𝒜 𝒞𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝑅𝑒𝓈𝒾𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒮𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓈 | ᴀᴢʀɪᴇʟ

Chapter 63

Chapter 63

A thunderous banging resounded throughout the entire apartment. Arwen jolted, lifting her head from the lounge's armrest. Her legs were entangled with Cassian's who stretched out towards the other end, their legs meeting in the middle.

The knocking on the door continued as she and Cassian pushed themselves up, but neither made way to answer it. A glance out the window revealed a white, snow-clothed world, but a clear one. Lucien thumped his way down the stairs, muttering something vulgar about the early hour. Arwen peeked over the back of the lounge.

Lucien yanked the door open and on the front step stood Azriel, head to toe in leathers. Lucien stiffened. "Azriel?" he asked, voice still gruff from sleep. Arwen's neck lengthened instinctively to get a better look, but then she shrunk back down to look at Cassian. Rhysand must have reached out to him last night.

Azriel pushed past Lucien without even a word of greeting. Arwen shrunk even more as he veered around the lounge and stood over them. Wide hazel eyes darted between her and Cassian, urgency fleeting from them.

"You stayed here?"

Arwen's lips were dry and her throat parched, which was no matter as she had no words to answer with anyway. She only could look at Cassian, who sighed and tented his knees, the blanket strewed over them. "In case you didn't notice, there was a bit of a blizzard that I didn't fancy flying through."

Azriel scowled. "It was hard to miss. Why didn't you come back before it started? Or go to the town house?"

Lucien shuffled into the shadows of the room. Arwen felt like a child being scolded, even though Azriel's glare had shifted onto Cassian. Why had he come down here?

Cassian sighed with an empty chuckle, raising his hands halfway before letting them flop against his legs. "Why are you here, Az?"

Azriel had no answer, but the question seemed to bounce through him. He looked up to Lucien, then down to Arwen who held his gaze only because she had nowhere else to look, then finally to Cassian again. As if he was just realising where he was.

Cassian pushed from the seat and stood shoulder to shoulder with his brother, laying his hand on Azriel's. "You can ease up, Az. Everybody is safe, sound, and warm. Except for me since I had your damn cold feet on me all night," he said, moving away from Azriel to smack the side of Arwen's calf. Cassian straightened with a chuckle. "We'll come home since you're missing me so much."

He started to gather his boots that Arwen had taken off him last night so she leant down to do the same. Azriel remained silent, almost swallowed by his shadows and did not offer Lucien an apology for barging into his home so early. Lucien didn't seem keen on stepping into the light to demand one.

They head out the door, Arwen murmuring a low thank you to Lucien as she clutched the black box. Cassian leaned into her shoulder. "Sleep alright?" he asked her. She nodded mutely. He continued looking at her, the silent question etched into his skin when she glimpsed back at him.

Arwen parted her lips with a breath and glanced ahead where Azriel stalked onto the street. She hadn't expected him to be there in her waking moments. Hadn't, especially after her late-night confessions with Lucien, known what she would say if she saw him. The claws had dug themselves back into her, dragging her down into the depths she managed to clamber out of yesterday.

Cassian straightened and squeezed her shoulder. They took off into the sky and back home to the House of Wind. Cassian placed her down on the balcony but looked over his shoulder towards the city. "I need to see Rhys."

"You haven't had breakfast," Arwen murmured disapprovingly.

Cassian, however, grinned at her. "I see I've been wearing off on you, and I'll say the same back. Besides, I'll eat the High Lord out of home before I go hungry."