Chapter 12: Lie to Me
-Rhysand's POV

The tension in the room was suffocating as Morrigan quietly shut the door. Rhys could have sworn that the temperature had actually risen since she had entered. No one dared move an inch as Violet stared down the other female in the room. The high lord didn't think he had ever seen such unfiltered rage on his sister's face. He'd witnessed her mad plenty of times before. In fact, he was the cause of some of it, but this was something else entirely.

Her pupils were blown so wide that the black had almost taken over the purple hue of her eyes completely. Violet looked like a wild animal ready to rip apart her prey as her chest was rose and fell rapidly. A loud sob ripped its way out of Mor cutting through the silence which caused the princess to smile.

"It's about damn time you showed up." Violet's nails were digging into the blanket that was covering her. "Did you finally get sick of hiding from me?"

Mor took a deep breath. "I wasn't hiding. I just didn't know- I couldn't."

"You couldn't what?" Violet questioned. "You couldn't face me after what you did?"

The blonde tried to answer, but Cassian interrupted. "Hold on! Can we back up a second?" He looked towards the bed. "You and Eris are mates?"

"Yes, Cass." She nodded. "Eris is my mate."

"How did we not know about this Vi?" Rhysand asked.

"Because technically it hasn't snapped into place yet, but I know it's there. I started to suspect it the night we were together for the first time. Things just seemed different after that. It's like we were drawn together. I couldn't stay away from him no matter how I tried. I swear I thought I was losing my mind, and started to think I was imagining it at one point, but my death confirmed it later."

"How's that?"

"It's sort of hard to explain, but when I was on the other side, I always felt incomplete. It was like I had lost this huge piece of myself, and no matter how hard I looked I couldn't find it. I just felt this constant pull trying to lead me somewhere." Violet exhaled. "When I came back and was staying at the Day Court, the sensation got worse. It was almost unbearable. Like a constant itch I couldn't scratch. I didn't feel normal again until I saw Eris at the river house. That's when I knew for sure."

" 'Don't let your fire go out.' "

"What?"

"It's what Elain said when she had that vision about you. She was talking about Eris, wasn't she?"

"I think so."

"Ok, I believe you." Rhys nodded his head in contemplation. "I don't like it, but I believe you. It's time to deal with the other issue at hand." The high lord rotated in his chair. "Violet was poisoned at the ball Mor. We think whoever tried to kill her tonight may have been involved in her death the first time around. I don't know why they want her dead, but I intend to find out." His eyes hardened. "I'm only going to ask you this once, and I expect you not to lie to me." Morrigan nodded her head. "Did you tell anyone about Violet and Eris?"

"No, I swear."

"You're lying!" His sister cried out.

Mor rushed to the bed and knelt in front of her. "No! I promise I didn't speak about it to anyone. I wouldn't do that to you." She grabbed onto the other girl's hands. "I may not like Eris, but I love you, Vi. I didn't tell a soul. Not even after you died. I swore to you that I would never tell, and I didn't." Vi shook her head from side to side, but she didn't pull her hands away. "Please tell me you believe me."

"Then why didn't you come back after I came home?"

"Because I didn't think I could look you in the eye after our last conversation."

"That's why you stayed away all this time?"

"The last thing we did before you died was fight Vi." She shrugged a shoulder. "I was ashamed. I said some horrible things when you told me you were-"

"Stop!" Violet begged. "Please, don't. I can't talk about that. Not right now."

"Ok, I'm sorry." She backed off the bed. "So, you believe me?"

"I don't know. I think so." Violet rested her head back on the pillow. "But if it wasn't you, then we have a bigger problem. I only told two people, and if neither one of you said anything, then there is still somebody out there who knows. It had to be someone at the ball. I need to find them."

"We will Vi." Cassian promised. "We'll do whatever it takes."

A cacophony of footsteps suddenly sounded down the hall before the door ripped open violently. Everyone looked up to see Eris charging through the entryway. Cassian and Azriel immediately stood between him and the bed to prevent him from entering.

A murderous look flashed on Eris's face. "Get. Out. Of. My. Way."

Cass glanced behind the male's shoulder and saw Lucien looking guilty. "You told him? I asked you to go find Feyre and Nesta. Why is he here?"

"He deserved to know Cassian." The fireling responded quietly.

The Illyrian wasn't convinced. "What do you want to do Rhys?"

"Just let him in. He's not going to hurt her."

Eris smirked at the pair before pushing his way through and marching towards his mate. "I left you alone for ten minutes. What the hell happened?"

"I passed out downstairs." She explained. "Apparently, someone slipped something in my drink, and Thesan used his blood to counteract the poison."

"Who did this?"

"I don't know Eris."

"Then what's the last thing you remember?"

Violet grabbed her head trying to rack her brain. "I grabbed a drink from one of the caterers and started talking to Tamlin."

Eris ground his teeth together. "Where is Tamlin now?"

"It wasn't him. He called for me when she passed out." Rhysand reassured. "Tamlin was the one that carried her up here, and it was his idea to grab Thesan."

"What about the caterer Vi? Were they male or female?" Azriel questioned.

"He was definitely male. He had light hair I think?"

"Like Tamlin's?"

"No, it was more like Kallias's."

Eris ran a hand down his face. "Lucien told me he saw you talking to Beron. What did he say to you?" The female looked down at her lap. "Violet look at me." Her eyes shot up and locked with his. "What did my father say to you?"

"It doesn't matter."

"How can you sit there and tell me it doesn't matter?"

"Because it doesn't!"

"You almost died Violet!" Eris's voiced boomed. "Again!" He looked around and realized everyone's eyes were on him. "What the hell are all of you looking at?"

"They know, Eris." Vi responded.

"They know what?"

"They know. About us." She sighed. "They know everything."

"Great…" He replied sarcastically. "Just what I need."

To everyone's surprise, Violet reached out and laced her fingers with his. "I don't care about your father Eris. I said it doesn't matter because I really don't think he did it. Beron did what he always does which is made a bunch of idle threats and left. It wasn't a big deal."

Rhysand was watching his sister's mate closely, and he looked like he wanted to argue, but decided against it. Eris's whole demeanor seemed to shift. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm good." Violet yawned. "I'm just really tired."

"I imagine you don't want to sleep here after everything." Mor stated.

"No, I really don't." She attempted to get out of the bed, but her legs gave out. "I don't think I can walk yet."

Rhys could scarcely believe what he was seeing as Eris bent over and gathered up Violet gently in his arms. "Where do you want to go?"

"Can you take me to the cabin?"

"I don't think that's a good idea. My father is probably on high alert right now after everything that happened tonight. He's going to expect my brothers and I at the estate."

"Please Eris." She begged quietly. "I need to sleep, and I don't want to be alone right now. Bad things always happen when I'm alone."

The male's eyes softened. "Okay Princess. I don't know how, but we'll make it work." He headed for the door.

"Where are you taking her?" Azriel demanded.

"There's a small cottage on the Autumn Court boarder. I've been using it for centuries because it's not on any of our maps. My father doesn't even know it exists." Eris looked down at his mate who was already starting to drift off to sleep. "I'll bring her back to Velaris in the morning."

"Wait!" Violet called out trying to fight off sleep. "Is Helion still here?"

"I don't know." Cassian replied "I saw him earlier. Why?"

"I wanted to talk to him at the ball. He's been researching something for me, and his last letter mentioned that he finally found what he was looking for."

"What is it?"

Violet rested her head on Eris's chest and closed her eyes. "Helion thinks he found a way to get my wings back.

Authors Note: Ok guys, I ended up writing the small scene of Eris and Violet's first time. It's called Burn with Me! Check it out and let me know what you think! :)