AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You shouldn’t have come,” he said, breaking through the thick silence between us. His voice was hoarse from breathing through the agony he endured, combined with lack of water and the silent cries he muffled behind closed doors.
“Things changed,” I replied simply.
“Like what?”
“Well, for starters, Loren disappeared and—”
“He’s here,” Azriel groaned, shifting on his shoulder to view me better. “He came to visit me a few hours ago.”
I reeled back at his statement, sitting on my feet to consider the statement. “What? Why would he come see you? You weren’t exactly his favorite person…”
“Aye, he made that perfectly clear. Arya, there’s no time to discuss everything he said, but he is not your ally.” He lifted a weak arm and gripped the pale leather bracer over my forearm. “He’s working for the queen; he has been this whole time. You cannot trust him.”
I shook my head, unable to wrap my head around his allegation. “There has to be a reasonable explanation for all of this. He wouldn’t lie to me, and he definitely wouldn’t betray me. Look, I know you two don’t get along, but it doesn’t mean—”
His grip tightened on my arm, silencing whatever it was I was about to say, and he bared his teeth as he spoke. “You’re right. I hated him the day he so disgustingly spoke of you, the day I told him I found you almost killed by a vampyre. Loren was never your brother, Arya, not from his perspective anyway. But my feelings toward him are beside the point. He’s not—"
Azriel paused for breath, choking on his words and creating a fit of coughing in his chest. He winced as muscles pulled at the wound on his back, every choke sending another wave of agony over his body. I shushed him, running a hand down his face affectionately as the fit ceased in his lungs. “Okay, it’s okay. I believe you. I trust you.”
He closed his eyes, relaxed at my touch, and leaned the weight of his head into my palm. “Good. For what it’s worth, even though you shouldn’t have come, I’m really glad to see you. I’ve missed the sound of your voice.”
I smiled, letting a small tear spill down my cheek at his confession. We both grew quiet, reveling in the feeling of our skin touching at last, no matter how small the area. I leaned forward, closing the distance between us to kiss his cheek, and savored the copper and salt taste left on my lips. With his eyes still shut, he turned his face and grazed my mouth with his own. And even though the world was falling apart outside this blood splattered room, and a cursed queen was breaking free of her spiritual chains to claim dominion over our realm, the weight of the situation was endurable for a brief instant. From the second his lips met mine, the world stopped crumbling, and life was beautiful once more.
I pulled back, barely a breath away. “Roman is about to come in here, so I want to tell you something important before he does.” He opened his eyes at last, watching me stroke his filthy face with my fingertips. “The real reason I’m here.”
“What is it?”
I bit my bottom lip in hesitation. The words finally rushed from my lips before I could stall any longer. “The Grandmaster wouldn’t let me come to you. He wouldn’t let me risk the stones and risk setting Adzehate free just to save you—and I understood. But then I told him…well, I told everyone, something I’ve kept buried deep down. I didn’t realize it until it was too late, but when I ran away and left you to die in the hands of the Dark Army, when I truly believed they’d finished what they’d started that day, it hit me like a granite wall.”
“What did you tell him?”
I took a steadying breath before spilling my truth. “I’m in love with you, Azriel.”
I watched as his mouth parted, his jaw slack as if searching for words. I shifted on my knees uneasily, the awkward quiet feeding my nerves. “You don’t have to say anything,” I added quickly. “I just wanted to tell you before I confronted the queen. I wanted you to know in case I failed, so I wouldn’t leave anything unsaid if I met my end today.” I forced another smile, one meant to reassure him it was okay if he didn’t feel the same.
“I love you too, Arya.”
My heart pounded against my ribs, completely set free at his words. “Really? You’re not just saying that?”
His canines flashed in a slow smile. “I’ve waited for someone like you for centuries, darling. Death might be better than this—it should be, anyway. There should be nothing worse than losing my wings, losing what makes me who I am. But when I’m with you, I don’t care what anyone expects of me or the mold this world tries to fit me inside. Because for the first time since I was created, I care not for the world, only for the woman who is my world. Arya, the runner from West Mirth. The Dishonored Chosen. The Huntress of Valdihr. So many titles for such a small girl. Such little merit they hold to who you truly are and all the reasons I love you so deeply.”
A smile flickered across my lips, happy tears peeking in the corners of my eyes. “Pretty words from my pretty bird.”
The door cracked open again and heavy footsteps joined us near the center of the room. “Not to spoil the moment, lovebirds,” Roman’s voice cracked uneasily, “but we’re kind of in a hurry. If we let Adzehate escape, we may never get the chance to destroy her again.”
I pulled my face away from his in regret. “We have to get him back first.” Azriel cringed beneath me at the thought of moving.
“He can’t walk like this, Arya. They’ve already started the dissection; he’ll be incapacitated until the process is complete.” Roman said in a low voice, as if trying to shield the words from his friend. I glanced between Azriel and Roman with dread shoving my heart back against my throat. My eyes wide, suddenly realizing what needed to be done if I wanted to get him out of here.
“You mean… We have to finish the job?” I whispered as if it were a terrible secret.
Roman didn’t answer right away, so Azriel did it for him. “You have to cut my other wing off, darling. It’s going to have to be done either way. I can’t walk around with one wing the rest of my existence.”
Reluctance stung my eyes. Azriel reached for my hand and squeezed it gently in reassurance. “Please, Arya. Please, finish this.” He begged me in a voice thick with misery, not feeling an ounce of shame over the desperation he never usually showed. “The waiting is far worse than the actual cut.”
“Roman, you have to do it. I can’t…” I objected as my mouth hung open in dumbfounded defiance. I stepped back, unable to come to terms with the thought of cutting off any part of Azriel.
“I want you to do it. It would be sacrilege for another watcher to complete the dissection,” he said, pulling my gaze back to him. “If you love me, Arya, if you truly love me, you will do this. Please.”
