Page 27 of Azriel

“You can use this one because it’ll make your body a little sturdier,” said Azriel. “Most pearls just make humans or nephilim more awake like coffee, but this will help strengthen you for simple stuff like if you fell down the stairs.”

Vali let him poke it between his lips, and he crunched down on it. “It’s sweet but lighter.”

“Yeah, they’re good. The other one is for you too.”

“But don’t you need it?”

“The sex itself fed me too.”

“Thanks!”

“It’s for letting me hide in your room.”

Vali stretched an arm over him. “You don’t have to pay me for that.” His eyes widened. “Is it supposed to feel kinda warm in my stomach?”

“That’s normal.”

“Also, what’s coffee?”

“It grows beyond Europe,” said Azriel. “We don’t have it, but we know of it. It’s like a bean in a pod.”

“I want to try coffee someday."

***

They took turns bathing in the afternoon before Azriel hid in the bedroom while Vali made dinner. His Mother probably wouldn’t take too kindly to an angel visitor. He wondered if she knew just how depraved some angels could be, although that didn’t mean Vali’s Father had approved or engaged in certain actions.

When Vali came back up, dinner must have been over. Azriel had finished two more stories in the book.

“Do you like that?” asked Vali.

“Yeah, it’s good. What was it like to grow up here?”

Vali shrugged as he sat on the bed. “It’s…I don’t know how to explain it. I’ve never done anything special. I went to the local school for a few years.”

“Tell me about that.”

It seemed pretty much like Azriel’s lessons when he still lived in the underground with the rest of the children. They had lessons in shifts so they learned how to read, write, do math, and some history. They learned similar stuff at Children’s Camp too because while spells and fighting took up a lot of their time, they couldn’t be ignorant in other areas.

Humans sat in rooms with a little desk that they worked on which was pretty much the same as Azriel’s schooling. Vali went home for lunch and played inside or outside. He didn’t have any real friends while growing up, but he had played with other kids simply because an extra person for games was always helpful.

Everybody had stopped talking to Azriel when he returned to Children’s Camp unless they had to interact with him in lessons or while practicing spells and hand-to-hand fighting. The older ones understood where he’d been, and the younger simply followed their example.

It had simply reminded him of how dirty he was. He’d cut off his right hand if he could have grown up on Earth like Vali had.

***

Azriel shivered as he stared at the ground. The wraith couldn’t get to him, but he could feel it watching him through the barrier.

“See? You’re doing a great service by working with me.” Red patted his shoulder.

Azriel wanted to shrink into nothing at the touch. He wanted to go back to Children’s Camp. He wanted to go back to that day and hide somewhere so Red would never find him.

“If the barrier falls, the wraiths will get in.” Red started playing with a piece of Azriel’s blond hair. “Unfortunately, they won’t only enter the demon’s side. They’ll come into our area because they want anything that’s alive. Do you want that thing over there to kill an innocent angel? If one has no fire, nothing much truly holds them back."

Azriel dared to glance at the cloaked figure that had lost interest since it couldn’t get to them. It drifted away into the mist.

“Some of them have far more power,” said Red. “I don’t think the demons even know how many exist in the northern part. Even if the wraiths were all dead, we need to keep this area blocked off because I don’t think it’ll ever be safe. The whole Wraithlands is tainted with darker magic that we can’t even understand.”

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