Nightfall {An Azriel (ACOTAR) FanFic}

Chapter 24

Heart had little to no interest in knowing whether William was alive or not after the stabbing. The only thing she cared about were the two carriages that arrived with her books inside them. She had immediately taken to looking through them to make sure nothing was missing. Azriel had failed to be helpful in this part of her ordeal and, after seeeing the storm brewing outside, decided to remake the soup Heart had made last night.

"Do you still want to eat it again today?" He had enquiry but Heart had waved him off towards the kitchen. Taking that as a 'Yes.', and after some struggle, he produced a decent enough copy of her soup. It smelled quiet the same, not quiet as delicious, but he was sure he just needed some practice.

Heart had approved of it and given up on her work briefly. The storm had turned everything dark so three candles had been placed by Heart's side so she could read through the large stack of books by her side. Azriel joined her on the floor as she sat there with a book in her lap and the bowl of soup in one hand.

Azriel took the book from her and, at last, ended up transferring the soup to one bowl and feeding it to his mate. Heart pulled the blanket that was at her feet upto her shoulders and leaned into the spymaster's warmth. He was in the middle of telling her about the time Morrigan set Rhysand's room on fire after a bad argument when she started sneezing. Azriel wrapped his wings around her as they finished the soup.

He set the bowl to a side, "Should we winnow back?"

She slumped against his chest, "Pip must be missing me-" She mumbled. "-and I'm so cold here."

Azriel kissed the top of her head and caressed her cheek. "Let's head back, then."

She lifted her lashes to look up at him, "I don't want to see people." When azriel opened his mouth, she spoke, "But I do want to check in on Nyx. Nesta and I are reading a book at the same time so I would probably go to see her and ramble about it." She sighed.

Azriel cradled her slowly, "You don't have to just go in and talk to everyone. We can go straight to our room. Pip will most probably be in there."

Heart chuckled, "He will be with Nyx."

"Or there." Azriel nodded. "But then we can be alone." He grinned.

Heart's lips stretched into a smile but he could tell that something was wrong. A knot tighten in his chest and he could tell that it was his mate' emotions. He rubbed her arms up and down in an attempt to calm her down. She leaned into his touch and took rhythmic breaths before whispering, "I can't believe someone just walked in the house and did whatever they wanted to." Her throat tightened up at the end.

"He won't try it again." Azriel promised.

Heart, however, was too paranoid, "But someone else can. They could smash locks while I'm away and then enter while we are sleeping."

He held her tighter, "When you come to live here, I would be here with you. You also have truth-teller." He tried to console her but her eyes were already wet. "My shadows are never going to leave your side."

She shook her head slowly as tears rolled down her cheeks, "I think I'm being dramatic because I just finished my cycle."

"It's completely reasonable for you to be taking this seriously." Azriel assured her. "Besides, being dramatic on your cycle is just a joke, isn't it?"

This bought a faint smile to her lips, "Not entirely." Pointing at him with her finger, she warned him, "But you can't make that joke."

He nodded, "So you can be dramatic, but I can't joke about it?"