A Court of Shadows and Lies / ACOTAR FF

Chapter 36

---Jez POV---

It seemed every single Fae was staring at us while Azriel and I walked around the Palace of Thread and Jewels. Their curiosity was evident every time we walked down a pathway or entered a shop. Their gazes were initially fixated on the massive male before dropping down to me, whispering amongst each other. The stares would turn into side eyes until we had left them behind on the shopping pursuit.

Needless to say, this sort of attention was uncomfortable, anxiety-inducing at best, and a stark difference to the days I had walked this pathway with Vel. Not a single glance at me, a single chatter, would come from any of the Fae. Oddly, many of them didn't even look at me when I had been exploring by myself over the last few weeks.

I faltered in my step, realisation hitting me. Azriel stopped and turned, an eyebrow raised. "Do you not walk around here?" I asked him, hushed murmurs from passing fae floated around us. Az shrugged.

"I don't have a need to walk around here," he replied. A tall, beautiful fae with pointed ears batted her eyelashes at him as she walked passed. I bit back a sneer. "I told you I'd take you shopping. Your clothes are getting tight on you."

He was right. My clothes, that used to hang off my skeletal body, were now too tight. The leather leggings I wore were on the cusp of stopping circulation around my thighs and stomach. I, however, distinctly remembered another reason. I sucked on my teeth, crossing my arms. "That's not what you said last night."

The right corner of the Shadowsinger's lip titled upwards. "Let's find you some clothes. Feyre told me there was a store she goes to..."

"...you didn't ask her where it was?"

"I know the name of it," he told me, turning on the spot and walking. I rolled my eyes at his back and matched his pace.

"But you don't know where it is."

"It's here."

"Where here?"

"Here."

"What's the name of here?" I asked. Azriel didn't say a word, but looked like he was concentrating on something that was going on in his head. The realisation hit me. For God's sake, he was talking to Feyre. "Tell Feyre you're cheating."

"It's not cheating," Azriel murmured. "It's using initiative." He stopped abruptly and turned, his eyes snapped to mine, raising an eyebrow. "How do you know about that?"

"It's not difficult to guess what you're doing," I told him, proceeding to imitate his concentration face. "Hi Feyre, I'm lost."

"That's not what I said."

"No?" I teased, hooking a finger around a trouser loop and pulling myself closer to him. Tilting my head up, I raised an eyebrow at the male. His gaze was intense, and brought back lovely memories of last night when he was between my legs. "What did you say?"

Flatly, and with the most deadpan expression I had ever seen on Azriel despite his eyes, he said, "that if you don't shut up, I was going to kill you."

"Liar."

The world seemingly disappeared around us for a brief moment, but not in a good way like usual. Right now, Azriel seemed worried, that this was the first time anyone had ever called him a liar – despite the fact that I was entirely joking. Gods, I had seen many versions of the Shadowsinger but this one looked distraught, a genuine but slight heartbreak.

I opened my lips but he beat me to it, lowering his head to my ear. Overwhelmed with his scent and personal space, something that has become increasingly different with any male I had been with, I held my breath as his pressed his lips to my jaw. "Keep up that attitude, I'll let all these fae hear what I do to you."