Page 7 of Above (Darkness Reigns #1)
Azazel
“I wonder if Father ever thinks about a different way to please the stars. Has he ever asked them? Or is killing really our only option?”
F ather was throwing a temper tantrum again.
Screaming about my failure to cloak our entire property despite the fact that I didn’t have the help of shadow magic.
Hitting me across the face when I dared to stand tall.
Shattering the fine china that held our tea.
Tearing down trees with a swipe of his hand.
We had been out here for hours, the sun rising and making way for a bright, cold day. He had been growing more unstable as we came closer to the shadow ritual. He, like everyone, knew that it would be the Altair’s only chance at redemption. I would be the saving grace—or the inevitable demise.
That’s how it has been since the stars deemed him no longer worthy. I was the fallback. I was the holder of our fate, but not the bearer of our future. If we fell, then it would be my fault. If we succeeded, then it would be at his hands.
“Again!” he screamed. I willed my magic out, demanding it cloak the property. I pictured the castle, the grass, the paths, the trees, the gardens, the observatory, even the snake statues. Every black and silver accent, each detail. I ordered my magic to hide it. To listen.
It didn’t.
“You fucking failure!” father shouted. I braced for impact, my teeth rattling when he hit my jaw with a closed fist. Despite my best efforts, my head flung to the side. “What do you think the others will say when they realize how weak you are, Azazel?”
None of them would care. We were all failures in the eyes of our fathers. It was practically a right of passage. Trying to feign shame, I looked down, noticing a scuff on my black boot. That needed to be dealt with.
Fingers gripped my face, forcing my eyes to meet his, our grey irises twins to one another, just as our nearly silver hair was. An Altair trait. Though, he had once been lucky enough to have eyes as black as night, the stars themselves shining in the depths.
“Never mind them, actually. Do you understand how deeply disappointed I am?” he hissed, like he was one of the snakes that towered over the ledges of our castle.
“How very unimpressed I have always been with your little act of nonchalance? You are a shame through and through. You are a blight on our family tree. If you wish to be more, then show me more!”
With a violent shove, he sent me sprawling onto the grass. Great, now I’d have stains on my knees. Standing up, I did my best to dust off the hideous green from my black trousers. Then, with a hopeful yet cynical mind, I tried again.
If only he knew how little I truly cared about his opinion. The stars had practically forsaken him. He was nothing special. Judgment from him was pathetic.
Then again, someone with nothing to lose was infinitely more terrifying than someone with everything to fight for. When I failed once more and he lost all control, snapping the neck of our newest eadi servant, I was forced to accept one truth I had hoped to bury the last eight years.
Father was far more dangerous than I gave him credit for.