Page 20 of Azriel

God in Heaven, he needed to feed.

***

A day of walking through the woods and flying in intervals got him quite far. He didn’t feel comfortable close to the border and wanted to be away just in case. Maybe he could find a human to feed from. After not sleeping or properly resting, his ribs felt worse than ever, and he was sure he’d collapse soon. He’d tried to heal himself in the hopes that whatever dregs remained would be enough. It wasn’t.

He was too scared to sleep in the woods because if anyone found him, he couldn’t fight back. A group of humans could surely take him out in this state.

The town he found was quiet and asleep when he came to it. He leaned against a tree with his arms wrapped around himself as he started to cry. He just needed one human and a few pearls to heal up all of the damage done to his body and make the hunger lessen.

***

The attic space was dark and good to hide in. The white pearl and the energy he’d gathered was barely enough, and he had to pick: bruises or his ribs?

He picked his ribs to heal, and relief came once they righted and knitted themselves back together. The hunger came back in full force as it drained the energy he’d just collected from the poor human down below, but he made himself stay put.

It hadn’t been a rape pearl because those were always red, but that didn't help him feel much better. He quietly sobbed as he curled up on the floor and tried to ignore the bruises and the desire to feed some more.

Vali

Vali awoke at dawn to find Azriel still asleep on the floor. He must have needed the rest if he’d slept that long.

Vali reached down to nudge his arm. “Hey. Azriel.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m going downstairs for breakfast, so why don’t you use my bed instead of the floor?”

“Uh…the floor’s fine.”

“My bed’s a lot softer. You might as well use it.”

Azriel finally agreed and was out like a candle once he burrowed under the blankets. Vali grabbed some clothes and went to the privy room to change. Downstairs, he put on water to heat for tea and porridge. It wasn’t long before Mother came down.

“How do you feel?” she asked.

“Uh, fine."

“I mean, after last night…”

He shrugged as he glanced at the water in the pots. “I’ll be alright. I mean, it doesn’t change my life that much right now. But I think I need a few days off to, er, absorb it.”

“That’s fine. It’s not like we need the money. Do you want to know more about the realm? Or do you have questions? Obviously, I don’t know everything, but I’m sure there’s something I forgot to mention.”

“If I do, I’ll ask.”

Mostly, he wanted to stay home with Azriel and not leave him alone. Since Mother would be at work, the angel could come downstairs too and not spend all day in a room. Also, if Vali thought of something he wanted to know, he could ask him stuff since Azriel had grown up there.

“If you want to talk to Mr. Lambin, you can. He’ll tell you about the fairy world.”

“I’d rather get used to what I know now and keep it like that for a bit.”

Once Mother left for work, Vali went upstairs to check on him. Azriel was sitting up in bed with a lost expression.

“Did you sleep all right?”

“Yeah...”

“You must have been tired. Do you want some tea?”

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