But Amarantha rolled her eyes and slouched in her throne. "Shatter him, Rhysand." She flicked a hand at the High Lord of the Summer Court. "You may do what you want with the body afterward."The High Lord of the Summer Court bowed— as if he'd been given a gift— and looked to his subject, who had gone still and calm on the floor, hugging his knees. The male faerie was ready— relieved. Rhys slipped a hand out of his pocket, and it dangled at his side. I could have sworn phantom talons flickered there as his fingers curled slightly."I'm growing bored, Rhysand," Amarantha said with a sigh, again fiddling with that bone. She hadn't looked at me once, too focused on her current prey. Rhysand's fingers curled into a fist. The faerie male's eyes went wide— then glazed as he slumped to the side in the puddle of his own waste. Blood leaked from his nose, from his ears, pooling on the floor. That fast— that easily, that irrevocably he was dead."I said shatter his mind, not his brain," Amarantha snapped. The crowd murmured around me, stirring. I wanted nothing more than to fade back into it— to crawl back into my cell and burn this from my mind. Tamlin hadn't flinched— not a muscle. What horrors had he witnessed in his long life if this hadn't broken that distant expression, that control? Rhysand shrugged, his hand sliding back into his pocket. "Apologies, my queen." He turned away without being dismissed, and didn't look at me as he strode for the back of the throne room. I fell into step beside him, reining in my trembling, trying not to think about the body sprawled behind us, or about Clare— still nailed to the wall. The crowd stayed far, far back as we walked through it. "Whore," some of them softly hissed at him, out of her earshot; "Amarantha's whore." But many offered tentative, appreciative smiles and words— —Good that you killed him; good that you killed the traitor.

If she captured Tamlin's power once, who's to say she can't do it again?— It was the question I hadn't yet dared voice."He won't be tricked again so easily," he said, staring up at the ceiling. "Her biggest weapon is that she keeps our powers contained. But she can't access them, not wholly" though she can control us through them. It's why I've never been able to shatter her mind— why she's not dead already. The moment you break Amarantha's curse, Tamlin's wrath will be so great that no force in the world will keep him from splattering her on the walls."A chill went through me."Why do you think I'm doing this?— He waved a hand to me."Because you're a monster."He laughed. "True, but I'm also a pragmatist. Working Tamlin into a senseless fury is the best weapon we have against her. Seeing you enter into a fool's bargain with Amarantha was one thing, but when Tamlin saw my tattoo on your arm Oh, you should have been born with my abilities, if only to have felt the rage that seeped from him."I didn't want to think much about his abilities. "Who's to say he won't splatter you as well?""Perhaps he'll try" but I have a feeling he'll kill Amarantha first. That's what it all boils down to, anyway: even your servitude to me can be blamed on her. So he'll kill her tomorrow, and I'll be free before he can start a fight with me that will reduce our once-sacred mountain to rubble.— He picked at his nails. "And I have a few other cards to play."I lifted my brows in silent question."Feyre, for Cauldron's sake. I drug you, but you don't wonder why I never touch you beyond your waist or arms?"Until tonight— until that damned kiss. I gritted my teeth, but even as my anger rose, a picture cleared."It's the only claim I have to innocence," he said, —the only thing that will make Tamlin think twice before entering into a battle with me that would cause a catastrophic loss of innocent life. It's the only way I can convince him I was on your side. Believe me, I would have liked nothing more than to enjoy you— but there are bigger things at stake than taking a human woman to my bed."I knew, but I still asked, "Like what?—"Like my territory," he said, and his eyes held a far-off look that I hadn't yet seen. "Like my remaining people, enslaved to a tyrant queen who can end their lives with a single word. Surely Tamlin expressed similar sentiments to you." He hadn't— not entirely. He hadn't been able to, thanks to the curse."Why did Amarantha target you?" I dared ask. "Why make you her whore?""Beyond the obvious?" He gestured to his perfect face. When I didn't smile, he loosed a breath. "My father killed Tamlin's father" and his brothers."I started. Tamlin had never said" never told me the Night Court was responsible for that."It's a long story, and I don't feel like getting into it, but let's just say that when she stole our lands out from under us, Amarantha decided that she especially wanted to punish the son of her friend's murderer" decided that she hated me enough for my father's deeds that I was to suffer."I might have reached a hand toward him, might have offered my apologies" but every thought had dried up in my head. What Amarantha had done to him —So,— he said wearily, —here we are, with the fate of our immortal world in the hands of an illiterate human.

His lips were smooth against my skin, his breath warm, and my knees buckled as he lifted my other hand to his mouth and kissed it, too. Kissed it carefully - in a way that made heat begin pounding in my core, between my legs.

What?"Lucien laughed. "Yes— all those female faeries around you were females for Tamlin to pick. It's an honor to be chosen, but it's his instincts that select her.—"But you were there" and other male faeries.— My face burned so hot that I began sweating. That was why those three horrible faeries had been there— and they'd thought that just by my presence, I was happy to comply with their plans."Ah." Lucien chuckled. "Well, Tam's not the only one who gets to perform the rite tonight. Once he makes his choice, we're free to mingle. Though it's not the Great Rite, our own dalliances tonight will help the land, too." He shrugged off that invisible hand a second time, and his eyes fell upon the hills. "You're lucky I found you when I did, though," he said. "Because he would have smelled you, and claimed you, but it wouldn't have been Tamlin who brought you into that cave." His eyes met mine, and a chill went over me. —And I don't think you would have liked it. Tonight is not for lovemaking.

Why does anything cling to something? Maybe they love wherever they're going so much that it's worth it. Maybe they'll keep coming back, until there's only one star left. Maybe that one star will make the trip forever, out of the hope that someday— if it keeps coming back often enough— another star will find it again.

Rhysand stared at me for long enough that I faced him.Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who don't feel anything at all.

I'm thinking it would be very easy to love you. And easier to call you my friend.

Females and males watched Rhysand throughout the hall— and the shadowsinger and I made a game of betting on who, exactly, would work up the nerve to invite the High Lord home.

A snap of Rhys's fingers, and my nightclothes— and some flimsy underthings— appeared on the bed. "I couldn't decide which scrap of lace I wanted you to wear, so I brought you a few to choose from." "Pig," I barked

Would you like me to grovel with gratitude for bringing me here, High Lord?Ah. The Suriel told you nothing important, did it?That smile of his sparked something bold in my chest. He also said that you liked being brushed, and if I'm a clever girl, I might train you with treats.Tamlin tipped his head to the sky and roared with laughter. Despite myself, I let out a quiet laugh. I might die of surprise, Lucien said behind me. You made a joke, Feyre.I turned to look at him with a cool smile. You don't want to know what the Suriel said about you. I flicked my brows up, and Lucien lifted his hands in defeat.I'd pay good money to hear what the Suriel thinks of Lucien, Tamlin said.A cork popped, followed by the sounds of Lucien chugging the bottle's contents and chuckling with a muttered, Brushed.

I see all of you, Rhys. And there is not one part that I do not love with everything I am.

I was as unburdened as a piece of dandelion fluff, and he was the wind that stirred me about the world.

If you were going to die, I was going to die with you. I couldn't stop thinking it over and over as you screamed, as I tried to kill her: you were my mate my mate my mate.

So I'm your huntress and thief?— His hands slid down to cup the backs of my knees as he said with a roguish grin, —You are my salvation, Feyre.