AZRIEL

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

J U L I A N (on the night of The Blossoming)

The young, silver-haired male scanned the array of dishes in front of him, a vacant plate in his hand. The truth was, he wasn't really hungry. After Azriel had placed such restrictions on him from speaking to Cirse, he hadn't had a decent night of sleep thinking about it.

A tap to his shoulder.

Confused, he turned to be met with the face of the maiden from the estate. His hazel-eyes widened at the sight of what stood before him and he couldn't refrain from trickling his eyes down her body, following the length of her milky beige silk dress.

Cirse stood slightly awkwardly, perhaps half shy from the encounter but also feeling the effects of being a misfit in such an event. In her hands were two glasses, both filled with an opaque liquid that had a sheer gold glow.

When he clicked into his senses, he scanned their surroundings quickly. His expression must have dropped - he wasn't in the position to have Azriel or Celeste see him. When he turned back to look at her, she seemed slightly taken aback at his uncalled for reaction.

"I-I can go? I-" She began, but he cut her off by quickly taking her arm and pulling her out the back entrance of the hall - which thankfully happened to be a couple steps away. He had seen Adeline talking to Celeste in the few moments he'd scanned the crowd and was aware their probable, eventual arguing or cat-fighting would keep Azriel occupied.

The open air hit them both like ice glazing over fire. The Great Hall had been toasty, a comfortable temperature, and they had counteracted that by plunging themselves into the gardens of the estate late into the night.

"I'm sorry," Julian spoke before she could question his actions, "I couldn't be seen talking to you in there."

Cirse seemed confused, and cocked her head to the side, "What? Why? Have I done something?"

"No, no, no, of course not," He quickly reassured her, still slightly out of breath by the speed they had left the hall in, "I didn't want to tell you."

Cirse, now becoming uncomfortable and conscious, swallowed hard. "Tell me what?"

"Remember when Azriel had caught us both in the library?" He murmured, starting to massage his temples which had begun to grow sore from the stress, "After I left, I was told to never be seen speaking to you again. He doesn't trust us both together."

The red-haired maiden bit her lip, and Julian wasn't sure whether it was to stop herself from crying or to refrain from saying something negative against the Arch Angel. Either way, he watched as she took a small step back from him.

"I-I'm sorry? I should go. This isn't okay and I truly don't want you to get into trouble with Azriel." Panic dominated her voice.

He took a step in, and reached out his hand to cup her face as a symbol to say 'don't go'. As he did so, some of her hair fell behind her shoulder to reveal her neck - and a beautiful blue diamond adorned upon it.

Julian tried to hold back his smile. "You kept the necklace I gave?"

Cirse blushed, perhaps with the shyness as she murmured, "I have never taken it off since you put it on me."

That was enough for Julian to take both the drinks she still held in her hands and set them down carefully on the grass beside them, before scooping her cheek again and pushing her against the wall of the hall in a manner not to hurt her.

The right hand man was playing a dangerous game - they both knew it, but he couldn't ignore what ignited inside him anymore. Not for anyone, not even his leader.

With another step towards her, he pressed his lips against hers - a strong, passionate movement. The young maiden almost melted against his touch, obliging and opening her mouth when his tongue grazed the bottom of her lip.

She would never know it, but if it was up to Julian he would have her right now - marking her as his and no one else's.

Slowly, Julian pulled away - the pair slightly out of breath from the sudden intimacy they had both shared. Cirse, unlike her usual self, did not pull away from the eye contact once - instead staring intensely into Julian's hazel eyes.

"You look beautiful, by the way," He murmured, pressing a kiss to her nose and then her forehead, before looking over to where he had left the drinks on the ground. "So, are you going to tell me why you were walking around with both of these?"

"Well," She bit her lip to suppress her excitement, "It's a special drink. The barmaid told me it's perfect for people with a headache of a leader."

Silence. Julian didn't do much as shift at her playful remark, and Cirse was just about to panic and apologise for any offence.

But then Julian tipped his head back and laughed, such a loud, joyous laugh as such never reaching her ears before,

"In that case, Cirse, it is best we get drinking."

*********

A D E L I N E

"Kiss me."

I felt his body freeze against mine.

"What?" He murmured, both of us still in an embrace now, albeit stiff and uncomfortable from the shock of my words.

"I said-"

My bedroom door flew open, and the both of us separated from each other as quick as light - startled.

Celeste stood in the doorway, her expression confused perhaps at what she had walked into, but also concerned.

"Azriel, fuck, there you are." She seethed, seemingly out of breath from searching for him. She barely acknowledged me, holding eye contact with Azriel - but that didn't stop her from throwing a brisk glance of disregard towards me."You have to come quick."

Azriel cocked an eyebrow, and I shuddered at the tone of apprehension lacing his voice. "Why? What's happened?"

"Aerith of Zybern's here. She's figured out that the potions you returned to them were replicas."

The Arch Angel beside me swiftly rose to his feet almost immediately, expressions of annoyance and tension flickering on his features. "You cannot be serious right now."

And with that the two cousins stormed out of the room without another word or look towards me, the sound of Celeste beginning to debrief the situation to her male counterpart sounding down the glass hallway. I remained sat, trying to process the previous five minutes.

You're right, Azriel. You could not be serious right now.

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yayyy! another update! i'm proud of myself even tho i said i was going to halt updates till may. i honestly jus love this book too much

also no julian and curse😭😭 they're so cute i ship them sm .. what do yall think i'm so curious

NOT AZ JUST WALKING OUT MID TENSION??? like hello??? men😭😭😭

please drop a vote and comment if you enjoyed!!!!

so much love,

-J xx