afflicted

14

A/N: SooOoOo SORRY about delays in updates, but hopefully it was worth it! Next update much sooner!

When Calina woke up, Azriel was gone. Groggily wiping the sleep from her eyes, she set her feet on the cold wooden floor and set out looking for him. She found him in the kitchen, shoving extra food into a bag he'd found. He gave her a shy smile. She returned it, reaching high above her head in a stretch.

"We should make it to the edge of the Night Court by nightfall," Azriel said, sitting the bag of food he'd been filling on the table and rubbing the back of his neck. Callie felt like she could be sick.

"We're... We're going to the Night Court?"

Azriel nodded, face grim.

"We're out of other options at the moment. I'm hoping Maeve knows how stupid it is for us to go back there and will assume we're still somewhere south hiding out. I'm banking on her thinking I'm smarter than I am." Azriel was smarter than anyone she'd ever met, so if he thought that the Night Court was the best place to go, she would trust him. He wouldn't take them somewhere he hadn't deemed fully safe.

"How can I help?" Calina asked, looking at the supplies he was stuffing into a bag. He looked up at her, trying to decipher something written on her face.

"Carry the pack while I fly?" He asked, holding it out to her. She nodded, grabbed the pack and looped it around her head, and rested it on her shoulder, holding its contents to her body. It wasn't as heavy as she'd expected it to be.

"You mean hold it while you carry it and me?" She joked, jabbing him lightly with her elbow, attempting to get him back into good spirits. The weirdness of last night still loomed over both of their heads.

Neither of them knew how to handle it, or what it meant going forward. He certainly wasn't ready to forgive her, and probably never would be, but she didn't think he hated her anymore, either, which was a decided improvement. She could work with that.

"Precisely," he nodded with a sly smile. She grinned at him. He stared at her for a moment before forcing his gaze away.

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They flew the entire day, only offhanded conversation passing between them, but they traveled mostly in stiff silence. She wanted to break that silence, to crumble it in her hands, but she didn't know how. She never wanted to make him uncomfortable, but she couldn't handle the tension hanging over them.

Azriel sat by the small fire they'd risked on a log he'd pulled over. He held his hands out, allowing the orange flickering flames to bring life back into his fingers. Callie watched him, noting every way his body moved when he thought she wasn't looking. It was a rare thing to catch Azriel with his guard down.

She took a step forward, snapping a twig under her foot and he immediately stiffened, craning his neck back to look at her. She offered a thin-lipped smile, sitting on the other log he'd pulled over for her.

The wood was damp and creaked beneath her weight but held strong. She sniffed, blowing hot air into her hands as she repeated Azriel's movements and allowed the flames to warm her body.

"I'd kill for a fucking shower," she sighed, closing her eyes and tipping her head up towards the light of the full moon, beaming down on them both.

The Night Court's skies were no joke. Millions of stars danced in a bath of pure starlight, all peering down at them, eager to see what might occur. It was made up of swirling purple, blue, and black hues. She wanted to jump upwards and swim through it. Wanted to feel the gentleness of the sparse clouds, be cradled in the warm glow of the moon.