Previously: The Suriel answers surprisingly few questions.
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The naga walk out of the forest. They are humanoid creatures covered in scales.

Here were the creatures of the blood-filled legends, the ones that slipped through the wall to torment and slaughter mortals. The ones I would have been glad to kill that day in the snowy woods.

She was pretty glad to kill the wolf, too. It took like 12 or 13 chapters before Feyre felt even a little bit bad about murdering it.

One of the nagas gleefully says that they've got a gift (the Suriel) and a thin meal (Feyre) all in one. Feyre backs away slowly. She could scream, but she doesn't have any breath, and she isn't convinced Lucien would come to her rescue anyway. Because again, her being here only makes sense if Lucien sent her out here to become fae food. 

"I backed away another step. The four naga crept closer, as if savoring the slowness of the hunt, as if they already knew how I tasted.

I had three heartbeats to make up my mind. Three heartbeats to execute my plan.

I drew my bowstring back farther, my arm trembling.

And then I screamed. Sharp and loud and with every bit of air in my too-tight lungs. With the naga now focused entirely on me, I fired at the tether holding the Suriel in place.
The snare shattered. Like a shadow on the wind, the Suriel was off, a blast of dark that set the four naga staggering back.

The one closest to me surged toward the Suriel, the strong column of its scaly neck stretching out. No chance of my movements being considered an unprovoked attack anymore—not now that they’d seen my aim. They still wanted to kill me. So I let my arrow fly."

I'm not gonna lie; it took me entirely way too long to understand what was happening there. I think it's partially because the blocking feels confused. We have the Suriel running AWAY, the Naga staggering BACK, one of the naga surging TOWARD the Suriel, which is AWAY from Feyre, and the sentiment is trying to convey is that they are still coming TOWARD her, so that's why she has her excuse to murder. It's messy.

I'm also confused about "unprovoked attack" here. I suppose that Feyre is referencing the treaty and how she can't murder fae unprovoked. I feel like "unprovoked" went out the window once the naga came out of the forest and called her a meal. And even if that weren't true, what does Feyre's aim have to do with the fae provoking her into attack?

This is all extra annoying because it's supposed to be a big action pay-off. We've been languishing, doing basically nothing for 100+ pages, and when we finally get some action, good luck following it.

Anyway, Feyre hits one of the naga with an arrow and takes off running. 

"Lucien had said he’d be nearby—but I was deep in the woods, too far from the manor and help."

So, he wouldn't be nearby? He was the one who told you where to go, and if he said he would be nearby, what does "but I was deep in the woods" have to do with it? 

Feyre describes running through the woods and says her only hope of surviving is reaching Lucien, but only if he's "there" as he promised to be. So now he's supposed to be at a specific "there" and not just "nearby?" God, this sucks. 

Unfortunately, Feyre can't outrun the naga, and they surround her. She's thrown to the ground, but she does manage to reach the knife in her boot and stab the naga who is on top of her. She gets up and tries to run away, but one of the other naga grab her. 

It's looking like curtains for Feyre until Tamlin shows up with a roar and claws all the naga to death. 

Feyre asks how Tamlin found her. He explains that he was tracking the nagas, but 4 of them escaped and must've followed her scent through the woods. He heard her scream, came across a dead naga with one of his arrows in its throat, and followed the tracks here. 

Tamlin heals Feyre's wounds, and sure, I guess we kind of knew that the fae have healing powers. I looked it up and back on page 5, we are told that ash makes their healing powers falter and on page 106, she mentions that Tamlin is wounded but isn't healing himself. I think this is the first time we are finding out that Tamlin can also heal others, but I guess we just go with it.

Tamlin gives Feyre his tunic to wear. Feyre tries to ignore his muscles under his white shirt and how much more visible they are in a shirt that is soaked in blood. Ew.

I pulled on Tamlin’s tunic over my own, ignoring how easily I could see the cut of his muscles beneath his white shirt, the way the blood soaking it made them stand out even more. A purebred predator, honed to kill without a second thought, without remorse. I shivered again and savored the warmth that leaked from the cloth.

"Warmth that leaked from the cloth" is a very unfortunate description if you ask me, because we've just been talking about blood. Like, does she actually mean that the tunic is also soaked in blood, and it's still warm, so all this warm blood is leaking from the cloth and making her warm? Or is this a case of SJM twisting words and phrases to the point where they stop conveying meaning? Like the coat can't just be warm, because that is too simple, and so it has to be leaking warmth? 

Feyre is still having all of these thoughts about what a killer Tamlin is, but she is, too. They are holding hands, drenched in blood. #deep

Tamlin asks if he even wants to know what she was doing out here. Feyre just says that she thought she wasn't confined to the house and garden. Tamlin tells her to stick close to the house on the days he's called away to deal with trouble. 

Feyre thanks him for saving her life and can't believe he found her life worth saving. I mean... isn't the whole deal that Tamlin should've killed her back in chapter 2 but decided to save her? Doesn't that imply her life was worth saving to him? No? Okay, cool.

They walk back to the manor while Feyre thinks about what she learned from the Suriel: that she should stay with the High Lord. She wanted more information so that she could warn her family about the blight, but they'll have to make do with what little she knows. Feyre doesn't ask Tamlin any questions as they walk, because she can sense his shame and defeat. 

Can you guys sense my defeat at the end of every chapter? 

That was 6 Kindle pages and 23 em dashes.

Next time: She doesn't know she's beautiful, and that's what makes her beautiful in chapter 16.

♥️

Mari