Author's Note: Sorry for the slight delay ladies and gents! It's been a hectic couple of weeks. I'm hoping to get the next few chapters written fairly quickly as long as life doesn't get in the way. On a side note, I made a trailer of sorts for this story to add some visuals. It's uploaded on YouTube under the title "A Court of Smoke and Ash(A Fanmade ACOTAR Story) and my username is allieheathcoat2793. The actual link is in my bio. Hope you enjoy! Now back to the story! ;)

Chapter 16: Where the Wild Things Are
-Rhysand's POV

It had been three hours now.

Three damn hours and not a single word from Helion or Azriel. Helion had warned them that the ritual could take a while, but that didn't keep Rhysand from worrying any less.

The high lord squeezed his eyes shut in a poor attempt to banish the migraine that had taken residence in the back of his head. He prayed to the Cauldron this would end soon.

The howls and screams that came from the upper level of The Hewn City were indescribable to say the least. At one point, Violet had let out a roar that shook the entirety of the mountain.

Rhys actually wondered if she was going bring the whole thing crumbling down on top of them. He considered himself a patient being, but he was not sure how much more he could take.

Violet had yet to tell anyone the full events that took place the night she died. Although, the few memories she shared with Helion had even cracked his usually playful exterior. That wasn't an easy thing to accomplish. Whatever it was, it had to be bad.

Rhysand's thoughts drifted over to his sister's potential mate. If Cassian had agreed to take Mor's bet, she would have won undoubtably.

After the first of Violet's cries hit their ears, Eris raced to the stairs attempting to take them two at a time. He made it about halfway up before Cassian and Lucien dragged him back down kicking and screaming. When Lucien realized that he wasn't going to cooperate, he tackled his older brother sending them to the floor in a heap.

"This is just pathetic." Lucien turned the male onto his front placing one knee between his shoulder blades and the other on his right arm. "Have you no self-control?"

"Get off me you little prick!" Eris threw his left elbow back and clocked Lucien in the side of the face causing them both to roll onto their backs. Lucien recovered quickly and attempted to subdue his sibling again, but Eris was prepared this time and kicked him square in the chest before standing up. "What the hell are you doing?!"

The younger brother wiped the blood his cheek. "I promised Violet I would keep you downstairs with whatever means necessary. I know this is difficult Eris, but if you run up there, you're going to ruin everything."

"I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that you're taking her side over mine." He sneered. "Why should now be any different?"

"That's because you're an insufferable asshole, and I like her better than you." Lucien hopped to his feet. "She's definitely a hell of a lot more fun to look at." He smirked. "I mean, did you see her at the ball? She looked delicious enough to eat."

Rhysand could see something primal snap inside Eris as he charged at his brother hurtling them down to the ground again. Both of them were trading punches back and forth.

It was clear to everyone what Lucien was doing. Picking a fight with Eris was the only sure way to make him stay put until the spell was over. It wasn't a bad plan as long as they could keep it up.

Surprisingly, it took longer than Rhysand had expected for them to wear themselves out. The pair looked evenly beat to hell after going at it for hours. Eris may have gotten a few more shots in, but Lucien had succeeded in his task of keeping him downstairs.

Despite the various bumps and bruises, Eris actually looked more settled as a result. Violet's screams could still be heard from the bedroom. Although, they weren't nearly as frequent. Helion had to be getting close.

Rhysand was going to suggest the group move to the meeting room when a door opened upstairs, and Azriel barreled down the steps. "I need Eris!" His hands were coated in blood. "Now!"

The male wasted no time in running up the stairs after him. Cassian was right at his heels.

Before leaving, Rhys turned to his mate and kissed her forehead delicately asking her to stay downstairs with Lucien and Mor.

When he managed to catch up, he heard Cassian battering Azriel with questions. "What happened Az? Did the ritual work?"

"Yeah, I guess, but it didn't happen exactly like Helion said. Her wings didn't manifest. They ripped out of her damn back." Azriel raised his hands in the air. "There's fucking blood everywhere. It got so bad towards the end that she ripped the damn chains from the floor."

"How did she manage that? I thought we secured them."

"Well, she's obviously stronger than we anticipated. When the wings started to poke through, she shredded her back trying to get them out which caused the restraints to snap. Violet's awake now, but she hasn't said a word since she came to."

"Is she ok?" Eris demanded.

"I don't know."

"How do you not know?!"

"Violet won't let either of us near her to assess how bad the damage is and she's not talking." Azriel shook his head. "I don't know. There's something wrong." They made it to the top of the stairs and started down the long hallway. "I can't explain it. It's like she's stuck between her regular body and some kind of beast form. She's all fangs and claws, and her eyes are completely blacked out. Helion was hoping you can pull her out of wherever the hell she is."

Eris didn't hesitate to open the door when they arrived at Mor's bedroom, but nothing could have prepared them from what they saw on the other side of the threshold.

It looked like a damn massacre had occurred as the small space was completely demolished. In fact, Azriel might have been understating the amount of blood. It didn't look like there was a single clean spot that wasn't covered in dark crimson.

Helion was standing a safe distance away watching Violet pacing on the other side of the room. She wasn't talking or acknowledging anyone near her. Rhysand had never seen anything like it.

Az's brief description had been accurate. His sister appeared to be more beast than fae. She was just walking back and forth rapidly in a repeated pattern occasionally letting out small growls as she went. The high lord wondered if she could even sense them in the room when her steps suddenly halted.

Everyone stilled as Violet slowly raised her head up and breathed in deep through her nose. They all prepared for the worse to happen, but Rhys couldn't pinpoint what made her stop wandering in the first place. The question was immediately answered when her gaze flew to Eris.

The moment her obsidian eyes locked with his, the male gasped forcefully falling to his knees with a deafening thud as if the ground were ripped out from under him.

No one moved or made a sound.

They simply watched as Eris and Violet stared at one another.

The heady scent of desperation filled the room, but Rhysand couldn't be certain which one of them was causing it. He could only hear wood popping in the fireplace as the heat rose to an almost unbearable level.

Everyone with the exception of Azriel knew what was happening. They had all experienced it at one time or another.

"Now this is a result I was not anticipating. How interesting…" Helion hummed to himself.

"What is?" Azriel asked. "What the hell's going on?"

"Well, I could be wrong, but I believe their mating bond just clicked into place."

Rhys and Cassian both nodded begrudgingly in confirmation. Despite their initial disbelief, there was no doubt anymore that this was real.

Violet and Eris were mates.

As much as he wanted to be happy for his little sister, Rhysand could only feel the uncertainly eating away at him. Her having a mate made things exceedingly more complicated for both of them.

Someone out there was trying still to kill Violet, and this new revelation would only be used to hurt her in the long run. He knew they needed to manage this delicately. Yet, keeping them separated was going to be damn near impossible now.

Movement caught Rhys's eye as Violet leisurely walked towards Eris. Her head was faintly cocked to the side in a type of subtle recognition. It appeared the claws and teeth had entirely receded, but her eyes were still glistening black voids.

Eris still hadn't moved from the floor, so she placed a single finger under his chin and pushed upwards until he rose to his feet.

"What do we do Rhys?" Cassian whispered.

"Nothing." The high lord observed Violet who had begun prowling around her mate. "I don't want to do anything to set her off." This new primitive side of her seemed to be studying him. "Eris, you need to stay very still."

"Does it look like I'm moving?" He hissed through his teeth.

Out of possible curiosity, Violet brought her nails up and ran them across his Eris's back. The male's jaw tightened, but to his credit, he didn't attempt to touch her.

Seemingly satisfied with whatever she was searching for, Violet leaned forward and nuzzled her head into his chest. A pleased rumble sounded between them, and Rhysand briefly wondered if the beast buried under his sister's skin was capable of purring.

Eris took the acceptance as a signal to move and brought his mouth to down to rest against her ear. "I know you're still in there Princess." He murmured quietly. "I can feel you now scratching just under the surface." He wrapped a strong hand around her throat pulling her tighter against him. "Come back to me Violet."

The simple command appeared to awaken something because her eyes flicked to his in acknowledgement. She blinked once. Twice.

Then the blackness slowly bled out of her irises revealing the original purple underneath. "There you are." Eris purred laying his forehead on hers. "Can you hear me?" She nodded in an attempt to settle back into her body.

Rhysand understood his sister was going to require some time to recover, but he needed to know the extent of her injures before anything else.

"How do you feel?" He asked as gently as he could.

"I'm ok." Violet rolled her shoulders with a wince. "I think?" The blood shimmered on her skin as she moved.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, no trauma. I could definitely use a bath though. I'm all sticky." She scanned the remains of the room. "Gods… Did I do this?"

"You don't recall anything?"

"Not really. I remember feeling lost. Like I was somewhere I wasn't supposed to be." She stretched her wings out carefully assessing the newly added weight they produced. "Just when I thought I was stuck, I sensed the bond, and it led me back here." Violet looked up at Eris, but grimaced when she saw the state of his face. She turned to see Lucien had identical injures. "What the hell happened to you two?"

The fox shrugged a shoulder. "You told me to persuade him."

"You call that persuasion?" Eris retorted. "You sucker punched me in the damn ear!"

"And I happened to find it very persuasive." Lucien grinned wide making his brother glare back at him.

Violet shook her head at them both. "I can't leave you two morons alone for two seconds, can I?"

"Evidently not." Rhysand smiled. "Now that you're awake, we should get you home."

"No, I'm not ready to go to back yet."

"It's not up for debate." He could sense another headache forming. Why his sister felt it necessary to make an argument out of everything was beyond him. "You need to have your wounds looked at."

"In a bit, there's something I need to do first." She pulled away from Eris and walked towards the open balcony.

"Whatever you need to do can wait until tomorrow. You're bleeding all over the floor."

"Then I suppose you'll have to catch me first." She climbed up over the railing leaning against the side.

"Violet!" Rhysand could hear the panic in his voice. The knowing look on her face told him she did as well. "Don't you dare."

"You're 'it' big brother..." Violet turned giving him one last cunning smile before leaping off the balcony.

Rhys could only watch in disbelief as she glided into the distance. "Damn it!" Cassian and Helion were chuckling wildly behind him. "Why are you laughing? This isn't funny."

"The hell it's not!" Cass doubled over trying to catch his breath. "The second Violet found out she was mated to that prick, she jumped out the closest window and took off."

"Oh, fuck you." Eris responded quickly.

Cassian barked out another laugh. "What's the matter princeling? Did I strike a nerve?"

"Hardly…" He drawled in a bored tone. "I just wouldn't act so high and mighty if I were you. Word has it, the viper did something quite similar when she found herself shackled to a bastard-born mongrel."

Years of hostility and resentment rose to the surface thickening the air around them. This wasn't going to end well.

Helion must have had the same thought because he moved closer to the door after Eris stalked towards Cassian. "The difference between the two of us general, is I didn't have to spend literal months beforehand begging my mate to fuck me."

Whatever softness Violet had pulled from Eris after the mating bond snapped into place was nowhere to be found. Rhys questioned if he had imagined it entirely as the male persisted. "You know, it's a wonder your knees still work considering all the time you spent on them praying to Nesta for a pity fuck."

The insult landed precisely where it was meant to, but Cassian denied taking the bait. The only indication that he had even heard him was the gigantic wings flaring on both sides of his body. "Eris, you don't know a damn thing about Nesta, and I'm starting to think you understand Violet even less. She may be your mate, but I've known her a hell of a lot longer than you."

"Is that so?" His mouth curled upwards.

"Yes, it is." Cassian squared his shoulders refusing to be rattled. "I'm willing to bet everything I own that you're full of shit, because Violet would slit her own damn throat before begging on her knees."

"Oh you poor, simple brute…" Eris began circling the Illyrian. "You should hear the filthy things your innocent little princess has begged me for. It would blow the top off your thick fucking head." His eyes darkened at the thought. "I can assure you it goes a great deal farther than having her on her knees."

Before the last syllable rolled off Eris's tongue, Azriel's shadows exploded through the room catching them all off guard. He had been so silent up until now, Rhysand had actually forgotten he was still here.

The shadowsinger used the temporary shock to his advantage and rushed forward to pin Eris by his neck.

"It's about damn time." The future high lord choked out. "I was wondering when you'd step in."

Azriel jerked him forward abruptly slamming him back against the wall. The stones underneath cracked from sheer force. "I want to make something crystal fucking clear to you, because I couldn't care less if you're her mate or not."

The scars on his hand turned white due the tight hold he had on Eris's throat. "If you ever talk about Violet that way again…" His voice dropped to a lethal calm. "I will rip your arms from your body and beat you to death with them."

The warning was enough to make any ordinary fae male withdraw into themselves. However, Eris had always been far from ordinary. Instead of faltering from the threat, he stood unabashed reveling in the possibility.

"You know for a spymaster you are incredibly transparent. It really begs the question what angers you most." Eris sighed. "Are you honestly upset at the thought that Violet would bed someone you absolutely despise, or just the simple fact that I got there first."

"Is that what she told you?" Azriel loosened his hold leaning in until they were nose to nose. "That you got there first?"

The arrogance that normally resided on Eris's face faltered at the insinuation for a fraction of a second before his walls slammed back. A forced smirk appeared in its place. "You're lying…"

"Am I?" Azriel didn't waver. "What exactly do you plan to do if I'm not?"

Rhysand felt the tone shift as Eris's rage burned around them. If he truly viewed Azriel as a potential threat to his mate, then this needed to end before someone got injured. Or worse.

"That's enough!" A boom of the high lord's wings caused the balcony windows to shatter. The trio immediately separated turning their heads to see his dark power thrashing around him. "The longer you spend bickering like children, the further away Violet gets. We don't have time for your damn pissing contest!"

Azriel and Eris were standing apart now, but they were glaring daggers at one another. Helion was still standing by the door seemingly amused by all the fighting that occurred.

In reality, the only person who looked a tiny bit remorseful was Cassian who had tucked his wings in. "She'll be fine Rhys. Violet would haven't have even made it off the balcony if her body couldn't handle it. There's probably not nearly as much damage as we think."

"We don't know that for sure." His own wings drooped and brushed against the floor. "You can't expect me to just let her go."

"I never asked you to." He looked to Azriel who was already tapping the syphons on his hands. "Helion do us a favor and take everyone back to the river house. We'll meet you there as soon as we can."

"What exactly are you three going to be doing?"

"Giving Violet what she wants." Cassian grinned. "We're going catch her."