Bind Me To You

Chapter Twenty One

'Welcome to Emmerdale'

Avery recognised the name of the town immediately. Emmerdale was a town seventy miles east of Lakeshore and much bigger, although it was nowhere close to being called a city. It also happened to be the town her mother worked in.

Azrael glanced towards Avery, eyeing her expression as she looked out of the window at the buildings and shops.

It was already getting late, but there seemed to be quite a few people visiting the brightly lit restaurants and bars that lined the street. It was the first time that Avery was reminded of the city, although it was nothing compared to the skyscraper buildings and bustle of city nightlife.

"Why are we in Emmerdale?" Avery asked, turning to eye the dark-haired boy as his gaze returned to the road. The car slowed to a stop at a set of lights allowing a crowd of restaurant goers to pass. Many of the pedestrians turned to look at the car, and then to inspect the person who drove it.

Azrael gave a smile as a group of younger men gawked at the ferrari as though it was a beautiful woman wrapped in crimson, and Avery noted the proud glint in the demon's eye as he glanced back at her.

"We're going dress shopping, remember?"

Avery wondered why the pair of them had drove forty-five minutes to the next town just to buy a dress, "Why didn't we just go to a shop in Lakeshore?".

"Because," Azrael began, tapping his foot to the accelerator after the light had turned green, "I didn't like the dresses in there. I came here earlier today to see if these shops were better, and I found one I liked".

Avery was taken aback by this information and her eyes shot to the dark-haired boy who had turned his eyes back to the road.

"You came here? Just to find a dress for me?"

Avery felt a confusing mixture of gratitude and bewilderment. She had assumed that Azrael wouldn't be the kind of... being... to go out of his way for someone else.

He is a contract demon, and his entire goal is supposed to be getting her to spend her life on him. Yet, he went out of his way to find a dress shop, even going as far as searching in the next town over. It just didn't make sense to Avery.

"Why not?" Azrael dismissed, pulling into a half-full carpark and stopping in front of a shop called Angela's Formal Dresses.

There were about a million reasons why she hadn't expected him to go through this much trouble for her. Against Avery's will, she thought back to what Miss Edal had told her before she had so blindly signed the binding contract;

'Today demons are servants of the Devil whose goal is to lure humans to sin. They are created to be 'evil' and so to have a righteous demon would be counterintuitive'

But... how could Azrael be 'evil', he didn't force her to do anything, he hadn't even encouraged her to use his powers. How could taking her dress shopping lure her to 'sin'? Shouldn't he be whispering into her ear about revenge and motivating her to make bad choices?

It just doesn't make sense.

Avery let a silent breath slip through her lips, eyeing Azrael as he pulled the keys from the ignition and popped his door open.

_____

The shop bell gave a light chime as Azrael opened the door, standing to the side to let Avery pass through first. Avery gave him a nod of thanks before stepping inside, her jaw dropping open at the overwhelming sight that greeted her.

The boutique's floor to ceiling windows let in sunlight which reflected off of the large glass chandelier. Light bounced off glittering dresses that hung gracefully throughout the store and Avery knew that she would never be able to afford anything in a store that looked so elegant.