“I made it. For you.”
My gaze snaps to his. “Just now?”
He shakes his head. “The night we met.”
Oh gods...
My heart fucking aches hearing this admission, and I don’t know why.
Azrael is the first to break our gaze, looking mildly sheepish, and dare I say a hint of flush is on his cheeks. “I had a strange dream that inspired me.” He shakes his head. “Impulsive and foolish, I know, but…”
My hand is drawn to his arm, and I swear to Akash, even through the fabric of his jacket, I can feel his heart thrumming in rhythm with mine. “Not at all.”
His eyes return to my gaze. The tension between us grows so tight, I can’t even fucking breathe. My hand slides away from his arm and back into my lap.
“Will you tell me about the dream…”
Azrael huffs a small laugh, shaking his head. “You gifted it to me... the pin, I mean. Along with some much-needed words of inspiration.”
I rear back in surprise. “Oh…”
Azrael’s gaze drifts back to the pin, and his words are almost distant, as if he’s travelled back in time—or perhaps to his dream—just by looking at it.
The tension in the air returns, though I’m not even sure why.
“Did anything else happen in the dream?”
His gaze slides back to mine, eyes darkening with a certain possessiveness. A corner of Azrael’s mouth tips up in a half grin. “Oh, yes. Many things.”
Heart fluttering, I scarcely manage to stifle the moan that wants to escape—instantly filling with shame. He has asoulbound.
It’s only when I force my eyes away from his, and out the window, that I can finally manage to speak. “Nothing worth repeating, clearly.”
My throat works around an uncomfortable knot of emotion I don’t know what to do with, and I am beyond relieved when Azrael breaks the brief silence.
“I’ve enchanted it so that if you ever need any help, just prick your finger and think of me. It will take you to the gates of my palace in Vassileo. My nephilim will give you entrance. Share it with no one.”
I finally turn back towards him to find the pain in my heart is mirrored in his face.
How is it that someone renowned for his cruelty can be so kind?
I don’t trust my heart any longer. Not after Lucen.
Yet something inside my soul is certain that Iknowthis person.
This god.
Notsoulboundbut kindred spirits perhaps.
“Why are you doing this?”
Azrael’s somber gaze dances between each of my eyes, taking several moments before finally answering. “There are so fewwho cast light in this world... I may not be one of them, but at the very least, I can try to save them from the darkness threatening to consume them.”
He hesitates only briefly beforefoldingaway, leaving me with only the echo of his words for company.
“Lucen is part of that darkness, little seraphim. Please don’t marry him. For all our sakes.”
I ask Oleander,Azrael’s driver, to take me to the sea. It’s a place I still avoid because it reminds me too much of my father, but right now, I can’t stand to be away from it. I can’t shed my clothes fast enough. My wings carry me across the sand, beyond the break of the unsettled waves, where I dive into its blessed, chilling embrace.