Shadows Whisper | | Azriel

21

Azriel could have snuck him and Cassian into the Autumn Court unnoticed. He could have snuck them in, gotten Astryn, and gotten out without anyone noticing. But he didn't want that. He wanted the floors of this wretched manor to run red with blood.

Azriel strode right in with Cassian at his side, and he killed anyone who tried to stop them. Cassian hadn't ever seen Azriel like this before, so focused and furious.

He followed Astryn's scent, leaving a trail of blood and bodies in his wake.

"Try not to start a war while we're here, brother," Cassian muttered to Azriel as he stepped around a body.

"Anyone who tries to keep me from her dies," Azriel said coldly, "if they choose to fight, they choose to die."

Cassian almost rolled his eyes at how brooding and cliche it sounded.

Azriel killed a few more guards along the way until they got to the infirmary just in time to see Killan carrying Astryn out of there in an attempt to escape. There were no words that could describe Azriel's primal rage when he saw Astryn. She looked so injured that he doubted she could even stand on her own. The faebane had slowed her healing so she was just as bad off as she was when she first endured the beating. Azriel growled at the sight, his entire body was on fire with anger and a need for retribution.

"Put her down," he ordered, his voice low and dangerous, "now."

"Or what, shadowsinger?" Killan taunted, too prideful and too stupid to back down.

"You die either way, but if you release my mate now, I may consider giving you a more merciful death," Azriel spoke icily, glaring at the male who held his battered mate.

Killan, at least, had enough sense to be filled with a rush of fear at what Azriel had said. His mate. Cauldron, they had all signed their own death sentences when they took her. The shadowsinger's mate. Killan was certain the entire family would be dead before the sun set.

"I didn't know," Killan said, trying to sound calmer than he was. He unintentionally tightened his hold on Astryn and she let out a soft whimper of pain that was the final nail in Killan's coffin. "Shadowsinger—"

Azriel cut him off with a deep, animalistic growl as he prowled forward. Killan shook with fear.

"Are you the one who did this to her?" Azriel questioned, his voice quiet but still so dangerous as he took Astryn right from Killan's arms. "Are you the one who beat my mate?"

Astryn tucked herself closer to Azriel. Even with the anger and hatred rolling off of him in waves, she felt safer in his arms than anywhere else.

Killan stayed silent. He went entirely stiff when Azriel asked the question again, this time it was directed to Astryn though.

"Did he do this to you?" he asked, and it was so unsettling how much more softly he spoke when he was addressing her. He was still filled with unmatched rage, but his voice was so soft with her, so kind despite the fact that Killan knew full well her answer would end with him being torn apart. "Was he the one who hurt you?"

Astryn only nodded, but that was all the answer Azriel needed. He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead and then turned to Cassian.

"Keep her safe," he instructed, starting to carefully hand her over to his brother but stopping when she gripped his arm.

She knew she didn't have to tell him not to harm Lucien or the Lady of the Autumn Court, but there was one person she knew she had to specify should be kept safe.

"Don't harm Eris," she told him, "not him."

Azriel's jaw clenched, but he nodded. He kissed her forehead once more before letting Cassian take her.

"Wait for me outside. She doesn't need to see what I'm going to do to him."

Killan squared his shoulders and stood tall, as if he stood any chance against the male that stood before him. Azriel's wings flared out, blocking any chance Killan may have had to slip out around him.

"I didn't know she's your mate," Killan said, his tone as even as he could manage to keep it.

"You shouldn't have had to know that," Azriel replied, his voice solid ice. He took a step closer, just one. "You should have just kept your filthy fucking hands off of her because it's the decent thing to do. But you didn't."

Killan tried hard not to let his fear show as Azriel took another step closer.

"She asked me not to kill Eris," he told him, "so I won't despite how much I was looking forward to it. But that means the two of us get more time together."

Killan would be lying if he said he wasn't terrified. Azriel was an immovable force of nature in front of him, massive wings spread out and his leathers and skin gleaming with blood that wasn't his own. It was a hopeless cause, there wasn't even a point in fighting. Whatever Azriel planned to do to him, there was no escaping it.

Azriel somehow picked up on the fact that Killan had accepted his fate and his lips tilted up into a cruel smirk.

"What? You're not even going to beg for your life?" Azriel taunted, taking another step towards him. Killan wished Azriel wasn't so controlled in this whole thing. It would be quicker if he just ended this all in a fit of uncontrollable rage, but his fury was something he was entirely in control of in this moment, and that allowed him to take his time.

"Would it make a difference if I did?" Killan retorted, his voice shaking—his entire body shaking.

"I don't know," Azriel said with a shrug, raising an eyebrow at him. "Did she beg you to stop when you beat her?" Killan's silence was answer enough. "And did it make a difference?"

Killan once again stayed quiet, and Azriel's hand shot forward suddenly and wrapped around his throat.

"Then I suppose we have our answer," Azriel spoke lowly, his deep voice full of the promise of violence Killan couldn't even begin to imagine. He leaned in slightly and Killan was overwhelmed by the different scents from the blood on the shadowsinger. He was grinning, something feral and violent and excited. "But I think you'll still end up begging before I'm finished with you. And, honestly, I'm going to savor it when you do."

Killan knew his one chance at escaping a long torturous death was pissing off Azriel enough that he killed him impulsively right here, so he swallowed back his fear and looked him in those violent eyes.

"I savored it when she begged," Killan said with a strangled laugh, Azriel's hand tightening around his throat in response.

"Foolish, foolish brute," Azriel tsk'ed, his grip on Killan's throat still so controlled, "pissing me off isn't going to make me kill you faster. If you say anything else I don't want to hear, I'll just rip your tongue out. But I'll make sure it doesn't kill you. It would be such a shame if I had to do that though. I'm really looking forward to hearing you beg for your life, as if was worth anything anyway."