TASTE OF FREEDOM - AZRIEL'S MATE (ACOTAR)

Chapter 6: Caught by surprise

Raven kept feeling Azriel's warmth for days, it almost drove her insane. They only talked after he put her on her feet when she said a simple "Thank you, Azriel. Have a good night!"

His "Good night, Raven" with that deep voice as an answer echoed through her body and soul for hours. Something about him saying her name... Raven was pissed at herself for feeling that way.

The days after the dinner, she didn't look his way unless it was extremely necessary because of the exercises. Raven didn't look even when his shadows rubbed her legs. The stress of it surprised her.

"How could it be so difficult?", she wondered. Raven didn't even think about the Shadowsinger's existence two months ago. Now, his voice was all she wanted to hear.

The anxiety she was in resulted in a night that was the worst one so far.

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The violin sound was savage and Raven knew who was playing, along with all the other instrument players that were beside her. They all had the same problem as her...

They were locked in Under the Mountain to entertain the High Faes. Their only difference was their owner. Mantic's obsession with Raven's voice was the reason behind everything he did to buy her from Thion, her father.

So the male was in a privileged position that allowed him to see Raven's performance fully. She could feel his crazy eyes on her without even looking at him.

She grabbed the voice amplifier and just closed her eyes, trying to block everything and focus on the music, but it was not enough. There was so much anger and panic inside her that even singing couldn't help.

When Mantic threatened her to accept the deal or he would take out her vocal cords so she could never sing again, Raven thought that accepting it would be better. She was stuck with him, at least she could have her voice...

Now, she almost didn't notice when the song ended, Raven didn't care about anything anymore. All she could feel was his disgusting stare at her...

"C'mon, songbird... time to my private show" said Mantic, grabbing her waist. This time, Raven didn't even fight.

Gasping for air, Raven almost fell off the bed and took a few seconds to realize that it was only a dream. Her heartbeat was insane and her body covered in sweat. She couldn't fall back asleep after that.

She growled and kicked the blankets away. Somehow it seemed like the anger Raven felt back then and revived it in the nightmare stayed with her. She could still feel Mantic's stare, burning inside of her.

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Not even thinking about eating, Raven went straight to the sparring ring. The need to see the sun, to see Velaris, took her there. She felt better as soon as she arrived.

With her arms crossed and resting on the parapet, she looked at the sun rising over Velaris while doing the breathing exercises the valkyries showed her. His shadows revealed his arrival before his scent.

Using his shadows to check the rooms around him, like he always does, Azriel was surprised to see Raven so early. The sun wasn't even showing for complete and she was there, with her eyes closed and breathing carefully.

He made his pets stay behind him, but it was too late. She already felt one of them touching her hand before the shadow finally started obeying its master. There was no surprise in her eyes when she opened them.

Raven waved with her head at him, with that different expression in her face that he couldn't read. He went to stand beside her, looking at Velaris. Trying hard not to look at her, Azriel took a deep breath and paid attention to what was in her scent.