The Hewn City

Azriel's PoV:

Azriel waited at the bottom of the stairs as Mor was getting Cal ready for their trip.

When they finally arrived, Azriel couldn't help but stare.

Cal was dressed in an ivory dress that reached to her calves. It fit her chest perfectly and flared in a loose skirt from her waist. It was full sleeved and the sleeves were a bit puffy. A deep green corset was fitted over the dress, nicely highlighting her bosom. He couldn't stop staring at her chest when he realised that was the point. The corset was meant to drag the attention away from any other parts of her body, especially her face.

As Azriel looked at her face, he had to suck in a huge breath. She looked beautiful. Beautiful, but very much human. Her lips were coloured with a pink tint. Her cheekbones were highlighted with a slight amount of bronze. Her large soft eyes were lined with black. Her forehead was covered in deep brown bangs which were swept a little to her left. Her long hair went down to her waist. He noticed pointed ears sticking out from the hair, fake ears that Mor had placed.

"Stop staring," Mor whispered in his ear and Az jumped out of his skin. He hadn't noticed her standing beside him. "Its rude."

"Shut up," Az said through his teeth and Mor chuckled. But he was grateful to her for dressing Cal up so nicely.

Az was dressed in his Illyrian leathers, seven siphons on him; his usual attire for the Court of Nightmares.

"Do not speak," said Az as Cal walked up to him. He gently held her elbow, waiting for Mor to winnow them. "If they hear you, they might know." And don't be scared of me, he almost added.

Azriel in the Hewn City wasn't the Az that Cal had always seen. He was a monster, a monster who lived to kill whoever his High Lord wanted him to. A monster who enjoyed killing. A monster who never looked at people with kindness. A monster who would never look at anyone in the Court of Nightmares the way that he looked at Cal.

"Okay," said Cal. She looked at his eyes and then hurriedly looked away. He knew why.

She didn't like how he was looking. He knew he wasn't looking like the Az she knew, the Az who had offered her his blood to save her life, the Az who had bought her a box of eclairs and had sat with her under the bridge, watching the rain.

Right now, he looked like Azriel, the shadowsinger, the spymaster, the interrogator, the torturer.

Before the thoughts could paralyse him, Mor winnowed them right outside the Hewn City. She had already talked and made arrangements for them to visit the library. Az was carrying a leather satchel for the books that Cal would select.

They walked in and Az was anxious if the guards could smell Cal. He shifted closer to her to mask her scent. She didn't flinch from him. She held her head high as she walked through.

Az remembered that she had been surrounded by ruthless faeries for years Under the Mountain. A few guards wouldn't really scare her.

They kept walking until they reached the stairs that wound down all the way to the library. He felt Cal's breath come faster as they kept descending.

This must feel like that time when she had been taken to Under the Mountain. She had been very young at that time, but the trauma that had followed, her body would remember. He felt fear through the bond and he shifted closer to her until their hands touched.

"Relax," whispered Az under his breath, right at Cal's ear. "You have us now."

Cal stiffened a little, not saying a word. Az noticed her face, frozen in some sort of expression that Az couldn't place.

They reached the library. Mor motioned for them to start looking and left, taking care of some other matters. The library was dark, lit only by candles which were infused with a spell meant prevent them from falling over. The space was huge, tall bookshelves placed at every five feet gap. The bookshelves reached right above Az's wings and he smiled as he tried to imagine how Cal would ever reach them. She seemed to have understood the reason behind his smile and narrowed his eyes at him.

"Just tell me which ones you need," he said, fighting back a laugh, "and I will get them."

She just flipped him off, shaking her head.

"I start from this side," she whispered, "you start from the other. Today, we will take what we can find on the lower shelves. Search for titles that have words like 'injuries' 'healers' or 'herbs' in them. And of course, anything written by someone known to be a healer."

"Alright," said Az. "We will meet back here."

He walked away from her to the other end of the library, hearing her feet echo as she walked towards the other end.

Cal's PoV:

She started walking away from Azriel towards the end of the library.

She had been shocked when she looked at Azriel this morning.

She had never seen him like this, not even when he had rescued her from the Spring Court, even though he had been in his battle armour. This look was different. And the moment they had entered the Hewn City, he seemed to conjure more shadows to cover them. His face was half covered in shadows. And he looked deadly.

The hazel in his eyes no longer looked like molten chocolate. They looked like they were made of stone. They had only seemed to look friendly when they had entered the library and he had offered to get her the books which she couldn't reach.

Ass.

When they were walking down, she got flashbacks from the first time she had been dragged into Amarantha's den. Her body had reacted, pain flashed all across her body and she was fighting herself to not scream, to not run away crying. Just when she felt like she might lose it, she felt him.

Az had come closer to her, their arms touching.

The touch grounded her, she stopped feeling lightheaded.

"Relax," he had said, "you have us now."

That assurance, she was more than glad that he looked like a deadly killer at that point. A deadly killer who was protecting her. Even though she knew she didn't deserve it, she knew he wouldn't let anything happen to her.

She came to the last bookshelf and looked around.

There were huge volumes with titles that had nothing to do with healing. She went through the first three bookshelves and found a total of four titles, which seemed to have something regarding treating wounds.

When she reached for the fifth title, she heard a shuffle behind her.

"I was wondering," came a voice right at her ear, "what mortal filth like you was doing, scuttling around Hewn City."

Cal turned around in shock, her back pressed to the book shelf.

She froze when she saw a guard standing before her, his face inches from hers. His eyes had a menacing glint in them and Cal had to hold back her scream of terror.

"I have heard that mortal women are quite a delight," he said, tilting his face further into hers. She turned her face to the side to prevent him from touching her. He bent lower to her neck and licked a stripe right from the base of her neck to her ear. It disgusted her so much she wanted to gag. "Maybe I should keep you with me for a few days before handing you over."

The guard touched her breast and she jumped. She tried to get away but the other arm was at her waist holding her in place.

She couldn't move anymore. Her body had frozen from fear. She couldn't scream even if she wanted to. She felt him squeeze her breast and grind her hips against hers. Her body rebelled against his touch. But her body also betrayed her. She couldn't push him away. Her arms felt heavier than boulders.

Azriel, she thought, Azriel, where are you? Please. Please. Please. Save me. Stop this! Please!

The guard nipped against her earlobe hard enough to draw blood. The disgust and the sudden bite of pain jerked her back into her body. She felt the weight of the hard bound books in her hand. She dropped all but the thickest one. Then, with all the strength that she could muster, she swung the book and hit the guard in the face.

He shouted in pain and surprise and jerked away from her.

Cal knew she couldn't make a sound.

So, she ran.

Suddenly, a sharp pull at her hair yanked her back and she fell heavily to the floor.

So weak.

So weak against their supernatural strength.

The guard held his knife out and struck at her neck, holding her by her hair to keep her in place. She lifted a hand and the knife struck her forearm instead, blood gushing out.

She knew a second strike was coming and she had no idea what to do.

Suddenly, with a yell, the guard was yanked away from her. His hold on her hair was still strong and she felt herself being dragged along with him.

As her head hit the floor, she saw him.

Azriel.

Shadows danced around him in a deadly manner. He looked like he was ready to kill. His eyes were dark and menacing, not a hint of the soft Az who had wiped her tears was anywhere in that body.

He glanced at the hand that still held Cal's hair and he raised his blade.

Truth Teller.

She heard the ring of the blade and suddenly her hair was free. She looked down to see the guard's hand, chopped cleanly from the wrist, hit the ground.

Azriel had fucking cut off the hand that was grabbing her hair.

The realisation had her reeling away from her own thoughts. She scrambled to the book shelf, holding her knees against her chest.

She saw Azriel punch the guard in the face, breaking his jaw. He held him by the neck and lifted him up in the air. The guard didn't have enough breath in his lungs to beg.

She then heard a crunch and the guard's body went limp. He fell to the floor, eyes still open, dead eyes fixed upon her.

Azriel had broken his neck.

When she looked at Azriel, he looked furious. His chest rose and fell in heavy breaths, his face splattered with blood. His fingers were red and fresh blood dripped from them. In one hand, he was holding Truth-Teller, the blade covered in blood. His hair was dishevelled, a few strands stuck to his forehead.

His eyes had Cal taken aback. They were mad. No. Not mad. They were furious. She saw the siphons glowing, probably holding back his killing intent.

She saw his eyes examining her body and stopping at her hand which was now bleeding. They narrowed and she heard a growl rumble through his chest.

He hurried to her, sitting, kneeling before her to examine her hand. She couldn't move. He felt Az's hand turn her head to the side, probably to examine her ear which throbbed a little. His thumb caressed her cheek gently and it stung. Maybe her face had gotten slightly injured when she was dragged by the guard.

When she turned, her eyes locked with the guard's dead ones.

She saw his face and remembered what he had looked like when he was assaulting her.

She remembered the faces of all the faeries who had assaulted her since she was fifteen.

None of them had been able to rape her though, Rhys made sure of that.

But things did happen before Rhys could reach on time, before her mentally screaming for Rhys reached him.

But Rhys wasn't there this time.

She was underground with people assaulting her.

She was back under the mountain with no hope. She was back. She was back. She was back.

She was back.

And she probably wasn't leaving alive.

Azriel's PoV:

Azriel was looking at the volumes when he felt it deep in his soul. And then he heard the begging.

Azriel, Azriel, where are you? Please. Please. Please. Save me. Stop this! Please!

He heard the begging in his soul and he rushed to the other side of the library.

Cal wasn't there but her scent was.

Then he smelled something more potent.

Blood.

Cal's blood. And he rushed towards the scent.

When he reached her, he saw one guard holding her by her hair, his knife raised to strike her neck.

He acted on instinct.

He didn't know what happened to him except that he felt rage.

Rage and fury beyond anything he had ever felt.

When he dragged the guard away, his hold on Cal's hair caused her to fall to the floor.

He had never let her fall.

He felt the blade in his hand before he even remembered holding it.

He wanted to kill him. He wanted to hurt every part of him that had hurt Cal.

The rage subsided only after he heard the snap of the guard's neck.

He turned around to see Cal cringing against the bookshelf. Her eyes were locked on him. He saw the blood on her arm and some splotches of blood on her cheek from when she fell.

He went to her then. She didn't move. Her breathing was fast and rough. He lifted her hand to see the cut across her forearm. Obviously, she had defended herself and the monster had sliced her arm.

He then noticed blood on her ear and turned her face slightly to look at her ear. There were teeth marks on her earlobe and they seemed to have bled. He gently caressed the abrasion on her cheek and she flinched from his touch, as if his touch stung.

A furious growl emanated from him at that.

He hated having killed the guard at that moment. He should have kept him alive. He wanted to do things to him now, things that would make him regret being born.

That's when he noticed the trembling.

Cal was trembling so hard, he was scared that she would physically break.

Her eyes were fixed on the dead guard. When he tried to turn her head, he realised her eyes weren't really fixed anywhere. They were looking at something far away.

"What the fuck happened here?" Az heard Cassian say behind him and he was relieved to hear him.

"Did you just kill him?" asked Mor.

"He attacked her," said Az simply, the fury ebbing back into his chest as he remembered.

"I had some work with Cass," whispered Mor, "I am sorry, I should have stayed here."

"The back door," whispered Cass. "Go."

"But the guards," said Az, looking at his hands which were bloody. He looked at Cal who wasn't looking like herself.

"I will do something to get the guards away from there," whispered Mor. "Just wait for my signal."

She left the library as Az tried to look at Cal's face.

She was frozen.

"No point in that," said Cass when Az tried to shake her and make her look at him. "She is not even here. Take her back. Send word for Rhys if she doesn't recover."

They heard a sharp whistle and Cass tilted his head towards the exit.

Az picked up a shaking Cal in his arms, being careful not to hurt her hand.

He ran then.

As Mor had promised, no guards were at the door. He ran outside and then winnowed.

He arrived just outside the House of the Wind and pushed the door open. He went to the nearest room which was the dining room and placed her on the table, moving some plates and glasses out of the way.

Her eyes were fixed behind him and he knew she was still seeing nothing.

He hated that he hadn't been able to reach her fast enough, even when she had begged for him. He saw bruises in the form of finger-marks above her breasts and he clenched his fists in anger.

He needed to have her back.