On Thin Ice: Azriel x OC

Chapter 15

The next morning, Azriel woke up first, and all he could do was admire the peacefulness in Nova's face as she slept. He had no idea what time it was and didn't care if Cassian would throw a fit about him being late to training.

All he could do was lay there, and curse those bastards in the Winter Court for how they treated the serene soul that was laying next to him.

Rhys had talked to him yesterday about going on a mission to Winter to see what Kallias chose to do about Nova's brother. Rhys had no idea that Azriel had been keeping tabs on Alex and his group of guards ever since the day Nova came to Velaris. He knew it was only a matter of time before Alex pulled a stunt to get Nova back.

Azriel had been checking the locations of Alex and each of his guards almost every morning, and none of them had gone very far out of Winter, other than the morning of the meeting.

He stared at her for a long time, just listening to her breathing, until she slowly opened her eyes.

"Good morning," she said with her raspy voice as she subtly scooted closer to feel his body heat.

"Hey," he replied, as she lifted her head to meet his eyes.

Nova turned her head towards the window, seeing sunlight pouring in, "Don't you have to be at training with Cassian right now?"

Azriel smiled as Nova looked back up at him, "Yeah, but he can deal with me being a little late."

"You hate being late," Nova said before there was a light knock at the door. They exchanged glares and Azriel immediately stood up from the bed, moving to the corner of the room when the door opened.

Rhys poked his head in and said, "I was wondering if you were awake, it's almost 11." She sat up in the bed, not hiding the surprise on her face. He opened the door the rest of the way, revealing Azriel standing in the corner of the room.

"There you are, Cassian has been going on all morning about how you ditched him." Azriel stayed silent as Rhys looked back and forth between the pair, noticing they were both in the clothes from last night. He raised his eyebrows and said, "I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?"

"No, I was just leaving," Azriel mumbled before he walked past Rhys and out the door, with no emotion on his face.

Rhys turned to Nova and immediately started asking all the questions.

He started, "Did you-"

"No," Nova interrupted before he could even finish his sentence.

He tried again, "Why was-"

"Last night", Nova said standing up from the bed, "we talked".

"You talked, and this morning he ended up in here with the same clothes on as last night," Rhys said.

Without thinking, Nova replied, "It's better than no clothes".

Rhys just smirked at the words.

To change the subject, Nova asked, "What is on my itinerary today?"

"I was gonna have you go into town with Feyre and Mor, but I think I've changed my mind." Rhys continued, "You're gonna go with Cassian to train today since you made Az ditch him."

That would also mean she would have to endure all of Cassian's interest in her relationship, she was sure he would ask every question he could think of.

Nova shot a glare to Rhys and he chuckled. Rhys turned towards the door saying, "You know, he cares about you," which made Nova smile as she entered her bathroom.

She bathed and put on some athletic clothes, not sure of everything she would be doing that day. Then, she headed downstairs to get some breakfast and see where she was supposed to meet Cassian.