Nightfall {An Azriel (ACOTAR) FanFic}

Chapter 22

When Azriel returned Heart was sitting in the bed but Pippor was sleeping peacefully by her side. He quietly closed the door and crept up to her. She was reading a book and flipped a page calmly before whispering, "Your spy tactics don't work on me."

He smiled, "I know. Too bad." He slumped down on the bed and caressed Pip's cheek before saying, "You said you would be sleeping."

She sighed, "I couldn't sleep. I feel on edge." She paused, "And my shoulders hurt."

Azriel held her hand, "Is there anything I can do?"

She blinked and set the book on the nightstand, "I was thinking that maybe Pip would learn better about his powers if he stayed here."

Azriel soon saw where she was heading, "You don't have to sacrifice any of your achievement for Pip to learn. I can take care of that."

She looked so, so tired, "How?"

"You don't have to worry about any of that." He kissed the back of her hand. "I can get him teachers. He can visit Rhys and Feyre to learn more."

Heart tipped her head back to rest it against the bedrest. She was quiet for a long time after that, "I just want the best for him." She mumbled to herself. She pulled herself up and faced the spymaster, "I wish I could stay here, Azriel. Things would be so much easier but these marble walls and cold hallways make me feel so empty."

Azriel had never seen her so defeated. He wrapped his arms around her waist, "You can live anywhere you want to. Pip will have the best of everything, I promise you that." The Golden light from a candle fell across her face and it glowed like it was painted in gold. Her beautiful features were relaxed but in way that showed how much she didn't care about her state. He cupped her face, "Is there something else bothering you?"

She kept looking at his chest before slumping forward and burying herself in his arms, "A lot of things. I just don't have the right words to start." She whispered softly, "I just feel so cold."

Azriel kissed her shoulder and mumbled, "I promise everything will be okay. It's okay to be upset."

She wrapped her arms around his torso and tears filled her eyes, "I hate this. I always had my life planned. Every last detail was taken care of. I can't believe everything is going so wrong."

"What were the plans?" He inquired.

She sighed, "Well, my primary interest was medicine. Astrophysics was the next goal. I was supposed to study to be a surgeon, which I still haven't accomplished. I have a great interest in dead bodies so being a mortician was to come next. I know how to play the violin but I also want to learn piano."

Azriel was shocked to learn the number of things lined up. He had never really planned so far ahead for his future, but then again, he didn't have much to look forward to. Now, with Heart and Pip in his life, he had much to plan. Being a spymaster was a habit now, he had to do the same things over and over again. Torture was even easier.

Heart had so much to do, so much to achieve. He smiled proudly, "I might just be too stupid to be your mate. That is a lot of smart people stuff."

Heart lifted her lashes, "Did you go to school or only the warrior camp?"

He shifted uncomfortably, "Just the camp. I wasn't -well, I never went out of my room, if you can even call it that."

She brushed his hair back from his eyes and cupped his face, "Is that where you got the scars?"

Azriel didn't look into her eyes but his expression darkened. He nodded once and tried to brush it aside, "I went to illyria when I was eleven so it's been a long time since I've been to that place."