Nightfall {An Azriel (ACOTAR) FanFic}

Chapter 11

The very first thing that came to Azriel's mind when he woke up in the afternoon was Truth-teller. He imagined it to be sitting on Heart's bedside table rather than his. Or maybe it was under her pillow. She might have decided to put it in her wardrobe.

The house was silent outside his door and he laid leisurely in his bed for a long, long time waiting for the anger to return. As it turned out, the rage that had almost drove him mad only a few hours ago was nowhere to be found. He sat up and looked outside the window and came to the realisation that he was in no hurry to leave the house. After many, many years, he wanted to sit calmly and not do anything. No darkness threatened his thoughts. A strange but soft lightness seeped into his bones and he noticed for the first time that his shadows seemed thinner than usual and remained at a distance.

He threw the covers off and put on his pants while frowning at the strange occurrence. Even on his best days his shadows were his constant companions. He hastily took a bath and finally realised why his shadows were far and few when he was drying himself. His hand stopped in his west hair as a soft laughter bubbled over to him from his shadows. It rang for a minute and the surprise was so great that he almost dropped the towel. It lasted for a minute before he realised that all the peace and happiness that had washed over him had been courtesy to his mate and the reason for his shadows thinning was that they had slipped away to be with his mate while he slept. Thanks to the bond, he was fortunate enough to hear Heart's laugh one more time as he tried his best not to seem too eager to see her and walked at his best 'running but not running' pace.

He found her in the kitchen, bending over a bowl and helping Pippor in mixing something. His face stained with flour and batter, Pip was trying his best to not spill everything onto the counter. His entire focus on the process of mixing the batter, he didn't notice Azriel walking over until Heart called him over. She beamed at Az and his heart stopped like he had never seen her before. Returning her smile while trying not to gawk was difficult but Heart quickly returned her attention to the struggling boy and Az joined them after taking a few deep breaths. The little boy huffed in frustration but kept on working as Heart directed him on what to do.

"What are we making?" Az asked.

Heart smiled, "He said he wanted to make cookies for Nyx."

Azriel raised his eyebrows, "And I thought you loved me the most, Pip."

"Nope." Pip stuck his tongue out. "I love my baby brother more. And he's sick. Are you sick?"

"Yes, actually." Az groaned dramatically. "I'm in so much pain."

Pip shook his little head, "You don't need cookies. You're so tall, you need medicine."

"What does being tall have to do with it? I like cookies." Az said with indignation. "Tall people don't like cookies?"

"They can." Pip shrugged. "But they can't get my cookies."

Az shrugged back. "I'll steal them. You won't be able to reach them since I'm tall."

Pip gasped, "Mum!" He whined and Heart lightly slapped Azriel on the arm as he grinned.

"Don't tease him. We've been here for an hour, I want this to be over." She playfully glared at him.

Rolling up his sleeves, he offered, "I'll help him in this. You can heat the oven."

Heart sighed in relief and stepped back, "Just don't let him throw the bowl across the room."