They'd left the Day Court at 8 A.M. The little tour with Helion will be for another time. However, Eileánóir promised him she'll come to talk about books someday.
When they arrived at the Night Court, they found Elain cooking and Nesta reading a book. Amren was nowhere to be seen. Eileánóir was setting the table when someone entered the house. The red hair and sharp face made her drop the plate she was holding. Flashes of the month in the Autumn Court were blurring her view. She took a knife in her hand when he stepped inside. In a blink of an eye, everybody was in the room, Cassian protecting the mortal girls. Azriel, however, put himself between the Inner Circle and the ginger boy. "Calm down, he's with us." He tried not to look at Mor who he was sure will hate him for the rest of her life for bringing him here. Rhysand was shocked to see his spymaster protecting the Heir of the Autumn Court after what they did to Eileánóir.
Eris was standing in front of the Inner Circle who obviously wanted to see him dead. His eyes immediately went to Mor who looked at him with rage and pain. This is not going to end well, he thought. Then he looked at the girl his father tortured for a month in his Court. He hadn't known until he saw The list. It had been organized like a calendar and there was a name for each day, sometimes more. He hadn't understood at first but then he'd heard the guards coming from the cell. It had been their names that day on the list. They were laughing and talking about what they'd just did to her. He had run to the cell and what he'd seen just disgusted him. The girl was lying on the floor, naked, in a bath of what looked like her own blood. She was unconscious so he decided to enter the cell and put some clothes on her. He quickly sent a message to Azriel with little hope of an answer but he couldn't free the girl himself. It could have screwed his plan to take the throne. So he had waited for Azriel's answer. They had been careful around each other but Azriel had saved the girl and Eris had helped him. He finally looked at the High Lord of the Night Court. "I'm here in peace Rhysand. Please just listen to me," he told Rhys as they all lowered their weapons. He looked at Azriel who nodded and sat on the couch, showing the others that there was no danger. Eris did the same then Elain and Nesta as well. Feyre and Cassian stayed beside Eileánóir who was still trembling. Of course, seeing him would wake up the memories. He looked at the mortal girl, "I killed them, all of them."
Everybody frowned except Eileánóir and Azriel. They all looked at him. "Who?" He was going to answer until he heard her broken voice. "How? How did you know who to kill?" The Inner Circle was blinking at both of them. They had a small idea of what they were talking about but they said nothing. "There was a list," He sighed. "They were paying a lot to be on that calendar, I killed the eleven bastards." He saw everyone eyes wide-eyed. That was a lot.
"Twelve," she told him. He frowned. He was sure there were eleven names on that list but she couldn't be wrong, not on that. So he looked at her. "I need to know the last one."
She closed her eyes then sighed and took the sketchbook that was on the table in front of her. Feyre looked at her with sadness in her eyes. "I can do it if you want I can-" she began but Eileánóir cut her off. "I don't want you in my head, I'll do it." She took a pencil then try to focus on the last face she'd seen in that cell before Azriel'd saved her. She was shaking as she began to draw. They were all looking at her but she didn't care, she didn't see them. She was lost in the images that she had tried to erase from her memory but it was still fresh. Tears were running down her cheeks when she finished her drawing. She handed it to Eris before wiping off her tears. She didn't see Azriel until he took her in his arms, brushing her back. They heard Eris swearing before he went outside and just vanished.
They were all staring at the place where he had been seconds ago except for Azriel who was trying to calm Eileánóir. He looked at Feyre who nodded then he winnowed to the cottage with the red-headed girl. He laid down in the sunflower field with her in his arms. They stayed like that until it was dusk. He looked down at Eileánóir who had fallen asleep a while ago. They had to go to the cottage because it was getting cold but he couldn't bring himself to wake her up so he wrapped her in his wings so she wouldn't be cold.
She opened her eyes when she felt a hand in her hair. They were still laying on the ground and the night has fallen. She was wondering why she was not cold until she saw his wings. It was like he had wrapped his arms around her but it was his wings instead. She took some time to look at them. She could see lines like veins in it coming from the membranes of the wings and scars, all over them. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know how he'd gotten them. She finally looked at Azriel and blushed when she realized that he had been looking at her the whole time. He smiled at her and she missed a heartbeat when she saw his dimples. She hasn't seen them before but it made him even more handsome. "We should go back to the house, the others will freak out if we don't get back," he said to her, folding his wings. The cold hit her instantly as she got up, his wings no more around her. He got up as well and winnowed them in front of the house. They got inside to see everybody staring at them. Eileánóir immediately saw the look on Mor's face as they entered the room. She was looking at Azriel and now that she was thinking of it, she had seen them looking at each other when Eris was here. It was a powerful look, full of the past. How could she not see what was between them? She looked at Feyre to let her know that she wanted to talk. Her best friend immediately understood the look and took her in the study.
"Are you okay?" Feyre asked her. She looked concerned. Indeed, there must have been hurt in her eyes after what she'd understood. She decided not to beat around the bushes.
"Are Azriel and Mor together? What's between them?" Her heart was beating so fast and it would stop beating if Feyre told her they were together. Perhaps she would go to the Day Court where she could stay far away from both of them. She was already thinking about what to tell them before going when Feyre finally answer. "They're not together but... Rhysand told me that Azriel has loved Mor for five hundred years."
That was the worst thing she could have told her. She looked away to hide the hurt in her eyes. She had felt good around him, had felt different. He'd listened to her and had understood what that felt like. But now, every voice in her head that had told her to try something with him was quiet. Silent fell in the room, the beat of her heart was the only thing she could hear. She didn't want to look at Feyre because she knew that she would instantly understand why she had asked that. So she just left the room and was going to leave the house when she bumped into a wall of muscles. She blinked at Cassian who was looking at her. "You're okay?" He asked. "Rhys asked me to show you where you'll sleep tonight." He smiled at her. Indeed, it was the first night she was going to sleep here, she didn't even know if they had a spare room but he answered her question when he opened the door beside the study. It was a total mess. Clothes were on the floor and weapons were on the desk beside the window. She frowned at the Illyrian who seemed not to care about the mess. "We don't have a spare room yet so he put another bed in my room, I hope it doesn't bother you?" He turned to her. "We couldn't put the bed in Azriel's room or Mor's, their rooms are too small."
She flinched at the names of the shadowsinger and Mor. She was glad they hadn't put the bed in either of their room after what Feyre just told her. She finally smiled at Cassian then looked at the room. "I hope it doesn't bother you neither, it's your personal space after all," she said as he laughed.
"I won't leave a pretty girl in distress." He gave her a wink then entered his room. She smiled then followed him. "The bathroom is there, I'll be here if you need anything." He grinned at her.
That was going to be awkward.
***
She was laughing so hard as Cassian was telling her the story when he dyed Rhysand's hair in neon pink. They had spent all the evening sitting in his bed, telling each other funny stories. If Azriel was the mysterious one, Cassian was the funny one. He had tons of stories where he'd gotten himself in trouble or pranks he'd done to the Inner Circle. The moment they'd started talking, she'd forgotten about what her best friend had told her.
"You know, I could use some help to do pranks on the others," he told her, smiling. She laughed as he was putting one knee on the ground like he was going to propose. "Would you be my partner in crime?" She said yes, pretending to wipe tears on her cheeks.
It was 2 A.M when they finally went to bed. When he shut down the light, everything that she had forgotten this evening came back to her mind. The feeling when she had drawn the last man that had entered the cell before Azriel. The look on everybody's faces when Eris'd said how many names he had seen on that list. The memories of these men touching her. She could see Cassian with the light of the moon, he was already sleeping. She didn't want to wake him up with her screams if she fell asleep so she got up and tried to make her way to the door. She was halfway when she stepped on something and fell to the ground, face first. She heard Cassian standing up then turning the light on. "What are you doing on the floor?" He helped her to stand.
"I was trying to go out. I didn't want to wake you up with my nightmares but I guess I failed, I'm sorry. It's just that.. When I'm in the dark, I can't distinguish the reality and dreams. It's like I'm in that cell again." She didn't want to bother him with her problems, she'll sleep somewhere else. He lost his smile as soon as she told him that.
"You should have told me, I would have let the light on," he told her. This evening he had been all fun and laugh but now he was deadly serious. After Mor, he knew what these nightmares could do to someone and to see her eyes full of pain was too much for him. This mortal girl has been through so much in so little time, humans were so fragile and yet she was here.
"I don't want to bother you wi-"
"Don't ever think you bother someone with this. You shouldn't stay in pain without letting others help you." She didn't know what to say so she let him put her in bed. He put a light beside her bed then turned off the big light. He went to his own bed then looked at her. "If you're scared, you can come in my bed," he told her seriously. She was Feyre's best friend and she had gone through a lot, he would do what he could to make her feel better.
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I'm all for Azriel with dimples 😍
Here's chapter six! Please tell me I'm not the only one who doesn't hate Eris. I feel like he's not as bad as we all think like Rhys in the first book... I hope we'll see his redemption in the next book as well as Tamlin's
You can share your thoughts on this story in the comments, it would be my pleasure to discuss with you about it :)