shadows don't lie

Chapter Ten

*Warning! Themes of Sexual Assualt in this chapter. Do not read if you are easily triggered by this!*
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Inei was slowly coming back.

It had been weeks since Hewn City, and she had only recently begun to do things again.

Small blinks, a shrug of her shoulders here and there, but her spirit was gone. Whenever Azriel would bring her food or water, she would never meet his eyes, and she almost always remained under some type of cover whether that be blanket or sweater.

It had surprised him when he woke up suddenly one night to find her sitting up and staring at him, but something in his chest had sunk when he saw her blank face.

He just smiled softly to her, but she just layed back down, still facing him, and she often remained like that ever since then.

Feyre had visted them earlier today to see if she could check on Inei mentally, and when she had finished, she pulled Azriel aside.

Creating a wall of solid air around them, she looked at him sadly.

“She isn't even trying to put up shields anymore. I didn’t look too far, but it’s just... Memories and darkness.” His High Lady shuddered as she recalled the feeling.

“She may be awake but she is still trying to process things in her own way. She keeps reliving some of the worst memories, and if she doesn't break out of it, she may not fully recover.”

Fear spread through his mind in a dull haze, but Azriel ignored it as he asked quietly, “What did you see?”

She pursed her lips and looked down at the floor. “I think that that’s something for her to reveal, not me..”

He nodded. It was an answer he was expecting, but he was still secretly disappointed.

“I have to ask Az, why does she affect you so much?”

It was true. He had never acted this way around anyone else, but it honestly just confused him more when he tried to make sense of it.

Running a hand through his hair he sighed softly. “I don’t know,” he admitted.

Feyre just smiled warmly, and pulled him into a hug. “Alright Az. We’re all here for you guys, so don’t hesitate to talk to us.”

“I know.” But he knew that he probably wouldn't. Feyre and Mor had been the only ones to see Inei since.. Well, all that happened, and even then, only for brief moments.

They wouldn't be able to do any more than him.

It hurt him in a way that nobody else could understand, because even though he stayed by her the most, she still blocked him out.

She hadn’t spoken a single word in the past weeks, and any attempt to talk to her through the shadows resulted in her pushing away all shadows and turning away from him.

He had come close to hearing her to speak though, only once, when she had woken up in the dead of night to rush to the bathroom to vomit.

Azriel had bolted after her, nearly catching her in the hall when she stumbled, and he had crouched beside her in the bathroom holding back her hair and tenderly rubbing circles on her back.

It was one of the few times when she didn't flinch away from his touch, and when she was finished, she sat back and looked at him with some miniscule glimmer of awareness in her eyes.

He remembered as she took in a breath as if to say something, but her face just crumpled with tears, and Azriel ended up carrying her back to her bed and staying in a chair beside her all night.