The Book of Azrael

His scowl returned, replacing the haunted sadness in his gaze. I would take it. I much preferred the angry, disappointed in me Liam over the hurt one. Liam hurting made me feel things I didn’t want to thanks to my stupid mortal heart

I was also in another world. The building I was in wasn’t like anything I had ever seen, and that was before I was in your room. The ceiling was missing, and I could see so many planets and stars. It was—"

"Rashearim," he whispered. He said the word as one would say a dead relative’s name. I looked at him and watched the color drain from his face, and his massive body seemed to crumple in on itself. He seemed so sad.

It was at that moment I figured it out. Why Liam was the way he was, and why he didn’t care about his looks. I knew why he was so abrasive. He was so closed off to everyone, even those he claimed were his friends. He was consumed with grief and in so much pain. Liam was mourning.

Liam was a legend, our version of the boogeyman, and he’d tortured me. Granted, I had tried to kill him and played a part in the death of one of his own. He was the World Ender, and that name and title rang true from what his father had said. But to me, he was Liam, uptight, arrogant, and self-opinionated

Where is Sophie?"

He met my gaze, his face flat, but his eyes burning with remembered rage. "Which part?"

Through the haze of being awake and lost to the world, I remembered someone holding me as my body tried to rid itself of the toxin. Liam said that there had been celestials helping, but I remembered his voice, his scent, and the feel of his arms. But maybe that was just a fever dream

I glanced at the chair and the mess around it. "How long have I been out?"

His eyes followed mine, and he said, "Two days, six hours, and thirty minutes."

"You counted?"

"Yes? Why is that surprising? Your absence has only extended what I assumed would be a short adventure."

I don’t want you to touch me." I remembered what those hands did, how painful his touch could be, and I wanted them nowhere near me

It was like I was seeing the real him, not the short-tempered, rude asshole I had come to know. What else had happened to him to cause such a drastic change

Why did you not bring her back?" Liam called to his father’s back. Unir froze and bowed his head but did not turn around. "You could. It is one of your gifts."

"When she passed, I would have pulled the entire universe apart to bring her back, but I knew it was wrong. Resurrection, no matter the circumstances, is forbidden. You do not gain something so precious as a life without paying a hefty price. There are some things that even we cannot afford," he said before opening the doors. The guards waiting outside stood at attention. Without looking back, he quietly closed the doors behind him

You’ve made me eat them, forcing them down my throat on a daily basis since I was an infant, and I know of my friends. They are sentient beings, and they feel just as I do. If they are given a purpose they believe in, they will follow. Why do you think they left the other gods? It is because I do not see them as objects to control."