Finding Heathcliff

Thirty-Seven

Pulling the black cloak tighter around his body, Azrael paced noiselessly up and down the long, deserted corridor, where he resolved to keep watch to prevent the demon from spending more alone time with the girl than was strictly necessary.

Azrael didn't trust him. Maybe the girl was right, and her fiancé wasn't as evil as he believed, but he wasn't as good either. He would use her as much as she would allow him, and Azrael knew well that the demon meant so much to her that she would hardly refuse him anything.

The girl's scent emanating from the fabric billowing around him as he moved was making it extremely difficult not to return into the room and lay down next to her. He paused in front of the curtain and listened to her even breathing every time he passed by... Maybe if he just stayed with her a little while, no one would notice...

Azrael's thoughts scattered when the two doves fluttered away from his shoulder even as he noticed the girl's demon exiting the room he shared with Ramiel, his friend's thoughts reaching him before Orion's steps.

I guess he's on his way to his girl? Ramiel thought without leaving his room. I know you are there, so look after him for a while. It's tiring how I can't read his thoughts. He didn't touch the gun, it's still in his bag, and I honestly don't think he would harm her, not here and now, anyway. Good night, Azrael.

Azrael thought a thank you addressed to his friend before he focused on the demon's mind as he approached him. It was really frustrating how Azrael could only read his thoughts when the demon was surprised or angry, caught unawares... Well, making him angry shouldn't take much.

"I don't think it is a good idea," Azrael said as Orion stopped in front of Astrid's room, his hand on the curtain. "She's only fallen asleep a while ago. You'll wake her up again, and she needs to rest."

Orion chuckled darkly, pulling the curtain from the stone wall a fraction to confirm Azrael's words. "Are you her guardian now, angel?"

"This has nothing to do with you," Azrael replied, staring at Orion, who returned his menacing look evenly.

"I beg to differ. It has everything to do with me when a strange man follows my fiancée around the country for weeks. I noticed, you know?" he said calmly, a faint flicker of guilt in Azrael's eyes confirming his suspicions, challenging him to keep talking. "I could smell you from her, she spoke your name in her sleep... Azrael," his last word came out in a hiss and was echoed suddenly in Astrid's voice, reaching them through the curtain.

They stood silent and motionless for a few interminable seconds, listening to Astrid shifting in her sleep, repeating the name one more time before she fell into a deeper sleep.

"So, are you two a thing now? Will you arrange the silly treaty for her, then take her back home and... what? Court her? Will she leave me because of you, angel?"

Azrael felt as if the demon could read his guilty thoughts when he continued, in a perfectly controlled voice laced with mock surprise, "Oh no, don't tell me she doesn't know about your feelings for her, don't tell me she doesn't know how many times you slept in her bed! Will she appreciate this invasion of privacy should I let it slip, I wonder?" Orion chuckled, unflinching, even when he noticed Azrael's hands curl into fists.

"No, I'm not afraid of you," he spoke again before Azrael could gather his wits and reply, tell him something that wouldn't put the girl into danger. "You won't harm me. You know that Astrid loves me, I'm the closest person she has in her life. Should you or any of your friends try to kill me, she will never forgive you, angel, and you wouldn't want that. Love is such a silly weakness." He sighed, letting his shoulders sag in pretense sadness, while his cold, dark blue eyes bored into Azrael's curiously, shielding his own thoughts, for a long while before he walked away, heading back towards the room where Ramiel slept.