Not just mortal and Fae book I (Azriel x Suree)

CHAPTER 9

I was awaken from my dreamless sleep, a pair of scared hands shaking my body.

"Wake up, we have to move."

I blinked a few times and murmured a few curse word at him as he stalked away and I sat up, rubbing my eyes.

"What's the rush?" I asked drowsily. He through my clothes in my face and began to pick up the blankets from the bed.

"Prick." I grunted and he shot me a death stare. As I got changed I watched him as he began furiously moving around the hut, rearranging the chairs and putting out what was left of the fire. "What are you doing anyway?" He didn't look back up at me as he said, "covering our tracks, so no one knows we where here." As I finished putting on my boots he tossed me a blanket and picked up a bag that looked as though it had some kind of map in it.

I rolled my eye's, "you really need to relax." He glared at me and snarled, "I do not want to relax." I narrowed my eye's at him, warily. "Why is that?" he huffed out an annoyed breath and stomped out of the hut. Stupid man baby, I thought as I grabbed at my blanket and followed after him.

"What are you so afraid will happen?" I yelled as I saw him standing near the cliffs edge and made my way in front of him.

"Afraid you might start to like me?" I smirked at him mischievously as he shook his head and turned away, annoyed, any form of the joy and laughter from last night gone. Something inside me snapped as I glared after him and said, "that's it isn't it, you don't want to like a mortal," he stopped walking and turned to look at me, his face expressionless.

"Your scared that if you laugh at my jokes or answer my questions, you might start to think I'm human, truly human and not some thief or spy planning your downfall."

He stared at me, and for a moment I swear I thought I saw a look of remorse pass across his delicate features. I ignored him and shook my head.

"Would that be so terrible?" I asked as I began to turn away, when suddenly his voice spoke up behind me. "I do like you." I stopped dead in my tracts and turned to look at him, bewildered.

"What was that?"

He looked down at the ground before looking back up at me, wearily.

"I do like you." For a moment we just avoided each others gaze. I sighed, discomforted by the silence, before speaking again, dreading to hear the words, the question I had been wanting to ask since I first met this strange, cold, man.

"Is that so bad?"

"Yes." He chocked on the word, and I wondered if he meant it.

"Why?"

He shook his head before speaking, slowly, taking a step with every word he said.

"Because you are rude, loud, childish, you do what ever you can to hurt someone, and worst of all, after everything I did to you, you still chose to save my life, after I starved you left you in chains, and cut you," his eye's flicked to the scar that had formed on my neck from the knife and winced, "you saved me, when you should have let me drown, anyone else would have, but you didn't, and I hate you for it because I know nothing I do will ever...fix what I have done, and I feel I do not get the right to laugh with you, or smile with you, or like you because of it. That is why."

I watched him, and I realised how close we where standing. I didn't know what to say, or how to respond so I punched him in the gut.

"Ah, what was that for?" He growled. I just shrugged playfully.

"You where getting too serious, had to snap you out of it."

He rubbed his stomach and glared at me.

"Oh, come on don't be a grump."

I pocked him in under the arm and he bit back a laugh. I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Wait, are you ticklish?"

He scowled and I laughed at his expense as I reached out to tickle him.

"Stop it." He tried to glower at me, but failed as a chuckle escaped his lips.

"No, I'm beguiling you." He tried to fight me off, but I ducked under his arms.

"Quit it!" He pushed me away as I laughed and pointed at him.

"It's working, the mighty Illyrian has fallen, you are powerless to resist me."

He laughed and shook his head as I smiled and took a step back...and the edge beneath my feet gave out.

                                                 ***

I felt it before I saw it, the top of the cliff vanishing in one quick motion. I grabbed at the uneven ground, trying to find anything to latch onto. Just as I was about fall over the side and to my death I felt a pair of firm hands grab me, as my feet dangled in the air, my fur blanket falling off my shoulders and dropping into the abyss. At first I just looked down, paralyzed by the emptiness, prepared to swallow me like a black hole. I usually have no problem with heights, as a girl I would climb the apple tree at the orphanage and laze around there for hours under the sun. But this was not the same.

I looked back up and came face to face with the cold, stoic Illyrian that only a few days ago had wanted me dead but now looking into his hazel eye's I saw no sign of that man, not anymore. For a moment we stared at each truly stared, and something silent passed between us, a mutual bond of trust and for the first time I was not afraid. I trusted him, and I knew he would not let me fall, whatever happened in the past, every thought and doubt I had of him of what he was, vanished. He would not let me fall. Then he went rigid, his eye's widened and his nostrils flared. He was in shock, pure shock and for a terrible moment I thought he might drop me. He shook his head and in one swift movement he pulled me back over the edge. When I was on solid land once again, I sat up and panted. I risked a glance at him, and saw him watching me, confused and unnerved. I was about to ask what was wrong and what had happened when he stood up, abruptly and offered me his hand.

"Azriel."

Azriel. I stared at his hand, unsure what to do, shocked by his sudden change in mood. Not a moment later I accepted his hand and he pulled me to my feet, effortlessly.

"Suree Ortez, it's nice to meet your acquaintance."

We stood there hands clasp together. I was the first to pull away and made my way past him shivering, no longer having the warmth of my blanket.

"Suree."

As I turned to look back at him, he draped his fur rug over me, immediately warming the bones in my body. Before I could thank him, he had already picked me up and we where in the sky once again, and weather it was from the near death experience or his presence that now seemed to sooth me, I drifted into sleep, dreaming about home and the apple tree.