11. Brielle
11
Brielle
A zra’s glowing eyes pulled me out of the darkness that swallowed me whole. Burns and wounds are healing as his hands squeeze my biceps. I blink a few times to clear my vision completely. The sheets beneath me are scorched, along with black marks smoking on the ground around the bed.
“What—what happened?” My voice comes out hoarse. I almost didn’t recognize it. Before Azra can answer, our bedroom doors slam open. With the loud bang, I notice the throb in my head.
Andrea comes rushing in wearing her usual t-shirt and sweats. Her curls are in her face as her half asleep eyes search our room with an object in her hand.
“Is everyone all right? I heard you scream and there were unusually loud noises.” She swings the object around and when it finally catches the light, I can tell what it is, a kitchen knife.
“It was a bad dream, Andrea. She’s okay.” Azra answers and both me and Andrea’s eyes widen as our heads turn to Azra.
Naked Azra.
“OH MY MOTHER EFFIN’ G!” Andrea yells as she slaps her empty hand over her eyes. “I’m just gonna um—I’m gonna go,” she mutters as she tries to feel around despite covering her eyes with one hand and holding a knife with the other to leave our room.
Jumping out of bed—thankful Azra dressed me after my bath—I try to follow Andrea out of our bedroom. My head swirls with pain. Azra grabs my arm to help steady me, suddenly clothed. Worry pinches his face more than I have ever seen it before.
“I’ll be right back,” I tell him before following Andrea into her room that’s down the hall from ours. Slipping into her room, I barely have the door shut behind me before she is turning around and frantically pacing.
“Oh my lord, I saw your boyfriend’s junk!” She’s somehow whispering and yelling at the same time. I smirk pulls at my lips before I open my mouth to tell her everything is all right, but she continues, “This is not funny, Brielle! I feel like I violated him. Hell, I feel violated. My eyes are violated!” She drops the knife in her hand on the dresser before she falls on top of her bed and covers her eyes with her arm.
“May I ask why you have a kitchen knife in your room?” I walk over and sit on the edge of her bed. My legs are weak, As if I’ve run ten miles.
“Just to be safe.” She sits up and chews the inside of her cheek. I know who she is thinking about right now and it has my blood pumping again. No heat in my veins, no burning rage. Nothing. I’m almost cold. “My poor friend, please know my prayers are with you,” she says sincerely as she rests her hand on my shoulder.
I tilt my head and bite my lips to stop the laugh that is threatening to come out. Andrea’s smile fades once we make eye contact again. Her eyes roam over my face.
“Were you crying? Your eyes are puffy.” Her perfect dark brown brows pinch.
“I’m okay, we can talk about it in the morning. It’s been a long night.” I pull her in for a hug. My eyes close as I savor the smell of her signature strawberry shampoo as her curls tickle my nose. Memories of home flash through my mind. She’s here, and that’s all that matters right now.
My heart eases for only a moment in her arms. Azra then crosses my mind with the burn marks on him. I need to check on him.
I pull away from my best friend and smile. Sliding off her bed and opening her door, I turn to see her climbing back under the covers.
“I’ll see you in the morning.” I offer a soft smile as she nods, and I close the door gently behind me.
Andrea has always been able to cheer me up just by her presence. I’m glad she and Azra are both here to be by my side while I go through whatever is happening to me. My only wish is that Zach was here too.
My eyes search for Azra as soon as I close the doors to our bedroom. I check the bathroom when I can’t find him. His perfect tan skin shifts from his muscles underneath and he lifts his head from his hands.
When he notices me, a small smile appears on his flawless face as he stands from the rim of the tub and walks over to me. He grabs my lower back and pulls me until I am tight against his rigid muscles. “Are you okay?” Azra whispers. I can hear the relief in his voice.
“What happened?” I try to recall what I was dreaming about, but I can’t. Everything was black, as if I wouldn’t have been dreaming at all.
“I’m not sure, but there is only one being in the Forsaken that is older than me and she’s on her way.” His worried eyes and furrowed brows have me beginning to worry as well. I didn’t feel or see anything, but whatever he saw spooked him for him to call in someone older than him. A she who is older than him.
My heavy eyes roam over his smooth tattooed skin where there were burns minutes ago. “Those burns… Did I do that to you?” I run my fingers over his hard chest, tracing every healed part of his skin.
“I’m okay,” A faint smile appears on his lip and quickly falls. “She’s here.”
The library is lit with dancing flames on top of candles. I notice Ash first, and my jaw tightens. Then I see Torin, Cyprian, and someone else, someone new. Her long black hair ends at her hips. The female’s hair is an even darker shade of black than her silk, lace-lined night dress that is just short enough to not touch the floor. Her pale gray skin is the color of death itself, but she somehow still looks healthy, beautiful even. Deathly beautiful.
She walks closer with a grin. I straighten my spine as she nears, only to notice it isn’t me she’s approaching.
“Oh, how I’ve been waiting for this house call.” Her voice is deep for a woman but still sultry, like an ancient melody to lure in a lover. My brow raises as she places a slow kiss on Azra’s cheek.
Who the fuck does she think she is?
Torin’s eyes widen, barely noticeable, as they shift to me. Ash’s eyebrows flick up, watching the thing close to Azra. So close to what’s mine. Azra’s brothers watch me intently, like I will lunge any minute.
I might.
I clear my throat as she steps back from Azra, who still has the slightest bit of worry etched into his face. I know he is trying to hide it the best he can.
“Achyls, this is Brielle. She is the reason for this house call. ” He moves closer, placing his hand on my hip, and pulls me to him. Something warm and fuzzy turns in my stomach. “Brielle, this is Achlys. She is a very ancient goddess that has hopefully encountered something similar to what you’re going through. She has been around longer than I have.” My eyes meet Achyls again and that warm feeling in my stomach turns into a cold stone as the creature before us clicks her tongue.
“She’s still around? That’s a record for you, Azrael. Although, you weren’t mentioning how ancient I was when you visited me almost four months ago.” Her smile widens, showing perfectly straight teeth that almost seem too long to be normal. Her beauty is captivating, but lethal all in the same glance. The way she enunciated Azra’s full name has a chill threatening to roll down my spine.
Have they talked about me? I was here four months ago, still his prisoner. Did he go there too—I can’t think about that. It takes every will in my body to not snap my accusatory eyes to Azra beside me.
“Ignore her taunts, Brielle. She lives to crawl under someone’s skin.” His tone is level and calm, like he has dealt with her many times before. Steadying my breath, I still don’t take my eyes off her.
Her gray eyes roam over my body before looking back to Azra. “Goblet please,” she huffs, as if this is such an annoyance to her. A wave of Azra’s hand that was once resting on my hip reveals a large silver goblet in the long fingers and even longer black nails of Achlys.
Flashes of similar nails tapping along a skull upon her throne of bones ring through my head. My heart begins racking against my rib cage, causing the thrumming to increase the pain in my head from earlier. My hearing is muffled as she approaches me.
Lilith. Her red eyes are peering at me now, her sharp features curled into a vicious smile as she stalks toward me with that goblet.
I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe. She’s back, she’s come to kill me. To finally kill the last of my lineage that betrayed her so long ago.
My lungs constrict as the air burns them. The tears streaming down my face feel like ice compared to my heated skin. A deathly cold hand grips mine and pulls it toward her. I’m frozen in fear and shock.
Help me, help me, someone, anyone. Azra is dead. No one is coming to save me.
A stinging slice across my hand has my vision blurring, and then darkness consumes me once again.
“There’s nothing you can do, Azrael. Not until you’ve found the witch who tied the bond and kill the other person it’s tied to.” A stern female voice filtered through my muffled hearing. My vision is still cloudy as I lay on the familiar velvet couch in the library. I’m still in the library.
I shoot up into a sitting position. My head pounding so ferociously that stomach bile creeps up my throat. Azra appears kneeling in front of me as I try to blink out the pain.
“What happened?” I have to swallow so I don’t throw up right here on the floor.
“Achyls needed your blood. She performed a ritual to check for any magic, curses or spells.”
“I saw your death too, girl, if you’d like to know.” The Goddess picks her nails from the chair beside the couch. Torin and Ash are gone. Only me, Azra, and Achyls occupy the library now.
My mouth is watering uncontrollably as bile threatens to spew from my lips again. How could anyone possess such magic to see someone’s death through their blood alone?
“Enough, Achlys, you’ve done enough.” Ash appears as soon as the words leave Azra’s clenched teeth.
“You’re welcome, good luck keeping her alive—” A smirk dances at the corner of her dark lips before immediately dropping. “There is something ancient in this house.” her voice turns grave. Not quite fearful, but intrigued and curious. Ash straightens as the whites of his eyes show more.
“What is she talking about? What bond?” I recall the first words I had heard when I came back into consciousness, not caring what she’s mumbling about now.
“Besides you, Achlys?” Azra doesn’t bother to hide his annoyance. He directs his attention back to me as Ash grabs Achlys quickly and vanishes with her into black smoke. Azra takes a deep breath once they're gone and stands. His face twisted with sorrow and worry and confusion. “You’re connected to someone, a blood bond, the strongest bond known. It is nearly impossible to tie one and even harder to break it with survivors. Someone must have bonded you while you were in Lilith’s cave. Do you remember anything while you were there? Anyone that could have done this?” The words barely filter into my pounding brain.
“What? No. I—I don’t remember anything. I was beaten unconscious daily.” The doors to the library swing open.
Andrea’s green eyes are surrounded by white. Her chest heaves as tears stream down her face. “My parents!” She can barely say the words through her panic. My hands brace on her biceps as she frantically looks at Azra. “You have to save them! You have to get there before… Before?—”
“What are you talking about, Andrea?” I search her for any signs of injury and then glance toward Azra. His face is calm. To anyone else, he would seem normal, unfazed, but to me, I see the curiosity turning in his icy blue eyes. I can practically see him piecing things together in his head.
What? What is going on?
I ask through the tunnel that connects our minds, but I’m met with darkness. Silence. He’s blocking me out.
“I have always had these—these dreams. Some feel more real than others, but when I have these vivid dreams, they most likely come true. For some reason, being here has made them worse. More realistic, like I’m actually there.” Andrea’s expression pinches as she swallows and continues, “I’ve had them for as long as I can remember. I never told anyone because I thought it was just some freaky coincidences. But now, after this… This is not normal.” She covers her mouth again as tears stream down her face. “And the dream I had about my parents, Brielle, was not good.”
I reach and pull her into my arms. I comfort her because I know how it feels to hide things that aren’t ‘normal.’
“Tell me what happened in your dream.” She pulls away and peers at me with fear in her soft eyes. Her normal deep-tanned skin appears gray as she thinks about her dream.
“They were eating at Tina’s and the windows shattered. My dreams jump around a bit but they ended up under the table, vampires shredding people apart… And then…” She clutches her stomach as if proceeding might cause her to vomit. I squeeze her arms and nod to tell her she doesn’t have to continue, that I understand. I try to reign in my rage so I don’t scare her even more.
“I always had these dreams of you fighting vampires, but I never believed those.” She lets a small smile slip through her wet, streaked face. When I smirk, she continues. “After that incident in New Orleans months ago, the way you handled it, I knew I couldn’t turn a blind eye to those dreams anymore.”
“You knew all this time?” I raise my brows and the questions begin to flood in.
Did she know what really happened to my mom? That the whole break-in story was a lie?
I shake that thought out of my head immediately. She would have told me.
Like I told her about my hunting?
Azra’s hand rests on my shoulder with a tightened grip to snap me out of my thoughts. Andrea nods in front of me with a worried expression.
“I’m not mad at you. I’m glad you can finally talk about this with me.” I smile and hug her again. She whispers a thank you in my ear. “And we will leave as soon as we can to get to your parents. Nothing will happen to them.” I glance behind me to Azra, a plan already brewing behind those eyes.
“Brielle, what about—” Azra begins, but I hold up my hand. I don’t want Andrea freaking out about what is going on with me too. My problems can wait. Azra sighs. “I know the best place to get answers, but you aren’t going to like it. You could stay here with?—”
“I’m coming with you,” I snap before he can offer for me to stay here.
“So am I.” Andrea’s chin raises, her shoulders rolling back. Who am I to stop her from coming and finding answers to protect the people she loves? I would put up a fight to come as well. I mean I am.
“Okay,” is all he said before he prepared for us to leave.