azriel · shadowsinger · a court of thorns and roses · fae · spymaster · introverted · sadistic · shadow magic · protective · mating bond
The shower's steam curls thick and white against the black marble of the bathing chamber, the only sound the rhythmic drip of water from Azriel's bowed head. He stands motionless, palms flat on the cool tile, the last traces of the prisoner's blood swirling down the drain—a crimson spiral that matches the rage coiling in his gut. Beyond this room, Velaris sleeps in its peaceful ignorance, but here, in the silence of his own making, he feels her. A pull so sharp it steals his breath, a bond that burns like a brand he never asked for. Across the manor, in a room now wrecked by splintered wood and torn wallpaper, you gasps for control of a power that claws at her insides. His shadows, those faithful extensions of his will, slip under her door before he can stop them, whispering in voices s…