Bloom and Destruction (ACOTAR - Elain + Azriel)

Chapter 4

Feyre

    I pull Rhysand into our room and close the door behind us. "What happened?" He whispers.

"Rhys," I groan as I flop onto the bed. "She- She let me into her mind. I tugged on the mating bond, I thought maybe it had something to do with Lucien? But the second I tugged..." I trail off.

Rhys' eyes go wide. "Az came running," he slowly sits next to me.

I nod, looking up at him. "Is it... is it possible to form another mating bond? Would she have to reject Lucien's bond first?"

He shrugs, "I-I don't know, Feyre. I've never seen, or heard of for that matter, of someone having two mating bonds. I suppose it's possible but, what of Lucien? Has he formed a bond with someone else as well?"

"I tugged so gently, I didn't think he would feel it. But the second I touched it, I felt sorrow and yearning and so much broken pain. There's no way that it wasn't Azriel." I stand up. "We have to send for Lucien, make sure he's alright."

But as we descended the stairs, we saw him standing in the front doorway.

Azriel

I kneel in front of the bed, unsure of what to do. She asked you to stay, I remind myself. I look up to see Elaine already staring down at me, silent tears rolling down her face. I boost myself up, knees still planted in the carpet, and wipe her tears gently.

She sighs, closing her eyes and dropping her face so her chin is touching her chest. I climb up onto the bed, sitting on the edge next to her. Neither of us say anything for a long while, we just sat together.

    A knock was the only noise to echo through the room for the last 30 minutes. "Go away," Elain mumbles, leaning into me.

    I suck in a breath, wrapping an arm around her. "Elain?" I whisper. She looks up to me with those doe eyes. "What's wrong? What did I do?"

    She shakes her head, wrapping both of her arms around me and squeezing me. "You didn't do anything," she mumbles.

    I take my other arm and wrap her into a tight hug. "Then what-"

    I'm cut off by Rhysand bursting into the room. "I'm sorry to interrupt. But Az, I need you to come downstairs for a moment."

    I nod, releasing Elain from my grasp, but she doesn't let me stand. "Just a minute. Please," she begs, looking to the high lord summoning me.

    He looks to me then back to Elain. "Sure," he takes his leave, closing the door behind him.

    I wrap my arms around her again, looking down at her. "Elain," I use a hand to tilt her chin upwards to look at me. "What is it?"

    She lets out a shaky sigh. "Azriel, I-I..." she trails off, pulling her chin away from me and tucking her head back into my chest.

    I nod, "okay. Alright, we don't have to talk about it right now." I hold her tightly for a moment.

    "AZRIEL! Do NOT make me come up there!" Feyre bellows from the bottom of the staircase.

    I chuckle, releasing Elain from my embrace. "Duty calls. I'll be right back," I smile at her before standing up and making my way downstairs.

    I make my way to the living room where Feyre sits on one end of the couch, Rhys on the other and Lucien between them with his head in his hands. Feyre rubs Lucien's back gently as Rhys looks up at me. "Az," he starts.

Lucien looks up, his eye darkening as his metal one locks on me. "I'll fucking kill you," he launches from his seat, right to me.

I grab him, taking both of his wrists and spinning him around to face my High Lord and High Lady. "What is going on?" I growl, shoving him back toward the couch.

"She broke the mating bond! Not rejected, it's just gone," Lucien barks at me. "What did you do?"

"And how does that have anything to do with me? I-" I stop being able to say anything. My whole body starts to tingle.

"Azriel," Rhys looks at me expectantly.

My eyes meet Feyre's and she smiles sadly. "I went into Elain's mind today and tugged on the bond. You came running," she says to me, almost encouragingly.

"I did it."

I whirl around to the doorway between the living room and foyer. Elain stands there, cheeks rosy from her crying earlier with Nesta and Mor on either side of her. Mor smiles brightly at me, Nesta slightly scowling.

"I broke the bond between Lucien and I. I did not want to reject it," she steps into the room. "I did not want to hurt you," her voice tender. "So I willed it away and away it went." She stops by my side, staring at him.

I look to Feyre and Rhys, their eyes just as wide as mine. "Why? How?" Feyre stands from the couch.

Elain shrugs, "I care for Lucien, but did not want to be tethered to him as I was."

"And Azriel?" Mor steps between Feyre and Elaine.

"I'm not... sure," Elain's mouth contorts to the side.

My shadows dance in the corner of the room eagerly. "Turn the lights off," I snap at anyone, everyone. They all stare at me with wide eyes. "Turn them off!" I bellow.

Nesta flips the switch by the entryway. The shadows creep over my shoulders, ushering my wings out. I grab Elain and wrap her into my wings as the shadows peer over. "You are mates," they whisper.

Elain's hands wrap around my torso and I pull her close to me. "Did you hear them?" She asked timidly.

"Did you?" I asked surprisedly.

She nods, lifting her nose to mine. "You are one," the shadows whisper again.

"We are one," she breathes out, repeating my shadows.

The lights flick on and they dance back to the corners. "Az?" Rhys taps my back.

I reluctantly pull away from Elain, tucking my wings behind me. Lucien looks at her, so broken and sad. I look to my High Lord who stares at me expectantly. "She... She can hear the shadows," I say lowly. Rhysand's eyes widen and he takes a step back. Feyre places a hand on his arm, looking at me with a questioning glance. "No one," I breathe out, my chest tightening. "No one has ever... heard..." I drop to my knees, gasping for air.

Rhys drops next to me. "What's wrong?" He places one hand on my back and the other on my racing heart. "Azriel, what?" He snaps.

I grab his hand that sits on my chest and hold it tightly. "She can hear them," I rasp.

"I know, brother," he looks up. I follow his gaze to see Elain leaving the room. I look back to Rhys who smiles sadly. "I know," he whispers, leaning his head against my shoulder as I begin to sob.