"We're…back?" Nova said, brows raised at the scene in front of them. From the foyer, the layers of cushions, sheets, and pillows spread to the dining room and down the other hall toward the parlor.
"Shh," Feyre said quietly, tiptoeing into the room. "Eira just fell asleep…in her castle."
She exchanged a look with Hollis as he whispered, "Just now? It's morning."
Her mother nodded and flashed a glance at Cassian, leaning against the wall with tightly pursed lips.
"You're right. She should have been asleep hours ago," she turned to them again, sighed, and smiled, "Anyway, breakfast is ready. How was your trip?"
As they made their way to the dining room, carefully climbing over the creation…was that a drawbridge? They waited until they were well into the dining room and sitting to retell their adventures. Everyone who'd stayed in the Winter Court wore a different shade of nail polish. Kallias, with nails of pink and purple swirls, refilled his third cup of coffee.
"Did you get to fly on a Pegasus?" Rhysand asked, raising a brow as he sipped his water.
"We all did," Nova grinned, "Adira took each of us on Meallan."
"Oh, really?" Feyre smiled. "You know, I was actually pregnant with you when Helion offered a ride. I politely declined."
Laughing, she nodded, "It was a bit of a rough ride. I didn't realize how cold it would be the higher you go."
"Hm," Cassian chewed through a piece of sausage, "It's one of the things always to be careful about, especially if you're going above a storm. Things can freeze pretty quickly when you're already wet."
Not that Nova would have to worry about that, but it was still good to know, should the knowledge serve a purpose. It seemed no one had gotten a good night's rest for various reasons, but either way…Nova didn't feel like training today. She, too, was surprised.
After breakfast, instead of heading to the training arena, she and Hollis returned to their cabin in the woods. Dumping their bags on the floor by the door, as much as Nova wanted to fall right into bed, it was too cold in the room to not make a fire. So she did as Hollis unpacked, putting the four shirts he'd packed away.
"You know what I learned last night?" Nova asked as she closed the gate to the fire and placed her poker to the side.
Hollis smiled as he sat on the foot of the bed, untying his shoes to get comfortable. "What's that?"
Standing to her feet, she walked to him, hands resting on his shoulders, and carefully pinned him to the bed. She hovered above him, admiring his features. "Remember when you told me I was your peace?"
Hollis smiled, stroking her jaw with a soft caress of his thumb. "You are."
"I've come to realize…you're my oasis."
Combing his fingers through her hair, stroking the back of her neck with a small smile. "Hm, a peaceful oasis sounds perfect to me."
Heat rushed across Nova's skin, still soft from the mud bath, and she leaned down. Capturing his lips in a kiss, she sighed into his mouth, letting herself accept his affection without shame or worry.
Soon unclothed, Hollis wrapped his arms around her hips and rolled them until her head rested against the pillow. The back of her knees melded against his shoulder, hands on her hips as he buried his face between her legs. Out of instinct, she gasped and clenched her thighs together as her hips arched, but that didn't stop Hollis from widening his mouth and dining as though this meal would be his last.
The cabin was cold when Nova reopened her eyes. Sun still drenched the room, yet she shivered relentlessly beneath the covers. The fire must have gone out, she thought. But as she looked across the room, instead of embers, live flames licked the bricks inside.
Sitting up, Nova frowned and breathed out. She watched the air plume in front of her and knitted her brows together.
"Hollis?" She glanced over at his sleeping form and placed a hand on his shoulder.
He woke with a lazy smile and smashed hair, but it fell as he focused on her expression. "What's wrong?" He sat up and looked around, taking in a chill that made him shudder. "Was the door left open?"
"No…"
The act of removing their covers to touch the cold floor to get dressed was enough to chill them to the bone. Nova didn't stop at her armor; she added a couple more layers, her thick coat, and lined boots. She was still cold.
"A storm must be coming through." Hollis frowned, combing through his hair as Nova pulled the doorknob, but it didn't budge.
Staring at it, she had to think for a moment. She pushed this time and then pulled again. A creak around the door shuddered, but after another big pull, it came free to reveal nothing but white ahead. Shielding her eyes, she stumbled back.
"I think the storm is already here. Is this normal here?"
Hollis walked to the door with wide eyes and shook his head, "No, it's not."
He'd had stormed in his childhood, but the more he looked, the worse he realized it was an entire wall of snow. A wave of panic coursed through him; had there been another avalanche? Pushing his hand forward, the snow gave way and revealed the trees beyond. He sighed with relief. At least they weren't stuck, but the snow was far too high for his liking.
"I put the fire out," Nova said, squinting into the bright midday land of white ahead. "We should probably get to the palace. I can't see a thing."
His shoe squeaked as he turned from the door and returned to the fireplace. Squatting, he coated his thumbs in the ash. "Here," he said as he walked back and stood before her, "this will help you see."
Careful not to get the ash into her eyes, he gently rubbed the dark color under her eyes and said, "It will help with the glare."
Together, they ventured into a blizzard that blew sideways, and Hollis realized very quickly they should have worn snowshoes as each step seemed deeper than the last.
"Hold onto me," he said and lifted his foot. He tapped the top of the snow to make it firmer to walk, and with an arm around Nova's waist, they carefully walked above the snow to the palace. What should have taken them a five-minute walk turned into twenty minutes of just making it through. Their cheeks were bright red when they entered, closing the door behind them. It took both of them, one to hold it in place while the other locked it.
"What is going on out there…" Nova breathed and turned at the sound of Cassian's voice.
"You're here, good. I was just coming to get you both," his mouth was set in a rigid line. "Everyone is in the ballroom. And I do mean everyone."
She and Hollis exchanged a worried glance before they followed Cassian down the hall. He was right. Inside the spacious confines of the ballroom, all the Winter Court citizens were there. It was overcrowded and alarming, with children screaming and people milling about; it was utter chaos.
In the center, Kyra, Kole, and Bran were trying to help everyone find their bearings in the confusion.
"Was there any indication of this storm?" Hollis asked, confused.
"None," Cassian frowned, "It came so suddenly, we had to start getting them in immediately. Both of your parents are upstairs in your father's study. They're contacting the other Courts to know if there have been any sudden changes for them."
He turned to face Nova, "Az, Bran, and I are going to the Night Court to see if anything has changed there. I'd like you to come with us."
Nodding without hesitation, she glanced at Hollis, who squeezed her hand, "I'll try to keep everyone here calm."
Parting ways happened so quickly, and soon Nova held Bran's arm and winnowed with him to the heart of the Night Court as Azriel's shadows followed with Cassian. A moment later, they were in Velaris, and the sudden stench was so overpowering that Nova gagged. The air itself smelled as though the streets were filled with hordes of decaying bodies.
Eyes watering, Bran coughed, "We need to find its source."
Cas nodded as he wrinkled his nose, "Bran, you're with me in the sky. Nova, Az, take to the forest."
No one was in the streets. It was as though the city of starlight had died all over again, but as they passed houses and apartments, they could see faces peering out from the windows. Stuck inside to try and avoid the rot. Rot, they couldn't seem to see, at least not here in the city limits, but it had to be somewhere.
"I was here just yesterday collecting for Rita," Bran said, shaking his head. "It wasn't like this." He said before spreading his wings and following Cassian into the sky.
From the ground, Nova watched them glide above the trees. She turned to Azriel, at a loss for words. What could she say? He offered a faint smile and nodded to the forest's edge. She followed him silently, pushing through the brambles in the thicket, and wondered… Was this it? Were these the last days the prophecy foretold? Everything had been so peaceful for weeks now, since she and Hollis had claimed each other as mates. Now it seemed it had merely been the calm before the storm. They'd done something wrong, but she had no idea what.
Whatever they'd done, or hadn't done, had it cost them the fate of Prythian?
The task of situating the people of the Winter Court had gone well enough. The frantic quells of panic had calmed enough for him to leave his companions to climb the stairs. He entered his father's study, where his parents stood with Rhysand and Feyre.
Letters of different stationery sat on the desk, and they stared at the unblinking as he asked, "The other Courts?"
His father turned to him. Swallowing his frustration, he rubbed the back of his neck and replied, "A typhoon has swallowed the Summer Court. The Day Court is trapped within the palace under a sandstorm," He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Locust swarms have invaded the Spring Court, and they're eating more than the crops…"
Hollis's eyes widened as bile rose in the back of his throat. "Thesan and Eris?" He asked, wondering what they'd found in the Night Court.
"Those in their sick beds in the Dawn Court are deceased," Rhysand murmured, voice low, "Eris has yet to respond…" He cast a glance at Feyre, and she nodded.
Viviane stared at the map of Prythian, now littered with scratches of ink detailing each disaster where they had so far occurred.
"I'm going to travel to the Autumn Court," Rhysand said and squeezed Feyre's hand.
Tightening her jaw and setting her brow, Feyre moved forward and pressed a tender kiss to his lips. She didn't know what would lie in wait for him there. They'd already decided that while he traveled there, she would return to the Night Court for their people.
"I'll be waiting." She murmured, accepting one last kiss before he disappeared, then she did as well.
In the Night Court, Nova jogged over logs and under brush with Azriel. They paused periodically to follow the scent. It was all overwhelming, but there was one direction in particular that was more potent than others. Nova's eyes watered as they slowed to a walk, trying not to breathe the seemingly invisible fumes as they entered the clearing they were led to.
Stepping past the line of indent, Nova frowned as the sound of the screaming forest ceased. She turned to Azriel, who stared at her. He didn't have to tell her for her to know where they were. It was the place she'd left Prythian from. The night of Beron's attack resulted in her scarring the earth with her power. There was no sound here, not in this flat circle where nothing would grow.
A wash of cold dread washed over her as they continued, leaving the clearing in favor of following the scent beyond. Still, the thought that occurred to her was almost too much to bear, and by the time they arrived at the near on the far East side of the Steppes miles away, her shoulders were shaking.
Just as they stepped onto the sand and Azriel parted his lips to speak, their breath was stolen from their chests. Cassian and Bran, who stood a few yards to the left, had already arrived, and they stared with mesmerized horror at not one or two, but three rotten whale corpses. Blue whales, if Nova was correct in her thinking.
Chunks of blubber falling away to reveal the bone beneath, and yet they blew a stream of warm air from their spout. They were in the process of decomposing while they were still alive.
Nova turned on her heels and retreated into the cover of the forest, sank into the snow, and took a deep breath of rotting flesh. She pressed her face against her knees and tried to calm her pulse, which threatened to jump out of her skin.
"What if we weren't meant to survive?" She finally voiced to nothing in particular.
Az slowly approached, with the same frown marring his face.
"Nova…" He started, but she continued.
"Did you know there were complications with Hollis's birth?" She asked. "Viviane didn't talk about it, but he told me one night that when he was born, he was so weak he was barely breathing. He didn't say it, but I assumed that was the reason they've always been so protective of him. Not because they could lose him, but because they almost did." She didn't look at them and watched the bough of a tree sway with the wind. "I was born into a war. The family I was put with was murdered in a fire. We survived, yet it seems there's something else that aims to destroy us. A monster in the woods," she pictured Zaylor's face, "an avalanche."
He was quiet, watching her as she said, "Maybe we're the imbalance it's trying to correct…"
It was the creak of the door that made Hollis turn from the map, still waiting for Eris's response or Rhysand's return. Neither had occurred, but he finally breathed a soft sigh of relief as Nova entered the study flanked by Azriel and Cassian.
Kallias paced away from the desk, turning to them expectantly. Before he could voice his question, Cassian supplied the news. "The animals are dead or dying—all of them, from the land and water."
Standing by Hollis, eyes trained on the floor as she recalled the memory of following the shoreline where massive amounts of animals had migrated to rot together in one extensive collection. The stench was so horrid that Cassian himself had lost his last meal to the sand. She intertwined their fingers and still wondered: Could this all be solved without them…?
It had been a thought that her uncles didn't know how to respond to. She moved from it in the moment, but it was ever-present now, wondering if the journey she and Hollis had just begun was no more than a means to an end.
"Where's Rhys?" Azriel asked, staring at the map, which indicated nothing new in the Autumn Court.
Kallias rubbed his tight jaw. "He left to secure an answer from Eris shortly after you left," he said, closing his eyes. "He hasn't returned."
Whipping her head in his direction, her heart lurched into her throat. "I'll go, too, then."
"Nova," Viviane held a hand up, her voice gentle as she said, "We don't know why he hasn't returned or why Eris won't return our message. There is no way of knowing at this time what will happen if anyone follows."
She bristled. "I can't…not try. If he's hurt, I can't just wait."
"It isn't easy for me to say, nor will it be for you to hear," Kallias said, voice sharp and cold. "This is bigger than your fear for your father's safety. If you go and you don't come back, then even if we were to find answers, it wouldn't matter if you were meant to be part of the solution."
Hot, white rage filled her vision. In what way did he have a say in what she should do to protect her family? Stepping around Hollis at the same time she opened her mouth to rebut, Azriel cut in, "I will go."
All eyes turned to him as he nodded, "If we don't respond within the hour, do not follow us."
"What do we do until then?" Nova asked, fighting the frailty of her voice. "Wait?"
"Yes. That is precisely what you are to do. You wait. You make no rash decisions." He settled a knowing gaze on her, his hazel eyes unwavering. "Do you understand me?"
Yes, she knew what he insinuated. What he thought she might try to do.
Would she?
She wanted to say the answer was no, but she supposed desperate people often did desperate things.
In a hushed voice, she said, "I understand…"
Azriel disappeared with his shadows, and hope was replaced with exhaustion as the hour of standing in wait came and went in silence.
Finally, Cassian stood to his feet and rubbed his jaw. "I'm going to see what I can do downstairs."
Nova, by the window and head in her hands, didn't acknowledge the coming and going of bodies. Soon, only she and Hollis resided. Sitting beside each other in front of the window, she shook her head and finally lifted her chin as tears rolled down her face, but she did nothing to stop them.
"I don't know what more we can do," she murmured.
They were bathed by the light of the fire and the moon above, which was distorted by the heavy snowfall that had covered half the height of the palace. Successfully sealing them in with no end in sight.
"Maybe there is nothing," Hollis said gently.
She turned to him, but he'd leaned back against the window, watching the sky with scrutiny. "I'd had the thought some time ago that…perhaps we were meant to suffer. I'm not so sure how wrong I was now."
Rolling his head to the side, he offered a small, sad smile before taking her hand in his. He held it there with soft pressure. "Did I ever tell you how I painted the sky?"
Nova leaned her head back against the window, shaking her head, unwilling to release his hand.
His smile, usually one of genuine joy, was filled with reminiscing sorrow as he looked up at the sky again and whispered, "Look."
Through the snowy haze, a glimmer of color shone through. Nova sat up a little straighter and watched, mesmerized, as thrumming green, blue, and purple lights shimmered across the sky among the wall of white shadows.
"There was a night when I was very young. I must have been seven or eight at the time. I woke up and the fire in the hearth had gone out. It was cold, and all I could think about was being alone…in the dark," Hollis furrowed his brows, "I remember being afraid. So afraid, I couldn't move from my bed. The sense that monsters from the dark would come for me if I did. I sat there thinking that I'd wait until morning. If I just kept my eyes open, I would be okay. Then I remember looking out my window, unable to see anything in the sky. There were no stars, and clouds covered the moon. I thought, if I could just see a light in the darkness, maybe I wouldn't be so afraid. So… I imagined myself streaking it with paint," he smiled faintly at the shimmering lights above. "I didn't realize it was something I hadn't dreamed of until the next day, when everyone talked about the lights that danced in the sky. How beautiful they had been."
Resting her head on his shoulder, Nova watched his face, "Is that a gift your parents have, or your own?"
"I never asked," he pursed his lips, "I suppose I didn't want it to be. I wanted it just to be mine. That I alone could paint the sky and chase away the darkness when I needed to."
Looking down, he smiled softly, "But you know, now that I look. The stars have always been there, even when I couldn't see them. Even when I thought I was alone, I wasn't."
Nova returned her gaze to the sky, and huddled together, they awaited the dawn as ribbons of lights danced just for them.