58. Violette
VIOLETTE
After my screech of protest, the birds of the wood take flight.
Levi’s body hits the ground with a heavy thud.
Azrael’s headless, yet animate, corpse stands directly behind him, wielding a charred log of wood.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I attempt to muster patience and am half tempted to drop Azrael’s head in the grass.
“Delightful. I’m dealing with two savages.”
Azrael’s nude body drops the log and crosses its arms as Azrael vocalizes from the pedestal of mine, “Darling, you wound me. It hardly makes us even. The male’s rage cannot go unchecked.”
I angle his head to meet my gaze, quirking a brow. “Something you know a little about, I gather?”
Azrael’s brows lift with feigned innocence. “I haven’t the foggiest notion as to what you’re talking about.”
Heaving a sigh, I hold Azrael’s head out towards his body as he takes cautious steps towards it.
“Right, well... Let’s put you back together then.”
His hands grasp his head, facing it towards me to align it with the stump of his neck. My lips tilt upwards as his earrings sway pendulously with the motion, twinkling in the light.
I watch, breath held, waiting for Azrael’s head and neck to fuse together.
In vain.
Azrael’s brows tense, hands still holding his head in place. “Odd…”
Oh dear.
My gaze falls to Levi’s unconscious form, scowling. Frustration swells inside me, and my fists clench. I’m not sure if it’s with the need to hit him or hold him and make sure he’s okay. Perhaps both.
“Perhaps it’s the palladium.”
Azrael smirks. “I can assure you it isn’t. If I hadn’t grown so fond of them already, I might suggest you remove them.”
I scoff, rolling my eyes. “Oh, yes, very clever. Trick me into giving you unfettered access to all your power so you can smite us.”
His frown deepens, genuine concern lining his features. “I can assure you I have no such plot in mind. I do still wish to court you after all, and have no appetite for necrophilia.”
As if to further emphasize his point, his shadow steps forward and gently takes my hand in his. Dark magic, bright with energy that causes every hair on my body to stand on end. My heart ratchets from the electricity of it coursing through my body.
My breath catches as a dark fabric made of his shadows spills over my body to form an elegant gown, replacing the clothes beneath. The sleeves form a lace that points towards my fingers as the neckline reaches my throat.
My words come out a little breathless.
“Palladium doesn’t work on you?”
“Normally, to some degree, but it would seem that when your male decapitated me, my energetic body remained intact. And with it, the source of my power,” Azrael feigns demurity as he gestures at the earrings I made for him. “So at this point, these are little more than decoration.”
A gilded full-length mirror appears in front of me, and there’s no mistaking that what I’m wearing is a wedding dress.
Albeit a very gothic one.
It is perfection.
And perhaps the most beautiful and intricately detailed dress I’ve ever laid eyes on.
Tiny glittering black jewels pepper the diamond-shaped gap to reveal my cleavage and litter the entire waist and train of the dress.
It is a slightly more modest, but far more extravagant version of the dress I was wearing before.
A bright silver crown forms atop my head and around my horns with more of those black jewels.
Emotion clogs my throat as I attempt to quell the hope searing my chest so fervently, it’s a wonder it hasn’t burned a hole right through me.
Heart thundering, my gaze slides to Azrael’s—head still held in his hands, wearing an unmasked expression filled with adoration.
Reverence.
This male could give me everything I’ve ever wanted.
Title.
Unimaginable wealth.
Power.
A legacy.
All of those things should mean something to someone like me, who has walked the world with none of it.
And yet...
The only thing causing this bright sensation in my chest is that... he cares. There is effort. Desire. Even without a bond, he wants me.
I have no doubt in my mind that he could even grow to love me. And now that my bond with Levi has been severed, there is hope that one day, I could love him too.
Azrael gives up trying to make his head reattach and instead holds it in front of his chest as he closes the distance between us and lowers himself to one knee, making his broad shoulders nearly parallel with mine.
My gasp seems to echo in the forest around us as my hand lifts to muffle it.
“Violette Lunessa Lark…”
I stare down at him as I try to swallow back that rising emotion.
“Even without the soulbond, your soul calls to mine. Everything about you... from the tilt of your lips to your dry wit, your cleverness, your magic, kindness and generosity; the radiant soul within that was a beacon in the dark when I first laid eyes on you. I do not say these things lightly, Violette. I would be honored for you to wear this crown beside me. One day. When I’ve earned my own place by your side. ”
A loud thud hits the ground parallel to us, making me jolt. The largest stag I have ever seen, boasting antlers nearly as wide as the front of my house. A thick black arrow pierces its chest, and the slit down its front and belly tells me he has already field-dressed it.
“I hunted him shortly before I came to see you. It would bring me immense joy and fulfillment to prepare him for you.”
Tears of joy stream down my cheeks.
Entirely on impulse, I step forward and press my lips to Azrael’s forehead, lingering briefly.
A thousand words of affection bubble to the surface, but I bury them. I’ve been promised the world on more than one occasion, and it amounted to nothing.
So, ignoring the phantom sensation of where a soulbond should be—of what I loathe to admit, is a yearning and disappointment for Levi and all that I wished we could have been—I settle for two small but heartfelt words.
“Thank you.”