Nightfall {An Azriel (ACOTAR) FanFic}

Chapter 8

When he next saw Heart she was pouring over a book as Pip laid on his back on the bed and watched the lights in the room. Azriel had first gone looking for her in her study but after finding it empty, he had gotten a cup of coffee and went searching for Heart towards her bedroom.

He did not want to tell anyone about the bond until he had told her because it didn't matter anyway. After spending two days in the Hewn City and several sleepless nights, he had decided that now, that she had unknowingly accepted the bond, there was no way he could hide it. He could only be away from her so long before her scent started haunting his sleep. Even as he stood at the door with the steaming cup, the urge to reach across and feel the softness of her skin consumed him.

Pip kicked his legs up and spotted the winged male before his mother did.

"Shadow man!" He exclaimed. "Where do you disappear after every time we meet?" The little boy pouted and his mother looked up from her book.

Azriel smiled, "I had to do some work." He set down the cup in front of his mate and picked Pippor up. "Did you miss me?"

"No." Pip said with ridicule. "Mum did."

Azriel's brows flew up and Heart spat out the sip of coffee she was taking. "I absolutely did not!" She protested. "You are more than welcome to go back to wherever you come from." She said nonchalantly and flipped a page.

Azriel whispered to Pip, "Why don't you go and check on Nyx? He might be missing you." That made the boy perk up.

He excitedly wiggled out of the shadowsinger's arms and ran outside despite Heart calling out to him. She did a once over at Azriel before facing away and making herself more comfortable in her cushioned chair. "Well? Leave." She said. "I'm reading. I want to be alone."

"I'm not disturbing you." Azriel settled down on the bed. "You can read."

"You're causing me.........visual distractions." She made an excuse.

Azriel slumped down on the bed. "Tragic."

A pen soon collided with his face. He chuckled, "I just want to be here."

"Go be in your own room." Heart said with displeasure before slamming her books shut and glaring at him.

Azriel dramatically placed a hand on his chest and frowned, "But you missed me."

"I will punch you in the mouth." Heart deadpanned and he grinned again at that.

Facing away from him, she turned away and silently read her book and sipped her coffee while Azriel forced himself to stay pinned to the bed. The soft pink of her sweater slipped off one shoulder as she folded herself on the chair and leaned on her elbow. The window was shut thanks to the snow that had been falling for two days but every now and then, chill crept in and Heart curled up. Azriel idly pushed himself up and strolled over to the fireplace. To distract himself from the thought of the pink flush on her cheeks and the warm press of their bodies together, he put more wood into the fireplace until the fire was significantly larger than it was before. A blast of heat washed over the room and Heart finally got distracted enough to spare him a glance. He slowly walked past her back to the bed, trying to decipher what she was reading but only came back with more complex diagrams that the last time.

"So..." he started and Heart sighed. "I wanted to know more about Pip's father." He slowly said and waited for a reaction.

"He is dead." Heart snapped. "And I wouldn't want it any other way. Shut up about him."

The hatred was evident in her eyes and so Azriel closed his mouth and returned to staring at the back of her head. He speculated if it was another scholar and they had fallen out of love. Maybe he was unfaithful. For her to want him dead, he must have been a terrible man but Azriel could not phantom Heart falling so much in love with a horrible man that she had a baby with him. She was far too wise for that. And then the most gut wrenching thought occurred to him and his heart almost forgot how to beat.

Maybe she belonged in the library, with the priestesses.