Entering our quarters, Evanna and I stopped in the middle of the space, watching Asher and Imogen join us, followed by Kingston… and Willow.
“I’m staying,” Willow declared before anyone else had the audacity to object. She would literally die before betraying Evie, so I trusted her with my life too.
Evie nodded, silently calling Willow to her side as though she needed her friend. “Of course.”
“I left your side last night because everything seemed alright after Tharion healed you,” Kingston began, clearly concerned. “If anything happened and I wasn’t there—"
“You did nothing wrong by leaving, Chief,” I assured. “I was fine. You and Willow deserved to take some time for yourselves.”
“It’s what we discovered once Brax woke up that we need to discuss,” Evanna explained, and we watched the relief course through him, though briefly.
“There isn’t any easy way to say this, so I’m just going to say it.” I exchanged a glance with my mentor, who nodded as though saying, fuck it. “Azazel is my soulmate.”
“What?!”
“What are you talking about?”
“How is that even possible?”
Willow’s, Kingston’s, and Asher’s reactions would have been funny if there was anything funny about this.
“It’s the truth,” I continued. “What happened to me last night was an extension of him being tortured by Raithian. The injuries that I suffered were inflicted on Azazel at the same time… and that wasn’t the first time I experienced it.”
“Your illness,” the chief inhaled sharply, remembering everything Evie told him about it. They both thought the illness was something else, just like my parents had, and believed Draco and Vyper had healed me for good.
“But how is it possible?” Willow asked. “They all have a soulmate, yet they have never experienced or suffered anything like it.” She gestured to Kingston, Asher, Evie, and Imogen, even the ones outside.
“But none of us are likehim, honey. None of us are part Dragon or carry the Devenish power.”
Willow blinked, full understanding draining the color from her face, and her gaze bounced from my mentor to me. “So, everything you have been through, what you suffered as a child, he was suffering too?”
“Yes.” I nodded, my chest tightening as fresh pain reflected in Willow’s eyes. “Every terrifying moment, every bruise, every debilitatingly painful episode I experienced as a child was real, and it was all happening to him too. I felt Azazel’s suffering in real time, everything the Warlock King did to him, even while being a world away.”
“Azazel is nothing more than another victim of Raithian’s malice, isn’t he?” she whispered, “As we all have been.”
Her gaze slowly fell, as though she was seeing the four-headed Dragon in a new light. Something I knew was extremely hard for her, considering Azazel killed half our people the day I was born, including her family.
When her eyes settled on me again, a well of unshed tears shone in them.
“Raithian not only stole him from the Harbinger; he forced Azazel to do all those terrible things to us with his evil magic?” she asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yes, he did,” Evie replied, nonetheless, feeling her best friend’s pain.
“All this time, I thought,” Willow paused, processing the horror as her tears began to fall. “I thought the beast was bad too, that he’d done those things willingly, but if Raithian tortures him that means—” A sob swallowed her words, and she shook her head. “The Warlock forced Azazel to kill the Soulris he had once fought to protect… He never wanted to kill my family.”
Covering her mouth, she gave in to the sorrow, but Kingston’s arms immediately embraced her, cradling her into his chest. I was glad he could finally be there for her.
“I’m sorry, Willow,” I offered her the only thing I could.
The pain clogged my throat too, because I had lived many of the tortures Azazel was put through before my dad found a way to protect me from it. Now I knew exactly how horrible it had been for him all these years; the attacks had eventually stopped for me, but they never did for Azazel.
Leaving her mate’s arms, Willow glanced at me, a new horrifying realization dawning on her. “The Warlock forced your soulmate to kill your father too,” Willow sobbed and hugged me. “I am so sorry, Braxton.”
Her whisper burned through me, drawing tears of my own because even with everything I’d uncovered today, nothing was as sickening or as terrifying as that. Azazel followed my father once; he’d fought alongside him to protect me, and Raithian used his evil magic to make him kill my dad. Out of all the torments Azazel endured, that had to be the worst one.
Holding Willow tightly, I closed my eyes and caressed her back, sending my healing power into her. The soothing waves calmed her sobs, but I knew this was the kind of pain I’d never been able to cure. Taking a settling breath, I allowed the anger awakening in me to fuel my fight, to become part of my driving force because Iwoulddestroy Raithian, no matter the fucking cost.
Placing a kiss on my cheek, Willow finally pulled away. “Thank you,” she whispered, knowing what I did for her. “I love you, annoying little brother.”
