The Prophecy - ACOTAR

Chapter 53

It had been beyond difficult to leave Astrid in the care of Madja while he worked with the others to help heal and patch up the city while hunting for answers. Azriel knew that his mate was in the best hands possible, but it didn't stop his mind from wandering back to her every couple of minutes while he was away from her. Cass and Rhys had told him a number of times that they had it handled, and he could go be with her while they were working, but he found it more helpful to move around. It helped to work out his anxiety and it also kept him out of the way of the healer.

Azriel wanted to tell himself that he insisted on staying out with the group because he didn't want to leave them to do all of the cleanup, that they were a team and they would always work as a team, but they all knew that would be total bullshit. As Cass had so kindly put it the moment they got back, Azriel was thoroughly whipped for his girl.

Once they were back, he quickly took over watching Astrid from Madja. She had lain Astrid down in his bed, the bed that they'd had silently agreed they would be sharing from now on, and he had carefully moved her to one of the couches in the sitting area. He situated them so that she was laying between his legs with her head resting against his chest while he leaned his shoulder against the back of the couch with the arm pressing against the middle of his back.

He glanced around the room at his chosen family, his heart feeling a bit lighter knowing they were all together and breathing. They may all be battered and dirty, but they were alive, and Astrid would be alright, Madja had assured him of that. They all needed a little rest and a touch of revenge, but as long as they had each other, they would come out on the other side of everything.

Azriel found Rhys leaning against the mantel and he wasn't quite sure how his brother was still standing. Feyre and Mor were coated in blood and dirt, just as they all were, while laying almost limp on the other couch with Wrenica passed out between them. Cass had thrown himself in one of the armchairs with rage simmering in his eyes. Amren was at the other end of the couch from him and Astrid, her grey clothes hung in strips off her snow pale skin. The normally angry female was half asleep with Astrid's feet propped up on her lap.

Azriel couldn't help but worry about Amren almost as much as his mate. She looked as close to death as Astrid had when she passed out after the battle. But Amren was as stubborn as Astrid, and she wouldn't accept help from a healer unless she passed out as well.

No matter what was happening and who was hurt, Azriel would always worry the most about Astrid. She was his everything now, and he would do everything in his power to make sure they had a future together.

His world had been dark before he met Rhys and Cass, but when they took him into their group, the sun began to crest over the horizon. As Amren and Mor came into the equation, adding more to their family, the sun began climb higher in the sky. With Rhys gone for the past 50 years, it had felt like the darkness was seeping back in but then she crashed into his life. A female that was still brandishing her sword even when she was bleeding to death, a female who continues to push through her own darkness each and every day, a female that was perfect for him. When the bond made itself clear between them, the sun began to climb again, and the day she accepted that bond, it fixated itself at the highest point in the sky. But if there ever came a day that he had to walk this ground without her, there would be nothing that could pull him out of the darkness.

As he looked down at her, noting the color that was beginning to creep back into her face, he knew that day would never come. He would never let it happen.

Azriel brushed the hair from her face, a small grin forming on his lips as she scrunched her eyebrows and tried to snuggle closer into his chest. He dropped a kiss to the top of her head and tightened his arm around her waist before turning his attention back to the group.