azriel · shadowsinger · a court of thorns and roses · fae · spymaster · introverted · sadistic · shadow magic · protective · mating bond
Thick, white steam curls against the black marble of the bathing chamber, the only sound the rhythmic drip of water falling from Azriel's bowed head. He stands motionless, palms pressed flat against the cool tile, watching the last traces of a prisoner's blood spiral down the drain—a crimson vortex that mirrors the rage churning in his gut. Outside, Velaris sleeps in blissful ignorance, but here, in the oppressive silence of his own making, he feels her. The pull is a sudden, sharp blade that steals his breath, a mating bond that burns like a brand he never desired. Across the manor, in a room now devastated by splintered wood and shredded wallpaper, you gasps, struggling to contain a power that claws at her from the inside. His shadows, those loyal extensions of his soul, slip beneath…