TSTS Chapter 33: The Incident
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Chapter 33: The Incident
“Oh my gods,” Cassian yelled, covering his eyes.
“Fuck,” Elain hissed, spinning around.
“Fuck,” Az echoed, turning and stuffing his half-hard dick back into his pants. His heart was pounding against his chest. Next to him, Elain was frantically lacing up the few corset ties he’d managed to loosen, her face bright red and fingers shaking. For perhaps the first time since meeting her, he was very glad she was fully clothed; at least she was able to preserve some decency. Unfortunately, he couldn’t say the same about himself; he was quite positive Cassian had gotten a full view of his partly-flaccid manhood.
Not to mention, of course, that he’d seen him and Elain. Seen them locked at the lips, seen their hands twisted around each other, their bodies pressed together so tightly it was impossible to discern where he ended and she began -
There wasn’t a chance in hells of playing this off as something innocent. Not a single one.
“ What the fuck is going on here?! ” Cassian practically bellowed.
“Keep your voice down,” Elain snarled, spinning around and fixing a dagger-edged stare at her brother-in-law. Her voice was mostly steady, but Azriel could hear the thundering of her pulse; she was just as thrown off, just as distressed as he was. “Do you want to alert the whole godsdamn manor?”
“What the hells are you even doing here?” Azriel demanded. His siphons were glowing brightly, and tension and something like panic clanged through him like a bell. Nuala and Cerridwen knowing about them was one thing, but Cassian…Cassian was another level entirely. If Cassian knew, it was only a matter of time before everyone else knew, too. And if everyone else knew, then he and Elain would have to - well, he exactly wasn’t sure what they would have to do. That was the problem in and of itself. He had no idea how the others would react. Had no idea how it would change the very dynamic of their tight-knit group, their family -
No, if his and Elain’s secret were to no longer be a secret, he hadn’t a clue what would happen next.
And he was a strong enough male to admit that he was rather afraid to find out.
“Looking for you two!” Cas shouted, his voice only slightly quieter than a moment ago. “I wanted to hang out!”
“And you didn’t use your supersonic hearing to realize that we were not just ‘ hanging out ’ in here?” Elain said incredulously.
“HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT THE SOUNDS I HEARD WERE - “
“Shut up, would you?” Az growled, his wings flexing menacingly behind him.
“But you two - you and you -” he pointed at Az, eyes wide with shock before narrowing in outrage. “What the hells were you doing with her!?”
The Shadowsinger was about to bite back when Elain beat him to it.
“Are you requesting a play by play?” she replied coolly.
The General gaped. His mouth kept opening and closing like a fish on a hook. “ What is happening ?” he asked again in a hoarse whisper. He looked rather faint, and there was an unmistakable sway in his knees.
Azriel’s suspicions were confirmed when Cassian dramatically fell back onto a work stool. He scoffed while beside him, Elain rolled her eyes.
“Why are you even at the Manor right now?” the shadowsinger asked, unable to keep a throaty grumble out of his voice.
Cassian’s look of shock turned into one tinged with frustration. “I told you I was coming to the Mortal Manor tonight! I told you not even eight hours ago! Or have you gotten so old you’re going senile?”
Azriel blinked. He was so caught off guard that he didn’t even think to be offended by the insult. Was that true? He thought back to their conversation on the rooftop…he could have sworn both Cassian and Mor were supposed to arrive tomorrow…But, to be fair, his mind was rather preoccupied with several other things at the time.
He scratched the back of his neck guiltily. “I thought you said tomorrow,” he muttered as the arches of his cheeks went warm.
Cassian scowled. “Well, obviously, I didn’t.”
There was a beat of silence. Then Cassian buried his face in his hands and groaned, seemingly overwhelmed by the events that had just taken place.
Elain and Azriel took advantage of his distraction by having a silent conversation.
Are you okay? she mouthed. Genuine concern gleamed in her big doe eyes. Despite the embarrassment he knew she was feeling, here she was, putting her own feelings aside out of worry for his own.
Affection fluttered in his chest. A moment later, it was replaced with sour shame. Mother above. What was wrong with him? He was acting like a scared, selfish little boy. Despite his initial reaction, the very last thing he wanted - and that included getting horribly cockblocked mere moments after receiving the best blowjob of his life - was for Elain to walk away from this situation thinking he was in any way ashamed of her. Not when that was so far from the truth. He simply couldn’t bear it.
But he wasn’t sure how to say all that, so he just gave her a quick, terse nod.
Elain looked quickly away, and after a few seconds, sighed long and loud. Cassian finally raised his head to look at her.
“Okay. Here’s what’s going to happen,” she said, a calm and even expression on her face. “You’re going to ask us three questions, and we’re going to answer them completely honestly. But only three. That’s it. That’s all you get.” She glanced sideways at Az. “Right?”
He didn’t hesitate. Wherever she was going with this, whatever plan she had, he had full faith in it. In her. “Right.”
“Fine,” Cassian said, “How long has -”
Elain held up a finger. “I’m not done. We will answer three questions if , and only if, you promise us something.”
“Promise what?” he responded, voice laced with suspicion.
“You have to promise not to speak about anything you saw or heard here tonight. Got it?”
Cassian’s eyes bulged out of his head. “Do you realize what you’re asking me to do? I can’t keep this from Nesta!”
At the mere mention of her elder sister, Elain’s shoulders tightened. “I don’t see what any of this has to do with her.”
If the heavy sigh he gave was any indication, Cassian noticed Elain’s reaction, as well. “Even if I agree to keep whatever this is -'' he waved a flippant hand at the two of them - “a secret, Nesta will know I’m keeping something from her. She’s smart like that.”
“Or you’re just incredibly bad at keeping secrets,” Azriel said dryly.
Cassian glared at him. “You’re awfully bold for someone who just got caught in a garden shed with their dick hanging out.”
Azriel arched an eyebrow. “At least my dick is big enough to hang out of my pants. Shame you can’t say the same.”
“Shut it, the both of you,” Elain ordered. Then she pinned a serious gaze on Cassian.
“I didn’t want to play this card, but you’re forcing my hand,” she said. “You have to keep this a secret. You owe me , Cas.”
Cassian blinked. So did Azriel. What in the world was she talking about?
She widened her eyes meaningfully. “Remember?”
Cas stared at her for another long second before he threw his head back and groaned. “Fuck,” he whined. “You’re right. Ugh. Ugh . Fine,” he said, focusing his gaze back on Elain, a pouty scowl on his ruggedly handsome face. “You fight dirty, Archeron.”
“I’m sorry you had to learn the hard way.”
The Illyrian General shook his head. “I thought you were supposed to be the sweet sister.”
Elain smiled ruefully. “You thought wrong,” she said, then inclined her head. “Ask your questions.”
“How long has this been going on?” he asked immediately.
The other two glanced at each other. Azriel wasn’t quite sure how to answer. When did this thing with him and Elain begin? If he was being incredibly frank, it began the moment he saw her clutching that fork in the mortal lands, when she was endearingly human; when she was small and fragile and scared - and brave. Always brave, even then.
But “ this” was an incredibly vague identifier, and Azriel wasn’t interested in digging into any kind of unnecessary details here. Besides, he was pretty sure Cassian’s question was mainly referring to the sexual nature of their relationship, so..
“A while,” he finally said. “A few months, at least.”
Cassian gaped like a fish out of water. “Months?” he gasped. “ Months ?” Then he turned to Azriel with a hurt expression. “How could you keep this from me? I thought we told each other everything!”
Before he could answer, Elain said, “Is that one of your questions?”
“No,” Cassian replied sullenly, throwing another dirty look at Azriel.
“Then ask your actual next question.”
“Does anybody else know?”
“Nuala and Cerridwen know,” Elain replied. “Rhys knows we almost kissed about a year ago, and I guess Feyre and Mor know about that too, but that’s it.”
He turned to Az with comprehension dawning in his eyes.“Wait, is that why you and Rhys - ?” Then he stopped himself, clearly remembering he had limited access to the information he desired.
“We are fairly confident they’re the only ones who know, anyway,” Elain continued. “And you too, now, I guess,” she added wryly.
“What a joyous club to be a part of,” Cassian deadpanned. If Azriel wasn’t so worked up (being simultaneously annoyed, panicked and still a bit horny wasn’t doing his cardiac system any favors), he might have smirked.
“Last question,” Elain said. “Better make it a good one.”
With a wary gleam in his eye, Cassian’s gaze swiveled between the two of them. “Do you two like each other or something?” he asked finally. “I mean, is this just…you know…or is it…”, he trailed off awkwardly.
Elain opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Instinctively, or so it seemed, her eyes darted to meet Azriel’s.
And before he could think twice about it, and despite the tight ball of panic still pulsing in his chest, he said, “Of course we like each other.”
The beautiful shine in her eyes made it all worth it.
Cassian sighed, long and loud. “And everything was going so nicely,” he said dramatically.
The adoring look on Elain’s face dropped immediately. She turned to Cassian, narrowing her brows. “Don’t you worry your below-average-sized wings,” she said, causing Cassian’s mouth to drop and Azriel to bite his tongue in an attempt to stifle his laughter. This girl . Godsdamn.
“This isn’t your problem,” she continued. “This isn’t anyone’s problem. Got it?”
She bared her teeth. Her gaze was so ferocious, her tone so commanding, Azriel didn’t even blame Cassian for wincing slightly.
“Got it,” he said weakly.
“And it’s going to remain that way, right?” she said, just as intensely.
“Right,” Cassian finished lamely.
Elain nodded, satisfied. “Well, it must be near dinnertime.” Her tone was suddenly sweet and casual again. “Let’s go eat, shall we?” Then she led the way out of the shed.
As they walked through the conservatory, Cassian looked around with wide eyes, taking in the practical indoor jungle around them. “Hey, didn’t all this get destroyed by Koschei months ago?”
Elain and Azriel exchanged a brief glance. “Yes,” she said, “I’m not sure if you knew this, but plants can grow back.” The corner of her lips twitched when Cassian immediately scowled - and she couldn’t help but smile fully when Azriel let out a short, rasping laugh. She watched him for a moment, smiling all the while, their eyes locked together. The gaze broke apart when they sensed Cassian’s gaze.
He was shaking his head again. “Nice sister, my ass,” he said under his breath as they continued along the twisting dirt path.
***
If Elain was even a bit nervous about how Azriel would handle The Incident , as she’d had taken to calling it in her head, her worries were short lived.
It was true that dinner had been an awkward affair. Vassa was predictably absent, but Jurian, who’d been gone for several weeks leading his armies, was there. At first, Elain had been rather grateful for his presence; at least he distracted Cassian enough that he stopped shooting wildly-obvious glares at Elain and Azriel.
But she’d severely underestimated Cassian’s burning hatred for the mortal general.
In retrospect, it made sense. Azriel hadn’t liked Jurian at first, either - and why would he, after the human had shredded his wings once? But after months of living in the Manor with the mortal, she could tell - even if he’d never explicitly said it - that any anger Az held toward the mortal had vanished.
Unfortunately, Cassian was just beginning his journey on the Road to Forgiveness; thus, the entirety of the meal was filled with barbed comments, pointedly rude observations and outright aggressive insults that grew progressively more offensive as the evening bore on. Elain bit her lip through most of the immaturity, but when Cassian snarkily referred to Jurian as a “One-Eyed Wonder of the World,” she neatly crossed her fork and knife over her plate and excused herself for the night.
She had more important things to do than try and make the boys play nicely. With all the chaos of the last week - from the revelations at the Day Court to the almost-kiss with Lucien to her and Azriel’s emotional reunion and to Cassian’s interruptions - there had been no time whatsoever to focus on calling forth any relevant visions.
Well. Perhaps there had been time, she thought guiltily. She simply had not made the time.
By this point in her training, Elain had grown powerful enough that she rarely went an hour without having some sort of premonition. However, unless she truly focused and exerted intentional energy toward her magic, the visions she did receive were incredibly fleeting and mostly useless. For example, when she got into bed each night, she foresaw the dress she’d choose to wear the next day. Did it save her time in the morning? Sure. But it certainly wasn’t solving any issues pertaining to the greater threat at play.
Two weeks. That’s all the time they had left before the Ball. All the time she had left to find out Vassa’s secret and how it pertained to both her and Koschei. All the time left she had to make a goddamn difference in this fight.
And if she was being entirely honest with herself, she hadn’t put forth the amount of effort she should have been exerting given the quickly-shortening timeframe.
Walking a bit more aggressively than before, she pushed open the door to her quarters, determined to spend the rest of the evening focusing on eliciting a vision that would be of some use to her and her family. It was her duty. Her responsibility. And she was going to succeed. She wouldn’t accept any other alternative.
But the second her door shut, she realized she wasn’t alone. She felt his presence behind her, felt the toe-curling chill that constantly accompanied him. The cool she always craved.
An instant later, she was thrown onto the bed, not roughly but with enough force that she bounced. She lay in the center of the mattress, propped up on her elbows. She couldn’t help the breathy little moan that escaped her lips as she watched Azriel prowl toward her. Gods , he looked like an Angel of Death, hazel eyes rimmed with darkness and onyx wings spread so wide the tips nearly grazed the walls. Then they curled in slightly, the claws at the end gripping the bed posters as he crawled onto the bed.
Cool, quick hands snatched at her ankles and dragged her forward until she lay flat on her back. And before she could even begin to protest, he spread her legs wide and pushed aside her undergarments. Any inkling of responsibility vanished completely from her mind the second the cool air hit her folds.
Then he returned the favor she’d given him earlier in the shed and devoured her like she was his last meal. She came quickly, so quickly it might have been a bit embarrassing if it was anyone else but him, crying out softly as her legs shook.
After he’d lapped her up, he found her lips and kissed them so softly, so tenderly, she felt like she was melting. She kissed him back, just as intensely, loving the taste of their desires mixed together.
They kissed for so long she lost track of time. When Azriel finally moved away, his lips were cherry red and swollen and juicy. She was sure hers were, too.
For several moments, they simply looked at each other, attempting to catch their breath..
“Az,” she finally said, still breathless.
“Mmm?”
“About…about earlier,” she began, then stopped. She was not sure how to phrase what it was she wanted to ask next.
If she was Nesta or Feyre, she’d have no problem coming right out and asking all the questions she wanted to ask - What is going to happen know that Cassian knows? or What the hell does this change in living arrangements mean for us? or What about when we leave the manor in just a few weeks? and most of all, What exactly are we to each other? In the shed, he’d said he liked her. But what else did that mean? What did that entail?
She was starting to fear she’d lose her mind if she didn’t get answers soon.
As it was, she was not either of her sisters. Much to her - and their - chagrin.
Azriel seemed to be blissfully unaware of the mental battle she was currently going through. One hand palmed the back of her head, the other thumbed her bottom lip. His eyes were hazy and unfocused. “Yes?” he murmured.
Sometimes, after sex, he looked at her like…she didn’t know how to explain it. Like he could look at her forever. Like he would never be done with her.
This was one of those times.
The questions she wanted to ask died on the tip of her tongue. She couldn’t bring herself to ruin the moment. “When do you leave next?” she asked instead.
He frowned immediately. So much for not ruining the moment.
“I should have left hours ago,” he admitted.
It was her turn to frown. “And you stayed because of The Incident?”
He raised an amused brow at the moniker, but he nodded without any other comment.
She shook her head. “That was unnecessary,” she said. “I appreciate the gesture, truly…but you know I can handle myself.” A gentle finger traced the sharp line of his jaw. “You’re an important male with lots of important responsibilities.”
He shrugged. “Semi-important,” he allowed. “And I know you can handle yourself. It was Cassian who I was worried about. He has a very fragile constitution, and given the shock he went through earlier, I wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to faint or anything.” Azriel’s voice was low and teasing.
She loved him like this - relaxed, teasing, at peace. But she couldn’t shake the nagging disquiet that he’d shirked his responsibilities for her. His fierce dedication to serving the Night Court and ensuring all its citizens were safe was something she loved most about the shadowsinger. And the last thing she wanted was to hold him back from fulfilling that role.
Apparently, she didn’t do a very good job of keeping her worry off her face. “You have nothing to feel guilty over, Elain,” he said.
She chewed on her lip. “I don’t want to ever keep you from your duty,” she said.
“You are my duty,” he said seriously.
“Oh, stop it,” she said after a moment, though her effort to play off his comment was severely diminished by the deep blush that was indeed dusted across her cheekbones.
One side of his mouth tipped up. “I love how easy it is to make you blush.”
She groaned and covered her hands with her face, making him laugh. It wasn’t long before she was laughing, too.
By the time their laughter faded, an apologetic expression had replaced Azriel’s fond and relaxed one. “I do need to go now, though,” he said.
She immediately sat up. “That’s alright. I understand.” And she did.
The spymaster’s shadows appeared and engulfed him; seconds later they cleared, revealing a fully-clothed and fully-armored Azriel.
“I’ll only be gone for a day or two. Maybe three, if things don’t go as expected.” he said. “There’s someone I have to - something I have to do. But it shouldn’t take long.”
The desire to ask him where he was going was on the tip of her tongue. But if he wanted her to know, he would have told her, right? So she bit back the urge.
His bright hazel eyes roved over her face. “I’ll see you in a few days,” he finally said.
Elain nodded. Then she moved forward, and before he could register her actions, wrapped her lithe arms around his neck. After a stunned moment, he returned the gesture, enfolding her small, warm body in his embrace.
“Be safe on your mission,” she murmured, stroking the hair at the nape of his neck. Her fingertips brushed the top of their bargain tattoo; the slight contact was enough to send a trail of embers down his spine, leaving him feeling rather unsteady. Not to mention that the softness of the action (and the instinctual way she’d done it, like it was second nature to her, like she couldn’t possibly imagine not doing it) had thawed a piece inside of him that had been frozen far too long.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” she said.
He swallowed back the strange knot in his throat and forced out a low chuckle. Thankfully, as Elain leaned back to smile softly at him with a mischievous glint in her eye, she did not notice anything off.
He must have been staring at her for too long, because Elain let out a bright, lovely laugh. “Go,” she repeated, kissing his cheek. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Soon,” he said back, his cheek still tingling from her kiss. Gods. If only his enemies could see him now: the great Illyrian warrior, the fearsome Shadowsinger and Spymaster of the Night Court, brought to his knees by a simple peck on the cheek. Would wonders never cease?
He hoped not. Perhaps, if he somehow was able to keep Elain by his side, he could ensure it.
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