Demon Heart

Chapter 24.1~Finally

AZA 

'Give him a pinch if he needs this.' That's all Faux had said as he handed her the little box. Aza wondered if it was like a pain drug or something. She slid the lid open and looked down at the cream-colored powder. It seemed a little random. She took a pinch between her fingers and sniffed it. It didn't have a smell. She contemplated licking some up but didn't.

Aza glanced over to Del, who remained with his back to the room. A lot had happened to him in the past week. Shot down twice, the second time by his own brother. And he was technically dead. He had died, as Evabelle had put it. But Aza still couldn't believe that. She remembered the fear of seeing the two of them lying in the ditch, but then the relief that both of them were breathing. She couldn't imagine what her reaction would have been if it had been otherwise.

She was curious, since Del's silence, she didn't actually know how he felt about the whole situation, other than annoyed that he wasn't going with Evabelle and the others. But a dark stirring in Aza's stomach burned with the question of what Del was thinking about his brother right now. Lucis had torn his wing off. Murdered him. Even though he was alive now, it didn't mean it didn't happen.

Aza hadn't said this to anyone, but she was afraid. No, she was terrified. And she was so angry because it was the man with the pristine, white angel wings that had her jarred. When Evabelle had first come back from running after Lucis, she'd seen the bruises, dark, and painful. Bloody, swollen lips. The wincing that she tried to hide.

It all flashbacked to when Aza had her own little bluish marks that she told everyone it came from her own clumsiness. No one questioned, since she had been a rather rambunctious kid. She remembered wishing that they had seen beyond her lies, that they would notice the wincing, and the tears behind the smile.

Lucis had hurt Evabelle just like Aza's father used to hurt her and her mother.

But Aza knew better. It was an entirely different situation, but that didn't erase the damage.

Aza stared at the back of Del's dark head. It was his brother. His brother did this to him. She opened her mouth, but then shut it. She looked back down at the box in her hands and chose a wiser path. "Um, hey, do you need this?"

"No,"

Aza looked up again. "Are you angry at me?"

Del didn't say anything.

"I should have known better," Aza sighed and leaned back in her cushioned seat. "Can I ask why? I mean specifically. I didn't choose to be the one to stay behind with you, you know. I know you wanted to go too, but there was definitely no way for you to go. And me, the one lacking in the super power department, is the cliché choice to stay behind, because clearly I'd wipe the floor with all of them."

Del groaned.

"Honestly, what made you so pissy all the time? Why are you so dark and broody like there's a rock shoved up your butt?" Aza snipped.

"Ah, you want to hear my abhorrent back-story. Confess all my pain to you, pour out my soul," Del scoffed. "Is knowing that my father is the cause of this mess and the truth about my brother not enough for you?"

Aza scrunched up her nose, but did her best to remain unaffected. "You said it yourself, your brother's truth." They had heard some of Lucis's background, and of course, Del was in there, but the discussion had been focused on the older brother. "Maybe I'd be able to at least understand you better if I heard some more of your side. And maybe seeing 'why' could help." Her mind flashed back to the fever induced Anahalian, his smile that made her breathless. What had happened to that? What had happened to that man?