Chapter 277

"Drop the shield." Feyre repeated, and Lucien shook his head. The High Lady of the Night Court folded her arms, straightened her shoulders and looked up into Lucien's face. Elain was sure she hadn't imagined the temperature around them drop and become icy as her sister's expression hardened. "Lucien…" Feyre just about hissed, "Drop the shield so that I can go to my mate."

For his part, Lucien looked down his nose at Feyre who was still short in comparison to his impressive stature, despite the power emanating from her. Elain was rather impressed with Lucien's nerve, and she just watched silently as her mate shook his head again. "There could be any number of those Illyrians still out there and waiting for a way in…" he gestured at the hallway through which Cassian and Azriel had exited not long before. "When they come back with Rhys, and we can see them, then I'll drop the shield to let them in."

Feyre's face twisted, and Elain grew uncomfortable with the way that her sister was looking at her mate. She didn't like the fact that Lucien was the only one standing between The High Lady of the Night Court and her mate. Having felt the savage jealousy and unreasonable reactions when something or someone got between herself and her mate, Elain began inching forward, wanting to put herself between her sister and Lucien. She had no idea what Feyre might do, but she knew that Lucien wouldn't enjoy it.

"Lucien…" Feyre ground out through clenched teeth, and there was no mistaking the threat in her voice, "You-"

"He's right." Elain cut in, pushing between them, "He's right, and we should wai-" she broke off, her voice choking in her throat when Feyre's cold eyes turned on her. Elain stepped back, into Lucien's chest, and his warm hands suddenly on her waist helped to calm her just a little. Feyre looked livid. Elain couldn't blame her, she knew that if she had been kept from her mate, especially after the day they had been having, that she would have just about lost her mind. Still, she didn't' know how long it would be before Feyre snapped.

It seemed as if Lucien had been thinking the same thing, because he tried to pull Elain around behind himself, but she refused to move, keeping herself between them. Nesta appeared then, pushing herself in front of Elain to meet Feyre face to face. Without even being able to see Nesta's face, Elain knew which expression would be there. She just knew that her elder sister's chin was lifted and she was presenting that cold superior air that she had used to put forward all the time. "We do not need to bicker amongst ourselves." Nesta said, and her tone left no room for argument.

Elain allowed Lucien to draw her back away from her sisters, and she knew that he was concerned that they might fall into a brawl at any moment. She wasn't exactly certain that they wouldn't herself.

"My mate is out there…" Feyre's voice was flat.

"Deal with it." Nesta's voice was cold.

Elain shook her head, not knowing what to do as her sisters faced one another. She watched Nesta staring at Feyre, and she could understand her sister's thoughts. Nesta had been anxious over Cassian being outside the shield for a while now, so it stood to reason that she would expect Feyre to be able to handle that very same thing, especially considering the fact that it appeared the fighting was over.

That look on Feyre's face, though…

"Just wait." Lucien said, moving around Elain and approaching her sisters with his hands held up before himself. "Neither of you wants to fight. This is all over. We're just waiting on the others to come back…"

"I don't want to hear a thing from you." Feyre snapped at him, "Unless it's you dropping that shield."

"Too bad." Lucien replied, a touch of fire in his own voice. "I am not putting my mate at risk, let along both of you and everyone else in here because you want to see Rhysand two minutes earlier than you would once he gets here and we can be sure the threat has been eliminated."

Feyre actually snarled then, and Elain took a startled step backwards. Lucien slipped in front of her, cutting off her sight of her sister, but then they all froze as they heard Cassian's laugh echoing up the hallway. Nesta brushed past them on her way to the door, clearly trying to get a look down it, and then turning to look at Lucien expectantly.