A court of shadow and spying (Azriel X OC)

The Chase

warning: mature content

A knife that slid along my skin, a hand that strayed into places on my body that were not meant for it. A hand that entered me, gave me pain and pleasure, even if I didn't want any of that pleasure.

'Cum for us, little bird.'

The knife circled my chest, the cold metal promising against my hot skin. My throat was parched, my fear and panic a constant companion when they were with me. Keir and Ashbury.

They had me. They had me, had me. They still had me. My screams were nothing to them. My dignity. My innocence. They would leave nothing of me. One of their fingers slid over my inner thigh, then violently pushed them apart. My prayers did me no good, nor my pleas for them to stop.

Wrong. Everything was so abysmally and disgustingly wrong and I was tied up and they had me again.

Or they still had me. Still. Nothing made them stop, even when I was only half present. Tears flowed and poured down my cheeks, blood mixed with cum and all I wanted was for this nightmare to end.

It was going to stop. Just stop.

'You don't like anymore, little bird?'

The knife was there again, at my throat, at my breast, almost caressing my skin. Hate and self-pity and frustration were choking my throat, my air. Maybe it was also the hand pressing against it. I didn't know. And they were still inside me, having their fun while I was breaking from it. And I wanted nothing more but death.

And they went on and on and on. And I screamed. But no one came to get me, no one was there to set me free. Alone. And then, the injection.

The needle, which slid painfully into my skin, and he squeezed and laughed and....

With a jerk I opened my eyes while my breathing was fast and shallow. Wetness swam in my eyes, taking away my vision for a moment before the blurriness subsided and I realised I was no longer with them, but with Azriel, who was looking down at me anxiously. My husband. My mate. He was looking down at me, had my arms pressed to my sides so I wasn't flailing around like I probably had during the nightmare.

'It's okay', he murmured to me as he lay on top of me and my arms wrapped around his neck. His weight was a reassuring one on mine, soothing my heart that was pounding far too fast. My thoughts still whirred back to the dream, to what they had and hadn't done, yet it had been no less terrible. I knew Az had found me, but everything after that had been like a pain-filled delusion. I hardly knew what had happened or why I was still alive. The pain was still there, throbbing slightly in my veins and occasionally making me break out in a cold sweat. I had no idea what my situation was. But just having Azriel by my side gave me confidence and strength, and I swayed in his embrace, burying my face in his neck as the reassuring weight of his wings enveloped us.

'I'm here, you're safe with me', he whispered softly at my temple as his hand ran through my sweaty hair, trying to distract and soothe me from what had happened in my dream. I breathed in his scent of night-chilled mist and cedar and my heart slowed. He brought me back to the here and now and it was the only thing I needed at that moment. I knew all too well that these dreams were not the last time I would have an undisturbed night and back when I lived alone in the Hewn City, there had been no one to hold me in his arms and tell me everything would be all right. But now I had him, a man who would set worlds in motion for me. And I realised that even if these situations would haunt my dreams, he was there and would fight them with me. It was a nice feeling to have him close to me, a pleasure I had been desperately missing in the last few days. The feeling of security he gave me and the warmth that spilled from his body into mine were familiar. And it almost made me a little emotional to think that it would have been almost too late for a situation like this had Az not found me in the moment, minutes later, after Ashbury had injected the syringe of poison into my body. His breathing was steady and the warm air pressed against the back of my neck. Automatically, my breathing matched his as he slid his lips along my neck, gently kissing the wound where Keir had held the knife a few hours ago.