Daddy Azriel

Chapter 14: Skylah

"You're worthless," my father, Kyron Barbosa, seethed from behind me. "And you deserve this."
    My hands were restrained and I was naked from the waist up. My wings were spread as wide as they could go to make room for my whipping. I was kneeling on the living room floor of my father's house. Although, calling it a hovel would be a better description.
    Seconds after the words were out of his mouth, excruciating pain burst through my back.
    "You're a whore that has earned this."
    The whip struck my back again. A pitiful whimper escaped from me.
    "If you hadn't gotten pregnant, I would consider showing you mercy." He struck again. "But you did. You are an embarrassment that is carrying a bastard child."
    The leather whip came down hard, slicing the skin on my back.
    "It's your fault that Onen is dead."
    His words hurt more than the whip.
    It's your fault that Onen is dead.
    My father struck again and again. All the while, the guilt of my lover's death was crushing me from the inside, out.
   It's your fault.

I gasped awake.
The nightmare still gripped at me.
Onen was dead. And it was my fault.
I should have escaped the Illyrian camp with him when he suggested it.
    Let's run away to somewhere far, far away, Sky, Onen had said in earnest. Let's go somewhere that is safe. Somewhere to raise our child together.
    We can't just run away, my love, I had told him. Kyron will hunt us down. And you can't abandon your place in the army. We'll be okay here. Don't worry.
    My father had killed him a week later.
    The room that I was staying in at my High Lord and Lady's river house, was slowly coming back to me.
    I was laying on a soft bed, and wrapped in a thick quilt. The long shirt that I had changed into after waking up to feed Lovia was now at my waist. My daughter's crib was to my right, which she was still sound asleep in. Relief flooded through me. If she was still asleep, then I didn't scream during my nightmare. I occasionally do that, if the dream is really bad.
    Laying there in bed, I couldn't get my mind to slow down. My dream continued to play over and over.
    It's my fault.
    I needed to do something, other than just lay here.
    Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I stood and looked into Lovia's crib, still trying to calm myself down. While seeing her there, eyes closed and a thumb in her mouth was soothing, it still wasn't enough.
    I needed something else to think about.
    Leaving my bedroom door cracked, I followed the only thing that I was able to comprehend at the moment.
    The mating bond.
    Surprisingly, it led me to the door directly next to my own.
    Gently pressing the door open, I discovered Azriel sitting up in bed, his chest bare, with a concerned look engraved on his face. His shadow's were nowhere to be seen.
    I stepped into the dark room, closing the door behind me.
    "I...I had a nightmare."
    Understanding flashed in his eyes as he asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"
    "No...I just—I need...I can't shake the dream. My mind won't relax." I felt silly as soon as the words left my mouth. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. I'll leave you be."
    Before I could make for the door, Azriel quickly said, "You have nothing to apologize for. It's okay. Truly." He looked at my trembling hands. "Come here." His voice was gentle as he scooted over on the bed and opened the blanket to me.
    I knew that I should turn back and go straight to my room, but his bed looked so warm. And I was tired of being alone. I wanted to be held.
    As I made my way to Azriel's bed, I noticed his eyes snag on my bare legs. Why I hadn't thought to put on an actual nightgown or at least pants, was beyond me.
    When I climbed into my mate's bed, his arm instantly came around my waist and he pulled me towards him. I rested my forehead on his chest as he tucked the blanket in around my shoulders.
    Breathing in his familiar scent, I was finally able to slow my breathing, matching his.
    His hand started to make soothing circles up and down my back.
    "I was being whipped," I admitted quietly. "In my dream, my father was whipping me." The hand at my back stopped. His chest froze. He froze. I continued on as if nothing had happened. "It was a memory. One that still haunts me."
    The hand at my back resumed as he said, "It was just a memory, though. A memory that will never recur. Not in any way."
    The way he said the words, was not as a statement, but instead as a vow.
    "You're safe here, you know?" he said suddenly.
    "I know."
    "And your room here will be open to you as long as you want it. You're also welcomed to live anywhere in the city. We can get you an apartment, or you could live—"
    He cut himself off.
    "Could live where?" I prodded.
    "You and Lovia could stay at my apartment. I have a spare room."
    "You would be okay with us staying there?"
    "Why wouldn't I be?"
    "You haven't even known us for a month."
    "I've known you long enough to know that I would be a lucky male to host you and your daughter in my home."
    We both laid in silence for a moment.
    "I'll think about it," I finally said.
    "Take as long as you need," Azriel answered. "You should rest now. I'll fight away the nightmares if they try to take you again."
    I slowly drifted back to sleep as his hand continued to rub long circles along my back. The arm around my waist never relented. It stayed around me the rest of the night.
    Just before I was fully taken away by sleep, I thought I heard Azriel whisper, "I would love it if you both moved in."
    I must've imagined it.