Song- "Bad Liar" by Imagine Dragons

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(This song, I think, is a really good theme song for Azriel. Are there any songs you think work for him? ~Cora Knight xoxo)

******

I couldn't do anything, so I disappeared into shadows before I could be impaled by a spear and reappeared where Mor was with Rhysand and Cassian.

Rhys disappeared with Feyre and I felt sick.

I collapsed to my hands and knees, shaking all over.

"It was him!" I gasped.

"It was who? Who was in there?" Cassian asked, hands moving to my shoulders.

"I killed the wrong Fae, Cassian. I killed the wrong one. Rhys gave me the wrong one. He looked like him, but he wasn't him."

"What are you saying?" Mor asked.

"That red-haired Fae in there! With the robotic eye! That's the bastard that abducted me! I killed the wrong Fae!"

Tears began to stream down my face.

"Lucien? Are you telling me Lucien snuck into the Night Court and abducted you?" Cassian asked in disbelief.

I couldn't speak. "It was him."

He merely looked to Mor and he picked me up and I didn't fight as she winnowed us back for the Night Court.

******

I sat with my knees to my chest on a window seat, staring out at the river below.

I wrapped my wings around myself and just stared. Feyre was resting in the next room over.

A soft knock sounded on the door but I didn't say anything. The door creaked open and closed against softly. Footsteps walked across the floor and he kneeled in front of me.

I looked at Azriel and his hazel eyes were filled with concern. I bit my lip and he just held his arms out to me and I slid off the bench and into his lap where he held me tightly.

He turned his face to kiss my tear-stained cheeks and he whispered, "Adrianna."

"Y-Yes?"

"You should rest. You've been through a lot today." He said softly, hands rubbing up and down my back and kissed my jaw.

"I just want to stay with you." I whispered meekly. I stroked my fingers through his hair and just held onto him even tighter.

In response, he picked me up and carried me to his room. He set me down gently on the side of the bed and kneeled in front of me, hands on my waist. They shook a little and I picked them up and kissed over the scars.

His rough fingers tightened around mine and he bowed his head.

"Love, come up here next to me." I said gently. I laced my fingers through his and stood up. "Come."

He didn't look at me.

I was beginning to get concerned, now. I eased off the bed and kneeled in front of him and lifted my hands to his face. "Love, what's wrong? Why do you look so sad?"

He leaned into my hands and I kissed his forehead. "He said something down there. Something I didn't think was true. But then I realized it was." He said softly.

"What did he say?" I asked softly.

"He said the two of you were very close and in love. That he felt the mating bond with you but rejected it. It killed him, he said, and that you would get tired of me eventually, too. And that you probably don't want this bond to begin with."

I lifted his face up again and said, "Azriel I rejected him because I didn't feel anything for him in that way. But, don't you ever believe for a moment that I don't need you like I need air to breathe. You're my everything. Whenever I see you sad, I feel a deep grief that can only be cured once I see you smile. When you're happy, I feel the happiest I've ever been. When you're angry, I become just as enraged at whoever it is that has made you feel such a thing. And when you're hurt, I become filled with the urge to kill whoever hurt you."

A tear slid down his cheek and I wiped it away. "I know you have your monsters. Your feelings of self-doubt and hatred. Because I have them, too. But I'm telling you as you once told me, I am here. And I'm not leaving. You may have a lot of baggage, but I'm here to help you with it and I'm not going anywhere, my love. I'm not leaving you. I'll be there when you need it. Whether it's assurance, a hug, a friend, a lover. Anything you need I'll be that person for you. Because I love you and you are worth more to me than anything. I don't know what else he said to you, but don't let that snake and his poisoned words get to you."

He was quiet for a long time, then said, "Everyone I've loved has left me in one way or another. I thought it would be the same with you. I'm sorry for doubting you."

I shook my head and just tilted his face up and kissed his cheekbone where a tear was. "I love you. You're perfect, Azriel." I whispered and kissed his lips.

His arms tightened around me and he kissed me back, one hand holding the back of my head. His arms moved around my waist and he stood, picking me up and I hooked my legs around his waist.

He turned and sat down on the bed and merely hugged me tightly.

I stroked my fingers through his hair. "What's wrong? What's on your mind?" I said gently.

His scarred hands rested on my lap and fiddled with a tassel from my corset. "I have yet to tell you about...these."

His fingers stopped moving and he held up his hands. I took them in my own and said, "What about them?" My thumbs brushed across his knuckles and he said,

"Its a not-so-happy story."

"I have scars, too." I said softly and held his hand to the ones that cris-crosse down my forearms. He held my forearms, thumbs rubbing across the scars there. The scars I did to myself.

"I was locked in a cell once. I was late to flying. Because of my stepmother. She and my half-brothers hated me. Possibly because of my mother, but I can't say. My father was a lord and had no time to pay attention to his bastard, so he didn't do anything when my stepmother locked me in a cell with no windows and no light. It was dark and cold. I wasn't allowed outside of the cell for more than an hour a day and that was to use the bathroom or eat. Other than that, I was tossed back into that cell without a second thought."

I frowned, eyebrows drawing together at the words.

"When I was eight- eight years old, that is- my half-brothers came into my cell and decided it would be fun to douse my hands in oil...then set them ablaze."
His voice began to go softer and he wouldn't meet my gaze. "No one knew of my existence until some soldiers heard my screams and saved me. By the time I turned eleven, the other Illyrians noticed my gifts in shadowsinging, so I was brought to a camp to train and left there. That's when I meet Rhys and Cassian. We became close friends and quickly went up in the ranks. We were powerful- the most powerful Illyrians of the time- and Rhysand's father, the High Lord at the time, thought we were going to turn against him. So, he separated us. When that happened it felt like a knife to my gut.

"I became the High Lord's spymaster and Rhys and Cassian each took a legion of their own. We didn't stay separated for long, though, because when Rhys became the new High Lord, he made me spymaster and part of his Inner Circle and Cassian his general. His cousin Mor became his third and Amren his second. And then you joined us."

He looked at me finally and I just took his hands and kissed them both.

"I guess the Mother has a warped sense of humor in pairing us." I offer a small smile and am rewarded with a chuckle from him.

"Perhaps. But you made my life better." He leaned forward and kissed my temple where I knew I had a scar and I closed my eyes, cheeks going a little red and I just held onto his hands.

"Azriel, I love you so much. I want you to always remember that. No matter what."

"I don't doubt it and I don't think I ever could." He replied in a whisper, eyes filled with wonder as he stared into my eyes.

I smiled and leaned forward and kissed him.

*****

The next day, I went to see Feyre. When I knocked on her door, she merely mumbled a reply to come in. I opened the door and stepped inside.

My eyes watered when I saw her. She was gaunt and pale and looked like she had been crying. I could smell vomit.

"Adrianna?" She whispered and I just raced over to her and caught her in a tight embrace. She began to cry into my shoulder, her arms wrapped tightly around my neck.

"It's ok, Feyre." I said gently and just rubbed her back and clenched my jaw at being able to feel her spine under her clothes.

"He locked me inside." She whispered. "He locked me up."

"You're free now, Feyre. And you don't even have to go back if you don't want to." I pulled away to rest my hands against her cheeks and wiped her tears away.

She closed her eyes and just nodded.

"What can I do for you?"

"Get me out of here?" She asked somewhat desperately.

I smiled gently and nodded. "Of course. I was headed out to train with Cassian and Azriel. I'm still working on my wings. You can come with me and watch them humiliate me. It might make you laugh."

She paused, then nodded. "Ok." There was no smile at my attempt at a joke.

"Let's get you in something more comfortable, yeah?" I asked and walked over to her wardrobe.

"Like what you're wearing?"

I looked down at my tight pants, tall boots, and sleeveless top and gauntlets on my forearms. "Uh, these are my fighting leathers. Do you want sleeves or no sleeves?"

"I want it to cover my stomach." She says seriously.

I nodded. "Understandable. Let's see...ah. Here we go." I pulled out some pants and boots for her and a shirt with long sleeves that would fit her like a longer shirt. I gave them to her to put on and when she was dressed, lead her to the dining hall.

She remained close to me and I gave her a glass of water and some bread from the table and she sipped the water and nibbled only a little bit of the bread. She went to put it back and I said,

"Bring it with you."

I stuffed an apple into my mouth and filled my water skin and one for her, then lead her outside and took her hand and winnowed to the training fields.

When we arrived she looked around at the tall pine trees and wrapped her arms around herself.

Cassian sat on the ground stretching his legs and grinned when he saw us. "Good morning, Adrianna, Feyre. Are you to join us this morning, or are you going to watch me kick her ass across the field?"

I rolled my eyes and smacked him upside the head and Feyre seemed a little amused. "How about that time I launched you across the field, brother?"

"It was rather impressive." A voice said from behind us. Azriel stood in his fighting leathers and wore a cloak to cover his wings.

"Where are you headed?" I asked in confusion.

"I think you mean where are we headed. I got intel that leads us to the human lands."

Feyre stiffened. "You're going across the boarder?"

"Yes." Azriel replied vacantly. "Rhysand has suggested we ask you some questions about it considering we ourselves have never been over the boarder."

Feyre hesitates, then asks. "Can I come with you?"

******

Hey! So sorry for like an entire two months or so between updating this book. College is tough lol. But I've only got two days left and will try to work on this story more this summer. Stay tuned because I have no idea when I'll be able to update, but I will try my best.

With all my love,
~Cora Knight xoxo