Page 37 of Blood of Two Crowns

Azrael shakes his head, heaving a great sigh as if realizing what a ridiculous question it was.

Tension radiated throughout my entire body, trying to restrain my magic as I reluctantly sat in the chair opposite him. “Something must be done.”

Azrael gave me a rueful smirk. “Should have known you’d take your job too seriously.”

Oh dear fuck.Never in all my years had I ever met someone I’d wanted to punch in the face so desperately.Or so frequently.

“She’s my friend.”

Something I didn’t dare mistake for compassion flashed across his face before sighing heavily and kicking his feet up on his dust and rubble-strewn desk. His gaze drifted to the shattered window overlooking the barren wasteland that his world had become as a stifling hot breeze rippled the curtains.

“I’ll take care of it.”

My brows pinched with concern. That had been…tooeasy.

“You’ll take care ofit?”

Azrael waved a dismissive through the air. “Itas in the problem. I’ll resolve it.”

“How?”

Azrael jolted upright, removing his feet from his desk to prop up his elbows and bury his face in his hands, muffling his voice. “Does it matter? So long as she’s happy?”

“Of course, it matters.”

“Gods,you’re fussy.”

“Azrael.”

Azrael rose abruptly, his erratic energy reaching a snapping point, and I got a another glimpse of the god. His voice boomed inside and outside my mind.

“Do not think for a second that just because you have such a rare and formidable power that it means you can challenge me. It would take nothing more than my merewillto reduce you to nothing more than photons of light,boy.”

Instead of fear or reverence, it was pity that suffused me. His ensuing anguish washed over me like acidic sludge. Azrael and I had beaten the shit out of each other on more occasions than I could keep track, but we’d always left our magic out of it, and it hadusuallybeen duringrelativelyfriendly sparring sessions. If it came down to our magic… Maybe he was right. There was no way to be sure without unleashing our powers, and I didn’t actually want him to die.

Despite my resentment towards him, I still cared deeply for him. He meant well in most cases but was just fucked up and wounded beyond recognition.

My eyes drifted to the half-broken statue of hissoulbound, Persephone. Her effigy was peppered throughout the entire palace. And yet, she was nowhere to be found. From what I’d gathered, she was living in hiding somewhere without him actually admitting anything. Where, exactly, no one knew, butthe longer she was gone, the worse off Azrael and his realms became.

No longer able to tolerate his presence or the misery and fear consuming him, I stood to leave. Pausing in the blown-out doorway, I cast him one last glance, not bothering to mask my concern.

“Just… treat her as you would Persephone, please.”

Pain radiated from him directly into my chest as he gave a sardonic laugh. “I can assure you, that’s the last thing you would want for your friend.”

Anxiety wound through me.Fuck. I should never have sought him.

“Can you promise me her happiness? Her safety?”

The in my chest, mirroring Azrael’s, dissipated slightly.“Asterion, if anything, she’ll be the happiest andsafestshe’s ever been.”

How the fuck was that possible?

I turned towards him fully, now even more concerned than before, but he’d alreadyfoldedaway.

Chapter

Twenty

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