A Court of Shadows and Thunder // AzrielxOC SlowBurn Romance, ACOTAR FanFiction

Chapter 46 - Proximity

The thunder rolled in the grey clouds above, the sound loud and near-deafening. Azriel flew, though he didn't know where he was going, he never knew, could never figure it out.

But it was that feeling within, that pull that tugged at him, that drove him to keep flying, to keep going.

He wasn't afraid, instead he felt determined. Like he was flying for a purpose, had been stuck amid this thunderstorm for a reason. He didn't feel like turning back, to wherever it was had come from, and wanted to fly forward, toward where he knew he needed to go.

A clap of thunder, a sky lit by lightning, and Azriel saw amid the clouds something that made his heart leap.

A pair of wings, so grand, so beautiful. And a figure of a woman, a hand outstretched to him, an invitation. Like a moth to a flame, Azriel flew to the woman shrouded in the mist and the rain. Like the tide pulling in, like the current pulling him under, he wanted to go to her, he wanted to take her hand.

And he got close this time; so close, that he began to see who she was. Wet, long brown hair, falling in waves down her shoulders, clinging to the fabric of her soaked white dress. Rain dripped down her bare arms, her bare feet, her solemn face. A face that held so much mystery, a face that held so many secrets. And eyes so red they burned to make it all go away.

So close now, but still felt so far away. Like no matter what he did, no matter how hard he try to fly to her, he couldn't get there. That maybe, he would never get there.

And the rain poured down, the thunder clapped and lightning struck him once more. Like the many times before, the shadowsinger felt himself go rigid, felt his wings freeze, and felt himself plummet down to the raging waters below.

But Azriel jolted awake.

It had been another dream, or another nightmare, Azriel couldn't be sure.

Again, he had felt that same fear, that same strange sense of familiarity. As if something were to come, as if something had already happened. But it was something he couldn't quite decipher, and the memory of what he had conjured in his sleep once again quickly began to fade. It was like it always was - all Azriel could remember were bits and pieces, fragments of what he had dreamed of, with the feeling that he had seen it all before.

He pressed a hand to his eye, rubbing it slightly, feeling as though he had been in a deep sleep. Groggy, blinking slowly, he hadn't realised until now just how well he had slept, even with such a strange dream. His body felt stiff, like he hadn't moved his limbs in some time, that he felt far more rested than he had in his most recent days.

Then he realised something else - a pair of red eyes staring right at him.

Brianna was sat besides him, her back against a pillow she had propped up behind her, her knees brought up against her to hug, on which she had rested her head. And Azriel just looked up, blinking as though he was still seeing things only his imagination could conjure, as the Syren gave him a smile.

"Did you know," Brianna started to say, still watching as the shadowsinger was lying down, eyes slowly widening by the second, "That you drool in your sleep?"

Azriel's hand flew to his chin, and it was in horror that he discovered the small trail of saliva dripping from his mouth. And as he wiped it away, as his face grew red and heated, Brianna let out a lovely laugh.