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Once everything was off, Azazel fell forward onto all fours, his muscles trembling.
I hovered next to him, needing, wanting, to touch him but clenching my hands into fists instead for fear of hurting him. He was covered in blood. So many cuts on his body, his skin sliced and poked through, gaping wounds that even his fast healing hadn’t been able to mend yet.
If only I were strong enough, I could summon some bottles of water right from Derdekea’s territory to at least give him the option to wash off some of the blood and grime.
“Azazel,” I whispered as I sank down on my knees next to him, my trembling hand inches from his ravaged face.
At that, at me saying his name, he lifted his head, one eye of silver storms meeting my gaze. “You remember,” he murmured, and my heart broke.
He hadn’t known.
All this time, he’d been here, captured, tortured, thinking I still hadn’t recovered my memories. Sure, he’d told me the truth back in the cave, but he hadn’t known whether I’d go through with his and Naamah’s plan without fully remembering him. There could have been a chance of me not agreeing to save him.
“I do,” I said, a hitch in my voice. “I do. I’m here, and I’m getting you out.” My fingers shook as I gently pushed a blood-soaked strand of hair off his face. “Can you move? Are your powers coming back?”
With the manacles off him, the magic subduing his powers should have worn off, which would hopefully help him recover even faster. He was in a bad state, worse than Naamah and I had hoped, and much relied on him being able to work his energy correctly.
“Yeah.” He sat on his heels for a moment, his chest heaving with his labored breaths. “Just give me a minute.”
I fidgeted, shifting my weight from one foot to the other, my pulse still ticking fast with the anxiety about what could go wrong raking its claws through my mind.
“There’s a bucket,” he said, breaking through my worried thoughts, “over there in the corner. They used it to wash their hands. Bring it here.”
I nodded and dashed over to the corner, hauling the bucket to him. The water looked fresh, at the very least. Thank goodness for small mercies.
He began washing himself bit by bit, his movements becoming surer and less shaky with every second. Before my eyes, the surface-level cuts on his skin closed, and even the more open wounds started knitting together again.
His eye, too, would regrow, though it would take longer than just minutes. When Inachiel had mentioned his wings growing back, he’d spoken of days. Azazel’s eye would likely be back without a trace of injury by tomorrow, but I’d never be able to forget the visual of his bloody eye socket gaping in his face.
I wanted to kill Eloa all over again, slower this time.
I took care to wash my hands and face as well to get off as much blood as possible. We’d escape anyone’s notice better if we didn’t both look like we’d just butchered our way through half a dozen angels.
“All right,” Azazel said, rising to his feet and shaking his head forcefully to get rid of the water he’d just poured over his hair. “Let’s go.”
“Are you okay?” My fingers twitched, something in my chest coiling tight.
“Good enough,” was his pragmatic answer.
I drew in a trembling breath, and then I was on him.
He stumbled back a step but caught me underneath my butt as I jumped up on him and slung my legs around his waist, grabbing on to his shoulders and planting a desperate kiss on his mouth.
Yes, we were in a hurry, but these few seconds, I would claim.
This was the first time I could touch him, kiss him, feel him, since my memories had come back. The first time in years that he and I could truly reunite.
He responded to my kiss with equal fervor, both of us uncaring of whatever state we were in, as long as we could feel each other this close again.
“I love you,” I whispered against his lips. “I loved you even when I didn’t remember you.”
He shuddered, his hands underneath my butt tightening their grip, his power enveloping me. “Zoe.”
My heart aching with hope and fear, I gave him another soft kiss. “Let’s go.”
He set me down, his expression painted with hunger and love and a need that went bone-deep, the look he gave me promising a much more thorough reunion once all this was behind us.
I paused just as I wanted to turn for the door.
