shadows don't lie

Chapter Nineteen

Azriel held her hand tightly as they winnowed, fighting back the small waves of nausea at the movement.

His headache was only growing worse, and it was compounded by the energy loss he used to winnow them so far.

When the light began to seep through his shadows, he slowed his breathing in an attempt to calm the pounding in his head, and his shadows dropped away suddenly, revealing the early morning sun slowly rising above the mountains in the distance.

It was another moment however before Azriel could focus on what was closest to them though.

They stood on a tall hill in the northern side of the city, Valaris laid out before them.

Azriel could just make out small snowdrifts along the pathways and roads, and bundled up fae that walked among them.

Beside him, Inei sidled up closer, a nervous look in her eyes despite her obvious relief at returning to the Night Court.

It took him a second before he realized that her hand was still in his, but surprisingly, she didn’t seem to want to let go.

He glanced at her and found her face now tilted upwards to the sun, a warm smile on her face, and as if sensing his gaze, she opened her eyes and tipped her head to him.

“Ready to go Az?” He looked back out over the city, and for a moment he wished he could just stay up here where all of his problems didn’t matter, and he could just relax, but he knew better.

Azriel needed to talk with Rhys, to go see Cassian, and most importantly, find Madja to make sure he would be able to heal properly with no after-effects.

There was no way he was going to risk anything when it came to his wings.

He closed his eyes trying to emulate what Inei was feeling right now, but his head just swam.

“Yeah,” He sighed. “Let’s go find the others.”

----

Inei stood in the foyer awkwardly as she tried to figure out what she was going to do for the next few hours, considering that the sun had only just risen.

She had begun to settle into a comfortable schedule in the past week, and now that she was back in Valaris, she desperately tried to remember what it was that she did during the day.

Her biggest problem however, was that she kept arriving at the same conclusion; She did absolutely nothing.

Inei frowned and glanced around at the well-decorated and obviously wealthy manor around her.

How had she been allowed to stay in the High Lord and Lady’s residence for free, when she was just a stranger to them? It made no sense.

She was trying to puzzle it out when Feyre walked up behind her.

“Inei!” She said, surprise lacing her tone, but when Inei looked back, Feyre had quickly recovered, and she now watched her with interest.

“How can I assist you, High Lady?” She asked, catching the slight wince that appeared on her face.

“Just Feyre, please, and I wanted to ask if you would want to join me on a walk.”

“A walk?”

Feyre nodded, a glint in her eye. “Yes, a walk around the city. I wanted to show you around the Rainbow, as well as a few other places.”

Inei glanced back in the direction of the office where Azriel was currently with Rhysand, as if she could see through the walls.