AZRIEL

CHAPTER TWENTY

The door opened, and a youthful- faced girl now squinted at me.

 "May I help..." Her words trailed off as she noticed my face hidden beneath my hood.

"Elena," I managed to choke out, and her earthy-brown eyes slowly widened with what looked like both shock and euphoria.  

"A-Adeline?"

Something in my chest broke at her voice - her sweet, youthful, humanly voice, untouched by what raged above in Pandaemonium. I wanted to back up. I couldn't do this. I didn't want to bring this upon her - upon Papa, I couldn't. Their belief in my death would have been better than this.

The next thing I knew, I had been engulfed into a tight embrace. Warmth like I hadn't felt in months coursed my veins as I returned the squeeze, feeling Elena nuzzle her nose into my neck as her soft cries muffled against the fabric of my hood. "I missed you s-so much! I thought you had d-died!"

I didn't answer, but gripped her tighter.

I believed Elena could feel my body shiver from the cold against hers, and so she quickly took a step back from the embrace and instead took my hand into hers. "You m-must come inside, it's too cold out here."

Inside, the home was beautiful. The exact same layout to what I had remembered from when we were younger, but fully refurbished - although I noticed there was something untouched and new about it in comparison to the worn love and unity in Azriel's estate back in Velastille.

Elena quickly poured me a cup of hot tea, her slender hands evidently shaking as she did so and her cheeks still wet with tears. She looked the same - but older, more mature. Her once unruly brown-blonde hair was now silken and long, and her boyish way of carrying herself had now changed into something more adult and feminine. Her skin, due to the harsh nature of the winter months, remained a doll-like porcelain colour with a glassy pink rush to her cheeks.

"I-I can't believe you're here," She said hoarsely, as she handed me a teacup and saucer. "It's been so long, Adeline - h-how did you survive this long?! Where were you?!" 

I clutched onto the handle of my teacup slightly tighter. "How long has it been since I was gone?"

Elena's eyes darted away from the tea she was pouring and instead towards me, and I could see the confusion evident in her earthy orbs. 

"It's been t-two years, Adeline. Two whole years."

My mouth ran dry.

Two years? How was that possible? I had kept full track of my time in Velastille - it was impossible that I had spent more than a mere seven months there, but Elena's confusion said otherwise. My mind was aching, and then I froze.

"Where's Papa?" 

It felt like the only safe thing to say. When Elena didn't respond, I asked again with an increased demand and desperation in my voice. "Elena, where is Papa?"

Elena set her shivering tea cup on the low-lying desk between us and I noticed how she avoided eye contact, her bottom lip quivering.  I could already feel cool tears pricking behind my eyes and her refusal to answer my question made me almost want to throw my cup of tea against the wall. 

"Elena - where is-"

"Dead!" She quickly interjected me, her tone a mix of soft cry and strain. Her eyes were squeezed shut. "He had a h-heart attack a couple months after you been thrown into the woods. W-We tried to save h-him, Adeline, I-I swear - but there was n-nothing we could do!"

I was wide-eyed, my chest aching with such an ache that I felt I may collapse right there and then. In that moment I didn't care about anything - nothing, not even the two fallen angels awaiting my presence outside. 

The next thing I knew, I was on my knees wailing in pain while my sister caressed my shoulder.

**********

It had taken me perhaps almost an hour to calm down, to finally breathe again without tearing up. My father's death was just failing to register with me. He was old - I knew, but the fact he only suffered a couple months post my disappearance had made my mind attack itself with blame. 

Elena's words of relief and love had helped me. I hadn't been comforted like this in too long of a time. It felt as though all my trapped in anxieties and suffering had wanted to spill out today - and in a sense I was glad they had. 

To my surprise, Azriel and Julian were still nowhere to be seen, although in the back of my mind I knew Azriel must have been aware of every small detail that was occurring within this house. I was now sat by the crackling fire with a new, fresh cup of tea in my hands - my coat still wrapped tightly around me with my hood refusing to be pulled back. 

Elena sat besides me, and lifted her hand to caress my shoulder. "Whatever the reason you're back, Adeline, I'm so happy to see you. I thought you were-"

Hesitantly, I pulled my hood back before she could go on. Elena's teacup rattled in her hands as she noticed my ears - long and slender, and undeniably inhumane. 

"I was dead," I spoke slow, "I was dying until he saved me."

Elena quickly put her teacup down onto the wooden ground beneath us, the dark, rich amber liquid pooling in the saucepan as she did so. Her tone shook with suspense as she asked, "Who's he?"

I held her gaze as I said, "I need you to listen."

And wide-eyed, she did. I told her in as much detail as I could mention where I had been. I told her about Velastille, Pandaemonium and how I had got my ears. I explained the deal I had made with Azriel, and how he had promised my village riches if I were to fight for him in the war. When I finished, my sister's eyes remained just as wide as they were before - a mixture of shock, excitement and even fear present in her orbs.

"When the m-money came in, I would have never thought it was connected to you," Elena sat back, eyebrows raised as though everything that had happened in our village in the last year or so was finally making sense to her, "Papa had said the stock market had boomed. The British pound had i-increased in value, and as a result money was pouring into the village and into the council. I-I don't think anybody believed it was t-the doings of God, or even a-an angel from the legend this village sacrificed you for. They thought it was luck - we thought you had just died at the hands of a wolf. I-I can't believe it."

I held her shaking hands in my own, cold grip as I remained silent. Her chocolate eyes flickered up to meet my own.

"But what is this about a war?" She held my stare intensely, demanding answers. "You c-can't be expected to fight in an angel war, A-Adeline! You're a human, n-not a super-being! You can't do this. There is no way I'm letting you go back"

"Elena, please." I breathed, "If I don't go back, the deal will most likely be revoked and you'll go back to poverty. What will you do?! E-Especially without Papa. And I'm being trained - day and night on how to fight."

"Are they even looking after you?! They're training you but are they feeding you?!"

"Yes, I-I have my own room and a maid to tend for me. I g-get three meals a day, new clothes to wear, a warm bath - I share what you have here. They care for me - they were the ones who offered to let me meet you today!"

Elena brows furrowed, her expression skeptical as she slowly asked, "Who's 'they'?"

I didn't know if I would regret this, but my mouth moved before my mind could process anything. "Would you like to meet them?"

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i'm so sorry for the delayed updated. i have been so busy as xmas is approaching and work is becoming busier. 

i do hope u all keep coming back to this book! i promise the updates will become a bit more regular now. 

thanks so much for the support. pls vote and comment!

-j x