Chapter 260

Elain paced back and forth in the tiny kitchen of Rhys' cabin. Cassian had lifted himself to sit on the kitchen table, his wings tucked tightly in behind him while Feyre chewed her bottom lip, leaning against the doorframe. Lucien stood near to Elain, reaching a hand out to catch her wrist as she passed, and she allowed him to draw her into himself, one of his strong arms coming around her waist as he held her firmly. Unable to continue her pacing, Elain's eyes swept the room instead. She glanced at Nesta, standing by the sink, a thoughtful expression on her sister's beautiful face. Elain understood that after what she had just told everyone.

"And you have no way to know if that dream was a true vision or not?" Azriel asked, seated in one of the chairs at the kitchen table. Elain shook her head, wishing that she could offer something more helpful than that. Lucien's arm tightened around her waist, and she pressed back into him, thankful for the comfort of his warmth and firm chest at her back.

"No… I only know what I saw." She said, feeling heat flush her cheeks. "I think it was today… and those Illyrians attacked. There were a lot of them. More than I thought they had. They went right through the camp as if it were nothing, and they had no problem with the rest of you."

Cassian exchanged a look with Azriel that Elain couldn't read, and she turned her head to look up at Lucien. He met her eyes for a moment before returning his gaze to their friends. "Whether Elain can say for certain or not…" her mate said, "We should take this seriously. We need to act as if it is a vision, because if we do nothing and it turns out to be true, we will regret it."

"He's right." Nesta said, resting her hip against the bench. "Elain has these visions for a reason. That reason is to warn us of things like this."

"Certainly." Cassian said, tilting his head back to look at Nesta. "The only question is as to what we plan to do about it."

Elain wanted to leave. That was all her brain kept telling her. She wanted to get her sisters and her mate out of this place, because she was definitely unwilling to witness them die as she had in that dream. If they were not here, then it would not happen. She knew that Cassian and the others were not going to leave, however, because then those who lived here would have no protection at all from what was to come. Elain knew that staying was the right thing to do, as they had to help as many as they could. That didn't mean that she didn't still want to run away, though.

Lucien lifted one of his arms, wrapping it around Elain's chest from behind, and an instant later she felt his lips against her cheek. She knew that he was aware of what she was thinking, and she released a heavy sigh. Lucien wouldn't judge her for it, and Elain was thankful for that.

"What are you thinking?" Feyre asked, and Elain panicked for an instant. She had thought that her younger sister was directing her question her way but, when she looked at Feyre, those pale eyes were focused entirely upon Cassian. The Illyrian turned his head toward his High Lady, his expression probably more serious than Elain had ever seen him.

"We make a stand."

"A stand?" Lucien asked, "Where?"

"The biggest place in town." Cassian said, his eyes turning Lucien's way. "The training square. We get everyone in there, as many as we can… and we defend it."

"Isn't putting everyone in one place dangerous?" Nesta asked, "Isn't that just creating a target?"

"The whole place is already a target." Cassian replied, "This way, instead of having to defend them in several locations, we can do it in one place. We stand a batter chance of holding them off this way."

Elain thought about that. She tried to imagine getting everyone into the training centre, and then she wondered just how Cassian intended to defend the place. What was he going to do? Stand in the doorway and refuse to let anyone else through? How long could he keep that up for? Was it even going to work? If her dream had been accurate, there were going to be far more of those bastards coming down here, and she didn't know if they would stand anything close to a chance of defending against that many.

Lucien's lips brushed Elain's cheek again, and she knew that he had been reading her down the bond. "I'd wager that Az and Cas have done this type of thing a hundred times before." Lucien's voice was a mere ghost against Elain's ear, and she nodded as those words settled something deep within her. He was right. They had to have faced far worse things than this, and they would know exactly what they were doing.

"Yes…" she murmured.

"It's already different to your dream."

"I know…" She nodded. Even having told the others of her dream had changed how things would play out. Elain knew that, but she still couldn't shake the awful feeling she had, or the images of the dream from her mind. She could still see Lucien struggling to get to her, that Illyrian standing over him, blade lifted high.

"Right." Cassian said, lifting himself to his feet. "Everyone get dressed and ready for the day. I want the whole camp in the training square within the hour."