105. Violette
VIOLETTE
Fuck, I’m exhausted. And beyond relieved to finally have proper lodging. Azrael blessedly sweeps me off my aching feet to carry me up the stairs as Levi leads us towards our room for the night. As reality hits, fear coils around my heart, like a serpent, its prey.
When we leave here, we’ll be leaping into dangerous and bloody waters.
I still don’t want to face my father, but it’s an inevitability I’ve delayed for too long, and now that I finally have my two males with me—whether or not we share a traditional soulbond—our souls are inarguably linked in some precious way that will forever inspire my thanks and praise to Akash.
Cradled in Azrael’s arms, toes curled in my boots, Azrael’s nose grazes my dirty brow. “Want me to run you a bath, seraphim?”
With my face buried in Azrael’s broad chest, I take solace in his scent. The distinct metal-on-metal sound of a key sliding into a lock, followed by the creaking of door hinges, triggers an immense rush of relief that we will soon be able to bathe and sleep in a proper bed.
Five days we bathed in ice-cold river water.
Four days of foraging and sustaining ourselves off of almost nothing but berries because we weren’t allowed to kill anything.
It honestly feels like it’s been an eternity since I’ve eaten a bloody complex carbohydrate.
Four nights we slept on the ground; three of which were spent on ice-cold snow.
Fuck me, it is not merely a possibility, but a certainty that I am going to ugly cry tears of joy when I finally sink into a hot bath.
Preferably with an entire loaf of bread and a wheel of cheese crammed into my mouth.
However, the moment Azrael lays me on the bed, he collapses beside me, tucks me against his chest, and my eyes are too heavy to keep open.