A Court of Shadows and Lies / ACOTAR FF

Chapter 76

Sif collapsed onto her hands and knees as she moved us through the planes and stopping in our home's landing. She was dry heaving, tears streaming down her face, while she dug her fingers into the rich red carpet. I dropped to the floor, pulling my brows together. Cherry followed with Azriel standing over us.

"Are you okay, Sif?" I asked her, moving strands of damp hair from her face. She shook her head.

"I forgot..." she paused, crying out in pain before continuing, "...how much of a fucking bitch it is to do that."

"We should have gone through the rift," Cherry sighed, moving her fingers in the air while her left hand was outstretched.

"It's not safe," Sif heaved. "We don't know where...fuck."

A glass vial appeared on Cherry's palm, filled with the same silver liquid I had drunk when I awoke that first day in Velaris. It shimmered brilliantly against the light in the landing, swirling fluidly in the glass. I stared at it before looking up at Az who was watching me intently.

So much had happened in the year I had been in Velaris, and a lot had changed since he had found me in that forest. I went from having no magic, to having whatever the fuck was inside of rampage its way across the city. Azriel couldn't stand me, and here he was, proclaiming his life for mine. I was lost, lonely, and without a family. Now I had found them, myself and more.

"Tilt her head back, Jez," Cherry murmured. I moved Sif's head back, still watching the Illyrian intently.

I would give up everything I had to be with him, if he wanted me. I would give up my life here, to make sure he would stay alive, that he had a home to go back to. He deserved happiness, Azriel should have that at least.

In my 200,000 years of life, the lovers I've had, and wars I'd fought, I had never felt this intensely for any Being before. Vel felt like an afterthought now, a male who I had been looking at through rose-tinted glasses. He had trapped me in a bargain because he couldn't have me, or chose not to have me. Philippe was a doomed love to begin with, but an odd one. A human and a Being could never work out – case and point, Mother and the Archeron's father.

Azriel? Azriel was there. He was in front of me. He had, for the most part, always chosen me.

Sif grunted and moved back onto her kneels. I tore my gaze from the Illyrian and looked at my eldest sister who shivered. The vial had done the job but she still looked like shit. "We need to find that fucking harp," she hissed.

"The harp is in Velaris," Azriel said quietly. All three of us turned back to Azriel who had a hand out. Sif stared at it for a moment before accepting, letting him pull her to her feet. "You know where it is Jez, I think you felt it."

I knitted my brows together, thinking back to when I had felt a strong presence.

Fuck me. Of course.

The Prison.

His scarred hand appeared in front of my face and I took it, my heart thundering in my chest. My fingers laced through his and he pulled me to my feet, where I looked up at him. "The Prison," I breathed. He nodded.

"The Mask is in The Middle," he said quietly, Cherry rising to her feet on her own. "That's yours, isn't it?"

I nodded. "You remember the vault, don't you?"

"You let him into the vault?" Sif asked. I nodded still looking at him.

"Do you know where the others are?" I pushed. He shook his head. Shit. "Where has Etta got to in finding our weapons?"

Sif shrugged. "Only knows where The Mask, The Crown and The Harp are. I'm sorry, how are you glossing over the fact you let Azriel into our vault?"

"That was a year ago," I waved away with a free hand. "We're in the present now."