"All things break. All souls falter. It may take days, weeks, years— but if the work has been done well, the moment will come when they finally let go. That moment is the most sacred to us. When the final piece of resistance crumbles, so too does the soul."

-Excerpt from The Infernal Guidebook: The Art of Unraveling a Soul

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I feel it.  It's a sharp, relentless pull like hands gripping onto my mind and trying to pry out the roots without taking the earth with it. I realize now though that it's not just him pulling, it's me, too.  I still have that grasp on his mind that he mentioned before.  I carefully test one of the roots—

"Don't," Azrael whispers into my hair, "I can't lose any more of you than I already will."

I let go, focusing instead on how the tie between me and his darkness begins to strain.  Azrael clenches his teeth while keeping a tight grip around my body. The heat radiating from his is almost unbearable now, like this processes costs more than just centuries of strength, it costs him himself.

He weaves the first knot of roots out with a sharp tug that makes a gasp escape my lips.  After that I can't stand to focus on my own mind anymore with all the anxiety building.  I switch my focus back to his mind again, trying to figure out what these roots I planted are.  Through them, my mind races with flashes of Azrael's existence. At first I get the pain, loneliness, and destruction I felt before, but layered beneath that, fragile but real, are the feelings of regret, hope, and even love.  It's not fully formed yet, but it's there, like the first green shoot in scorched earth.

And then, in a blinding flash of heat and pressure, the world around us shatters.  The force knocks me backwards and crashing to the ground as my vision blurs with white-hot light. There's a high-pitched ringing in my ears.  The world spins violently in my vision for a few terrifying seconds.  I can't tell if he succeeded or not.

When the ringing finally fades, there's a heavy, deafening silence that makes it feel like the universe is holding its breath as I soundlessly gasp for mine and force myself to sit up.  The world is intact, but everything feels... lighter.  Azrael lies a few feet away, unmoving.

"Azrael?" My voice is barely above a whisper.  My throat tightens as I crawl toward him unsteadily.  His chest rises and falls, slow and steady, but his skin is different.  There's color there now, a redness in his cheeks blooming beneath the surface that I've never seen before.  My heart pounds as I press my hand to his face, feeling the heat against my palm.  "Azrael?  Wake up."

His eyelids flutter, and he opens his eyes, but they're different now. There's no longer that endless abyss of darkness behind them.  They're still intense, but there's something softer there now.  Something... human.

A choked laugh bubbles out of me as tears sting my eyes.  "You did it?" my voice wavers.

He gives me a faint smile and nods, "I can't feel them anymore. It's gone.  The connection, the orders, all of it." His breathing is labored, but his expression is peaceful.  Relief washes through me so strongly that I sink down beside him before my emotions can knock me over first.

I turn my head to watch him, really watch him.  "You're..." I start, not knowing how to finish the sentence.

Azrael smirks weakly, tilting his head toward me.  "I'm what?"

I search his face, trying and failing to put the impossible into words.  Instead, I force a teasing smile and sigh dramatically.  "Does this mean I've been the one tempting you all along?  I'd make a great demon."

His exhausted laugh is the most relaxed sound I think I've ever heard from him.

"You'd be a terrible demon," he sighs, pulling me up against his chest, "but a hell of a good angel." 

His heartbeat is steady beneath my ear, and for the first time in a long time I feel like I'm exactly where I'm meant to be.