongue at the feel of his arousal. Nyx backed them against the wall, leaning Seren against a narrow space between two paintings. His hand on her hips trailed the waistband of her silk pants. Seren shuddered against him as he stroked his fingers against her stomach. She pulled away, but only to nip at his ear. When she pulled a lobe into her mouth to suck, Nyx groaned. 

“Nyx…” Seren breathed.

“Seren,” Nyx groaned, dipping his head to press a kiss at her pulse. He slipped his hand beneath her pants, to the very center of her. She was slick against his fingers. Nyx let out a growl of approval at the sensation. 

“Nyx,” Seren said again, more firmly. 

He raised his head to look at her. Her pupils were blown wide and her cheeks were flushed. Nyx couldn’t resist kissing her again. He would never get enough of her. 

“We’re in the studio,” Seren breathed.

His parents had probably done worse here but Nyx shoved that thought away. Now was not the time to be thinking about that. 

Nyx’s fingers moved against her, his thumb brushing her most sensitive place. Seren’s hips jerked. Nyx repeated the action, watching as her eyes closed. He loved her reactions to him. They were always so automatic.

“I think you like it.” Nyx bent to press a kiss against the spot under her ear. He saw goosebumps rise on her skin. He whispered, “Naughty.”

She shivered as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders, her other hand sliding over the taut plans of his abdomen. “Show me where to touch you.”

Nyx stared at her, before guiding her hand down. Her green eyes glimmered as she palmed him through his pants. Nyx let out a breath. Nothing had ever felt this good and he still had his pants on.

“Is this okay?” He brushed a strand of loose hair from her face. “Do you like this?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“I’m not going to be able to stop myself…if you touch me while my fingers are slick with you,” Nyx murmured. He pressed against her for emphasis and she fluttered around him.

“I want that,” Seren whispered.

Nyx began to touch her in earnest then, kissing his way down her neck and over the slight swelling of her breasts as his fingers moved. Her warmth around him felt like heaven. Nyx’s hips stuttered as her hand pressed more firmly against him. Her breaths skittered over his ears and Nyx’s heightened hearing picked up on the increase of her heartbeat. 

“Nyx,” Seren panted. “I’m-I’m-”

“That’s right,” he ground out. “Let go for me, Seren.”

Seren shuddered against him and Nyx led her through it, intending to give her another. But as she clamped down against his hand, she reached up to brush a spot along the center of his wings that had him cursing.

“Shit,” he groane before he spilled in his pants. He was helpless to stop it.

They stared at each other with wide eyes. Nyx pulled back, vanishing his spend from his trousers. He wasn’t truly clean, and someone might scent it on him, but it wa better than everyone knowing what he’d done in his pants. Seren placed her hands over her face.

Nyx was worried, before her soldiers started to shake with laughter.

“I can’t believe we just did that,” she said in between giggles.

“Neither can I. I just spilled myself like a ducking kid.” Nyx ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t stop touching you, Seren. I can’t fucking get enough of you. It’s like…you’ve woken up something in me.”

“You’re my mate,” Seren said simply. “I think that’s why.”

Nyx let out a helpless chuckle and opened his mouth to say more when the door burst open. Instinct had Nyx shoving Seren behind him, his wings flaring out protectively. Everything in him wanted to erupt at the sight of males in Seren’s presence. He clamped down on the animal instinct to snarl at his two cousins. 

At least she smelled like him and he smelled like her.

All the thoughts emptied from his mind when he saw Les and Silas’s faces, however. Nyx frowned at them.

“In the studio, Nyx? Really?” Silas asked, shaking his head, though a bit of a smile was on his face. 

“No time for that, Si. Nyx, you and Seren have to get back right now,” Les said, walking back towards the door. His shoulders were tense. 

Seren stepped around him, her head tilted at the unfamiliar voice. Seren hadn’t met Silas yet, as he’d gone with Mor to the Summer Court. But if he was back, then that meant-

“What’s wrong?” Nyx asked, something tightening in his gut.

“Your parents are back,” Silas said. “And they just found out about your mate. Which I didn’t know about either. Nice to meet you, by the way.”

“Shit,” Nyx cursed. Seren just stared at them in shock. He turned to her, placing a gentle hand to cup her chin. “Seren, everything will go fine. We’ve discussed what we are going to say to them. Everything will be fine.”

“Not to scare you, but Uncle Rhys was pretty mad,” Silas added, rather unhelpfully. 

“Shut up, Si,” Les muttered.

“When did you get back?” Nyx asked as they walked towards the door. Seren slipped her hand into his own. He squeezed it gently.

“About ten minutes ago,” Silas said. “Your father somehow knew, literally within minutes of us arriving.”

Nyx let out a breath. “I was going to tell them first. They were supposed to hear it from us.”

“Then why didn’t you tell them sooner? How long has this been going on?” Silas asked, darting a glance between them. Nyx held back his snarl when he saw his eyes linger on Seren. Nyx knew his cousin didn’t mean anything by it, but the tenseness of the situation was not helping.

A familiar presence came over his mind, a swath of darkness and stars. His father.

Nyx begrudgingly let down the walls of his mind.

Nyx. Get here, now.

Oh, his father was more than angry. He was livid.

Chapter Text

Feyre Archeron, the Cursebreaker, High Lady of the Night Court, gasped when Nyx walked into the sitting room of the River House. Seren’s hand was still tightly entwined with Nyx’s own. They stood there, in the middle of the carpeted floor, as Nyx’s mother sat on the sofa. His father, Rhysand, stood a pace away. 

The look in his star filled violet eyes was something that could not be put into words. 

“By the Cauldron,” Feyre whispered. “You look just like him.”

Seren assumed she meant her father. She didn’t know what to say to that, so she stayed quiet. Seren darted a glance between the High Lady and the High Lord. The High Lord was staring at Nyx. Seren wondered if they were speaking mind to mind.

Nyx broke his gaze with a clenched jaw. “Mother, Father. This is Seren. My mate.”

Feyre sucked in a breath, her hand coming to rest on the swell of her belly. The High Lord finally looked at Seren. She struggled to meet his gaze, not when all of that darkness was rolling off of him in waves. She could see where Nyx got his dark powers from. Her heart pounded in her chest. But she kept his gaze. 

The High Lord said nothing to her. So she looked to Nyx’s mother.

“You have a lovely home,” Seren demurred. “And a lovely city.”

The High Lady inclined her head. “I am glad to hear you find it so.”

Steps sounded behind them and Seren turned her head to find a short, dark haired High Fae female step into the room. Her light eyes glinted with some unknown power. Amren, then. And a few steps behind her were Nyx’s Aunt Nesta and Uncle Cassian. Seren recognized Bran and Zephra from the evening in the Summer Court. They were looking at her with wide eyes. Cassian’s mouth dropped before his mate hissed at him. 

Seren clutched Nyx’s hand tighter. All these people, coming to stare at them. A bunch of war heroes, some of the most powerful beings in Prythian’s history, all in the same room. All tense. Seren could read none of their gazes. She focused back on Feyre Archeron, because she seemed to be Seren’s warmest recipient, surprisingly enough.

“We wished for this to be a discussion between the four of us,” Nyx drolled, as if it were a mundane topic.

His father scoffed. “I think your wishes became insignificant the moment we learned that you have lied to us.”

“Rhys,” murmured his mate, but she did not disagree with him.

More people filed into the room. Azriel came to stand by Cassian, arms crossed. His wife, wearing a pink gown and carrying baby Ivy, came to sit by her sister on the couch. They exchanged words too low for Seren’s ears to pick up. Zephra practically stomped over to them, her posture mirroring her father’s.

“This was a delicate matter,” Nyx said. His feet widened to shoulder width apart. A fighting stance. And Seren wasn’t the only one who noticed. 

Rhysand’s eyes darkened. “Not so delicate, apparently, that our paperboy knows before I do, of our own son’s mating.”

Nyx clenched his jaw. “It was-”

“-And you,” Rhysand said, turning to look at the others behind him. He was looking directly at Azriel. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“It wasn’t my place to tell.” The shadowsinger inclined his head.

“I am the High Lord,” Rhysand thundered. “And this is my own son . You didn’t think I should know?”

“You may be High Lord,” Elain said, “but Nyx is our nephew, Rhys. It was his place to tell you. Not ours.”

Elain’s response was soft but firm. Her husband shot her a look of warmth and filled with such love Seren had to look away. It felt like intruding on a private moment. A snicker sounded from the back of the room. It was feminine and edged in steel. Seren couldn’t guess who it came from. She could only stare at Nyx’s parents.

“How long have you known? That… Tamlin’s daughter was your mate?” The High Lady asked. 

Seren felt her shoulders draw back at Feyre’s choice of words. 

“Her name is Seren,” Nyx said.

Feyre blinked at the tone of her son’s words. She looked at Seren. “Forgive me. How long have you known that Seren was your mate, Nyx? How long have you known and not told us?”

“Since the Summer Solstice,” Seren answered, in his stead. “We met in the Summer Court.”

Murmurs broke out in the room, but Seren’s gaze was drawn to Zephra who was looking at her with dawning recognition. Betrayal filled her violet eyes when she looked back at her brother. 

“The fortune teller? And you couldn’t tell us, Nyx?” Zephra demanded.

“Seren was more than a fortune teller. She is a High Lord’s sister. A daughter of a Court that we have not been particularly kind to,” Nyx said. His hand squeezed hers. I’m sorry, he said in her mind.

She sent him a feeling that she hoped felt like a warm hug.

Rhysand shoved his hands in his pockets. His violet eyes were staring at her like he could pierce through her soul. And maybe with that mind of his, he could. “And you were in the Summer Court, because you were on the run from your betrothed.”

She didn’t know how Rhysand knew. Likely information from his spymaster. It didn’t seem important now. Seren nodded but Nyx’s wings flared behind them.

“That betrothal means nothing . Seren is mine . I have handled the situation with Autumn. But there are more pressing matters now,” Nyx snarled. All of his earlier calm had fully evaporated away.

His father took a step closer to Nyx. Seren took a slight step away. This seemed to be between Rhysand and Nyx, more than anyone else. Nyx, and her, and both of his parents, she mentally added.

“Handled it?” Rhysand questioned. “Like you handled this?”

Nyx blew out a breath. “I knew it would be messy, no matter what I did. I was going to tell you as soon as you returned home.”

“Why didn’t you tell us before? Even in Summer? That your mate was…was Tamlin’s daughter?” Feyre asked. There was a bit of a plead in her voice.

Nyx bristled. “Because of that! You keep saying that she is Tamlin’s daughter. You can’t get over that fact. When she is so much more than that to me.” 

Darkness formed wings around Rhysand’s powerful body at the words Nyx spoke. Seren took a deep breath and settled her shoulders before she spoke. She could handle her brother, she could handle Evyn Vanserra, she could handle this.

“I am Tamlin’s daughter,” Seren acknowledged. “But I am also Nyx’s mate. Spring is my home, but even in the few days that I’ve been here, I’ve come to love your Court. Perhaps Nyx and I didn’t handle this in the best way, but…a lot has happened in a short period of time. He wanted to bring me here, to tell me about all of you and to show me his home, before he took me to meet you. And I agreed.”

Feyre Cursebreaker looked at her with steely blue eyes. Nyx’s eyes. Down to the still human look in them. Seren could plainly see where he got it from now. It was obvious.

The baby in his Aunt Elain’s arms let out a small cry before she nestled back in her mother’s arms. Elain rocked the baby, her gaze darting between Rhysand, Nyx, and little Ivy. 

“I just don’t understand why you lied to us,” Rhysand reproved. “You had plenty of opportunities to claim this female as your mate.”

“It’s not a claim,” Nyx blasted. “I know you think I’m young, that I’ve always been idealistic, and that I’ve never been as strong as you, but I think I know my own fucking mate when I see her, Father.”

The whole room drew eerily still at those words. A pin drop would’ve sounded like a bawdy tavern song at that moment, it was so quiet. Seren felt a tug in her heart at the brief flash of pain that crossed over Rhysand’s face. Everything was going badly, but there was no doubt in Seren’s heart that Nyx’s parents loved him. That this whole entire room full of people did. 

Seren watched as Azriel tilted his head, a shadow swirling up to his ear, before he left the room. Cassian and Nesta watched him step away with a questioning glance. Rhysand and Feyre ignored the movement. 

“If I may offer my opinion,” Amren said, stepping up beside them.

“No one could stop you,” Nyx’s uncle Cassian joked. Amren glared at him.

Rhysand gestured for her to talk.

Amren crossed her arms. “Nyx never had a rebellious phase. He was always the perfect son. And in my opinion, always did too much to please the two of you and everyone else. To never cause trouble, despite the best efforts of his uncles and his cousins.” 

“He might not have participated but Nyx was the mastermind behind all of mine and Les’s dumb ideas,” his cousin Bran protested.

“We’ve always been proud of you, Nyx,” Feyre said softly. Her eyes were lined in a thin sheen of silver. Nyx darted his gaze away from her. Seren wondered if it was to avoid silver lining his own eyes.

“He’s always done his best to do everything you say.” Amren flipped her hands and the jewelry on her fingers caught in the light. “In my opinion, he’s entitled to at least one fuck you.” 

Rhysand sent her a displeased look but Nesta and Cassian chuckled from the back of the room.

“Fate does have a sense of humor,” Elain said wryly. 

Seren didn’t know how she felt about Amren’s words. She appreciated the female’s defense of Nyx, but didn’t know if she liked being akin to a rebellious phase to Nyx’s parents. Nyx seemed to sense her warring thoughts. He stepped closer, wrapping an arm around her waist. 

“Fate might have a sense of humor,” Nyx said firmly, “but I am completely serious. I am sorry this has gone badly, but I don’t know what else to say. Seren and I found each other in Summer. And I will never leave her.” 

The High Lord stared at his son for a moment before bowing his head. The shadowy wings at his back disappeared. Feyre moved from her spot on the couch to step beside her mate and daughter. Zephra was still looking at Seren under a gleam of suspicion. Seren supposed she couldn’t blame her, not when Zephra knew her as a simple traveling fortune teller, only to find out she was her brother’s mate and Tamlin’s daughter. It was a bit of a shock for all of them. 

Feyre opened her mouth to say something more, but Azriel stepped back into the room. There was a gloom of darkness that followed him and everyone turned towards his winged figure in the doorway, as if expecting something.

The shadowsinger frowned.

“I’ve just gotten word about the Nolan Estate. They appear to be moving their forces around the southern part of the Spring border,” Azriel said, in a calm tone. Murmurs broke out across the room.

“Seren and I will go back to Spring to see what can be done,” Nyx informed them all, reaching back for Seren’s hand.

Bran left from his position of leaning against the wall to stand by his cousin. He crossed his arms, his brown eyed gaze shifting to Seren. He gave her a firm, but polite, nod.

“You’re not going without me,” Bran said.

“Or me,” Zephara declared, marching over. She punched her brother in the shoulder. “Though I’m still mad at you, asshole.”

Nyx glared at her. Though Zephra put on a bit of swagger, Seren could see lingering hurt in the female’s violet eyes. She wondered if Nyx could see it. Perhaps they’d made poor decisions about this whole thing, but she suspected it would go poorly either way. Zephra wasn’t exactly sending out signals that she wanted to befriend Seren. In fact, she’d hardy looked at Seren the whole time.

“None of you,” Azriel said, with a pointed glance at each of them, “are going anywhere without me or your High Lord.”

They turned to Rhysand, who was still frowning with his hand in his pockets. Feyre took one look at her mate before letting out a sigh.

“If everyone would give us a moment alone with Nyx and Seren,” Feyre suggested, “then we’ll see what needs to be done.”

Cassian came over to clap Nyx on the back. “Good luck, Nyxie.”

Nyx didn’t respond, only looking at his uncle with a cautious tilt to his head. Cassian gave Seren a squeeze on the shoulder while his wife, Nyx’s Aunt Nesta, only offered a polite tilt of her head. Which was fine with Seren. That silver glint in her eye sent a shiver down Seren’s spine.

The room cleared, even Zephra, who had protested at being removed. But Seren was glad it was just the four of them now. Without any other eyes on them. She knew it was what Nyx had wished for in the beginning. When everything had been laid out in the open in front of the rest of his family, his shoulders had drawn further and further back until he was tense as a bowstring. His shoulders were still tense, as they sat now, on the sofa by Feyre. Nyx’s father sat across from them on an overstuffed chair.

There was silence. Seren didn’t know what to say. She supposed they all had too many thoughts running through their heads. She watched as the High Lady’s palm tightened over her belly as her gaze flew over to her husband’s. The High Lord clenched his jaw. Seren wondered if they were having a silent conversation, just as she felt Nyx’s presence in her mind.

Are you alright? Nyx asked, his tone hesitant. He was sending over waves of some warm emotion that Seren hardly dared to put a name to.

When she glanced over at him, his face was a picture of calm, though his shoulders were still drawn back. She remembered how staunch he was in her defense of her. She is mine, he had said. 

Just worried, she replied. I wish things had gone better and I am worried about the Spring Court. 

We’ll go there as soon as we leave here, Nyx assured.

Will your parents let us?

It doesn’t matter. They can hardly say no, as your brother is High Lord. It would be unwise for us to not go.

Feyre cleared her throat and Seren turned her attention back to Nyx’s mother. She was watching them with those wary blue eyes. Seren guessed that she wasn’t even a century old yet, and yet she had the eyes of someone who had lived multiple lifetimes. She supposed that Feyre had. She’d died, after all, before being Made into High Fae. 

“We would love to hear your story,” Feyre said. “I am sorry that things escalated so quickly….I suppose it was just a bit of a shock to come home to the news from the boy who delivers our papers.”

Seren ducked her head in embarrassment. Her fingers tangled in the skirt of her dress. “I’m sorry about that.”

Nyx’s hand slid over to rest on her thigh. He gave her a firm squeeze. Seren looked up to find the High Lord’s eye on the movement before he looked at her. Seren flushed. Nyx’s father truly was a beautiful male. 

“You met in Summer,” Rhysand prompted. Seren still could not read the emotion in her eyes.

Nyx told them the story and Seren was happy to let him do so. After a few moments, when Feyre had settled back into the cushions, and Rhysand rested a hand on her shoulder, Seren found it was easier to relax. She settled into Nyx’s side, his voice and hands a comfort to her. She had never found comfort in the presence of a male before, as much as she did with Nyx. There were no borders between them and that was what made it so safe. She knew she could trust in him. He’d already proven himself to her, that he would defend her with everything that he had. 

“I’ve deescalated the situation with Autumn,” Nyx finished by saying. “And our main concern now is Spring.”

“And how did you do that, if I may ask?” Rhysand questioned.

“I wrote Eris a letter.” Nyx shrugged. “I’ve been told it works wonders.”

His parents exchanged a glance before his mother chuckled. Seren could even see the beginnings of a smile on Rhysand’s golden brown face.

“Clever,” his father commented.

“And will you have a mating ceremony?” Feyre asked, looking between the two of them.

Nyx gave Seren a nod, his lips tilted up. They’d discussed this late into the night a few evenings ago. 

“Yes,” Seren replied. “We would love to have a small, intimate ceremony. But we think that it might be best for the Courts if it were public. Considering our history with each other.”

Rhysand blinked, the only sign of his surprise.

Feyre frowned. “Don’t feel as if you must do something, just for politics’ sake. This is a special time. Rhysand I would love to help with the ceremony, however large or small you wish to make it.” 

Seren saw it for what it was. A peace offering, between two parents who loved their children very much. And her, the daughter of a man who had caused them considerable pain. There had been enough pain and hurt. It was time for something new, between the lot of them. A new story to be written. So Seren smiled at Feyre and Rhysand, because she was sure at the coming peace.

“Yes, of course. I would love to plan the ceremony with you,” Seren said.

Feyre beamed. Nyx slid his palm from her thigh to squeeze her hand. And though Rhysand still said nothing to Nyx, even the darkness in the room got a little bit lighter, with the promise of the future.

They had winnowed into Spring late that afternoon. Nyx and Seren had gone, along with Rhysand and Azriel. Les, Bran, and Zephra had come along as well, and Nyx wondered what the inhabitants of Spring were thinking, as half of Rhysand’s Inner Circle tramped about the grounds. 

Seren had written to her brother who had agreed to meet them at the Court Manor. Talan had not said much in his letter, though Seren had not said much in hers either, except that she had met her mate in the Summer Court, and was now escorting him to Spring. She had said it was too much to explain on paper and though Nyx had agreed with her, he was now wondering if that was the best decision. 

Especially now that Talan’s sentries were staring at his father and Azriel with a mix of terror and awe. Zephra, Les, and Bran stood behind them with bored expressions pasted on their faces. It was often the look they had in the Court of Nightmares. Nyx’s hand twitched for his blades that were vanished away.

They had thought it best if they presented themselves unarmed. 

Talan strode down the marble steps of the manor, a green cloak flapping behind him rather dramatically. His golden hair hung unbound to his shoulders and a crown of laurel was on his head. He was tall, about the same height as Nyx, though not as tall as Bran. There was a thunderous expression on his face, but Nyx saw his face shift in confusion for a moment as Nyx laid a hand on Seren’s shoulder. 

She’d done away with her Night Court clothes for the time being, instead wearing a simple white muslin gown that went to her calves. It was rather casual, but Nyx could easily see the appeal of such clothing in the warm air of Spring. She’d confessed to him that when she had lived in the forest, she often ran around in her bare skin.

Even thinking about it sent a shiver of desire through Nyx. He shoved away his arousal. He didn’t think Seren would appreciate it at that moment. Or her brother, for that matter.

Talan marched to a stop before them, on the gravel. Nyx’s first thought was that he and Seren looked nothing alike, that he was the spitting image of Tamlin. The green eyes were the only thing they appeared to share.

“Sister,” Talan said, his tone betraying nothing. “It appears you’ve made some friends.” 

“Brother,” Seren replied, inclining her head respectfully, before covering Nyx’s hand on her shoulder with her own. “This is my mate.” 

Pride shot through him at Seren’s statement and he took a step closer to her.

An older looking High Fae male was making his way to them. He was staring at them all in consternation, but Nyx monitored the way his gaze seemed to and on Seren, time and time again. The male was looking at her like she was a puzzle he’d never seen before. And Nyx didn’t like the sneer he saw in the male’s eyes. He let a bit of the darkness loose from his hands and saw the male’s eyes widen. He stopped a cautious distance away.

Talan rubbed a hand over his mouth before he let out a short burst of laughter. Nyx wondered if it had any true mirth.

“Holy Mother,” Talan breathed. His gaze darted behind them. Nyx saw Bran shift on his feet behind them out of the corner of his eye. Talan laughed again. “Fate does have a sense of humor, I suppose.”

“Very funny,” Nyx responded drily. 

Talan paid him no mind as he took a step closer to them. Nyx tensed, ready for a fight, but Talan only swept Seren into a hug. Seren looked as shocked about it as the High Fae male behind Talan. Nyx recognized him then. Flavian. Talan’s advisor. Nyx had seen him a few times before. 

“I’m glad you’re safe. Please forgive me for what happened with Evyn Vanserra, Seren. I should have never asked it of you.” Talan drew back to look into her eyes. And then he murmured something too quiet, even for Nyx to hear. 

But Seren responded kindly, laying a hand on her brother’s cheek. “All is forgiven.”

Nyx’s father stepped forward then. “We’ve had reports on the gatherings at the border and have come to offer our help.”

Seren’s brother drew back, his green eyes searching them out. He must have arrived at some conclusion, but Nyx thought he was still rather unreadable. His expressions were much harder to read than Seren’s. 

“I’m glad to hear it.” Talan inclined his head. “Welcome to the Spring Court. I’m sure it’s the first any of you have heard those words.”

There was a collective chuckle, though Flavian threw Talan a reproachful glance. Talan was careful to not acknowledge, keeping his head tilted at an arrogant angle.

“Don’t tease,” Seren chided. “Let us go in, to discuss things.”

“Of course. Flavian, have Landa make up the guest rooms in the east wing,” Talan instructed. “We’ll meet in my study.”

As they walked, Talan filled the rest of them in on the situation with Lord Nolan’s people. Nyx took note of their surroundings as they went, the fine wallpaper and the golden chandeliers. There were plenty of windows and yet it still felt less open than the River House in Velaris. Maybe it was the opulence of it. It was strange to think his mother had once lived here, long ago.

She was ill suited to this place. Nyx couldn’t even picture her as a bride of Spring. And he could hardly picture Seren as one either, even if she was. daughter of the Wood.

He heard her sweet voice in his mind as they walked. Talan seemed happy to see me.

You seem surprised, Nyx responded.

Not surprised. Just amazed that I am here with you, right now. That your da is here. It feels so strange. 

Nyx agreed. I think it’s strange for him, too.

Nyx darted a glance at his father. He wondered if it was strange for his father to be here, under such stark circumstances. Most of his memories of this place were awful. That he had come with them, to restore and mend what had been broken, meant more to Nyx than he could express. 

His father wasn’t perfect, but he was just a male. And Nyx loved him. Nyx would have to talk with him soon. 

Now that I’ve met your mother, I can hardly picture her ever living here with my father.

Was it easier before? Nyx questioned.

Seren paused. Yes. But only because she was a faceless figure. I didn’t know her. But I feel as if I do know her a bit better now, as more than just the savior of Prythian. As my mate’s mother. And she was definitely never meant to stay here.

Nyx sent over a wave of emotion to her and almost missed Seren’s quiet last thought. If only my father could have seen that. 

It was a sobering thought. 

They didn’t encounter many others, though Seren didn’t seem surprised at the fact. Talan drew them into his study, which made Rhysand tense, until they stepped inside. Nyx thought this study must have been different than the one Tamlin had kept, because his father seemed relaxed at the sight of a newer looking oaken desk. 

“So, how has your Court responded?” his father asked, taking the glass of brandy Talan offered him.

“I’ve sent all the sentinels to the border that I can spare,” Talan said, downing his drink in one sip. He looked as if he needed it.

“Which is how many?” Uncle Az questioned, from his spot by the window. There was no liquor in his hands.

A muscle ticked in Talan’s jaw. “Twelve.”

“Twelve?” Bran blanched. He exchanged a look with Nyx. “That’s all? Twelve soldiers on the whole border?”

Talan sent him a withering look. “There were already a dwindling number during my father’s time and then after Hybern, people weren’t exactly itching to join in the protection of Spring. That I even have twenty sentinels is a miracle.”

“Twenty sentinels,” Bran repeated. “It’s a miracle you aren’t slaughtered in your own bed at night.”

Nyx hid his snicker with a sip of brandy. 

Talan’s eyes gleamed, a hint of that beast that prowled beneath his skin. The same ability that Seren had, that they’d both inherited from Tamlin. Seren had only ever shifted twice in her life. But Nyx wondered how many times Talan shifted. If rumors were to be believed, Tamlin had hardly left his beast form. What did that leave for his son and heir, the current High Lord of Spring? 

“So far, I’ve managed to avoid being assassinated in my own home.” Talan gave him an icy glare. “Unless you plan on changing that, Brannon.”

Les stuck an elbow in Bran’s side, when he opened his mouth to no doubt let another smartass comment fly. But Bran shrugged and splayed his hands in front of him, instead. “Assassination isn’t my style.”

Talan grinned, showing all his teeth. “I wasn’t aware that Illyrians possessed any.”

All four winged males in the room spread their wings at the insult. Nyx crossed his arms in front of him, but kept his hip propped on the edge of the desk. He’d move if he had to, but his wings were postured enough. Seren sent him a wry glance, but arched a pointed brow in the direction of Bran.

“Talan,” Seren warned. 

Talan tore his gaze from Bran to stare at his sister, before he inclined his head to Rhysand. Nyx’s father was watching him with a singular focus. Nyx caught a glimpse of Azriel’s shadows darting about the room and Nyx wondered what information they were feeding his uncle at that moment. How much Azriel had already found out, without Talan ever revealing a word.

No wonder shadowsingers were so coveted in all of the world. 

“I was initially planning on going to the border tomorrow evening,” Talan revealed. “If you would be so kind as to join me.”

“Why wait until tomorrow?” Nyx asked curiously.

“Because I have a different situation on another one of my borders with Autumn.” Talan gave them a bleak smile. “Evyn Vanserra was not too keen on being made a fool by my sister, even if he deserved it and more. He’s been making trouble for a month now. The rest of my forces are in the North, monitoring that situation.”

“Tarquin would help in dealing with Lord Nolan’s men. Summer is the next closest Court, after all, and they have long been allies with Spring,” Nyx’s father said, swirling the brandy in his small crystal class. 

“You and I both know that was before the war, Rhysand. Summer has been no friend to Spring in decades,” Talan said, in a bland tone. There was no remorse, just fact in his voice. “None of the seasonal courts have responded in my requests for aid. They send their condolences and best wishes of course, but the problem with the lands on the human border is decidedly an issue for the Spring Court, apparently.”

“It should concern all of Prythian,” Seren protested. “We have all entered a new treaty. The Nolan estate violates that now.”

Rhysand stood straighter, setting his glass of brandy on the oak desk. His violet eyes met Nyx’s and for a moment, Nyx saw love in his father’s eyes, even when his father glanced at Seren. And then he looked back towards Talan, and the unmoveable mask of the High Lord of the Night Court was firmly in place. 

“The Night Court will send down an Illyrian band to help,” Nyx’s father said. 

“My own,” Bran added. “Or the one Balthazaar leads, with all the females.” 

Talan gave them a curious look. He looked a bit distrustful and Nyx couldn't blame the male. “The Night Court has never bothered with Spring before.”

“I tried helping your father,” Rhysand revealed, shocking everyone in the room, except for Azriel. Who wreathed in shadows. “Long ago. He never took my advice or accepted any help from me. He was always a stubborn male, but perhaps I should have tried harder.” 

“He’s long dead, Rhysand. There is only me, now.”

“And me,” Seren declared, straightening her shoulders. “Though I know you never wanted me to be a part of any of the Court’s workings, Nyx is my mate now. We can do valuable work here, Talan.”

Talan blinked, the only sign of his suprise. “You were always valuable to me, Seren. But this Court has been a cesspit for far too long. Many of the nobles here have been desperate for a power grab, ever since I’ve taken the title. Even my advisor is a snake. Why did you think Father kept you away in the woods?”

It was Seren’s turn to blink in surprise. A flush crawled up her cheeks. “I thought it was because I embarrassed you. Because my mother is a faerie. That you didn’t want anyone else to see me.”

“Flavian thought it best to keep with Father’s tradition.” Talan poured himself another two knuckles of brandy. 

“You just admitted to him being a snake,” Nyx pointed out. He drifted closer to his mate, wanting to pull her into his arms but sensing now was not the time. Instead, he brushed a finger down the side of her forearm, almost imperceptibly. 

Talan winced. “He thought Seren would not be safe here and for once, I agreed with him. Perhaps it was not the best choice but it was the one I made. Besides, I do not think Seren’s mother would have taken to her daughter being away from the Wood half the time.”

“She wouldn’t,” Seren agreed.

“Have fun introducing your Night Court mate to her. She is going to love that.”

Nyx had a feeling the High Lord was being sarcastic. He decided that they ought to visit Seren’s mother sooner than they had originally planned. Looking at Seren’s face, he knew that she would agree.

Nyx’s father and Uncle Azriel had decided to return to the Night Court to gather the small band of Illyrian warriors. Bran had gone with them, to call up his own troops, along with Captain Balthazaar’s. Thaz was a good male, and one of the first Illyrian captains to bring on a fighting unit of Illyrian females. And it was one of the most feared war bands in all of Illyria. Nyx’s Aunt Nesta had been very proud to hear of it. Long ago, Balthazaar had offered her and Emerie shelter during the Blood Rite. His Aunt Nesta and Uncle Cassian had never forgotten it. Nyx had even fought under Thaz, when he had undergone his Illyrian training. 

Bran and Les had, as well. Balthazaar had joked that they were Rhysand, Cassian, and Azriel reborn. It had been the greatest compliment he could have given them. 

Nyx, Zephra, and Les watched in curiosity as Bran and the High Lord of Spring parted in scathing remarks. They’d sent each other sneers all afternoon. But Nyx was curious about the glance he saw his cousin throw Talan’s way, when the High Lord wasn’t looking. 

“What’s that about?” Les murmured.

“I don’t want to know,” Zephra groaned. “Isn’t it enough that Nyx is mated to Tamlin’s daughter?” 

Nyx threw his sister a cautious glance. “Her name is Seren, Zeph. Why don’t you use it?”

His sister said nothing. She only crossed her arms, as they watched Nyx’s father winnow Azriel and Bran away. Talan and Seren stood talking across the gravel path in front of the manor. Nyx regretted that he hadn’t spoken with his father yet, but there hadn’t been time. He was glad seren was getting the opportunity to speak with her brother, however. There were probably words being exchanged that were long overdue. 

Zephra let out a sigh. Les looked at him with wide eyes, on her other side. Nyx laid a hand on his sister’s shoulder.

“I can tell something is wrong,” Nyx said.

Zephra threw her hands up, knocking Nyx’s from her shoulder. “You don’t think it’s weird being here? That it’s weird for Da?”

“Of course,” Nyx replied. “None of it is easy. But it’s right to be here. This is Seren’s home and it’s been neglected for far too long. It wasn’t until she came into my life that my eyes were opened to that.”

“So it’s that easy for you?” Zephra scoffed. “To forget what Tamlin did?”

“Seren isn’t her father,” Nyx rebuked. “And neither is anybody else in the Spring Court.”

“Talan said it was a cesspit.”

“He was referring to some of the nobles. And he didn’t say the entire court was a cesspit. Seren loves her home.”

“I’m sure she does.”

“Don’t take that tone, Zephra,” Nyx warned her. “She is my mate. She deserves your love and respect, as the future High Lady of the Night Court.”

Even Les shifted at those words. But his cousin offered Nyx a nod of approval. Les had already sworn himself to Seren. Nyx remembered his words, his promise that Zephra would as well. Would his sister continue to view his mate and her home court as enemies? Nyx wanted them to be united, not at each other’s throats. 

Zephra scuffed her booted foot on the ground, sending the gravel scattering. “I suppose I like Seren enough. I always thought she was interesting, even as a fortune teller.”

At his sister’s smirk, Nyx laughed. But his sister went on, “It’s just an adjustment. Knowing who her father was…and knowing who she is to you. But I will try to view her as a sister.” 

Nyx gave a nod. “That’s all I ask. It doesn’t mean you have to love Tamlin, or even forgive him. But I do ask that you love her.”

“Do you?” Zeph asked, arching a dark eyebrow, the color matching Nyx’s own.

Nyx shifted his wings slightly behind him. Les was giving him a curious glance. 

“I think I was half in love with her the moment I saw her. It’s only grown since then,” Nyx confessed. And he realized it was the truth. From the moment he had seen her sitting at that fortune telling table, he had thought her the most elusive and beautiful female he’d ever seen. And she had been his mate, all along. 

“Have you told her?” Les asked.

Nyx shook his head. “Not yet. I don’t want to scare her off.”

Les reached around Zeph to clap him on the shoulder. “I think it’ll take a lot more than that to scare Seren. She took an ash dagger for you. A female like that doesn’t bend or break easily.” 

Nyx nodded his agreement. Seren was one of the strongest people he knew, but it was a bit hidden. Seren was also soft, and more prone to dancing, than to breaking out a sword. But she also was a fierce protector, and could even be a bit deviant. Nyx thought about their time in the Court of Nightmares. She had handled it all perfectly. It was hard not to feel in constant awe of her. 

The rest of the day passed quickly, with plans being made up for the following day at the border. Nyx kept an eye on Flavian. He wasn’t exactly sure what it was about the High Fae male, but Nyx didn’t trust him. He made sure to stand close to Seren every time the male was near. Which was quite often, because it was apparent Flavian did not trust anyone from the Night Court. In fact, he had expressed concerns to Talan multiple times about allying with the Night Court. Talan had rebuffed his concerns every time, each time in a sharper tone. Nyx wondered why he didn’t just get rid of the male. 

The following morning, Talan rode with them all to the nearest Spring town. It was hardly nothing compared to the splendor of Velaris. It had one main street flowing through the center of town. Most of the buildings looked empty, though there was smoke blowing from a few chimneys. There were no children laughing in the streets, no folk bustling from place to place. It was bare. Completely soulless, compared to the heart that was Velaris.

Nyx could tell that Les and Zepha were drawing the same conclusions. 

Seren nudged her horse towards Nyx’s as they rode on the street from town. Nyx took note of the empty fields they passed. Some of the ground appeared tilled and planted. Most of it looked fallow, untouched, with grass and wildflowers overtaken the once even rows.

“There’s not many Fae left to farm,” Seren murmured to him. “Most of them have left this court for Summer.”

Nyx studied her, noting the slumped line of her shoulders. Her green eyes shimmered with sadness in the sun. 

“Are most towns like the one we passed through?” Nyx asked.

Seren nodded. “Talan has told me he wants to provide incentives for Spring Court Fae to return to the land. He mentioned offering parcels of land and a title to be given to anyone who came and farmed for ten years. High Fae or not.”

Nyx arched his eyebrows. “That’s a fine idea. And a bit progressive, too. Does he still enact the Tithe?”

“No. And my father did not either.” Seren’s voice had grown sharp. Nyx looked at her in alarm , wondering what had caused the shrillness in her tone until he caught the silver sheen in her eyes. “I want the Spring Court to possess the same thing that Velaris has, Nyx. There is no other city like it in Prythian, not even Adriata. But I hope one day…It could be like that here, as well.”

“It might take a while, but Spring can be built back up, Seren. I promise. We’ll be there to see it through,” Nyx swore. She gave him a small smile.

And then a challenge lit her green eyes. “How about a race, lordling?”

Nyx chuckled. “Alright, on my mark-”

But Seren was already gone. Nyx spurred his horse after her with a yell and laughed. He heard the yells of Zeph and Les behind him, even catching wind of Talan’s shouts of encouragement. Seren practically flew ahead of him, her hair streaming out like a brown cloud behind her. They were fast approaching a forest, leaving the open fields behind them.

Nyx wondered if they were close to her home. Seren had said she would bring him there. He didn’t plan on racing. Nyx spurred his horse a little faster, but Seren was beating him soundly. He suspected she would, even if she hadn’t galloped off on a surprise start. 

She drew her horse to a walk as they entered the forest and Nyx followed suit. He rubbed a hand down his horse’s thick neck, giving the mare a pat and scratch behind the ears. Seren’s chest was heaving and Nyx found himself breathless as well. When he looked behind them, he saw the rest of their group making their way to the forest, at a much slower pace.

Nyx took a deep breath, the hint of pine and oak and sap on the breeze. Not unlike the smell of Seren herself.

“The woods are different here,” Nyx said.

Seren slipped off her horse, gathering the reins in her hand. “Yes. We’re close to Autumn.” 

Nyx blinked in alarm. “I hadn’t realized we traveled that far.”

“You know that the borders on Spring aren’t tall, just wide. It’s much easier to go from north to south than it is to go east to west,” Seren said, looking at him in amusement. Her green eyes crinkled at the corners. 

Nyx dismounted his own horse, gathering Seren’s hand in his left and the reins of his horse in his right hand. He gave her a playful squeeze. 

“Spring Court geography was never my strong suit.”

“I suppose I will be your mate anyways.”

Nyx laughed, tugging her closer to him. “Thank you for your consideration.”

Seren laughed in return, her mouth opening to say more, when a stillness in the woods brought them to a halt. Something was coming, though Nyx couldn’t be sure what. He pushed Seren behind him, darkness beginning to swirl. And then-someone winnowed in with a loud pop.

A High Fae male, with dark red hair.

He had a sword pointed at them and Nyx drew his own Illyrian blades in the next breath. Over his dead fucking body would Evyn Vanserra ever get close to Seren again.

“How the fuck did you get here?” Nyx growled.

Evyn only smiled, looking rather pleased with himself. Nyx wanted to wipe that smile off his face and pound his head into the dirt. His blood was crying out to spill Vanserra’s own. Every instinct in him was roaring to. But he felt Seren’s face press against his back, pressing a kiss between his shoulder blades, before she stepped forward. 

Totally unafraid. 

“How have you come to be here, Evyn?” she demanded. “My brother doesn’t want you past the border.”

“I fancied a stroll in the woods,” Evyn said. “Heard you’d be here. I walked right on in.”

He heard Seren’s voice in his head. Someone let him in, Nyx. My brother keyed the wards against him the day he attacked me.

Flavian, Nyx thought back to her. Seren gave him an alarmed glance, but there was a knowing in her eyes. Flavian had betrayed them. They were both sure of it. Nyx cast out his power, until he found the familiar presence of Les. His cousin seemed surprised, but let his mental walls down enough for Nyx to slip in. Let Talan know that Evyn Vanserra is here. Flavian has betrayed him. 

I’ll tell him now, Les thought as Nyx slipped away.

Vanserra was looking at them with a cruel sneer fixed on his face and suspicion in his brown eyes. Did he know they were communicating, mind to mind?

“Why don’t you step away from him, Seren? Come away from the boy and be with a real male,” Vanserra goaded.

“Nyx is more of a male than you will ever be,” Seren spat at him.

Nyx’s vision practically ran red as his wings flared out. He didn’t care one bit for the way someone as despicable as Evyn Vanserra had called him boy . And he didn’t like what the male was offering to Seren either. 

“ She’s mine ,” he snarled. “Does your brother know you’re here, Vanserra?”

Another pop sounded as another Autumn Court High Fae winnowed in. A female this time, tall and red haired. Vanserra turned, his eyes alight with satisfaction until he drew back in surprise. Perhaps not the face he had been expecting. She had a sword pointed at his neck before the male could so much as move.

Nyx recognized her instantly. 

“It was stupid of you to come here, Uncle,” Adella Vanserra replied, her mouth pulled into a smirk that looked exactly like her father’s. “My father will be here shortly.”

And not a moment later, Eris Vanserra winnowed in. Nyx drew Seren back behind him, with a hand around her waist. He kept his blade firmly in front of them.

Eris didn’t approve of his brother’s actions, surely, but Nyx wasn’t comfortable enough to let his guard drop. He heard his father’s voice in his head, shocking him further into his fighting stance. Nyx. I am coming to you. 

Shadows swirled. Nyx and Seren were flanked by Azriel and Rhysand not a second later. Azriel’s shadows swirled into a shield around them. Nyx’s father only placed his hands in his pockets. A horse whinnied behind them and then Talan was there as well, his claws unsheathed from his skin. He came to the front, to stand by Nyx. Nyx heard his mate gasp and he looked down in time to see that her own claws had emerged. A fierce look was in her green eyes as she stared down the male who had attacked her with her brother and her mate at her side.

For the first time, Evyn Vanserra looked truly afraid. 

Adella Vanserra finally removed her blade from her uncle’s neck as her father made a waving gesture. Eris Vanserra looked unsurprised by the whole situation.

There was a smile on his face as he looked at Nyx, and then his father behind him.

“Hello, Nyx. I got your letter.”

Chapter Text

The swords remained pointed at each other. Nyx kept his blade firmly between Seren and the Vanserra males on the opposite side of the small clearing. Seren noted that Adella Vanserra didn’t sheathe her sword either. The female was a bit terrifying and she reminded Seren of Nyx’s Aunt Nesta in a way. There was something a bit different about her eyes.

Eris stood there, looking delighted at all of the drama. Rhysand stood there, smirking right back at him. 

Talan looked the angriest of all of them. He was the youngest and most untried High Lord, between the three of them. One of whom had fought in the old first war, and another who had unseated his father, after centuries of harsh rule. Talan was practically a child compared to them, though Seren supposed they would view her as a child as well. 

Her brother showed his claws. It had been a long time since Seren had seen her brother shift fully, and she doubted he would fully shift even now. Still, the threat of it remained, just as it always had with their father. The Vanserras seemed to be aware of this fact as well, as they shifted on their feet. 

“Evyn has trespassed in my Court against my wishes,” Talan stated. “Justice must be met.”

Evyn Vanserra took a step back. “You can’t deliver justice to me, Talan. No matter whose bastard you are.”

Talan snarled in response. Seren saw Bran shift, ever so infinitesimally towards her brother. She wondered at that. She wondered how Rhysand, Azriel, and Bran had gotten here at all. She thought that to the powerful Fae in the Night Court, nothing seemed to be impossible. Nyx must have sent for them, or her brother had.

“He can’t. But I can, brother. You had not returned to the Forrest House for so long, I was beginning to wonder if Nyx had killed you. It would have been his right.” Eris Vanserra’s pointy face drew into a smile. Seren had ever seen him before, but she knew him well by reputation. His daughter, Adella, she had heard less of. Seren wondered why her brother hadn’t arranged for a match between Adella and himself. She looked strong. Eris continued, “You’ve run unchecked long enough.”

Seren thought about his words. It would have been Nyx’s right to kill Evyn. Such strange, archaic customs were still present in the Autumn Court. The Spring Court seemed progressive in comparison. 

“I couldn’t agree more,” Rhysand added, his head tilted in the picture of casualty. But there was a predatory gleam in his eye, as he stared down Evyn.

Evyn sneered, but Seren could see the tenseness in his mouth. He put on a brave face but she had a feeling he would scurry away, the second an opportunity presented itself. He was nothing but a coward and a predator trying to disguise the fact that he felt like prey.

“And what justice would you mete out, brother?” Evyn asked, though he tried to present it as a taunt. 

“I will let Seren decide,” Eris said, surprising them all.

Ten pairs of eyes swung towards Seren. Her breath left her in a quiet whoosh. Seren didn’t look at Evyn Vanserra a moment longer than she had to. Not because she was afraid or unsure, but simply because she had no desire to. Instead, her gaze tracked to Nyx. Who was staring at her with a fathomless look in his starry blue eyes.

He looked at her like he had complete faith in her. How different was his gaze now, then it was when they had first met in the Summer Court. His gaze had been darker then, and full of suspicion, even if there had been that ever present interest in his eyes.

Nyx gave her a slight smile, barely a curving of his lips, but it was enough. Enough to know that whatever decision she made, he would support her.

Your call, Nyx said in her head, as if confirming her thoughts. My lady.

Lady, is it?

Yes , Nyx replied, a faint trace of amusement. You are the future High Lady of the Night Court, my sweet fortune. Your wishes are my wishes. My word is your word. 

The words overwhelmed her, and bolstered her, all at once. In the future, she would far outrank Evyn Vanserra. And even if that wasn’t the case, Seren wouldn’t be afraid of him. Not as she remembered how frightened he had made her, or how he had his band of males kill Pyria and the others. She would never forget that, as long as she lived.

Seren straightened her shoulders and turned back to the Vanserras. Eris had watched hers and Nyx’s wordless exchange with rapt attention, as if he was viewing some theatrical play. Seren’s face burned under the attention but she didn’t let it sway her.

“I desire to never see your living face again,” Seren said. “And I desire, like my brother, for Evyn Vanserra to never step foot in the Spring Court. Alive.” 

Brows rose at her words, but no one disagreed. Adella Vanserra studied her, the russet gaze so similar to her father’s. She was unreadable as all children of the High Lords had likely been trained to be. Tamlin had drilled it into Seren often enough. And Nyx had had far more extensive training than that, considering the abilities of his mind. 

Seren wondered what Adella’s training had been. She was clearly used to handling weapons. Seren wondered if that was the extent of it. Adella had a twin brother, though neither of them had yet been formally declared the Heir to Autumn. 

Eris gave a singular nod, drawing Seren away from her musings. “This is a fair judgment.” He turned to Evyn, a bit of fire in his gaze. “Return to the Forest House. I’ll deal with you later.”

Evyn did not protest, at least visibly. He only stared at his brother, before he vanished. Eris seemed satisfied and Seren knew that there must have been some way he was able to know if his brother had returned to the seat of the Autumn Court.

Eris turned to the rest of them. “Let there be no trouble between the three of us.”

“What changed your mind?” Rhysand asked him, a slight edge to his voice.

“Nyx did, of course.” Eris placed a hand on his daughter’s shoulder and Adella stood taller at the gesture. She was tall, even for a High Fae female. “I have long desired a marriage treaty between our two Courts.”

It was now common knowledge that once upon a time, Eris Vanserra had desired Nesta Archeron for a bride. Lucien Vanserra, though now Heir to the Day Court, was once thought to have been Elain Archeron’s mate. And yet both of the sisters had stayed in the Night Court, with each other and the rest of their family. 

“I had thought of proposing a marriage between Adella and your son,” Eris said, in a conversational tone, as if he wasn’t stirring up any trouble at all. Seren frowned at the thought of Nyx married to someone else. Adela’s eyes caught hers and the female smirked in amusement. Seren decided to let a little of her beastly side show in a smile of her own. “Or even between my son and your daughter.”

Rhysand snarled a warning.

“I would rather die,” Zephra said baldly, from her position behind Nyx.

Eris ignored them, tapping his fingers against his chin. His smile was practically a taunt. “But it seems that the Night Court has found itself an ally of Spring of all places, Rhysand. Tamlin’s daughter is your son’s mate. How deliciously ironic is all of that?”

Seren almost jumped when a surprisingly warm hand landed on her shoulder. She turned, expecting it to be Nyx, but it was Rhysand. He was staring at Eris, but his hand squeezed her lightly. Stars danced in his eyes, violence sharpening their edges. Nyx’s eyes were so different from his father’s, except for those stars.

“I could not be prouder,” Rhysand said, “to call Seren a daughter of my own. The past lies behind us, Eris. This is what our children have taught us.”

Both Talan and Nyx looked at the High Lord of the Night Court in surprise. Rhysand kept his gaze fixed on Eris, until the Autumn High Lord broke his stare. Across the way, Adella Vanserra shifted on her feet. Her gaze cut to her father and they exchanged a look, unreadable to everyone else. 

“Autumn desires no war with Spring. Or Night,” Eris declared. “And for the mercy that Nyx and Seren have shown, I thank you.”

“Will you leave as our ally, then?” Talan questioned him. “There is trouble in the South.”

“Should you call for aid, we will come.” With a respectful nod from Eris, and a bow from his daughter, two Vanserras winnowed away. Gone as if they had never been. A shiever passed through Seren , and it seemed all of it had been a dream.

“I wonder what Eris will do to Evyn,” she said to Nyx.

Her mate shook his head. Rhysand was watching Nyx closely as Nyx said. “Hopefully he gets what he deserves.”

Talan came to stand next to her. Her brother’s blonde hair was pulled back into a queue behind his neck, though strands of his golden hair slipped free. There was no crown on his head, but he didn’t need it. Not when his claws were still unsheathed from his hands. Seren was still struck by how much he resembled their father, but she was beginning to understand that they were two very different males. Talan wasn’t Tamlin, even if he shared some of their father’s qualities. After all, Seren had a few of the male’s qualities herself.

Not all of them were bad. Just as her father was not wholly bad. The thought sent a pang through her. 

“It amazes me, sister, how drama follows you everywhere,” Talan mused, and though he was frowning, a touch of humor lit his voice.

“She’ll fit right in with us, then,” Zephra said. For the first time, she was looking at Seren with something akin to warmth. Seren found herself smiling at the female, hoping they could form a friendship as strong as sisterhood. 

“Trust me,” Bran said, coming to stand before them with crossed arms. Talan looked at him with a glint in his eyes. “We bring the shitshow with us wherever we go.”

“Bran,” Nyx warned, but there was a laugh at the end of it. 

Seren smiled. Perhaps things hadn’t gone as badly as she originally thought. Zephra appeared to be warming to her. And Autumn had reaffirmed its ties with Spring, with no desire to war with the Night Court. It could have gone much worse than it did.

Later that night, Seren sat in a stuffed chair, looking out the window. Nyx had not yet come to bed and she waited for him, her eyes drooping. It had been a long day and they would be up early tomorrow, preparing to go to the southern border. 

Seren stared into the unlit fireplace. Though the temperatures occasionally dropped at night, most of the time the evenings in Spring were warm. For some reason, Seren found herself missing the chill citrus breeze of Velaris. She smiled to herself. She was already homesick for the place, even though she had always said that Spring would be her home. Or maybe her home was wherever Nyx was.

Seren must have dozed off, for she woke in Nyx’s arms. He was carrying her to bed. She studied his face, noting the tired look in his eyes and the way his dark hair fell over his forehead. Seren reached a hand up to smooth it back and he looked down at her with a smile.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” he murmured. 

“It’s alright.” Her tone was soft with sleep. 

They slipped their clothes off, before they came together under the sheets. They kept their eyes on each other the whole time. Seren loved when Nyx held her close, all of her soft places against his hard lines. Nothing felt as good as lying in his arms. 

She raised her head to look at his face. “Where were you?”

“Talking with my father.” She was close enough to him that his voice sent a rumble through her. His tone sounded tired, but Nyx didn’t appear to be troubled. If anything, he sounded less tense than he had all day.

“What did he say?” Seren asked.

Nyx brushed a hand across her cheek, until his fingers tangled in her hair. He bent his head and kissed her. The slide of their lips was slow and languid. Nyx kissed her as if he had all the time in the world, as if there was no looming battle in the south. He licked against her lips and she parted her mouth on a sigh. As his tongue stroked along her own, Seren felt a heat rising in her cheeks and pooling of warmth in her core.

“Fortune,” he murmured against her mouth. “My mate.”

No one kissed like Nyx. He made her feel like she was the center of his world, that nothing else mattered in that moment, except for the two of them and the meeting of their mouths. 

Seren’s hand slipped down his back, her fingers absently brushing against his leathery wings. Nyx pulled back with a shudder. Both of them were breathing heavily, as if they had done much more than only kiss each other. Seren would have wanted him to make love to her right then, but the look in his eyes stopped her. 

“I’ll show you, Seren,” he said, peering deep into her eyes. 

She nodded and a moment passed before Seren felt the familiar presence of Nyx at her mind. She let him in and the rest of the world fell away as she saw Nyx with his father in a memory that had just happened.

They were in the garden, away from the others. Rhysand sat on a bench by a large collection of roses, while Nyx remained standing nearby. Father and son stared at each other. Nyx’s wings rustled in the dying light of the sun.

“I’m sure it is hard for you to be here,” Nyx said at last. “But I appreciate that you are, Father.”

Nyx didn’t want to be upset at him.

He was surprised when the male sighed. “It’s true that this place holds horrible memories, though it is harder for your mother than it is for me. But I’ve been here more times than you think, Nyx.”

Nyx tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

“You accompanied me on some of my trips to this Court before,” Rhysand began. Nyx nodded. “But those were few and far between. And mostly for Court regulations than anything else. But I used to come, when you were younger, to check on Tamlin. It was under the guise of making sure this Court wasn’t run to the ground, which I apparently didn’t do a good job of preventing anyway. But it was more than that.”

“How so?” Nyx asked, crossing his arms. The sun was beginning to set and soon, night would fall. Night fell everywhere, even in the bright places of the Spring Court. It was inevitable. 

His father paused and plucked something from his shirt before speaking. It was one of his father’s only tells. “Because as much as I told myself I would feel nothing for Tamlin, I did. I pitied him, even as I hated him. I think I might have even understood him a little. And I was always wondering what kind of male he would have been without the influence of his father. He wanted to be a traveling minstrel, you know. He played the fiddle.”

Nyx stared at him in surprise before he gave a slight snort. “Seren never told me. I wonder if she knew.” 

Rhysand nodded. “Over time, my visits were more sporadic. The birth of your sister, the dealings with Keir. You were getting older. One of my last visits was a few years after you had won the Blood Rite.”

“With Les and Bran.”

“Yes. Our very own Carynthians.” He smiled at Nyx and there was pride bright in his violet eyes. “This visit, I told Tamlin of your success. I told him you were going to be a great warrior, that people would fear you. That you had more power than possibly even me, with your mother’s gifts.”

Nyx shifted slightly on his feet. He looked down. “It sounds like you were rubbing it in.”

Power was something Nyx had always associated with his father. His father was the strongest and most powerful person he knew, though his aunts and mother were right there behind him. Nyx had never thought he’d be as strong as his father, and yet his father was now revealing to him something very different.

“I suppose I was.” Rhysand gave a low chuckle. “But Tamlin had things of his own to share and brag about. Talan was doing well, although he was still mostly a boy at that time. And he told me about his daughter, who was only a few years old but very bright, he said.”

Nyx’s heart stopped beating. He sat down on the bench beside his father because he wasn’t sure if his legs were strong enough to carry the weight in his chest. “ Seren. ”

“He would not tell me much about her. Only that she was part faerie, which I was surprised at. And I knew then, even if his daughter was half faerie and had been born without a lick of power, Tamlin loved her as much as I loved you.” His father drew in a deep breath. “It was much harder after that…to hate him.”

“What happened then?” Nyx asked, past the lump in his throat. 

“I visited less and less. Tamlin and the Spring Court were better, compared to what they had been.” Rhysand eyed him. “I think that was mostly thanks to Seren. She saved her father. Just how you saved me, Nyx.”

Nyx stared at his father in surprise. The lump in his throat would not go away. If anything, it was getting worse. He had to swallow heavily to be able to speak. “My whole life, I wanted to be just like you. I suppose knowing that my being born almost caused you and Mam to die made me feel guilty. It’s why, as Amren says, I never had a rebellious phase.”

Rhysand gave him a sharp glance. “Who told you that? About your birth?”

Nyx shook his head. “It’s been so long, I don’t even remember. It feels like I’ve always known. And it’s always been my great burden, to live up to the things that you and Mam did.”

“The other day…” Rhysand spoke slowly. “You said you knew I thought you were young and naive. That I thought you weren’t as strong as me.”

Nyx gave a short nod, though his heart panged at the memory.

“Do you truly believe that, son?” His father’s face was a bit broken with sadness. Stars were swirling in his eyes,

“Sometimes,” Nyx admitted. “Though I was mostly angry when I said it. I just wanted to be like you, Da.”

His voice broke at the familiar name. It had been a long while since he’d called his father that. Not since before he had gone to Illyria to train. His father’s eyes lined in silver at Nyx’s words.

His father laid a hand on his shoulder. “I never wanted you to be just like me, Nyx. I knew, from the first moment I held you in my arms, that you would be better than I ever was.” 

Nyx’s own eyes burned as his father pulled him close. 

“You have your mother’s eyes, Nyx, as much as you have her human heart.” Rhysand squeezed his shoulder. “You were our first great dream that ever came true.” 

He buried his head in his father’s shoulder, a little like a child and not like the grown male he was. But his arms were firmly clasped around Rhysand and they said nothing for a few moments. Words were not sufficient for what they felt, anyways.

“I’ve always been so damn proud of you. And I’m proud of the way that you treated Seren and handled the situation with Spring Court, even though you’ve always been taught that they were your enemy.” Rhysand squeezed him. “You’re a better male than I could ever hope to be, Nyx. Forgive me for being angry.”

“Of course,” Nyx said immediately. “You weren’t altogether unjustified. I shouldn’t have kept it from you as long as I did.”

They drew away from each other at last, though their hands remained clapped on each other’s shoulders. His father had always seemed so tall and broad but Nyx realized that he was broader than his father, now. Though of course not as large as Bran, or his Uncle Cassian.

“I know what it’s like to be swept up in a mating bond, son.” His father gave him a knowing glance. “I was wrong and I’m sorry. I love you, Nyx.”

Nyx’s eyes smarted again. “I love you too, Da.”

When Nyx pulled out of her mind, Seren was crying. Tears ran down her face unchecked and her pillow was wet with them. But Nyx was crying too, and even through their tears, they laughed at each other. 

“Your father loves you so much,” Seren managed to say. “He’s a good male.”

“The best one I know. Despite whatever he may say,” Nyx agreed, his tear stained cheeks gleaming in the moonlight.

His words only made Seren sob harder. Nyx pulled her against his chest, his hand reaching out to cup the back of her head and his other hand to trace down her spine. It soothed her, even as her memory of Rhysand’s words both broke and healed her heart.

“Oh, Nyx,” she choked. “What he said about my father…”

“I know, love,” he murmured. 

“I know he wasn’t good, not like how your father is…but I still loved him. Against everything else, he was still my father.” She took deep breaths, gulping back air. It was warm with the breath of their shared tears. “He was the male who made flower crowns with me in the meadow. He played his fiddle every year on my birthday. He kept me away from court to protect me. I did love him, Nyx, despite everything. I wish I could have told him.”

“I’m sure he knew.” Nyx pressed a kiss against her temple, his fingers still stroking softly against her spine. 

Seren sniffed, pressing her forehead against Nyx’s bronzed chest. “I spent almost my whole entire life feeling torn by the legacy he left. It’s why I never shifted. I was running from his blood that flowed in my veins.” 

“Both of us, growing up with the weight of our fathers’ legacies,” Nyx mused.

“Very different legacies,” Seren pointed out, her tears finally fading away. She took another deep breath. “Do you…you feel unworthy of your parents, Nyx?”

Nyx was quiet for a few heartbeats. “Yes. They did so much, gave so much of themselves. But knowing what my father thinks helps.”

Seren burrowed further into him, as close as she could get. She wanted to take Nyx in her heart, bury him deep in her bones, as she wanted to be buried within his. She wished it were possible. A wave of love for him, so strong, washed over. She squeezed him.

“You have all the best qualities of the people you love, Nyx,” she whispered. “You’re compassionate like your mother, and intelligent like your father. You dance like your Aunt Nesta and have the kindess of your Aunt Elain. You’re patient, like the shadowsinger, and brave like your Uncle Cassian. I feel so lucky for them to have made you. You may say that your father is the best male can think of, but I think that you are the best male I have ever known.”

Nyx bent his head to press a gentle kiss to her lips, before moving to her cheeks. “I wish I had known your father. I am glad to meet your mother, but I wish I had known Tamlin as you knew him, Seren.” 

Seren gave a shaky laugh. “I’m not sure that would have gone over well. I suppose we have to believe that everything happened as it was meant to.”

“I was always meant to find you,” Nyx swore. “We were always meant to be together, even long before our parents ever hated each other. It was always us.”

“Always,” Seren agreed and pressed a kiss to his chest, right over his heart. 

Seren was looking at him with a gleam in her green eyes the next evening. Her brown skin was flushed in the dying light of the sun. She was so lovely, amidst the trees and flowers. Nyx wanted to lay her out and taste her. 

It would be a great way to end the day, after hours spent inspecting the southern borders. His Uncle Azriel and Bran had accompanied his father, Talan, Seren, and him to the border. His Uncle Azriel had searched things out with his shadows and they brought back murmurings of an army, but little else. Talan and Bran had been at each other’s throats the whole time. But Nyx didn’t miss how closely they stood to one another and he was sure nobody else did, either.

His Uncle Cassian was going to have a time with that one. With him being allergic to Spring.

“What is it?” Nyx asked her.

“I have an idea,” Seren said. Then she stood on her toes and whispered it in his ears. 

Nyx drew back in shock before picking her up and crushing her to his chest. She laughed and Nyx cherished the sound, if only because he had heard the sound of her screams before and the sound of her sobs only last night. Her laugh was the most beautiful sound in the world.

“Yes,” he told her. “Let’s go meet your mother.”

They returned to the forest, a good ways away from the manor, after leaving instructions for Talan and Nyx’s father. Nyx was glad to get away to the forest. The Wood was quiet here, a bit of preternatural stillness to them. The trees were probably older than Prythian, Nyx thought. It was a wonder that Seren had grown up here. These woods had shaped her and made her, as loving as any parent’s hands.

Seren led her to her mother’s tree, where deep roots sprang from the ground. They were as large as Nyx was tall. He said nothing as Seren laid a palm against one of the tree’s roots. They were quiet for a few moments and then Nyx watched in amazement as a female shape materialized from inside the tree. 

“Mother,” Seren said, before stepping into the female’s outstretched arms.

Her hair and skin were a darker brown than Seren’s, the color of the bark of the tree that she had come from. Leaves were tangled in her hair and her eyes were brown, while Seren had her father’s green eyes. She was taller than her daughter. But Nyx could see the resemblance, in their slightly longer arched ears. In the way their slender bodies carried them with so much grace.

“Seren. You’re returned,” her mother breathed. They held each other for a moment longer, before they stepped away from each other. Then her gaze slid to Nyx’s and a smile came over her, that Nyx returned. “But not for long, I imagine.” 

“Mother, this is Nyx,” Seren introduced them. “My mate.”

Seren’s mother drew him into a hug. “It’s nice to meet you, Nyx.”

“Likewise,” Nyx chuckled, giving her a gentle squeeze. “I’ve heard much about you.”

“And I can’t wait to hear more of you,” the dryad replied. She studied him. “You’ve brought back a High Lord of Night, Seren.”

Nyx’s wings flared behind them and Seren’s mother watched him with keen eyes. She had been in the presence of a High Lord before. She seemed rather unbothered by it all and Nyx was impressed. It was easy to see where Seren learned her strength from.

“I’m just the heir. Not High Lord,” Nyx offered.

The female smiled. “But you will be some day.” She turned towards Seren, her palm cupping her daughter’s cheek. “Sit and tell me everything.” 

They sat in the shadow of the tree. Nyx spread his wings thinking Seren would want to sit close to her mother. Instead, she surprised him by coming to sit in between his legs. Though she still kept her hands closely entwined with her mother’s.

Slowly, Seren began to tell her mother of where she had gone, and the things she had seen and done. Some things were hard for Seren to speak about, like Pyria and the other performers. But his mate was strong and she kept speaking, even when Nyx knew she struggled.

When she asked her mother if she had received her message, the dryad nodded.

“The trees did tell me about you,” her mother revealed. “First the oak spirit, but then I began to hear others speak, as well. It was a comfort to know that you were taken care of.”

Seren’s shoulders dropped. “They told you of Nyx as well?”

“Yes.” Her mother smiled warmly. “I am happy for you, daughter. I think the bond between the two of you will bring peace between Spring and Night at last.”

“It hasn’t been easy,” Nyx admitted to her. “But I think things are looking up.”

“Nyx and I are helping Talan set things in motion for Spring. To get people to return here and cultivate the land again, so we can restore what was lost,” Seren said. 

“And what of Seren’s father, Nyx?” the female questioned him, her dark brown gaze like a skewer. “Have you made your peace with Tamlin? Will your family?”

“That hasn’t been easy, either,” Nyx said. “But neither of us are our fathers. We will make our own legacy and let the past be past.”

Seren’s mother gave a nod. “Tamlin would probably have not let things go so easily. But he loved you, Seren. I don’t know if he ever said as much, but he did.”

“I know, Mother,” Seren said, softly. “I wish things would have been different, but that is the way they were.”

“If things had been different, things might look different now,” the dryad admonished gently. 

Nyx tugged Seren closer. He liked the way things were now, with Seren in his arms in the Wood. He wouldn’t have it any other way. 

They said nothing for a while, content to be in each other’s presence. 

Seren broke the silence at last.

“Mother…” Seren hesitated. “You must know…I will live with Nyx, in the Night Court.”

“But we will visit often,” Nyx hastily added.

Seren’s mother gave a small shake of her head. “I always knew you were destined for more than these woods, Seren. Of course I knew this. Will you not invite your mother to stay with you in Velaris, every once in a while?”

“Of course!” Nyx could hear the happiness in Seren’s voice. “But there is one other thing we must tell you.”

“We’ve come to invite you to our mating ceremony,” Nyx said. “Tonight.” 

Seren’s mother gasped. “You must have it here. In the Wood, Seren. Under the stars.”

Seren turned her neck so she could look at him and they exchanged smiles. Her mother had just said all of what Seren had whispered to Nyx earlier, when they had returned to the Manor. What her dearest desires and dreams were. What Nyx had swore to make happen.

“That sounds perfect,” Seren said.

A little while later, Fae lights twinked in the nearby trees. Other dryads had come out of their trees, to celebrate with them. Nyx and Seren’s family had come, as well. Talan had brought a feast as instructed, while Rhysand had brought Feyre and the rest of the immediate family from the Night Court, as well as a priestess. Neither of them had objected to the plans that Nyx and Seren had informed them of earlier. Talan had only clapped him on the back, before saying he would gut him if anything ever happened to Seren. Nyx had only given him a pointed look.

Nyx watched as his mother took Seren aside, giving her a light blue dress. 

“Something simple,” Feyre told her. “Nyx said you would want that.”

“Thank you,” Seren murmured, before giving her a smile. Feyre drew her into an embrace.

“I am glad to be gaining another daughter,” the High Lady told her. 

“And I, another mother.”

Nyx hugged his mother tight, soon after.

Later, Seren’s own mother set a crown of oak leaves on both Seren’s head and Nyx’s own. Seren wore the simple, sleeveless blue dress, and Nyx wore a loose white shirt. Both of them were barefoot, as they stood amidst the roots of the tree that had brought Seren life. It was the holiest moment Nyx had ever partaken in.

Their family spread out underneath the tree boughs and watched as they exchanged their vows. Nyx’s parents stood behind him, while Seren’s mother and Talan stood behind her. The priestess bound their hands together and Nyx hardly remembered the words he spoke until the time came for him and Seren to swear their own oaths to each other. 

Seren had told Nyx she wanted a Night Court tattoo. The images that had filled Nyx’s mind at those words were probably not fit for discussion.

They agreed that the bargain didn’t have to be anything too intricate.

“Seren.” Nyx’s throat bobbed. “I promise to come every time you call, for as long as I draw breath. To defend you from any threat, if it be within my power.”

“Nyx.” Seren smiled at him, and though she could see the others out of the corner of her eyes, she kept her gaze fixed on her mate. “I swear to kiss you every morning and to give you a kiss every night, if it be within my power. I swear to laugh when you laugh and cry when you cry. ”

“Do you agree to these terms?” the priestess asked.

“I do,” they responded in unison,

“Then it is done,” the priestess responded.

Nyx had told her that tattoos often appeared in different places, though he wondered now where each of theirs would go. Nyx felt a tingle on the back of his neck and thought Seren’s must be in the same spot. Nyx’s eyes darkened as he beheld the beginning, or ending, of her tattoo. Seren glanced down. Nyx caught a glimpse of a swirl of dark markings, with a tangle of vines and leaves, crawling on top of her shoulder. Seren looked back at Nyx, but he knew she wouldn’t be able to see his just yet.

The priestess presented them with a small loaf of bread and Seren’s hands shook as she tore a piece off. She fed Nyx first. He held her gaze the whole time, as he chewed and swallowed. He felt Seren shiver. Whatever cord that was tied between them was pulling taut. When Nyx fed her, his own hands shook. It was like their souls had been roped into one at last, by a thousand little threads.

Everything overwhelmed him at once. Seren’s eyes, Seren’s smell. Not even their families looking on could dissuade him from the passion she felt all at once. Nyx prayed that he could disguise his scent enough so that he would not scandalize the whole family. 

When the priestess pronounced them mated, everyone cheered. Talan broke out the wine and some of the dryads brought out lyres and flutes to make a little dancing. Nyx danced with Seren’s mother, and then with his own. 

Feyre was looking at him with deep blue eyes. “You are so grown, Nyx.”

“I’ve been grown for a while,” Nyx remarked. “Thank you for noticing.”

His mother rolled her eyes but her hands tightened on his shoulders. “You were right to refuse us in the Summer Court, with Tarquin and Gwyn. We asked the wrong thing of you.”

Nyx shook his head. “You didn’t. I did meet my mate in Summer, just as you suggested, Mam. It just wasn’t the female you thought it would be.”

Feyre laughed. “I definitely would have never foreseen Tamlin’s daughter as your mate, Nyx. But she is better than anyone I ever thought of for you. Already, you have gained so much ground with this court and with Autumn. It will be rewarding to see what you can accomplish together, what I and your father had not.”

“What you and Da started,” Nyx corrected. “Seren and I will finish.”

His mother gave him a smile. The next dance, Seren was drawn away by Nyx’s father. Nyx smiled at the sight, to see Seren more at ease with him than she ever had been. He leaned back against a nearby tree, taking in his family. 

“Hiding?”

Nyx turned to see Les standing there, his footsteps as quiet as both of his parents. Elain and Azriel both had the skill set of sneaking around unannounced and so far, both of their children had inherited it. Nyx thought that baby Ivy would have the same ability.

“Just taking it all in,” Nyx told him.

Les nodded, sticking his hands in his pockets. Only a dagger was sheathed at his side. All of them had foregone armor for this occasion, although Nyx knew that everyone carried at least one weapon. With trouble brewing, it would be unwise to go completely unarmed. 

“I’m happy for you, brother,” Les said.

Nyx smiled and they turned to see Bran making his way towards them. He’d disappeared earlier, but there was no mistaking his broad shoulders now. He came to stand by them with his arms crossed. 

“I was wondering where you two had gone,” Bran blustered.

Nyx and Les exchanged a glance.

“Where we had gone?” Nyx said. “We‘ve literally been here, the whole time.”

“We’re not the ones who disappeared for a half hour,” Les pointed out. “Funny how I didn’t see Talan then, either.”

Bran’s jaw clenched. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re seeing things, Les.”

Nyx laughed as Les scoffed. He punched Bran softly in the arm.

“Why don’t you tell us what’s really going on?” Nyx prompted.

“It’s your mating celebration. I’ll tell you later,” Bran returned.

“You better,” Les threatened. “Or else I’m telling your da to get his allergy tonic ready for a spring wedding.”

Bran shoved Les with a hand to his face but all three of them dissolved in laughter. They stood closer together now, and though they were quiet for a rare moment, Nyx was glad to soak it all in with them. They were closer than brothers to him.

“Things are changing,” Les mused. “Very quickly it feels like.” 

“It feels like things are changing for the better. Even with the mess of the Nolan Estate,” Nyx said.

Bran ran a hand over his light beard. “Some things won’t ever change.”

Nyx and Les turned expectant gazes towards their cousin. Bran only shrugged.

“Things like this. We’ll always be family.” He sling his arms over each of their shoulders. “We’ll always have each other.”

“No matter what,” Nyx agreed.

A little while later, Bran said, “Go get your mate, Nyx. She keeps looking over here. I don’t even want to know what you two are thinking to each other.”

Nyx chuckled. They hadn’t been thinking much. Seren had been sending him mental images for the past hour of various things. Nyx had to practice extreme self control to keep his arousal to himself. They had been waiting for the perfect moment to slip away, and it seemed to have found them.

“Go.” Les tilted his head towards the darkened part of the Wood. “We’ll tell them later.”

Nyx nodded his thanks to his cousins, before prowling over to Seren, who had been inching her way towards him. Her green eyes glimmered in the Fae lights. 

“Come away with me,” she murmured to him.

Nyx could do nothing but follow her, as they slipped away from the crowd and out of the circle of the twinkling lights. The bond between them was pulled taut, like a thrumming in his blood. It took everything he had not to pick her up and carry her away. 

Seren must have felt the same need, because picked up her pace. She glanced at him every few moments.

Nyx smiled at her. He had a feeling there was something hungry on his face but she laughed. And then she was tugging him even faster as they split into a run. Everything else was a blur except for her. Nyx kept his gaze on her, even as he remained aware of their surroundings. 

They ended up in a small clearing, a bubbling brook nearby. The grass was soft and wildflowers dotted the clearing in bunches. 

Seren pushed him against a tree. Nyx reached for her but she darted out of his reach. The moonlight softened her curves, making her look even more delectable. Though maybe that was just the freshness of their mating bond. The sight of her set his veins on fire.

“When I lived here,” Seren told him, “We used to dance bare in these woods. Dryads have no need for clothes.”

Nyx saw it for the challenge that it was. He could only watch as Seren lifted her arms and slipped her dress over her head. Her undergarments came next. Nyx devoured the sight of her, the tautness of her stomach and the curves of her hips. The tips of her breasts formed little peaks and Nyx wanted more than anything to draw them into his hands and his mouth. The sight of her new tattoo peaking over her shoulder had him aching in his pants. 

He had been hard for her the second she’d grabbed his hand and led him away.

Nyx reached for her, but she danced out of the way. Nyx gave a playful growl, his wings flapping in protest behind him. Seren smiled at him, before lifting her arms above her head, slowly swaying to a beat that only she could hear. Nyx was reminded of the second night he had ever known her, when she had danced in the tavern. He was more captivated by her now than he could have ever known he would be then. Dancing at the tavern had been fast and light. This dance was heavy with the promise of what was to come. 

Seren swayed in slow movements, humming a soft tune, her hips undulating with the motion. She held his gaze as one hand lowered, smoothing down her body. Nyx’s eyes followed the path she traced.

Nyx had a feeling he was being seduced.

“Seren,” he groaned, helplessly palming himself through his trousers, desperate to ease the ache she had caused.

“Nyx,” she breathed back to him. 

He pushed himself from the tree, reaching for her. She eluded him once more. Her soft laugh was the only warning he had before she turned and ran. Nyx darted after her immediately.

“We ran like this, too,” she breathlessly confessed.

“Did anyone ever catch you?” 

“Never,” Seren taunted. 

She slipped under the brush, and around a low hanging limb. Nyx was quick on her heels, but he was amazed at how fast she moved through the Wood. Perhaps she had heightened abilities here, so close to the trees she had come from. Nyx wasn’t letting her escape, though. Nyx loved the chase, the thrill of catching her, as much as Seren loved to be caught. 

It was his turn. 

He reached out an arm, just as she made to dart around a tree. Nyx pulled her back to him, pressing the length of him against the crease of her ass. One hand reached out to palm her breasts while the other made its way to hold her throat. Seren’s breaths came in pants as she shook against him. It only heightened his arousal, to see her so bare, while he was fully clothed.

He stared at the tattoo that started at the base of her neck and ended on her shoulder blades. He pressed a kiss to it, sliding his mouth over the tops of her shoulders. He traced the swirls with his tongue, gently sucking on the skin until it formed patches of red. When he was satisfied with his markings, he moved up her neck until he could whisper in her ear.

“You’re mine now, Seren,” he growled. 

“I’ve always been yours,” she murmured. 

“You’re mine,” Nyx said again, “just as I am yours. That dance was just proof of your ownership of my soul.”

Nyx slid his hand down from the peaks of her breasts to the smoothness of her stomach, gently stroking her skin. He looked over her shoulder to see goosebumps break out, wherever he touched her. It drove him wild, almost as wild as the wetness he found when he cupped the center of her.

Seren threw her head back against him as she moaned. He drew one finger through her parted folds, loving the velvet heat of her. He loved everything about her. Nyx gently nipped at her shoulder as he slipped in his finger, his thumb pressing against the bundle of nerves.

Her thighs quivered around him. “Nyx, please.”

“Please, what?” he demanded. Nyx had to let out a  groan himself as he heard the sound of her slick on his fingers.  “Fuck, you feel so good, Seren. No one’s ever felt like this.”

“Please, please ,” she begged. “I need you inside me. I can’t wait anymore.”

Nyx withdrew his fingers and spun her around in his arms. Her cheeks were flushed as her chest heaved. Seren practically ripped off his shirt in her haste, which Nyx was fine with. He threw his shirt on the ground and unbuckled his trousers. And then he laid Seren down, on a soft bed of grass, where wildflowers bloomed nearby.

Seren ran her hands over his chest, stopping when she reached his new tattoo. It had been marked over his heart, which he thought was very fitting.

“It’s over your heart,” she said in amazement. 

“And yours is in the shape of wings,” Nyx returned.

“Perfect,” she murmured, as she leaned up to kiss his tattoo. Nyx could only brace himself on his hands as she kissed his chest and took his cock in her palm.

“Don’t,” he bit out. “I’ve been hard for hours. I won’t last.”

“Then take me,” Seren said. “Make me yours.”

Nyx bent down to kiss her chest, bringing her breast into his mouth as his other hand played with her other nipple. Seren gasped as he gave it a light nip, and then moaned as he sucked the pain away. Her hands slid into his hair and her thighs parted more fully around him.

Nyx kissed his way down her body, worshiping every inch. When he had taken his time, after Seren had come on his tongue, he slid into her in one slow stroke.

Nyx was shaking. Seren was moaning underneath him.

“I love you,” he blurted. He hadn’t meant for it to come out this way, in the middle of sex, but it was how it happened. He couldn’t take the words back and he didn’t want to. They were true. He loved her, as he’d loved nobody else before.

Her green eyes opened. Nyx no longer saw Tamlin in her eyes. He only saw her. His beautiful fortune. His mate.

“I love you, too,” she said and then Nyx began to move.

They made love on the soft earth that Seren loved and under the starry sky that she and Nyx had dreamed under, their whole lives, waiting for each other and not knowing it. When Nyx came, it was with her name on his lips and written on his soul. 

She was his and he was hers .

A branch snapping is what woke Seren, early next morning. Even though they had slept naked, she was perfectly warm, surrounded by Nyx’s heated frame. The male was practically a furnace. His bicep pillowed her head and his other arm wrapped securely around her middle. 

They had probably gotten two hours of sleep. The mating bond frenzy had spurred them on for hours. Seren understood now what it meant to be sleepless from a good lover. She’d never had sex so many consecutive times in her life. Nyx hadn’t either.

She smiled as she watched his eyelashes flutter. He was dreaming, but he deserved the rest. Nyx had been as generous and loving, as he had been predatory and powerful. Sometimes he had been fully in control, but then Seren would do something that drove him wild and he had lost it fully. She loved that. She loved that she had the power to bring a powerful male like Nyx to his knees.

Because he loved her.

The words had not come as a shock to Seren. They had simply been a confirmation of what they had both been feeling for a while. 

Seren nuzzled against his neck, pressing a kiss there. 

Everything had been perfect, like a dream. She wondered if all the times she had laid under trees, peering at the stars, had led her to this moment with him. It was a perfect cycle, an endless cycle, of hope and dreams.

Another branch snapped, which reminded Seren of why she had woken in the first place. She lifted her head, taking in the surroundings of the small clearing. It was early morning and the forest was still mostly dark.  It was silent, but for the sounds of the brook. And the rustle of leaves.

Seren sat up. She knew what a spirit of the forest sounded like.

She carefully withdrew from Nyx, who slept on. He had placed shields around them, from any with evil intent, so Seren didn’t feel any alarm. 

But she was curious, so she slipped on Nyx’s shirt, which fell to her thighs. 

The tree materialized fully in front of her. It was a small spirit, a lesser faerie of very small kind. “Help us, lady! We know of your power, you must help us.”

“Help who? What has happened?” Seren asked, brushing a hand down her shirt. She didn’t recognize this tree.

“Evil beings,” the tree said. “They cut us down.”

Seren gasped. “They’re cutting down trees?”

“No time to explain. Hurry, please, hurry.”

Seren glanced towards Nyx’s sleeping form and then back to the spirit, who hovered anxiously.

“My mate.” She hesitated.

“Leave now,” the spirit said. “I felt your power. You must help us.”

Seren took a breath and decided to follow the spirit and get word to Nyx when he woke up. She would sense it, she would be able to reach his mind. Nyx had abilities that spanned all of Prythian. And if something happened, he would come for her. He had sworn he would, always.

Seren nodded her acquiescence and the spirit grabbed her hand with knobby brown fingers. They dissolved into the wind, nothing but a flurry of leaves on the breeze. Time slowed and sped up. 

Seren was disoriented when they came back into being. The spirit lifted a finger over her mouth and then pointed over the bush of the forest.

Seren heard them first, the shouts and the clanging of metal. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight. They were men, not fae, and they were cutting into the trees.

Perhaps it had been some way to get past the old magical border?

Seren’s anger simmered deep within her. How dare these people harm the Wood? 

Seren drew herself up, her claws already unsheathing, when a hand covered her mouth. 

An unfamiliar scent washed over her.

“Hello, pretty faerie,” the man crooned.

It was all Seren needed to strike.