The Whispers of Shadows - Azriel

21

Aurora sat against her window, eyes shifting to the dark room every so often. Her book laid unread in her lap, damp hair braided back and sleeping gown bulky on her frame. She had bathed twice since the interaction with Azriel this morning. Anxiety and excitement rushed through her at every small sound in the house. Azriel promised to come to her tonight, and she was holding him to that.

With a shaking breath, adrenaline rushing through her veins, Aurora looked back down at the same page that had been staring back at her for nearly an hour. She had read the words, but her mind was elsewhere. Her window was open behind her, the warm Spring night coating her skin. Another creak of the floorboards, and her eyes shot up. Aurora sighed when the shadows remained the same, no depth to them. She focused on the same sentence again, the moonlight casting across the pages.

"Aurora," a whisper made her body jolt. She looked up to see Azriel, hands in his pockets, grinning at her. She closed her book slowly, setting it beside her. Aurora's heart pounded in her chest.

"Hi," she whispered back. Azriel's grin went lopsided as he reached behind him and locked her door. Aurora's eyes followed his movement in the darkness.

"Are you ready to fly?" Azriel asked, silently walking toward her. She wondered how his boots didn't make a sound in this quiet house. She nodded and stood on unsteady feet. Azriel reached a hand out, looping it around her waist and tugging her to him. Her chest hit below his with a gasp, her eyes set on his face. She felt like a child again, sneaking out of the house to do something she surely wasn't supposed to.

Azriel leaned down and wrapped an arm beneath her legs, pulling her body to him. She wondered how he planned to get them out of the house like this. When he began walking toward the window and stepped onto the bench, her breath caught.

"You're jumping out of the window? There can't be enough time to catch the air," she whispered quickly, eyes wide. Azriel chuckled, his chest rumbling against her. At that sound, she wrapped her arms around her neck and hid her face in his shoulder. She felt him rise again, and then her stomach dropped with the sensation of falling. When their bodies rose with the rustle of wings, Aurora yelped. She turned her face outward, and they were indeed now in the air. He had somehow fit through the second story window and got their weight into the air before they hit the ground.

Azriel had taken them above the city, Aurora's braid and night gown getting caught in the wind. She didn't have the voice to ask where they were going, just settled into his hold and watched the buildings beneath them. Azriel dropped down and they began to plummet a moment before catching the air again. Aurora gulped and pressed the side of her face into his shoulder as she watched the city with one eye.

"After the war, especially the attack on Hybern, many families left the city. There are some abandoned homes and buildings, so we are going to one," Azriel explained, his voice carrying in the wind like a whisper. She felt it in her stomach, and she wondered if he was made of the elements. He brought them down to a side street, dark and hardly touched by the moonlight. He lowered her feet to the ground and Aurora gasped at the cold stone beneath her.

Azriel began walking toward a darkened building, dim firelight in the windows. Aurora padded behind him, hands reaching out to grasp his forearm. He opened the door and ushered her in, and Aurora sighed at the warmth due to the fire in the hearth. Azriel shut the door behind them and Aurora's hand slipped from his as she made her way to the fireplace, dropping down to the rug in front of it.

For an abandoned home, it was very clean. The furniture was still in the sitting room, untouched by time. The only speck of dirt in the home was the small gathering of soot along the metal gate of the fireplace. Aurora felt Azriel sit behind her, his fingers grazing the skin of her neck. She smiled softly, tilting her head at the touch. His hand ran down the long braid of her hair and then his breath ghosted across her skin. Aurora let out a sigh when his lips finally touched her, peppering kisses along the crook of her neck and exposed skin of her shoulder from the hanging neckline of her gown. Chills ran down her spine when Azriel began unbraiding her hair, letting it fall down her back.