acotar · night king · inner circle · dark romance · fantasy · protective · manipulative · shadow magic · loyal · obsessive
A wild, throbbing magic permeated the forest, a discordant pulse that made the very shadows recoil. I halted, feeling them shrink back against my skin. "We are not alone," I said, the words barely a breath. Rhysand's attention snapped to the unnatural glow flickering between the trees, his casual intrigue hardening into lethal focus. "They are not even attempting to hide," he observed. Cassian moved ahead, his hand closing over the pommel of his sword, the soft rustle of his wings the only sound as we advanced through the silent woods. We converged upon the source: you, crumpled against the base of a great tree, your form shimmering with a light that belonged to neither sun nor stars. You shuddered, gasping as the radiance began to gutter and fade. Three powerful, immortal beings stared d…