51. Violette
VIOLETTE
The bond in the center of my chest burns like hellfire. Now that I’ve experienced even a fragment of my mother’s pain, I’m beyond shocked she lasted as long as she did. Even now, I feel as though I will surely combust and burn to ash from this agony if I were to continue this way.
And to think Azrael has lived like this for aeons...
Who can blame him for being cruel and selfish?
If I were to endure this for even a day more, I’m fairly certain I would burn the world down around me if only it would make it stop.
“I cannot fathom having to bear this pain for a second more…”
Azrael’s eyes gradually drift, focusing on some vague point in the distance. “It’s been so long, I cannot imagine a life without it. All I know is this pain.”
Empathy splinters my chest, and I find myself closing the small distance between us.
Hesitantly, I lay my hand upon his chest, right over where the bond to his own soulbound stems from.
Azrael lays his hand over the point of contact, fingers curling to clutch mine and press it more firmly against him.
“For what it’s worth, I will do my best to alleviate your suffering. As long as you promise to do the same for me.”
Under other circumstances, I might laugh at the startled expression on Azrael’s face in response to my vow. As though no one in his life has ever promised him kindness or affection.
Azrael’s chest expands on a deep inhale as one of his large hands encompasses mine, still resting on his chest.
“Precious Violette…”
The space around my chest begins to glow with gradually increasing brightness until I have to squeeze them shut.
It’s then that I can see my soulbond tether like a corporeal thing—a tether running beyond the horizon my eyes can see.
The air in my lungs punches out of me as this golden cord begins to erode and burn away like paper to a flame.
Azrael’s magic pours into me, and it takes all of an instant to realize this power is too much for any singular soul to bear.
By some unseen force, my feet leave the marble floor just as my back arches against an excruciating pain.
Gnashing my teeth against the force of his magic pervading—and destroying—my soulbond.
A scream tears from my lips when I feel the molecules of my body expand to the point of bursting.
The blinding light cuts off like someone flipped a switch, and my body collapses, only to be caught by Azrael.
His enormous wings have returned—spread so wide their tips bend against opposite walls.
Sweat lines my forehead; electricity and hellflame lick at my skin as the excess gradually dissipates.
My breath heaves from me as I sag against him, searching, wondering, distantly hoping...
And soon realizing...
The soulbond is gone.
It feels like a hole has been carved into my chest.
I crane my neck down as I try to find my feet and strength to stand, certain that I will find a hollow tunnel dug right through.
Instead, I find dark gold veins in the center of my chest. As though the blood running through me is now Azrael’s ichor.
“What is this?”
Azrael’s brows pinch in thought as he stares at the veins.
“I suppose it’s some kind of magical residue.”
Lifting a single finger, he hesitates, eyes meeting mine.
“May I?”
The veins run directly between my breasts and spread outward beneath my dress, gradually fading. My stomach twists, but I nod.
Azrael’s touch whispers over the new veins. Their gold color deepens to a bronze as magic the same color, laced with lilac, rises from my chest to curl gently around his finger.
My flesh rises with goosebumps as the back of his forefinger traces the inner curve of one breast. My breath catches, and my nipples harden to points.
Azrael’s eyes briefly lift to mine before he straightens, dropping his hand.
“Fascinating.”
My shoulders settle, and my lungs finally resume their work. I rub my chest, needing confirmation.
“It’s done?”
Azrael manages a sad smile. “Like it was never there to begin with.”
Rubbing at my chest—fingers humming against this electrified energy center.
This is better... right?
I am no longer in pain. This is what I wanted.
I am free.
Mostly.
All I have to do is allow the God of Death to court me.
And now that I don’t have the soulbond fogging my mind and body, I realize this should be a dream come true.
Azrael is a god.
The most powerful one I know of, outside of Mors, perhaps. Though I have never met that god of death. He is notoriously reclusive.
Azrael, despite his infamy, has been nothing but kind to me and has just forfeited his life to me. I no longer have to fear the fate of my mother befalling me. For the rest of my life, I will have this undeniably striking, powerful male at my side.
A male that even my foul father fears.
Hope, radiant and true, sparks inside my chest for the first time in as long as I can remember.
Perhaps Levi’s denial of me was a blessing.
My eyes scan the luxurious space of what I can only guess is a study, perhaps. He has dominion over two realms. Countless souls—perhaps even my father’s. Unimaginable wealth and power.
If I so choose, I won’t have to live in exile anymore.
He might even help me kill him.