Into the Shadows - ACOTAR / ACOMAF - Azriel x OC

Chapter XIX - The Aftermath

— Azriel —

Lexa had passed out in my arms as I held her by the river. I flew her back to the Townhouse and left her tucked in my bed as I went to help the city to heal.

My Siphons, like Cassians, were utterly drained. Both of us using the last of our reserves to heal the injured and broken around us.

Verlaris was broken, but it wasn't beyond repair. We worked and we helped long after the sun had set for the evening and the full moon shone protectively over our City of Stars. 

With every extended blink, every dark corner I looked into, I saw Lexa. Her porcelain cheeks stained with black tears as cold death seeped from her body. Her black eyes had looked into my own and I saw the darkness surrounding her soul, I could feel it wrapping around her warm glow - protecting it from the wrath of her father.

She truly was a Goddess. 

And all I could do was hold her. To help her navigate through her intense feelings and bring the darkness back into her body. Help her to breathe and regain control. 

We finally gathered back in the Townhouse. Lexa was still sleeping upstairs.

Sprawled in an armchair, Cassian's face was battered but healing slowly. Amren rested against my shoulder, her tiny body delicate and pale next to mine. Mor and Feyre sat together, both drained and covered in dirt and blood.

Rhys remained standing. Somehow.

"Velaris is secured" Rhys announced. "The wards that the Cauldron tore down are back in place, stronger than before."

"Velaris might be secure," Cassian replied. Not bothering to look up, "but for how long?"

Hybern now knew about this place, thanks to the Queens and their betrayal, the purposeful discarding of the blonde queen's body confirmed as much. "Lexa believes that her father somehow tracked her here," I said tiredly.

Rhys closed his eyes as he exhaled. "This attack, it was planned the moment we left the Queens in the human realm. The moment I showed them this city in the orb." He replied, frustration seething into his voice.

After a brief pause, he continued "I haven't..." Rhys swallowed his eyes darting to mine. "I haven't seen a power like that before." The truth of his words, surprisingly, did not frighten me. I may have slightly more experience with Lexa's powers, but I knew, somehow I knew, she wouldn't use them to dismantle the good in the world.

Like me, she was a necessary evil in a sometimes terrible world. Let me coax out your darkness let me help you shape it.

Lexa chose that moment to silently walk into the room, her eyes back to their grass-green. She had been terrifyingly powerful. Each tendril broke from her body like branches of a tree. Each arrow of death pierced the heart of those who supported Hybern. She must have taken down hundreds of beings.

I wonder if she knew that.

"I didn't know about this army," she said quietly. No mocking or snide comments would be coming from her tonight.

"Is that true?" Amren asked. Rhys looked at me before narrowing his gaze to Lexa.

She looked down to her hands as if imagining the smoke that had poured from her before. Her pale skin seemed to ashen further at the accusation.

"You have no reason to believe me," she said and I had to stop myself from standing to reach for her. She needed to do this. I would fight to keep her in my life, but she had to fight too.

As if hearing my plea, she softened her gaze at me and a small smile tipped at her lips.

"I don't think I've ever witnessed love before" she swallowed and I felt my heart swell at her words. "In my soulless shell, I had never felt the pain of losing something you loved." She paused and her gaze flickered to Feyre. "But I saw that pain today, I felt it. And I will fight alongside you all if it means never having to feel it again."