Chapter 54. Revived 

**54. Revived **
***Astrid's POV:***
My blood froze. My spirit was numb. Rafael was no longer alive, leaving me bewildered. He always said he was immortal, so how come he's dead now? My life cannot be this harsh for me.
'Astrid, do something; I want my mate back,' Scarlet sobbed in my mind. Ignoring her, my grief was incomprehensible, something only I could bear
I know there is no way I could get him back, but if there was, I would go to any extent to do so.
"Astrid! Astrid! Astrid!" Eva's hand softly slapped my cheeks.
She grabbed me again and wailed, but what could I do? I can't even promise a sister that her only brother will return to her.
Eva's grasp on me tightened suddenly. "Take him," Eva said, and they all drew Rafael away from me.
"Wait, what are you doing?" I tried pushing Eva away, but she clung to me fiercely.
I shook as I felt agonizing pain coursing through my body as if I were on fire. I felt as though I had been teleported to an unknown place. I felt as if bits of coal were being rained on my body.
Suddenly, I felt a chilling sensation rush through my arm, which really calmed me down. Then I recognized Rafael, who was holding me in his arms and grinning at me.
"Rafael!!" I said cheerfully, assuming that I was now in the same place as him.
Death seemed more appealing than a life without him. I assume what everyone said happened; no wolf can survive the death of all their mates, and that may be the case; perhaps I am dead.
"You've got this, Astrid.  There's nothing you can't do," Rafael said, and I felt as if I were being transported back to reality, but the pain didn't go away.
When I turned around, I realized I was back on the same ground. I think I'm going insane with hallucinations.
My dark hair began to turn yellow and finally white, and tattoos began to appear on my arms. Unfamiliar tattoos emerged on my arms, cryptic designs weaving a story I couldn't comprehend.
I'll work things out later, but now isn't the time for me to be concerned. It's time to ponder about my mate, about whom I don't even know whether he's still alive.
With my hobbling figure, I stood up. I was enraged and scowled at the men dragging Rafael from behind. They suddenly seized their heads and dropped Rafael in the center of the Varlets, who surrounded him quickly.
"This cannot happen.  Our King cannot die!" everyone around me exclaimed.
I shoved everyone aside and dashed over to my mate, who was motionless on the ground. I tried shaking him, but he didn't move. I yelled and called out his name in vain.
I felt infuriated and let out a snarl that rocked the place. "You're not going to die on me, Rafael," I screamed, and everyone covered their ears because the intensity was too much for them.
I was oblivious to how much pain I was in. Instead, I was preoccupied with my deceased mate. When I opened my eyes, everyone screamed in fear and ran.
I felt a burst of energy inside of me. Looking around, I noticed that I was producing an ombré of light that enveloped Rafael and myself, isolating us from the rest of the world.
It appeared to drain my energy, and I felt as if my life was being extracted from my soul.
I quickly dropped to the ground alongside him. I'm not sure what happened, but I'm sure it's not the first time I've felt this way, and I'm not sure where it came from. There were no answers for what was happening within me, but all I could feel was exhaustion and tiredness, and my spirit was leaving my body.
When the bubble surrounding us seemed to grow wider and bigger, I gently turned toward Rafael. It was as if I wanted it to happen, and soon the bubble broke and I lost consciousness, but not before I smiled at Rafael and assured him I'd follow him behind.
I let the darkness engulf me.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
I awoke to the symphony of beeping monitors echoing in the room. Turning my head, I found Eva resting on the sofa, her head nestled against the seat back.
Things suddenly became clear to me, and I yanked the IVs from my arm and tossed them aside.
"What are you doing, Astrid?" Eva came to me.
"No! No! Where is my Rafael?" I trembled, expecting her to say something that would ruin my existence. I'm not sure how I'm still alive and not in pain; instead, I'm at peace.
What if they had dug a grave? "Tell me, Eva, what you did with my Rafael!" I shook her.
The entrance to the room suddenly swung open, and the person I least expected to see entered.
"Bryan." My jaw dropped open as I saw him alive. My attention was so concentrated on Rafael that I forgot about everyone else, even Bryan, who first took Rafael's position.
"Before I go nuts, tell me what happened and how Bryan is still alive. That could mean Rafael is alive too, and that's why I feel no pain except exhaustion, right?"
I couldn't hold back my tears and held Bryan, happy that he was still alive.
"You have no idea how relieved I am to see you alive in front of me." Thankfully, he did not fade into nothingness, as I had imagined. "Please tell me Rafael is okay," I pleaded, hoping to hear what I wanted.
Their eyes dropped, and they didn't say anything. "Do you have any clue what happened?" Bryan asked.
"About what?" I asked, my gaze fixed on Eva.
"Astrid, come," Eva took my hand and led me out of the room where we were staying, and it was only then that I realized we were in our mansion but not in our room.
She escorted me up the stairs to our room. "Go inside. Will you be okay if I leave you here?" Eva asked, and I nodded, opening the door with trembling hands.
As I entered and shut the door, the emptiness of the room struck me. Yet traces of Rafael's presence lingered, a bittersweet reminder. Tears welled up, and my hopes began to crumble.
Tears began to well up in my eyes, and all of my hopes began to fade. "Rafael!" I called gently, expecting him to jump out of nowhere and tell me that I had collapsed after having a bad dream. All I could think was that he was just around the corner.
It felt like I was losing my sanity. My legs carried me to the next room, and upon opening the door, I was taken aback to find Rafael peacefully sleeping on our bed.
I was slowly approaching him, afraid that if I made any noise, he would vanish, but there was already a broken vase on which I unintentionally stumbled, causing me to lose my balance and fall face-first on the floor. But I saw his eyes on me, and before I could fall, he teleported himself in front of me and held me from falling to the ground.
"You are really here?" I asked when I regained my composure.
"Little dove," he said, smiling. My tears flowed freely. I longed to hear those words from him so badly that I believed I'd never hear his voice again.
Our eyes mirrored each other's emotions. Gradually, I cupped his cheeks, the warmth of my hands meeting his chilly flesh, and my soul felt anchored once more.
"You're really here," I kept saying. I threw myself on him, wrapping my arms around him.
He, too, wrapped his arms around me and put his chin on my shoulder. "You have no idea what I've been through in this period; every minute has been agony for me," I explained.
"I'm here, my love. Nothing happened to me," he assured.
I drew back from him, my gaze falling on his chest, which was covered in white band aids, thinner in the front, and covering his back.
"Yes, I'm OK, but that wound won't heal," Rafael remarked, turning around to show me his spine, which was covered in most of the dressing and was the place where his father had daggered him.
"I don't understand. Explain to me how this happened," I inquired. "Everything feels like a nightmare," I explained.
"Come, I'll explain everything." He forced me to sit on the bed, and I requested that he be in a comfortable posture.
He detailed everything Eva had seen and told him before leaving him to rest for a while. He had insisted on coming to me, but Eva had convinced him that she would send me back once he was conscious.
Apparently, there was something within me, and after that light surrounded me, no one could see what was going on inside, and after a while, I fainted in the light. It came in the form of a bubble around me, shooting up into the sky, and bits of it scattered around all the dead bodies, and soon after I fainted, everyone began to return to life.
"What!!!" I was stunned by this revelation. "How did that happen?" I frowned.
'You will know,' Scarlet answered, and I'm starting to become annoyed with Scarlet because I have a feeling she knows something but refuses to tell me.
'Astrid I don't know anything, but I have a good feeling about it, and you will know when the moment is right as well.' Scarlet nagged at the back of my mind.
"Did you pull it off, Astrid?" Rafael asked.
"Do you believe it is even possible?" I asked.
"Perhaps you met someone or some witch who helped us?" Rafael asked.
I speculated, "You are the one who has ties with witches; perhaps some of your well-wishers assisted us without our knowledge."
"That may explain your circumstances, Astrid." He said, and only then did I see my arms were covered with furious markings that were lighter on my hands, and as if on cue, I felt severe pain in my back.
I was changed into a tank top, which allowed me to see my back in the mirror. The sight was disheartening; my back bore the scars of profound wounds that, despite healing, were destined to leave lasting marks. Rafael, noticing my discomfort, massaged my neck, focusing on my mating spot.
"Did this not heal?" he asked.
"No, but that's not a big deal," I said, but it still aches and has become worse since the fight.
Rafael's concern deepened. "What led to all of this? Why were you hurt like this when someone intended to save me?"
"I'm glad nothing happened to you because otherwise, I would have blamed myself because I was the one who showed up despite your warning, and I hated myself for serving as a diversion," I added.
"Don't think much about it." He hugged me and rubbed my shoulder lightly.
"I believe it was your father; perhaps he only meant to kill me and did something else to bring you all back." I proposed.
"Now only one thing can answer our query, and I know how to decode it," Rafael remarked, causing me to draw back and glance at him.
"What?" I asked.
He walked over to the side drawers and took out the letter. I immediately recognized it as his mother's letter.
"Wait, how did you get it back? Your father took it with him." I asked.
"Relax, little dove; do you really think I'd take anything so valuable with me to a battlefield? I duped my father and handed him a forged letter." He smirked as he showed me the letters. And this, my darling, contains all of our answers, and I am sure it contains all the information we ever wanted to know," he stated firmly.
"But what's the point when we still have to find this Azael?" I grumbled. Rafael had risen up and gone outside, but he was paying attention to what I was saying.
He returned with a knife in his hand, which perplexed me, and sat in front of me once more. "There's no need right now," he responded, opening the letter.
"Why?" I frowned. "Did you already find out who he is?" I asked.
He sliced his palm unexpectedly. "No, we don't need to find him because 'I am Azael,'" 
Rafael stated, splattering his blood over the letter, causing it to glimmer in the faint light of our bedroom.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Wow! Rafael tricked his own father.**
**HUSH! I am sure you all won't come after me now. I hope this chapter covers all the grief I called for**.
**Come on, you guys. I asked you all to trust me with this. Rafael is literally my favorite person. How could I let him die?**
**The next update is tomorrow. More answers about Rafael and Azael await you there.**