𝒜 𝒞𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝑅𝑒𝓈𝒾𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒮𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓈 | ᴀᴢʀɪᴇʟ

Chapter 116

Chapter 116

Arwen leant back in her chair, eyes drifting over the particularly sour letter from Eris Vanserra on behalf of his father. The letter had sat on the desk for two days unopened and now it would probably sit for two more before she could bring herself to formulate a reply that didn't have the phrase: Cauldron-damned bastard. She wasn't sure what Rhysand would think of that, but she suspected he might smile before telling her off.

Tossing it aside, Arwen ran her hands down her face, stretching the skin of her cheeks. Azriel had left a few hours earlier for something he was working on for Rhysand, and Elain had left for a day in the city. Which left the town house empty.

Her eyes flew up at the sound of hard knocking at the front door. She knew who it was—knew the heavy thump and the beat of it. A masculine knock but Azriel let himself in and Rhysand, in the two times he has ever had to knock did so rather lightly. No, this was the knock of a male who didn't care to be gentle on a pane of wood. Arwen remained in her seat, letting the banging continue, wondering if the beating could be made into a tune.

Call her stubborn, call her childish, she did not want to speak with Cassian after the dinner party. Didn't want to listen to him tell her she was stupid for her past and future decisions, speak of her like a child who needed to be watched over. Because finally there was some semblance of purpose for her—a position in this court and this family that didn't feel like it was born out of duty and she wouldn't let him pull her away from it.

The banging continued until he must have finally assumed that nobody was home or that nobody would answer. Arwen emerged from the office, peering down the hall just in time to watch him spear into the sky past one of the entrance windows.

Not expecting either Elain or Azriel back for another few hours, she made herself a small lunch and ate it in the garden. It was as she entered through the back door, that the front opened at the same time. Sending her dish to the kitchen for later, Arwen angled herself to watch the foyer door open next, wondering which of the other two residents of the town house it was.

She should have known by the light scuffle of his boots.

"You're home," she breathed, heading toward him. "I didn't think I'd be seeing you until dinner."

"I got what I needed quicker than I thought." Azriel sunk into the embrace she pulled him into but pulled away before she was ready. Lines deepened in her forehead at the purposeful detachment until he held something up between them. A burlap bag of sorts that he carried by the neck. "Actually, I finished hours ago but I passed a store on the way home and thought you might like some things from it."

Arwen blinked as he handed the sack to her. She nearly buckled under its weight. Her eyes widened as she felt what was undeniably inside. 

Azriel laughed in that low, sensual way he always did. "Go on," he said, tapping her hip as he walked around her. "Make sure they're ones you want. Otherwise, I'll take them back today."

She clutched it tighter, spinning on the spot. "Have I ever told you that I love you?"

"Once or twice." He walked to the sitting room, pausing on the threshold to glance back at her. "Are you going to stand there all day?"

Leaping into motion, she scurried after him and climbed her way onto the lounge. Sitting on her legs, she yanked the neck of the sack wide open and nearly squealed at just the sight and scent of the new books. One by one she pulled them out, reading the first pages and admiring their covers. Each one coursed a new river of excitement through her, a new adventure awaiting. Soon they laid around her like they were a sea and she the boat that sailed it.