52. Violette
VIOLETTE
“I’ll allow you to rest…” Azrael’s words drift as his eyes dance across the gardens in front of my home appreciatively. Stepping through the portal, he remains on the other side. In Ourinessa. “But tomorrow, we will begin our courtship.”
Azrael lifts a brow as if requesting affirmation.
My stomach gives another swoop. “Yes.”
He hesitates for a moment, as his gaze rakes over me. Every passing inch causes my skin to heat. Finally, he crosses the threshold, closing the distance between us. His hands cradle the back of my skull as he brushes his lips against my forehead.
“In all these years, there hasn’t been a day that passed where I haven’t hoped to see you again. That you would show up at my gates in search of me. From the moment I laid eyes on you in that restaurant, my soul recognized yours like a stranded male in the desert spotting a well.”
My chest pinches, and my throat cinches tight with emotion.
He presses another featherlight kiss to my forehead before pulling back to take in my breathless reaction. Tears spill from the corners of my eyes, and he leans back in to kiss each one away before pressing his forehead to mine.
My emotions are too tumultuous for words to suffice. Hope and mourning settle upon my chest. Mourning the soulbond I once had, and now, the hope that has risen in its wake.
Azrael withdraws and turns back towards the portal. Casting me one last, long glance, it closes.
I stand, stock still, in shock, in front of my home.
The sun has lowered beneath the forest’s treeline surrounding my home—only a couple more hours until dusk. The trees are oddly still, the creatures inhabiting them silent as if the entire woods held its collective breath the moment a god of death appeared.
My heart thuds a steady, heavy beat in my chest as I attempt to gather myself. To settle into this new reality, no longer ruled by fear and loneliness.