Chapter 2

Morrigan's actions irritated Nesta so much that by the time she reached the townhouse, her fuming caused her to tear the front door off its hinges trying to open it. As she tried to set it back into place, she heard a low chuckling behind her as a wave of starlight surrounded the door, pulled it from her hands, and reattached it. She turned around to Rhysand and Azriel standing in the front hallway, Rhysand smiling.

"You know, if you got out more, you'd get more used to your newfound strength."

Nesta flared her nostrils and walked past him. "You know, if you shut your mouth more, people might like you better."

"Oh, I don't know. Most people like me. And my mouth." Rhysand paused for dramatic effect as he followed Nesta, who was searching the rooms around the house. "Speaking of your sister–" This comment elicited the desired glare from Nesta. "–don't you want to know why we're here?"

Nesta twirled on her heels. "I don't particularly care why you're here, to be honest. Where's Morrigan?"

Rhysand raised his eyebrow and Azriel's eyes flashed at the tone in her voice. "She's upstairs with your sister. Can I help–" He cut off his sentence as she took off from the dining room up to her room.

Azriel shook his head. "You picked a great family to marry into, Rhys."

"Hey, I've got to keep eternal life interesting somehow. Besides–" Rhysand turned to Azriel with a sly smile. "–I doubt either of them will kill the other. Maybe slightly maul, but not kill." Azriel gave him a cold look, then sank into one of the dinner table chairs, sighing.

"Let's just get back to work, Rhys."

Nesta bounded up the steps of the staircase and strode into Elain's and her bedroom, startling the two women inside.

"Nesta!" Elain turned to her sister with a warm smile that quickly faded at the look in her eyes. After briefly exchanging glances between Nesta and Morrigan, she coughed and moved towards the door, squeezing past Nesta. "I think I'm going to go check on dinner. Let me know if I can help with anything else, Morrigan."

"Of course. Thank you, Elain." Morrigan kept her voice steady but fixed her eyes on Nesta, who had already shut the door after Elain and started approaching her slowly. "Nesta..."

"Do you know what kind of situation you put me in earlier?" Nesta's eyes glinted with rage as she studied Morrigan like a predator.

"You didn't have to walk to his house, Nesta. No one forced you to." Morrigan put her hands up and backed up a few steps towards the window, which shut behind her of its own accord. Her eyes widened but remained locked on Nesta.

"You didn't have to lie to me! You know as well as I do that I would not have gone in there if you hadn't told me he knew I was there." Nesta took a chance to try to tackle her, but Morrigan winnowed a few steps behind her, causing Nesta to slide into the far wall, before quickly scrambling back up. Nesta's eyes had turned a dark, unnatural shade and were glowing.

"Shit, Nesta...don't you realize the situation he's in? What was I supposed to do? He's so depressed – I didn't want him going into the amputation like that. Please understand what I was trying to do." Morrigan tried backing up and tripped backwards over a dresser door that slid open underneath her ankles. Nesta took this opportunity to pounce again before Morrigan had a chance to react, and both of them became enveloped completely in darkness.

"So what? My feelings are expendable for you to help him? Is that how you see Elain and me? We're just pawns to help you Fae achieve your own goals?"
Morrigan felt strong waves of darkness lash at her wildly, but with little accuracy. She was able to deflect them mentally, but the required focus kept her from being able to push Nesta off, who was still struggling to land a blow. "Nesta, you know that's not what I meant! What the hell is going on with you? As if you don't care what happens to him!"

"Shut up! Shu-" Morrigan felt the weight on her deaden and the attacks stopped. Nesta rose off her, and Morrigan's eyes were momentarily blinded as the darkness was lifted and they took in light again. Shielding her eyes to adjust them, she saw Azriel appearing by her side and Rhysand holding Nesta's body in front of her, still except for the movement of a shallow breath. Nesta had some splattered blood on her face, but overall, the girl looked okay outside of some torn clothing. She shrugged off Azriel's worried look and stared at Rhysand as she stood up and surveyed the room. Most of the room looked pristine still, but the floor was torched a pitch black where they had been fighting. Rhysand returned the floor to its normal state with a wave of his hand before returning her look.

"I knocked her unconscious mentally. I'm sorry, Morrigan – I didn't realize she had any powers when I told her where you were."

"It's fine. She doesn't seem to have any control of them, so I would have been able to fight her off until she exhausted herself." Morrigan brushed herself off and looked in the sisters' vanity mirror. Cauldron, she looked horrible. Her clothes and hair were messed up, and it looked like there was a large pool of blood in her hair. She touched the area on the back of her head and flinched at the pain. She must have hit her head on the floor. At least she knew the blood on Nesta was from her, not Nesta – Cassian would have been livid if she had actually hurt her. "Do you know what happened?"

"Not any more than you, Mor. However, I gave her a binding bracelet for now–" He gestured at the silver band on Nesta's left wrist. "–so when she wakes up, this won't happen again. I'll let her decide at that point what she wants to do for the future, whether she wants to learn to control the power or to keep it bound. In the meantime, get yourself cleaned up; we're going to be discussing Feyre's extraction plan at dinner in an hour." Morrigan's back straightened at the news, but she simply nodded and took one last glance at Feyre's sister before winnowing back to her apartment.

Cassian spread his wings on the roof of a building across the street from the townhome. He had intended to come here for dinner, expecting only to have to interact with Nesta and her younger sister, but he had heard Rhysand and Azriel inside before he tried to enter the house, and he had lost his steel. Instead, he had winnowed to this roof and spent the last several minutes fighting with himself over this situation he had placed himself in.

In his head, it sounded stupid avoiding the two guys he had spent the vast bulk of his years taming the Illyrian armies and Night Court with, but if there was anyone besides Nesta he regretted being in such a weak state around, it was those guys. His weakness brought the whole group down, and if his wings were amputated... It was one thing to try to present himself as okay around either them or Nesta, and quite another to have to act around all three, especially knowing how Rhysand would delight in tormenting him around her. He had turned around to climb down and go home when he heard a familiar voice.

"Retreating so soon? Hm. It's not like you to ditch a fight, Cassian." He retracted his wings and spun around to see Morrigan sitting on the roof near him.

"Retreating? No, what I'm doing is called tactical maneuvering. Why do you ask? Can't get enough of me as is?" He forced a smirk onto his face.

"Defense mechanisms aren't going to get you anywhere with me, Cass; I know you too well. Besides–" She looked at him with a knowing taunt. "–I see there's someone else in that department for you. Now come on, sit." She patted the spot next to her.

Cassian eyed her warily and walked over towards her, though he remained standing, facing the townhome. "You know that the second I walk in there, there's going to be questions, Mor. I just don't want the attention."

"Arrogant as always. You really think Rhys and Az showed up just to say hi to you? They're rarely in Velaris, let alone at dinner anymore because of the Spring Court situation, so it's a special occasion when they do. You'd know that if you left your house more often. Now sit." Her tone sharpened with annoyance.

He snorted in inconvenience, but he sat nonetheless. She had always been skilled at getting under his skin, and tonight was no exception. His eyes glazed as memories of Rhys, Az, and him fighting together in the mountains flashed through his mind. "What good am I to any of you without my wings, Mor? Seriously? Trying to help right now would only slow down the team when our High Lady needs us at full potential. It's better for me to be out of the way."

She turned to him in even stronger annoyance. "Excuse me, did losing your wings cause you to lose your mind? You captain the Night Court's armies and you're our lead strategist and yet you act like the loss of your wings removes your benefit to our Court? Even putting aside the question of you completely abandoning the protection of your mate–" He coughed in surprise at her knowledge. "–you can't seriously be considering abandoning the protection of your country over some selfish absorbency in self-hatred. What happened to the guy who slept with one of his best friends and put himself politically at risk just to try to protect her from her parents and the Autumn Court? What happened to the guy who swore a promise to Nesta to shield her and Elain?" His face twisted at her mention of his broken promise. "What happened to the guy who shielded Azriel from a possible death? Or maybe I've been wrong this whole time, and we lost our Cassian back in Hybern. I don't even know what to think of you anymore, to be honest." She raised her arms in frustration and stood up to leave.

"Mor, wait." She crossed her arms and turned back towards him.

"I have to help them get ready. We're discussing plans tonight to bring back our High Lady from the Spring Court." His eyes widened. "We could use our Captain there. If you want to try to prove me wrong, show up tonight. If not...well, let's just say that I'm hoping that's not even an option in your mind." She gave him a stern look as she disappeared into her winnow.

Her words had stung him badly, especially coming from her. Despite knowing him for less time than Rhys and Azriel, she probably knew him on a much deeper level. And if she was seeing this in him...it was probably true. All that resolve he had shown to himself in his apartment had dissipated the instant he had to actually confront his situation, and she was calling him out on it.

He turned to look at the Velarian skyline. If he could do anything to help his High Lady see this starlight again, he would do it. Morrigan knew that. Hell, he knew that. And he hoped Nesta knew that too. He winnowed to the front door and began the first fight on his personal battlefield.

"Mmm, it smells so good."

"No sampling, Rhys! We need to have enough for the dinner." Elain smacked Rhysand's arm as he reached for some of the food she had prepared.

"I'm the High Lord of the Night Court and I can't even get early dinner in my own house," he pouted.

"Well, you're not the High Lord of this kitchen!"

"Technically..." Rhys gave up at her look. He had asked Elain to prepare this strategy dinner, and now he had to live with the consequences. A bit of silence passed between them before she spoke in a quieter, concerned voice.

"How is she doing?"

"Still resting." Rhys didn't have to ask who she meant. "She wore herself out quite a bit earlier. It's always overpowering the first time someone uses their Fae powers. Unfortunately for her, it's usually when someone is in their early childhood, not early adulthood. Once she's rested more, if she wants to go that path, we will help her learn to control her powers."

Elain nodded as she stirred the dinner stew. "I'll help convince her to."

Rhysand grimaced. "Elain, I doubt she'll want to. You see how she is around Fae, let alone having Fae powers herself."

"Well, you don't know my sister." Elain's response came sharper than Rhys expected from her and caught him off-guard. "She has rough edges, and she doesn't like new people or new things. She's hard to deal with sometimes, and yes, she can be very rude. But..." Elain stopped stirring while contemplating. "She will go to any end of this world, do anything to protect what matters to her. She will learn to control these powers if it helps her protect her family better. Just let me talk to her first." She eyed him during the last line, then went back to stirring the stew.

Hmph. Maybe Feyre's sisters weren't so different from her after all. Speaking of...he tugged gently on his mating bond to let his High Lady know his thoughts were on her. She sent back a decidedly more lewd message, and he smiled. He was going to have to…

Morrigan winnowed into the kitchen between him and Elain, sending him jumping back in shock. Concerned vibes came down the mating bond, and he sent back reassurances of his safety. Morrigan whispered inaudibly to Elain, who went running off.

"Morrigan, have you heard of the front door? You scared the crap out of me. And now you seem to have scared off our cook as well."

"Oh, relax. All good reasons, I assure you." She looked around. "Where's Azriel? Is he not coming?"

"I sent him to get Cassian from his apartment; he really should be here for this." Morrigan hung her head in response. "Oh, and thanks, by the way." Rhys grabbed a spoonful of stew and downed it before Mor could catch him and returned to the dining room to await Azriel and Cassian.

"N-st-esta-NESTA!"

Nesta jumped up in bed and spun to confront her...sister, who was pushing her in bed. She groaned; her head was killing her, and she felt exhausted. "Not now, Elain. Let me sleep." She turned over, laid back down and started drifting off again, only to feel Elain crawl closer to her and exhaled in exasperation. "Seriously, Elain..."

"Cassian's here."

Nesta's eyes shot open, but she didn't move. "What do I care?" she said in as dull a tone as she could muster.

"I don't care what you choose to tell others, including Cassian, but I'm your sister, and I saw how you acted in the days following all three of his visits, so don't waste your time trying to convince me. Now get up." Elain shook Nesta a bit more until Nesta flipped back over.

"Elain, I feel like a trainwreck. Even if I was interested in Cassian–and I'm not–" She glared at her sister. "–it would do no good for me to go downstairs feeling like this. What even happened? I don't remember much after I got home."

Elain relayed the events earlier with Morrigan as well as Rhysand's offer, the binding bracelet, and the upcoming dinner, and Nesta slanted her eyes in irritation.

"Why? Why is it always me? Why can't you or Feyre, someone who is actually okay with their Fae body, be the one who gets these powers?"

"Well...technically Feyre does have–"

"Not my point, Elain..." Nesta got out of bed and headed to the window, throwing it open. "FIND ANOTHER GIRL TO MESS WITH!" she shouted out the window at the top of her lungs before Elain ran over and shut the window hastily.

"Nesta, you're going to bother the neighbors! It's rude!" Nesta steamed, but she walked away from the window. "Besides, Cassian is going to be here, and you need to start getting ready."

Nesta hung her shoulders in resignation and sat on the bed. She could see Elain wasn't going to let this go, and so she decided to just go along with the night. "I'm not wearing Feyre's clothes to this stupid dinner." Elain's eyes lit up as she ran to the closet and threw it open. "And just so we're clear, the only reason I'm going to this dinner is because I want to be part of the team to rescue Feyre."

"Sure!" Elain was rummaging through items in the back of her closet: Rhysand had given her and Nesta a budget for some new clothes due to their new bodies, but she hadn't wanted to have to interact with the shopkeepers, so she largely kept to some simple outfits that reminded her the least of Prythian that Morrigan had quietly offered her when they first came to Velaris. "What about this?" Nesta caught the dress thrown at her.

"Elain, I'm not going to be able to fit into any of your clothes."

"They're not mine; they're yours!"

Nesta blinked at Elain and looked down at the dress, sizing it up against herself. Indeed, it was fit for her. "But I never..."

Elain turned back from searching the closet and smiled. "I know. Rhysand gave me way more money than I could ever spend on myself, so I thought I'd get you a few things for if you changed your mind."

Nesta stood up. "How many things is 'a few things?'"

Elain blushed and grinned. "Half this closet?"

Nesta sighed. Elain was far too generous for her own good. And thankfully, she was also much more tasteful in her clothing choices than Feyre. So for the sake of going along to get along, and maybe, just maybe a bit more personal reasons she wouldn't admit, Nesta gave in and sat down next to Elain.

"Listen, all of you could have solved this issue by just setting this up prior," Cassian opined as Azriel and Morrigan argued about the means of his arrival.

"Shut up, Cassian. You weren't the one spending the last hour searching the city for you." Azriel glared at him.

"Well maybe if you or Rhys had told me that you were getting him, I would've saved you the trouble!" Morrigan countered, sparking a new round of argument between the two of them.

"Well, this conversation, for one, is making me glad I came back for dinner tonight. I can only hope the strategizing is this much fun."

"Shut up Cassian," Morrigan and Azriel said in unison as Rhysand shook his head in the background.

"Ugh, you guys are unbear–" Cassian's words were cut off suddenly as Elain ran behind him, yelling behind her.

"Sorry, sorry! I'll have dinner placed shortly, Rhys!"

"No problem, Elain! You're still more punctual than Cassian. He was supposed to be here about a month ago." Morrigan snorted despite herself at Rhys's line, and Cassian turned towards him.

"The only reason I'm not hitting you for that is because you made Az smile for the first time in about twenty years." And just like that, the group was back. Tonight's worrying, the month's worrying had been about nothing. "Alright, let's get to work getting our High Lady back."

"I second that motion!" Rhys moved towards the table, where some schematics and blueprints were laid out in front of his and Amren's seats, and he motioned for the rest of the group to join.

"I hope you guys weren't planning on starting without me?"

Cassian looked up the stairs at the incoming voice and stopped in his tracks at the sight of Nesta coming down to dinner. She was wearing a black dress, tightly fit at the waist with a silver and black belt that complemented the silver binding bracelet on her wrist and the black decorative gloves on her slender hands. She looked every bit Night Court as she did Nesta, wearing her power and confidence outwardly like a sleeve. A few steps from the bottom of the stairs, she looked straight into his eyes with sparks in hers, following his eyes as she passed him, challenging him.

"Uhh...Cassiannnnnnnnnn. You kinda need to be at the table for this to work."

He swiveled his head to give an irritated look to Morrigan, who simply gave a mischievous look back and motioned for him to sit down. As he sat down across from Rhys, though, Nesta sat down next to him, and he realized that he might just like these strategy dinners even more than usual.