A Court of Smoke and Shadow

Chapter Twenty Seven: Azriel

My mate was gorgeous.

That was the first thought that ran through my mind upon seeing Selene at our Winter Solstice party in the townhouse. She looked resplendent in a shimmering gold gown with her black hair pinned up in elaborate horns and gold glitter gleaming on her cheekbones.

Everything about her was entirely gorgeous and I wondered why I ever spent so much time with Elain. Elain was gorgeous, yes, but Selene... Selene was ethereal. Selene was a goddess, both in namesake and in beauty.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by Selene's voice down the mating bond.

Don't drool on the carpet, shadowsinger.

Perhaps you shouldn't be so damn attractive, Moony, I responded back.

Ah, but, who would I be if I wasn't attractive, she replied, her tone teasing.

I walked over to her, slyly wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Keep being bratty and see where that gets you tonight," I whispered into her ear.

"Oh, I'm curious to see what my darling mate has in store for me," she smirked.

"Don't tempt me into fucking the brat out of you, princess," I murmured.

Selene shivered at my words. I knew I had her right where I wanted her and the thought alone made me smirk.

"Can you two stop being gross?" Rhys' voice suddenly cut through the moment. "No one wants to see nor hear that."

"Oh, fuck off, Rhysie," Selene shot back, a sly smirk on her face.

Rhys only flashed her a mischievous grin. Any other person would be scared out of their wits if Rhys told them not to do something. Any other person would never talk back to Rhys. But Selene, being his sister, naturally got to be bratty to Rhys and got away with it.

I chuckled at her audacity, though I knew Rhys wouldn't hurt Selene. After spending centuries apart, I was sure that Rhys would go to the ends of the world to protect her.

You have a very filthy mouth, pretty girl, I said down the mating bond.

I'll put it to good use later, she said back. She sent an image through the mating bond of her on her knees in front of me.

You can't just do that kind of thing, I sent back, fighting the desire coursing through me.

Rhys looked between the two of us. "Do I even want to know?"

"No," Selene chuckled.

"Perhaps you two need to work through whatever you're talking about through that bond," he said. "I can hear it. And see it."

"You think you can spare us 25 minutes?" Selene asked her brother, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"25 minutes?" Rhys said. "Mother. It takes you that long?"

"Believe me, it only takes me five," Selene said, winking at Rhys. "The other twenty is for Azriel's sake."

***

We rejoined the party exactly 25 minutes later.

I knew her scent was clinging to me like ivy on a stone house. She was the most beautiful female I'd ever seen in my life and I've seen many beautiful females.

Gift giving seemed to fly by in a flash. My eyes were trained on my mate the whole time. Even as Elain gave me a gift, my eyes were on Selene. I could feel like something shifted inside her. Like whatever power she thought she had wasn't the power she actually had.

I couldn't put my finger on it exactly but something told me she had been wrong about being a Heartrender. Something told me that the Fae we'd  spoken to, Selene's real mother, had told them a half-truth. There was something darker and more dangerous about her powers.

I could feel it in the flash of silver in her eyes when she perceived a threat. I saw it on the battlefield when she unleashed hellfire upon Hybern's army. She wasn't a Heartrender. No, she was something far more dangerous and more powerful than anything or anyone in history.

Selene...

She could bring destruction to the entirety of Prythian.