shadows don't lie

Chapter Twenty-Six

Her eyes snapped open, revealing only darkness around, and Inei sat up with a quick glance around her. She didn’t know where she was, let alone how she got here, but it seemed familiar nonetheless.

The darkness wasn’t heavy or suffocating as she would expect, instead it was more comforting, reminiscent of quiet nights when she would lay in bed listening to Azriel’s breathing as she drifted off into sleep.

At the thought of him, her mate, the darkness seemed to still for a split moment, and she saw a brief glow of light that seemed to appear just out of sight.

Narrowing her eyes, she imagined him, his hazel eyes, sculpted body, magnificent wings, and directly in front of her, a hazy cloud of shadows began to form, in the general shape of him.

She gasped and stepped back, and the shadows fell apart.

A nagging feeling tugged on the back of her mind, and she spun around, suddenly aware that she wasn’t alone.

Looking around, she still couldn’t see anyone. It was so dark, and she muttered a curse under her breath, wishing that it was just a little brighter-

The darkness around her churned for a moment, before lightening to a soft grey. She froze as it changed, a sudden realization of why the place seemed so familiar.

She was in her own gods-damned mind. The shock had her stumbling forward.

As far as she knew, only the daemati could do something like this, and yet she knew that whatever this was, it was completely different.

She looked around once more, confused as to why it looked so empty. She knew that her mind was always moving, spinning, thinking, so why was it still now?

Once again she had that feeling like somebody was near, and she focused on it, and distantly, she heard someone call out.

Out of habit, she reached for her shadows to see who it was, but with a growl remembered that she didn’t have any here.

How had she done this? Appeared inside her own mind, with no apparent way out?

“Inei?”

She jumped at the voice, not expecting it.

Right. Someone was here.

Taking a step forward even though she couldn't make out any sort of floor, she wandered toward the voice. Surprisingly, she felt as if she knew where she was going, some invisible thread guiding her to the voice.

“Inei.” It was closer this time, and she realized who was speaking. “Azriel?”

A hazy shadow moved out of the corner of her eye and she didn’t hesitate, darting towards it. As she got closer, the shadow manifested into a solid form, wings protruding from his back, and even his eyes seemed to glow in the dim light.

“Az!” She cried out, immense relief at having found him and not being alone. He turned to her, concern flashing across his features before she crashed into him, folding herself against his body.

“There you are.” He murmured, rubbing small circles into her back. She breathed in deeply, losing herself in his scent, his warm body, before jolting as she remembered where they were.

Pulling back, she looked up at him. “I don’t know how I got here Az, or how you’re here-”

“I’ve been here before Inei. Do you not remember?” She shook her head, pulling away a couple inches. “This has happened before? How is that possible? I’m not daemati..”