A Court of Death and Retribution

chapter 18

My eyes fluttered open, slowly adjusting to my surroundings. I was in my room, and the midnight moon casted a soft glow into the room. A small headache reminded me of the void—of my conversation with the Dark Mother.

I looked around my room to find Nyx sleeping in a chair in the corner. I smiled slightly watching his chest rise and fall slowly. The moon illuminated his features in the most flattering way. His eyes looked impossibly blue, they threatened to capture me whole.

His eyes.

He's awake.

"How are you feeling?" Nyx stretched before standing and walking over to me, sitting on the side of my bed.

"I'm okay." My eyes widened when my voice came out raspy.

"You were screaming... a lot." Nyx's eyes looked to his lap with a saddened expression.

I remember feeling myself scream. I wasn't in pain, or at least I thought I wasn't.

"Did it work?" I cleared my throat, but it did nothing to fix the rasp.

Nyx nodded. "Your hand was cut and you moved it to bleed over a place in the Illyrian Mountains. Somewhere miles away from any sort of camp. Azriel should have an update from his spies soon."

My stomach dropped, even though it probably means nothing. My father's cabin had been miles away from any camp, but it was definitely just a coincidence.

"I should probably update everyone. I—Nyx, I spoke with the Dark Mother." I sat up in bed and threw my legs over the side.

Nyx's face paled. "Let's go."

He took my hand and led us through the house until we were in a sitting room, where Feyre, Rhysand, Adira, Maeve, Cassian, Nesta, and Azriel were. Their conversation stopped as soon as we entered, and Feyre stood and gestured for me to sit in her seat. I took it with a smile and chuckled as everyone's face was filled with worry.

It felt nice to be worried over.

"You all have such little faith in me. I'm alive, stop looking at me like I'm not supposed to be." Everyone relaxed at my words, but I knew what I was about to tell them would cause them to be tense again. I cleared my throat even though it did nothing to alleviate the scratchy sound, then told them everything the Dark Mother said as best as I could remember.

"She's awfully confident." Cassian scoffed.

"Why would she call you the Dark Daughter?" Maeve asked.

I shrugged. "Maybe that's what she calls the members of the Coven."

Azriel shook his head. "They call themselves the Sisters of the Dark Mother—together they're equal to her power."

Feyre placed a hand on my shoulder from where she sat on the armrest next to me. "Is there a chance that she meant that literally?"

I shot Feyre a confused look. "No."

"Are you sure?" Rhysand narrowed his eyes at me.

Now I was starting to get irritated. "Positive."

"How can you be positive about that?" Cassian chimed in.

"Because I look exactly like my mother." I grumbled, and it was true. I grew up to look almost exactly like her. The only small difference is that my nose is slightly smaller than hers.

Everyone seemed to think for a moment, but Rhysand spoke up. "Continue telling us what your spies found."

Azriel sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Like I said earlier, there were only a couple Witches roaming about, but it seemed like they stayed in a cabin deep in the woods East of the nearest camp."