When Azriel returned to Mor's house, he knew he made a mistake by leaving. He shouldn't have trusted Rai. He had spent hours listening to her breathing and when it turned to the steady rhythm of someone sleeping, he figured it would be okay to leave. He would have returned before she even awoke.
He had been gone for only an hour, telling Rhys about the power the mirror held. A part of Azriel, though, wasn't surprised that the Queen left. She had been slippery since they first met. He had hoped, deep in his heart, that she felt the tiniest hint of a connection with him and stayed. Wasn't there a reason she told him how she got her scars?
That reminded him; he didn't get to tell her how he got his own scars. The rough skin mocked him as he looked down at his hands with a hateful gaze. His thoughts had been so clouded with what Rai had told him that he had forgotten for one blissful moment his own scars.
What she told him affected him more than he would like to admit. He couldn't even fall asleep and the urge to do something plagued him. He figured reporting to Rhys would be the most productive, but instantly regretted it once he returned to feel Rai's room was empty.
There was a presence in the house.
"You get rid of your little friend?" Mor said over a steaming cup of tea while standing in the kitchen.
Azriel mumbled a bitter response as he marched to the guest bedroom and threw open the door.
"Fucking great."
"She slipped past you?" Mor asked over his shoulder.
He wasn't in the mood to answer questions. Why can't she sit still for two damned seconds? His shadows swarmed around him in a vicious storm, he let them race out and collect her vibrant scent in the room. He had to find her, his heart was already beginning to slam in his chest.
"Azriel," Mor placed a hand on his shoulder. It did little to calm him.
His voice was raspy, "I need to find her."
He sent his shadows out in a disparate search. They ran like a pack of wolves throughout Velaris and when they found nothing, he pushed them further.
"Azriel, calm down." Mor's voice was distant through the ringing in his ears.
He didn't realize he was shaking. All he cared about was finding Rai. Damn it, I shouldn't have left.
"We'll find her," Mor spoke and he wanted to yell at her. He couldn't stand being in such a small space, he had to get out or else he would lose his calm.
He found it in him to tell her, "I'll be back," before he winnowed. In a flash of light, he was falling from the sky, his wings stretching out to catch him, and in a swift turn he landed in the place he had caught Rai before.
His shadows found nothing there, not even as they searched the cave.
He had his shadows searching in every direction. He could hear the monsters that lurked in the shadows, hear the small creatures that hid in holes, feel the trees breathe with the wind.
And then he felt it. Her presence hit him like a punch to the gut. She was exactly where the amphisbaena had attacked her once before.
"Idiot."
YOU ARE READING
To the Shadowsinger | Azriel
Fantasy[COMPLETED] A hundred years had passed since the war against Hybern. Life was back to normal until a fae child fell from the sky and claimed to be from another world. No one in the Night Court understood how the gate between worlds could have opened...
