𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 | 𝐀𝐙𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐋

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 4 - 𝖘𝖒𝖎𝖗𝖐

Coming to the Spring Court always felt like a chore these days. With Tamlin's slow. singing, Rhysand insisted on constant visits to ensure everything.

And because Azriel was just perpetually alone, he was the only one who could stay a few days without crying from missing their mate.

Azriel was actually surprised and thankful that Tamlin could wipe his own ass.

The Spring court was always slightly humid, and Azriel's hair did not agree with the humidity.

Stupid flowers, with a stupid ruler who couldn't do anything and needed to be babied.

Waking through the foliage that covered the land while looking for whatever could have gotten through the wall had Azriel on alert.

His shadows seemed to be bursting with excitement at whatever had crossed the wall.

Maybe it would be a wounded dog.

Maybe Azriel should get a dog after he dealt with the problem. Nyx would love a pet, and making Cassian sneeze would be entertaining.

His shadows were being annoyingly useless, normally he would winnow directly next to whatever stumbled over the wall.

Whether it be a deer or a confused human traveller.

Often he could be in and out in a few minutes, yet today it was taking a significant time.

Azriel hadn't spotted any animal tracks, leading him to assume that it must be a human traveller.

One of his shadows alerted him to a presence behind a large bush.

A hand reached out of the bush, pushing it aside to move through it. The person was completely unaware of Azriel presence.

The sight that greeted him as the bush opened up made his heartbeat so loudly he was sure that even a human could hear it and simultaneously made his shadows frantic.

A female had appeared from the bush, looking just as shocked as him. Her hair was dark, almost black if not for the slight red hue. Her skin was light brown, perhaps of day or summer court descent. The clothes she was wearing were unlike anything had seen before. With a deep red top and dark pants.

His shadows jumped and swirled around this strange females hands. And his pants tightened at the sight of her, like some young boy and not the centuries-old experienced male that he was.

The female seemed just as stunned at his presence as he was. Azriel was aware he was desirable, and she was looking at him as if she wanted to strip him down and eat him on the stop. He was sure that he was looking at her the exact same way.

Azriel was so consumed by her presence that he forgot that she was in fae lands and he had a job to do.

Clearly his throat, a poor attempt at breaking the tension that had settled over the couple.

"Are you lost? Do you need help back to the human villages?"

The expression that over time her face was a cross between a smile and a smirk, an expression that Azriel was quickly becoming enamoured with.

"Oh no, I was actually coming here to learn about the fae."

Azriel couldn't help the expression of shock that covered his face. Humans were wisely terrified by the fae.

Fae were stronger, faster, healthier and immortal.

No humans took an interest in fae unless it invoked running away screaming.

And with Azriel's height, being the tallest of his brothers, he still towered over this fairly tall female.

Not to mention the faint wings on his back, something that the female openly gawked at. Although not with fear if her scent was anything to go off.

At least this attraction was mutual.

"Why do you want to learn about fae? Are the human's not interesting enough for you?"

The half-smile half-smirk turned into a dangerous smirk, one Azriel found himself liking even more. "Oh humans are plenty interesting, but right now fae seen was more interesting."

A matching smirk made its way onto Azriel's face, this was one of the first conversations recently that brought a smirk ti his face. "Are you implying that you are not human yourself? Or that they just aren't interesting enough for you?"

"I mean no prejudice towards humans, but I've lived my life around them for long enough. So I decided a change was in order." The female's eyes once again slowly eyed Azriel from head to toe. Making his body tingle in anticipation, and further tightening his pants. "And as we have established, the fae are very interesting."

Azriel was at a loss as to what to do. Something that rarely happened. On one hand, he wanted to take this strange female back to this house and make sure that they weren't disturbed. On the other hand, the more responsible one, the one trying not to read into the pull that he felt towards this grange female. The pull that made his body tingle and shadows go crazy, the same shadows still wrapped around her arm. But he hadn't even established what she was, yet he was struggling with the urge to bring her to the Night court.

"If you want to study fae, you must tell me what you are. Then I'll consider talking to someone who can give you a place to study fae."

Rhysand would understand. A human, or whatever she was writing about fae could spread to human lands, encourage humans and fae to get along better.

This was simply politics. And had absolutely nothing to do with Azriel's selfish desires.

"Oh, I agree to your terms, I'm a witch."

Rhysand was going to kill him.

But that smile/smirk was quickly becoming worth it.