A Court of Innocents

14: Discovery

I was silent for a half a beat.

"I don't know what you're—"

"Save the lies," he spat, his face cold, those eyes void of any kindness. "You almost killed me last night. Me —the person you spent the first century of your life protecting, no matter the cost to you. You almost killed me because I threw a punch!"

I opened my mouth to speak, but he went on before I could get a word out.

"I would be dead right now if he hadn't stepped in. If anyone else had told you to stop, I doubt you would've listened. But because he asked, you listened." He scoffed, more at himself then at me. "I should've figured it out sooner. The reason you didn't kill him at that meeting—that was when you felt the bond, wasn't it? You didn't stop because you realized it would be a bad political move. You did it because he's your mate, and the mere thought of harming him—"

I winced involuntarily, proving his point.

"Was that the reason you volunteered to come here with me? Because you wanted—no, you needed to be close to him? And the reason you agreed to be his Second—it's only because you couldn't say no to your mate."

I finally found my voice. "He's my mate, yes, but that doesn't mean every choice I make is for him, to please him. The bond doesn't take away my free will, Luc. I volunteered to come here because I knew only you and I could possibly get through to him, after all those years we spent growing up with him. Being close to him... it was just an added benefit. And I agreed to be his Second because this court deserves to be whole again and he can't do that on his own."

I suddenly recalled Rhysand's words from last night—Lucien won't be staying in Spring. He was going to turn down Tamlin's request of being Emissary of the Spring Court. He was going to return to the Night Court, return to Elain.

"When were you going to tell me?" he asked again. Beauty switched from foot to foot beneath him.

I swallowed. "When I'd... come to terms with it."

Realization struck him. "You don't want him to be your...?" And then he answered his own question. "Oh. Azriel."

I stared at the woods around us, noting how the morning sunlight caught between the leaves and branches.

"You wanted Azriel to be your mate," Lucien clarified.

Again, I said nothing.

"You don't have to choose him, you know. Just because the universe decided he was your mate... you don't have to listen to that. You can come back to the Night Court." You can choose to be with Azriel, he didn't have to say. "You're not stuck here, Yara."

"I'm needed here," was all I could say.

Lucien sighed, clearly not liking my answer but allowing us to move on. "We need to discuss what happened last night."

I raised an eyebrow as I looked back at him. "I thought we already had." Beneath me, Vernon huffed, sounding uneasy. I ran a hand down his mane, trying to soothe him.

"The part about your powers," he clarified.

Oh. He meant the powers that only Lucien and his brothers had. The powers that I had somehow inherited a fraction of. "What about it?"

"I don't know how you have them," he said, "or why I'm just now learning about it, but that's besides the point. Yara, you need to listen to me: you can't use them."

"Why?"

"Using your power... it's like sending a tracking beacon to our family. They'll know exactly where you are the moment you use those powers."