A Court Of Frozen Shadows- Azriel X Reader

37 It's Always Been You

I pulled the outfit over my shoulders, the familiar bralette and underwear were soft against my skin, we had dyed the white cotton red and I pulled my hair into a tight ponytail on my head. I looked like the rest of the girls in the institute now. Nobody would recognise my face, I was sure, nobody gives the girl's faces a second glance. I pulled a large coat over my body and pulled the small, black flats onto my feet.

Wrapping the coat closer to my body, I  walked down the stairs, where everyone was waiting for me, Elain, Nesta, Lucien and Azriel to my right and Cass, Amren, Feyre, Mor, Rhysand and Tamlin to my left. Tamlin brought Lucien, telling us that we should have all the help we could get.

"Ready?" I asked the room, muting their quiet whispers.

Rhysand walked toward me, "Are you sure about this?" He spoke, grasping my shoulder, I saw concern in his gaze.

I nodded, "I'm ready," he gave my shoulder a squeeze, I gave Amren a determined nod, she gave me one back. "Do we all know the plan?" I asked the room, though I looked at Tamlin and Lucien, who both gave me a firm nod, I was nearly drowning in the intensity of this room, though I walked over to Azriel, standing beside him. "Nesta will give you the call to winnow in and attack, yes?" I shot both Nesta and Cassian a quick glance.

"Eve, it will all go to plan, this will work, now go," Cass smiled encouragingly at me.

Biting my lip, I nodded, not letting the fear control me. Tamlin and I linked eyes for a moment as Azriel held my hand, we shared a smile, our gaze only breaking when Azriel winnowed me.

Opening my eyes, Azriel and I were stood behind some trees, I could see the institute from here. Sighing, I gave Azriel's hand a squeeze, it had been 3 days since we had visited Tamlin's manor and we had spoken no more of the kiss we shared. "Azriel," I turned to him, "Whatever happens in there, I want you to know," I stated into his ember eyes, "I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused you," I squeezed his hands, "I never meant for any of this to happen and thank you for everything you and your friends have done for me,"

Azriel swallowed a lump in his throat, "Nothing bad will happen in there Evangeline, I swear it,"

"You can't swear something like that-"

"I vowed to you, the moment I see Balton, he will wish for death."

I sighed licking my lips, "You're not that scary Az,"

"They don't call me the angel of death for nothing,"

"They call you that?" I asked, my eyes were level with his neck.

Azriel tipped my chin back, his hand grazing my jawline, his familiar hand wrapped around my waist, his shadows hiding us from the world, I brought my hands to his cheeks. "I'm scared Az," I whispered.

"I can be a distraction again, we can pretend," his gaze fell to my lips.

"I don't want to pretend," I pressed my lips to his, holding them there for a moment, tears pricked my eyes. "I was wrong Az," my nails dug into the back of his neck, "Please don't pick Elain,"

"If you mention her name when my lips are on yours one more time princess," He shook his head.

Smiling, I wrapped my arms around his neck, "What are you gonna do?" I whispered.

With a sick smile on his face, he picked me up by my thighs, slamming my back against a tree, the leaves falling off of it around us, a hand secured itself around my ponytail. "I like your hair like this, makes it easier to grab," pressing his lips against mine, before pressing another onto my cheekbone, my jaw and my neck. I shivered in response as he smiled, pressing his forehead against mine, "I pick you, Evangeline, It's always been you,"

We shared another kiss. "Good," I barely whispered, an ache beginning to form between my thighs, "I'd love to stay here, with you, but we have an institute to burn," 

He reluctantly put me onto the ground, pressing another kiss between my eyebrows. "Evie?"

"Yes?" I smiled, looking up at him. 

Gulping, he ran a hand through his hair, "I have something to tell you," He licked his lips, "We're mat-" He cast his eyes down to my outfit, the coat had opened up and my revealing outfit was displayed. "You're gonna be the death of me, Evangeline," He mumbled, before looking back to my eyes, he ran his thumb over my cheekbone. "I'll tell you after I kill Balton,"

"Okay," I smiled.

I walked a few paces in front of him, taking my coat off, I discarded it by a tree, my chin basically touched my chest, my eyelashes grazing the grass as I bowed to the guards outside, I knew Azriel's shadows were only paces behind me. The guards let me in, slapping my ass as I walked past them, I watched Azriel's shadows slivered around the man's feet, a silent promise to kill him, before sliding into the institute behind me. My body began to shake with the memories, but his frozen shadows grounded me, brought me back to the present.

"Phase 1, completed," I whispered to Azriel's shadow, he curled around my ankle in response I felt his finger trail across my neck, shivering, I elbowed the air, he made a small whine of pain beside me. "Idiot," I mumbled, "Azriel, please don't die on me," I whispered to his shadow. 

"Is my Evangeline worried about me?" His deep voice whispered, his breath hitting the back of my neck. 

Shivering, I replied, "When did I become your Evangeline, sir?"

A low grumble was heard behind me, I felt the shadow of him behind me, his arms wrapping around my waist, I  couldn't see them, though I felt them. "Say that again, that sounded good," He whispered.

Clenching my thighs together, I looked around, "Azriel, we can't do this here," We were in a hallway of the institute, anyone could see us at any moment. 

"I'll protect you, love,"

"Thank you, sir," I smirked.

His body jerked behind me, his large hands squeezing me tight, "Fuck Evie," His teeth grazed the top of my ear, "If you say that again, I will take you against this wall until everyone in this institute hears you screaming my name,"

"Rhysand won't be very happy, kept waiting-"

"Fuck, Rhysand,"

"I knew you always wanted a threesome Azriel but-" I saw a man walk around the corner, pulling a girl by her hair into a room. The echo of the door slamming filled the room. "We will continue this later," I walked from the shadows, "I will be waiting for you at the house, wearing something very lacy," I winked, "Sir," I heard his sharp intake before I quickly walked out of there, unable to stall this any longer, my feet automatically moving in the direction of the sleeping chambers, sneaking a peak over to Azriel, I saw a faint shadow of him moving to the opposite side of the room, he was spying, going to find the button which deactivated the alarm. The alarm that shut off the chambers. It was the only thing we needed to do, get the girls out alive.

I forced myself to move at a casual pace, not bringing any more attention to myself than needed.

I finally made it to the sleeping chambers, sneaking back into my own room, well, cell, I lifted up my wardrobe, there it was, the tunnel that I escaped through, there, Elain and Nesta waited for me. "Hey," I gasped, wanting to hug then, though I knew they couldn't enter the institute, the more people which enter, the greater the risk of Balton knowing and the greater the risk of him pressing the button, making it so nobody can leave.

"What the hell took you so long!" Nesta whisper-shouted. 

"Sorry," I wiped my sweaty palms on my bare thighs, "We had a distraction,"

"The guys are waiting, ready, everything's going to plan," Elain whispered, she was shaking all over.

"Okay, are you two ready?" I asked the sisters, they both nodded.

"Let's commence stage 2,"