She was gone.
Aurora was gone.
As soon as she disappeared, as soon as Death's claws let go of his brothers, Azriel started to loose his sanity.
"What the hell happened?" growled Cassian and his face was as pale as a corpse.
Azriel could barely hear what his brothers were saying.
"I didn't even know Death could do that!" Frustrated Rhys walked around the dead garden. The black, dried up grass was crippling under his boots.
Azriel's breathing was heavy, he stared at the spot Aurora had been.
He took her. Death took her away from them. From him. Why did he come out? Was it because Aurora was too happy? Was it because Death shared Aurora with so many people?
Was it because Azriel longed for this woman? To be his?
"I don't understand," he said, because he needed to distract himself. It took every little ounce of self control not to fly into the air and look for her.
"Death didn't come out for weeks. He had every opportunity to kill us," Rhys thought out loud. "I couldn't enter her mind. I couldn't even get close to her."
"You couldn't," said Cassian with a frown. "But he could."
He nodded at Azriel.
Azriel wasn't even aware of what exactly happened. He just wanted Aurora. At his side, in safety.
"What?" Like he was stupid.
Azriel could see the pieces of the puzzle fall together in their minds.
"He was scared of you," mentioned Cassian. The frown got deeper. The ladies stayed inside. Rhys probably told them to through his bond with Feyre. "He said that you were a danger to him."
Azriel rubbed his face with a hand. The urge to go find Aurora started to grow, become too big for his body. He was shaking.
"I... I don't know why. I only helped her." Shivering, he blew out the air he kept in.
"Maybe that's why he's scared," said Rhys. Stars died in his eyes when he thought about it. "You got too close. You are a servant of Death, but never held his hand personally. And you can touch Aurora." He snorted. "That is something to be scared of."
"But I barely understand how that works. Or why!" Azriel started to walk around. "We need to know where she went."
He didn't care about what Death thought. He didn't care at all about him. Azriel only cared about Aurora. About her well-being. Where was she?
"What places would she go to?" asked Rhys. But Cassian shook his head.
"What places would Death go to?"
Almost all of his spies were on this. He didn't care.
He needed Aurora.
He and Cassian had been flying for days, almost weeks. Never any sign of the lost woman. The growing concern kept Azriel up at night. He didn't eat, barely slept. He saw the concern on the faces of his family.
Amren heard what happened and was determined to find out more about Death. His personality, because he had it, apparently.
They had discussed where Aurora might be. She told them where she survived for long periods of time.
First they went to the Middle.
Most of her life she had been there, surviving in loneliness. Not one single stone wasn't turned upside down. They flew close to the mountain. For a brief moment they went Under the Mountain, but didn't find anything than dust and debris. The place was completely abandoned.
They even searched the house of the Weaver. Nothing. Every place, every swamp, rocky area or forest didn't have any sign of Aurora.
Elain checked with Azriel almost every day. But he was so tired and so stressed about Aurora's well-being, that her visits became shorter. Sometimes she would walk in and look at him with eyes filled with sadness. Without saying a word she would leave.
Azriel flew, flew, flew.
She was gone.
Aurora was gone. And Azriel couldn't bear it.