Blood

Azriel's PoV:

"Are the cramps still coming?" asked Azriel, gently stroking Cal's hand.

"Yes," replied Cal, her voice weak. "I am sorry, its just that- its usually bearable, but sometimes it gets bad."

"Don't apologise for that, Cal. Just tell me what to do to make it better."

"Kill Ianthe," Cal said with a chuckle. "And those fucking daematis. But do it slowly. They should suffer a little. You might not be the most violent person, but if you ever become one, start with those fuckers."

"I will keep that in mind."

Az smiled when he realised that Cal had no idea what he could do. When she told him to make it slow for Ianthe and the daematis, she sealed their fate. No way in heaven or hell would Az let them die fast now.

"So," said Az again, trying to distract himself from the pain which had now dulled into a nagging ache. "Ianthe did these?" He gestured to her broken arm and the uprooted nails.

"The physical ones, yes. But I hardly felt them compared to the-" Cal shuddered and let out a deep breath.

"What exactly did they do?"

"They just- like when I was taken by Amarantha, she was experimenting human torture methods on me. Sometimes, I was just entertainment while they were having a feast or if they were bored. And- she did things. Rhys, used to mask the pain, I just never registered the pain even though I felt it. The daematis just rifled through my memories and they replayed the worst ones, but since Rhys wasn't there then, the pain registered. It was like, I relived everything."

"If I get my hands on them, Cal, I promise you, they will suffer. They will wish they had never done that to you." Az caressed her cheek and surprisingly she leant her head against his hand.

Azriel wanted to rip the daematis apart limb from limb. Cal had been through enough, they didn't need to add to it. And making her relive everything was- Az couldn't find a suitable word for it.

"Cal," said Az, getting on the other side of the bed and helping Cal up gently. The ache was gone now and he knew she needed the cure. Her face was pale and her breathing was laboured. "You will have to drink the blood. Your body will know that this is the cure, so drink as much as you need to, alright?"

"Will I end up killing you?"

"No," Az laughed until he looked at her face and realised that she was serious. "It is just a little blood. Under no circumstance will you be able to drain me." He felt her relax. "The toxin is supposed to cause hallucinations after a while. If you feel anything, or see anything, just tell me, okay? I am right here."

"You are scaring me, Az."

"Well, I am just preparing you. And don't be scared. I am right here. And I am not going anywhere."

Azriel didn't know why he said this, maybe something about Cal being too weak to sit up on her own caused these words to tumble out of his mouth.

Cal's back rested against his chest, her head resting against his shoulder. His arms went around her and he made a cut on the inside of his left forearm with a pocket knife.

"I am sorry," whispered Cal as the blood trickled out.

"Shh," shushed Az, caressing the top of her head with his right hand. He put his left bleeding arm against her lips gently. "Drink."

Cal opened her mouth and put her lips around the wound, sucking tenderly.

Something happened then.

Az felt Cal's body stiffen before her mouth clamped tightly on his arm. She grabbed his arm with both of hers and pressed it against her lips. Az put his right arm on the top of her head, smoothing the hair there, trying to make her more comfortable.

He felt a sharp sting on his arm and realised that Cal had bitten hard around the wound. She was drinking deeply now and he knew she had bitten hard enough to draw blood.

Amren had been right.

Her body would demand the cure.

As she drank deeply, Azriel looked down to notice that Mor had changed her clothes while they were outside. She looked cleaner.

He realised how thin she had gotten since the last time she had visited Velaris. Her bones were visible from under her skin.

Cal moaned as she bit again, harder. Az had to bite his lip to hold back a groan of his own.

The second bite actually hurt a little.

But Cal was trembling and when Az looked down, he noticed tears streaming down her eyes.

"Hey," said Az, caressing her head softly. "Is it hurting?" Cal just shook her head without taking her mouth off of his arm. Az then looked into his own mind, finding that small space where he could feel Cal's emotions. Since she was human, the feelings weren't very potent, but if they were close enough, he could feel her emotions.

He felt shame and guilt. He knew they were not his feelings and his heart squeezed at the thought of Cal feeling guilty for taking from him.

"Sweetheart," said Az, kissing the top of her head. "Its okay. You take what you need, and its okay. You're not hurting me, alright? And I want you to live. We all want you to live. You would have done the same for me, Cal. Just relax. Please. Let me help you this time."

Cal nodded and deepened her bite, gulping down the blood thirstily.

Az realised that she was also dehydrated. The blood, being a cure, was probably the only fluid she is being able to down.

Cal's body relaxed and her hold on his arm loosened. Her arms fell slack to the bed, and her mouth released his arm. Her head felt heavy against his shoulder and he looked down to see her eyes closed.

"Hey Cal?" asked Az, gently shaking her till she opened her eyes slightly. "Is the pain better?"

Cal nodded before completely drifting off. Her breathing evened out and Az realised that the cure alleviated her pain enough to help her sleep. That made him wonder how much pain she was in before.

He lifted her up from himself and placed her head on the pillow, wrapping the blanket around her.

He looked down at his arm then and noticed that the cut had stopped bleeding. Around the cut were teeth marks and they had bled considerably.

The toxin which was still in his body, although neutralised, was interfering with the healing process and hence his arm wasn't healing fast enough.

A terrible wave of exhaustion swept over Az and he knew he needed to sleep.

He looked at the space on the bed beside Cal and pondered for a moment if that would be inappropriate.

Then he realised that she was knocked out for a good six hours. He would probably need to sleep for an hour or two.

Azriel climbed into bed beside Cal and slept, keeping his arm on Cal's in case she woke up.

Cal's PoV:

A knock on the door woke her up and she lifted her head groggily.

"Its almost lunch time, Cal," came Mor's voice. "I can hear you stirring. So if you're hungry, come and have lunch with us, in thirty minutes."

"Thanks, Mor," Cal whispered and she knew Mor had heard that.

She tried to sit up and a small cramp made itself known in the pit of her stomach. The memories from the previous night came back and she flushed from embarrassment.

Did she really just drink blood? And liked it?

Like, she didn't really like the taste, although there was a subtle pine flavour to it, but it just felt good. Like the moment she swallowed the first drop, she felt the cramp in her stomach ebbing away, making her want the blood more.

And she remembered drinking it. She remembered sucking onto Azriel's arm as she bit down hard.

She didn't really remember when she stopped.

She looked to her right on the bed and saw a figure sleeping soundly.

The wings were loosely tucked, as if they were relaxed in sleep, and the head was covered with untidy waves of short deep brown hair.

She smiled as she saw him sleeping on his stomach, his face turned to the side, covered by his hair. She couldn't even see his eyes, she only knew where his nose was as the hair strands in that area moved a little rhythmically, every time he breathed. She looked at his hands, especially the right one with the burns.

His right hand was firmly placed atop hers, as if making sure he would know if she moved. Their fingers weren't intertwined, just connected, touching each other gently.

She became aware of the touch then and felt the weight of his hand on hers. Even though it was heavy, she felt protected, safe.

She remembered being scared of him the first time she met him and that fear seemed silly now.

He was just a quiet and reserved person who selected his friends carefully. He made sure his friends deserved him before giving any of himself away.

Did she really deserve to be his friend?

She didn't even have to think before knowing the answer: No.

She was weak, a mere mortal, a damsel in distress who literally needed rescuing.

She would have been long dead if not for Rhys.

Not to mention, she had almost betrayed Az while Ia-

No!

She wouldn't think of that now. It was over and they all were safe.

She just got lucky that she met these people.

"Az?" called Cal softly. He didn't budge. Maybe making the cure in his body had demanded too much energy.

She moved her hand that was under his and he immediately jerked awake, shaking his head to clear the hair away from his eyes as he looked at her with wide eyes. He got up a little, still not removing his hand from hers and looked at her intently, opening and closing his eyes as if trying to wipe the sleep from them.

"What happened?" asked Az, his voice husky from sleep. "Are you alright? Are you in pain?" Pain. That was the first thing he had thought. Because she was weak and always in pain.

She hated to admit that he might be right given that her stomach was throbbing fully, her muscles protesting against some invisible offender.

"No, Az," said Cal with a smile. "I am fine, thanks to you. Mor called us for lunch, in thirty minutes."

"Lunch? How lon- oh shit! Its been eight hours! Cal, you need to take more blood."

"Do I have to? You are alr-"

"Yes, you do. Amren said for forty-eight hours. And at least three doses. Are you not feeling any pain?"

"No. I am alright actually. I am not that weak, Az. I can handle a little pain."

Cal got up from the bed, removing her hand from his with a jerk, turning away from him to hide her face. She got down from the bed and the moment she took a step towards the bathroom, her legs cramped up.

She felt the muscles go taut and contract on their own, no matter how hard she tried to move them. With an involuntary cry, she fell to the floor, massaging her legs to rid herself of the tightness.

"Hey," Azriel's voice was at her ear. "Let me see that."

Cal sat back as Az straightened her legs, squeezing her calf muscles. He tried to loosen the cramps by gently pressing the muscles and then rubbing them.

As he worked on her calves, Cal noticed the dark blue shirt that he was wearing. She could see the slats made for his wings and buttons leading up to them. They were undone and she wondered if Illyrians were able to do those buttons themselves or if they needed help.

She noticed golden brown skin underneath the shirt and felt an unnerving urge to touch that part of exposed skin.

"Cal," said Az, turning to her. "You need some blood."

"No," said Cal firmly, "its just a cramp."

"Please," said Az, "I went to the Spring Court and got you out on my own. I am the one who gathered the news about you being tortured. I am not ready to lose you like this. Please, don't die on me."

The edges of his hazel eyes glowed golden as he looked into her eyes, she felt a beseeching pull in her heart towards him. She nodded slowly. His pleading look was replaced with a sad smile. He got up and sat down beside her, taking out his pocket knife.

She saw him make a small cut on the inside of his right forearm and then bring it closer to her mouth. Guilt brushed down her spine as she saw the blood trickling out of the cut.

Cal grabbed his hand with both of hers and closed her mouth over the wound, sucking softly.

The taste was metallic like she remembered with the similar pine flavour. Her reaction was still the same; even though she hated it, she couldn't control it.

She bit down hard on his arm, drinking deeply, the cramps in her stomach slowly ebbing away. She couldn't help the moan that escaped her mouth as the blood alleviated the pain.

"Good girl," Az said, caressing her head with his other hand. His voice sounded strained to Cal.

When she stopped drinking, she released his hand and looked at what she had done.

The cut was weeping blood and her teeth marks were lined with blood.

"Oh shit," she said, "I am sorry."

"Don't be," said Az. "It was my choice."

He was getting up when Cal grabbed him by the left arm and turned it over. She saw the previous night's cut almost healed but her bite mark was still red and swollen.

"Why isn't it healing?" asked Cal, running a finger gently over the bitemarks.

"The toxin has slowed down the healing process," said Az. "I guess that's why I was so tired."

"Does it hurt?"

"No. And you are supposed to get ready for lunch. Come on."

Azriel held his arm out and Cal took it.

After she brushed her teeth and dressed up, carefully so as not to jostle the bandages on her stomach, she saw Azriel waiting for her.

"You could have gone down," she said. "I will be joining you."

"You need a sling, silly," said Az with a smile.

He grabbed Cal's hand and a sharp shooting pain made itself known. She remembered that her elbow was broken. He tied a bandage around the arm and then made a loop around her neck.

He knelt then to bring her hands at his eye level and adjusted the bandage to ensure that no part of her elbow remained unsupported.

"You didn't have to kneel," said Cal, her face hot.

"Of course I did," said Az simply, getting up. "Your arm looked far too small from up there."

"You're not that tall."

"Sweetheart, your head barely reaches my chest. I might not be that tall, but I am plenty taller than you."