Isabella

Isabella froze. She wasn't expecting to see him here and he certainly wasn't expecting to see her here. No, he looked completely gobsmacked or rather horrified to see her in Velaris. She couldn't exactly blame him considering he left her in the human realm.

But her stupor didn't last long as she watched him scan the crowds around them, clearly looking for– well she wasn't sure what he was looking for. Oliver? Her mates? Though he shouldn't know about them. Or maybe he was looking for her mates because they were official figures here.

Either way she didn't stick around long enough to find out.

Feyre was looking after Ol for the rest of the night. He had crashed around 7 when the late night festivities were about to start. Her little sister had never planned to join the crowds so she was happy to have an early night in with Ollie. They were staying at Isabella's house since she had planned on staying there so Cassian and Azriel would have the house of wind to themselves.

She could turn in early for the night. Tell Rhys that she was exhausted and wanted him to fly her back home early before taking Feyre back to the town house with him and Mor.

Foolish thinking since–

"Isabella?" She stuttered to a halt, closing her eyes briefly before– "Wha-what are you doing?"

Lucien sounded so hoarse and desperate that she couldn't help but turn around to face him.

He looked like shit.

Skin wan and pale, almost sickly against his russet hair and that copper eye. The eye that whiring and clicking with whatever magic kept it running. His hands clenched, flexing as if he were fighting the urge to reach out and check she was real.

"Hello Lucien." Her throat bobbed nervously and for the first time she was afraid of the male before her. "It's been a long time since I last saw you and Andras."

She peered over his shoulder, looking for the twin that always made her laugh.

"Where is he?"

Her question only seemed to make Lucien's shoulder sag with a deep sadness. Not sadness, grief. Isabella felt her throat close up. She knew that look. She'd seen it in so many patience eyes, in the eyes of the homeless when she was out looking for a regular that hadn't appeared.

"He's–" He broke off, clearing his throat as he looked anywhere but at her. "What are you doing here Iz?"

"Don't use that tone on me Lucien," she said quietly, doing her best to keep her composure. "You're the one who left me in the human realm."

"We were taken–" He breaks off again, gritting his teeth before turning back to her. "I've been a bit busy taking care of court business. I went looking for you a couple of weeks ago."

"I've not been in the human realm for a while."

He snorts, "Clearly." that eye of his whirls again, scanning her head to toe as his expression changes to something darker. "All I found was a charred body."

Impossible.

She fights the urge to shudder, knowing he was looking for any kind of reaction. From the way his eyes light up with understanding she must have gone pale despite her best effort. Not that she needed to worry about his reaction considering his eyes darken as a cold countenance took over him.

"If you had told me he was an issue, I would have taken care of it." Lucien states and she believes him. "Where is Oliver?"

"Why are you here?" She counters, mimicking his words.

"I asked first."

"And this isn't an interrogation." She snaps, confidence coming back now that he had the audacity to bring up Oliver. "You have no right to question me."

"Like Hell I don't," He hisses, stepping closer.

She steps back.

Her stomach twists. All she can do is stare at the male in front of her and remember a different time. One full of hunger and the biting cold. Sol had introduced them once, said he was a distant family member.

She still remembers her nerves and the blinding trust she had in Sol. It had been before Oliver. Or rather the early stages in her pregnancy, when she didn't know but the males certainly did based on the way Lucien's eyes had widened when he saw her. His nostrils had flared a little but she had just waved it off as the fae being fae.

How stupid and naive she had been. How desperate she was to trust Sol. To believe everything he said. No, it hadn't been Sol she wanted but the life of peace and safety he had represented. An escape from her hovel of a reality.

Tomas had been... okay, back then. He was distant, unloving and occasionally bitter but he hadn't hurt her. Not seriously.

Sol had been the opposite.

Not to mention the allure of forbidden fruit.

Then Lucien had visited but that wasn't the name she had been given for him. She didn't remember what feeble lie they had come up with but she had heard them arguing seconds after meeting him.

She still shuddered at the memory of Lucien's fingers digging into Sol's arm hard enough to draw blood. The way Sol let Lucien drag him away from her and into the forest. The hunched figured and bent heads as Lucien ripped him a new one.

Isabella thought it was because she was human. She was ready to act high and mighty. Hoe childish she had been. Thinking she could preach love and tolerance. Call him a racist and judgemental beast and have him cower at her words. Because it would be proper to cower at a reprimand.

Oh how utterly stupid she had been to believe social rules would keep her safe.

Let us bring your mates.

Let us tell them.

You have to let us–

I don't have to let you do anything. She hisses, misplacing her rage.

She wouldn't be stupid this time. No, this time she was smart enough to feel fear at the sight of male trembling with rage. One she had personally offended and slighted. No social rule would protect her from his wrath. She was human for the gods' sake. Lesser than lesser. Deemed beneath all creatures of Prythian.

Lucien showed no care for her fear, only leaning closer to her, cornering her in and hunching over her.

"Well?" he whispered, voice sharp in a way that had her flinching. "Where is he?"

We'll kill him.

No. She snapped.

"Isabella!" They jerked back from each other at Rhys' call. Lucien straightened up, a pretty mask of emotions covering his face as the drunk lord jogged over to them. "There you are, I've been looking for you."

Isabella cowered a little in his hug. Not that Rhys noticed through his drunken haze, he just kept her curled against his side as he beamed at Lucien in thanks.

"Thank you so much for finding her."

"Of course." Lucien smiled politely.

Rhys beamed down at her, "The dancing has started."

She smiled up at him, noticing the way he started to frown at her demeanour. Even in this ridiculous state he could tell something was wrong with her.

"I assume Cassian has started without us?" The words were meant to be teasing but they came out hoarse.

Rhys rolled his eyes, "Oh absolutely. But that means you get to dance with me."

He grinned down at her, clearly pleased with his offer. Isabella smiled back, more in relief than anything else. How easily this male could calm her down and make her feel safe. Even if Lucien was politely watching them.

She knew he was making a note of their closeness. That he had already marked the reference to Cassian.

Rhys is here let him–

"Oh," Rhys blinked in surprise."You're still here."

Lucien chuckled, a dark bitter sound that Rhys took as amusement. "Still here."

Rhys nodded, visibly racking his brain for the correct social response. "We should catch up later."

Lucien glances at Isabella for a second too long, making her shift uncomfortably. "That sounds great."

Why won't you let us–

It's Cassian's birthday. She takes a steadying breath, her trembling having stopped now that Rhys was with her. Tomorrow we can argue over this.

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Cassian

He whooped in delight as Rhys led Isabella over to them. She looked a little overwhelmed, no doubt from the noise and people. Which sucked cause Cassian was having a great time. His mate cheered up at the sight of him and Azriel. She beamed up at him and Cassian felt his heart flutter.

"Do I know any of these dances?" She asks while greeting him with a hug. "Or will I have to trust your instructions?"

Cassian pulls back from aghast, "I give great dancing instructions."

Azriel snorts, "He has two left feet."

"Azriel and I will be dancing with you." Rhys supplies, giving Cassian a pointed look. "I thought you wanted to not get smashed this year."

He gapes at Rhys, mouth actually hanging open and Isabella quietly giggles.

"I want to have fun with my family. Thank you very much."

He wasn't going to drink because Isabella wasn't drinking much. She had to be on call for Oliver this evening. Both Azriel and Rhys had offered to look after him so she could have fun but she had declined. With Feyre not being up for overnight stays anywhere else herself, let alone with the responsibility of a child it meant Isabella would be going back home.

All three males were secretly pleased.

Or not so secretly pleased since they were all drunk and dancing within ten minutes and singing pub songs. Isabella laughed with them, Cassian's arm was slung over her shoulders as he guided her in a misshapen dance around the town square.

He missed this.

Oh how he had missed his family.

It had never been this family he had missed, not during his youth at least. He remembers that hunger, that desperate desire for home for his family. Except he couldn't remember any home. No four walls came to him in his dreams. No kitchen, or fire place or bedroom that sang his name.

Nothing that he remembered.

He remembered his family even less. Remembered it so little that the word lost all definition.

What was family? The heath mother who cared for 12 children? The woman beaten by her husband? He never saw an exact definition. Never saw a concrete vision. Each building just housed a different collective of shit.

This.

This on the other hand is what he wished he had known about. What Cassian wishes he could have shown 12 year old him. Give him these memories to stave off the biting cold of his youth.

To show him the smile on Isabella's face as he spins her round and round. There way her eyes light up as the music grows louder and louder. He wished younger him knew he would have brothers. That they would be the best thing to ever happen to him.

That one of them would turn out to be more.

Because Azriel looks stunning in this light.

Dark hair scattered over his brow, enough that he reaches up to swipe it away for him. He's answered with a sharp grin and eyes that threatened to swallow him whole. Cassian presses himself against Azriel's side, letting the bodies around them push and pull them with the eb and flow of the crowd.

Somewhere to the side he's aware of Rhys dancing slower with Isabella. They're on the outskirts on the crowd that had developed. They looked so peaceful together. So caught up in their own little world.

Azriel didn't like Cassian being caught up in Rhys and Isabella's little world. A sharp tug against his hips as him gasping, turning to Azriel in surprise as they grind against each other. He smirks down at Cassian, leaning closer and resting his forehead on Cassian.

For a moment they just sway there, breathing in the same air, moving to the same beat as the music drowns out every other thought besides the growing scent of each other.

Azriel tracing his nose down the side of Cassian's face, eliciting a sharp gasp when he nips at his throat. A groan rips from his throat as Azriel bites down between his shoulder and neck, lapping at the spot to diminish the sting.

Dark chuckles echo in the back of his mind, the coolness of Azriel's shadows quickly trailing around his arms and side as their master presses a soft kiss to the corner of Cassian's mouth.

"Let's get out of here." He whispers.

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Rhys

He had sobered up at some point between babysitting Cassian and Azriel until they decided to get frisky with each other, and Isabella's frightened expression. Oh he had managed to catch that despite her best efforts.

And he certainly didn't need those shadows poking at him to know when his mate was in distress.

"So," He murmured against the top of her head as they swayed to the music. "Are you going to tell me what's got you all nervous?"

She tenses up, a little gasp belying her surprise but then she says against him, nuzzling in closer and wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Can we handle this after Cassian's birthday," The words are muffled against his chest. "I don't want to ruin this for him."

He snorts, "Oh he's done for the night."

He can practically feel her frown.

"He and Azriel just snuck away."

"Without saying goodbye?" She pouts up at him, resting her chin on his chest and craning her neck. "How rude."

"How polite." He counters, craning his own neck to peer down at her. "I don't want to smell their arousal."

Her nose wrinkles with a disgusted expression that has him chuckling. She rolls her eyes at his amusement. A familiar curiosity lights in her eyes, one that has him groaning. He just knows she's going to say or ask something that's going to–

"So you really don't find the two of them attractive." He actually does groan, huffing in annoyance at her little distraction technique.

"No, I don't." He tilts his head. "Do you?"

The delicate blush that spreads across her cheeks is answer enough.

He chuckles, grinning when she swats his arm and tucks her head back against his chest.

"Is that why you were nervous earlier?" He asks again, "Because of Cassian and Azriel?"

She hesitates and for a second she thinks he won't answer.

"No, It wasn't them."

Which implies that there was a 'them'. A person. Someone who Rhys could find and make go away.

"How well do you know the male I was talking to earlier?"

"Lucien?" He asks bewildered. "He's a young male. An emissary from the Spring court though he originated from Autumn."

She nods.

"Did he do something?" His voice has gone cold.

"It was just a surprise to see him again." He freezes at her words

Rhys swallows nervously, "Again."

He hears her own nervous hum.

"He was friends with Sol."

Rhys can't bear to think about what she's going to say next. Actually it's all he can think about. All the possibilities running through his mind as he works out how he can hide her away, how he can keep Ollie away from Sol.

"He wants to see Oliver."

That wasn't going to happen.

A/N: Yes I did know what I was doing to you at the beginning. Starting the exploration into Cassian's past. I'm hoping to include a little scene on his abandonment issues as per @LexTheBookWyrm's request (probably after the smut scene I have planned - smut requests are open)