#NestaDefenceSquad

[nestaarcheronwillkillme]

Only Us

They had been sneaking away together for almost a year. Their relationship was a secret between the two of them that flickered in their eyes each time they bickered over long-worn out topics at family dinners. 

Feyre and Rhys were out ‘touring the city’, whatever that meant, whilst Elain and Azriel were on yet another date, Mor was out partying and Amren was probably in the attic she calls home. Perfect. 

“Cass!”, Nesta called from down the stairs- “They’re gone!”

His bare feet couldn’t have moved any faster as he ran down the stairs two at a time- practically jumping the last five. 

“Finally, what took them so long?” He murmured as he brought his head down to her neck- leaving small kisses from her collarbone to her lips. 

She smiled and replied, “I think if they knew what we were planning to do they would leave much quicker.” before reaching for the buttons on his tunic. 

Their lips moved together in perfect synchrony until, and even after, they reached the dinner table where Nesta straddled him- covering her body with his just like that terrible moment all those months ago.

“You’re never wrong, Nes.” Cassian murmured back, against her skin.

[nestaarcheronwillkillme]

Empires Fall- Saviour, Captor. What’s the difference?

Cassian hated himself for caring. Hated himself for thinking he hated himself for caring. He should care, it was right and noble. He should. It was difficult though, a torment to which he was unfamiliar with his past lovers. He suspected it was the cauldron’s bidding but would never voice the thought.

His chest felt as though it was concaving when he heard no frustrated reply to his frantic calling of her name.

It had been three days since his last visit, almost immediately after he had broken the news to Nesta about her new lodgings. Three days which were spent contemplating asking the Inner Circle if they might reconsider. It felt so wrong, so wrong to be wrenching her away from what little life she had created for herself.

This is the way he saw it: everyone has their own way of coping. Rhys and the others should know that, they should recognise trauma when they see it and try to help her through it personally. A detox only works for so long.

So, he stood before the bolted door of Nesta’s shack. Breaking the door down seemed extreme but what if she’d hurt herself? As selfish as it was he decided he couldn’t handle the eternal guilt.

The door came crashing down the moment his shoulder hit it.

He called her name. His reply came in the form of a squeak and a scuttle. Rats. He should never have let it get to this.

Again “Nesta” sounded throughout the building, each syllable more frantic than the last.

The realisation hit him like a blast from Hybern. She was gone. Nesta had left him.

...

He spent little time debating whether or not to report back to Rhys because his wings took flight before his brain really even engaged- another nudge from the cauldron no doubt.

He flew throughout Velaris, stopping at each tavern and asking drunken dwellers when the last time they saw her was. Most said just over three days ago. The panic rose within him so it was quite literally impossible for him to stand still.

There would not be a repeat of Hybern. Never, he promised himself- promised her. His nerves itched at him, sending a shiver down his back until his wings twitched. He had to search everywhere. Every nook of every court.

Cassian took flight once more, his only comfort that Nesta was stubborn enough that she wouldn’t do anything she didn’t want to.

…

After two days of scouring the whole of Prythian, two days of continuous flying with no reward, he began to feel the ache and otherwise imperceptible muscle spasms in his wings.

He could not give up, he would check each court again- maybe she was still on the move.

It was true agony unlike any other to not know where she was. His wings cursed her name whilst his heart sang it- casting it out as a beacon.

As he flew over the seas which connected the Summer mountain range to the Winter coast a more notable spasm occured in his right wing. Then a tendon near his back. Involuntarily he dipped down sharply, recovering only seven feet from the surface of the water.

Adrenaline allowed him to regain a little height before the next wave of spasms. In both wings this time.

One moment he was struggling to right himself, the next he was plummeting into the obsidian depths beneath him.

Only he wasn’t.

He should have been. He should be dead by now really, frozen or drowned. But he wasn’t.

He was suspended in the air, a half foot away from the nipping sea. He seemed to be resting on a crimson-tinted raincloud.

Cassian looked around him tentatively, afraid to scare off the magic suspending him. He saw an island in the distance, getting bigger every second.

Or ever closer. Yes, he was moving towards it. Was he being kidnapped? He tried to remain alert, his heart beating at ten times its normal rate. Perhaps his captors would be the same as Nesta’s? He knew he was clutching at straws but it was all he could do to stay focused and conscious.

Tendrils of the blue-red smoke indruded, seemingly examining his wings. They had a frantic energy, only resting when they snaked around his wrists and feet.

The cloud he rested on came to the coast of the island, tipping him abruptly onto the muddy edge. He landed so that his wing was bent under him and a hiss escaped his throat. Those wisps rushed to him again before being seemingly yanked backwards as if on a leesh.

Cassian lifted his head to survey the grounds of his captor and came face to face with a small emerald pair of eyes. He surveyed the rest of its form with disbelief. It had sap green skin which seemed to be the texture of leather and was that a mushroom growing out of its shoulder? He was torn between awe and terror. It was grotesque in an ordinary sense but was truly remarkable to any other mindset.

“I am Lord of Bloodshed, Commander of the Night Court’s Armies. You are?” He tried to engage conversation, maybe this was a misunderstanding.

Whatever response he thought he might get went out the window when the cold voice of his true captor answered.

“How dare you overestimate our hospitality by questioning my court when they chose to save you from a fate much like the one from which you failed to protect their queen?”

Nesta. 

Tag list:

@saltydreamcollector @starlightheir @dreaming-of-bohemian-nights @firemadeofgirl @sannelovesreading @blackfyrres @my-fan-side @elle-crys @rairrai @acotar-feels @nestacherons @crimziedrawings @cookiemonsterwholovesbooks @shimmerglimmerandsparkle

(if i missed you please let me know)

[nestaarcheronwillkillme]

“Is this your car?”

"Is this your car?" I turn, the woman's voice cutting through the music that blasts through my headphones. Her manicured finger pointing to my red sports car. She is stunning.

"What is it to you?" I ask mysteriously, raising my eyebrows. She steps closer, the personification of grace. When she opens her mouth to respond I pull her closer, our chests flush against each other. "Unless you were looking for a ride?" Her cheeks redden slightly, almost to the exact shade of my car, at both the innuendo and our close proximity.

"No, actually," She informs me, pushing on my chest "I was informing you that your ludicrously expensive car is parked outside of the lines."

He almost laughed. "So?"

"So, if a person with restricted movement parks next to you, how do you expect them to get out of the car. I found it difficult myself and I assure you that I am a very mobile female."

I am taken aback by her forward attitude, she doesn't seem the type. I am about to ask her to prove it before she hurriedly runs to her car and smiles in the opposite direction. It's not the natural smirk she had previously worn, rather it's the forced smile one would wear to a family dinner.

"Nes, why the hell are you out of the car! I told you to stay in the fucking car!" A dude who obviously thinks he's taller and broader than he actually is comes up and bangs his hands down on the woman's car. He almost interjects but she replies.

"Tomas, darling, I just thought that I should drive to give you a rest because you've been working so hard." She puts her hand on her chest like it was on mine. The man drags her up for an all-consuming kiss.

"You are not driving, get in the car." He grips her arm and all but forces her into the passenger seat.

The fear in her eyes as the man drives her away consumes me until I'm numb. I should have stopped him.

Just a short oneshot I posted on Archive Of Our Own before I went on holiday.