A Court of Love and Healing {ACOTAR}

Opposites Attract

Mor's jaw drops slightly and her eyes glimmer. "Gwyn? Like, Nesta's Gwyn? The—the girl you saved from Sangravah", she realizes as she says it, her demeanor dampening a bit. "Wow, Az."

Azriel grumbles. "She's not Nesta's Gwyn."

She smirks and chuckles. "Woah there, you know what I meant."

"I have to confront her about it. When—when the bond snapped into place, she was a bit drunk and I...I had my guard down which I never do. But it was just the girls there and so, there was no threat. And it just happened, and I bid them all goodnight and sort of..."

"Sort of what?"

"Fled", he cringes.

"Az!"

"I—I wasn't expecting it, especially after all these years, I had resigned myself to either trying with other women or letting myself believe I was cursed by the Cauldron and that I didn't have a mate. So I was completely stunned."

"You need to go and talk to her. Right now! You can't wait! She will overthink it and it will tear her apart, believe me."

Azriel nearly flinches again at the mere thought that his actions could have hurt Gwyn, so he nods slowly. "I never thought I'd have a mate", he repeats, musing about his luck.

Mor smiles and gives his shoulder a squeeze. "You've waited a long time Az. You deserve to be happy. Gods, you deserve to be happy. I'm glad you finally get the chance. And yes, you do deserve her, just as she deserves you. That's what mates are for. More often than not they are perfect puzzle pieces. A lot more often than not...so remember that. She will fit perfectly with you, and I can't wait to see how much your life improves because of her."

He can feel tears threaten his eyes, so he clears his throat and inclines his head before shooting into the sky, making a beeline for the library. He sniffs and wipes his face quickly, pulling himself together before landing on the balcony and tucking his wings behind him. Taking a shuddering breath, he enters the library and makes the decline to the main level, seeing Clotho behind the counter. As he wafts towards her silently through the shadows, he notices her hands stop moving with work, hovering, as if sensing him coming near.

Once his shadows set him back on his feet he rests his scarred hands on the counter. He never knows if she can see or not, but she has very keen senses. "Hello, Clotho. It's Azriel. I was wondering if you've seen Gwyn today? I need to speak to her about an urgent matter."

Clotho's pen moves with her magic across her notepad, asking him if it is in regards to her training since she had been working so many hours.

"No. Another...another matter. Have you seen her?"

The pen moves again. "Down on the third floor, doing research for Merrill. It's fairly dark down there, but I'm sure that's no problem for you. Fortunately, it's no problem for Gwyn either. Congratulations, Shadowsinger."

Azriel furrows his brow, stunned at how Clotho could possibly know. Had Gwyn told her? What does she mean that the dark is no issue for Gwyn?

He swallows and murmurs. "Thank you. I-I don't know how you always seem to know things. However, I appreciate your well wishes. Good day."

"Good day", the pen scribbles out.

Moving through the shadows to be as quiet as possible, he makes his way down to the third floor. Clotho was right about it being dark. Aside from the very dim, old looking lights spaced out on the high ceiling, there is only one window at the end for natural light. Wisping from shadow to shadow, he makes quick work of looking for the spritely redhead. Then he finds her.