A Court of Night and Shadows

Chapter 14

He made a spectacle of my exit, swinging the door open without moving a muscle to reveal the two guards who'd dragged me here. Rhysand waved a lazy hand at them from where he stood, far from where I now stood in the large bedroom. "She accomplished her task. Take her back."

They grabbed for me, but he bared his teeth in a smile that was anything but friendly - and they halted. "No more household chores, no more tasks," he said, his voice an erotic caress. Their yellow eyes went glazed and dull, their sharp teeth gleaming as their mouths slackened. "Tell the others, too. Stay out of her cell, and don't touch her. If you do, you're to take your own daggers and gut yourselves. Feyre is mine, now. Understood?"

Dazed, numb nods, then the blinked and straightened. I hid my trembling as my mate wielded his magic before me for the first time. Mind control. Apparently powerful mind control, even in his reduced state Under the Mountain, since they beckoned for me, but did not dare touch me.

Rhysand smiled at me. "See you at dinner, Feyre, darling," he purred as I walked out.

I nearly grabbed for one of the guards when we reached my cell and there was already someone inside. They stood at my back, idly watching the hallway as I walked through the iron door. I didn't move far from the door, choosing to stick to the farthest position I could find form the stranger. Had the guards not seen the blonde woman? How could they miss her?

She stood with a regal grace I could never have copied, her blonde hair crashing down her shoulders like golden waves. She commanded the tiny cell as if it were a great hall filled with guests and party goers. An unpleasant party, judging from the sneer on her gorgeous face.

They wouldn't have doubled me up in this cell. There was only one sleeping mat and no way two could fit on it. Besides - who wanted to be locked in a room this small with a potential criminal?

The iron door slammed behind me and we were alone.

I watched her like a caged animal. The door at my back, I checked the miniscule space for any element that could help me if she'd come to assassinate me.

"So," she said, her voice delicate and soft. "You are Feyre."

I didn't let my face reveal a thing, instead I pressed my back against the door praying the guards would hear her unfamiliar voice and slide my exit wide open.

"A human girl, mate to the most powerful High Lord in the history of this continent."

My heart was pounding in my ears and I felt in my chest for the bond to reach out for Rhysand. He needed to flee if we'd been found out. If Amarantha knew...

She could already have him.

Anger bubbled in me and the amulet answered, coming to life with is magical heat.

"Relax," she said. "I'm not here to kill you."

I clenched my jaw, considering. Even if she wasn't here to kill me, she didn't exactly seem harmless. But if she wasn't a foe and knew of our bond... "Are you..." I trailed off, unwilling to expose the name of one of Rhysand's beloved.

"I am Mor," the High Fae before me replied. "I'm here to check on your progress."

"My progress?" I asked.

"You're rescuing Rhysand, correct? At least that's what Azriel told us after Rhys let him out of the carriage where you abandoned him in the Spring Court."

Mor - this was Mor. Rhysand's cousins. They looked nothing alike, except maybe for the fact they were undoubtedly the two most beautiful beings I'd ever laid eyes on.