Page 57 of Hell Storm

Maybe it was seeing how much this group cared for her, seeing the great lengths they were willing to go to ensure her safety. It mirrored our concern for our Dynasty Brothers, and … I respected that.

“Should we go out again tomorrow?” I asked. “Discuss things in person? Whatever clues there are to find will grow colder by the minute and we’re already at three days.”

“Four,” Julian interjected as his eyes rose to observe the large clock above. He was right, with it being well past midnight now, we were, technically, four days into our search.

“Name the place,” Felix replied without even flinching. “We have to do a run first, but any time after that, we’ll make it work.”

“A run?”

Julian peered up at the screen when the wording piqued his interest.

Felix and Liv shared a heavy look before both their gazes met ours again. “ … For food,” Liv admitted, not saying anything more than that.

Julian sighed audibly beside me and I glanced that way. My gaze was met by a look I hadn’t expected to find there.

Concern.

“Are your supplies running low?” he asked.

I expected the inquiry to go unanswered. These two had no reason to trust us, no reason to answer our prying questions. Especially with the authority we both had to bury them, along with whatever operation they ran.

“They’ve been low for a while now,” was Liv’s surprising response.

Julian nodded knowingly. I studied him when he sat straighter, giving more of his attention than he had during the rest of the conversation. He’d seemingly pushed whatever clouded his thoughts aside to focus.

“You two have been a tremendous help to us. Allow me to arrange something,” he offered. “I can fill a truck, and meet you wherever you’d like.”

I’d known him my entire life, had been there for all his highs and lows, thought I’d seen every side there was to Julian Westower. However, I wasn’t sure I knew this man. He’d always been kind and generous, yes, but only to ourownpeople. There had never been even ahintof kindness toward humanity.

But that’s exactly what this was.

Felix passed us both a suspicious glance. “Why would you do something like that?”

The flash of confusion on Julian’s face made it clear he didn’t understand the question. “You need food, don’t you?” he clarified. “I’m trying to help.”

“Yeah, I get that, but … why?” Felix reiterated. He leaned closer, resting his forearms on the surface before him. “I mean, the two of you are intelligent. Silas, I even follow some of your work,” he admitted. “So, I’m certain neither of you has missed the overwhelming amount of evidence that points toward us operating … outside the boundaries of the law,” he so cleverly put it.

His gaze was unwavering as he stared at us, waiting for answers.

Julian sobered a bit, his expression hardening when he nodded. “I had a pretty good idea.”

“And yet, you’re still offering to aid us, those your people have characterized as criminals. Terrorists,” he added, nearly spitting the word from his mouth.

Julian’s eyes lowered toward the ground and I saw this going a couple different ways. One of which involved him exploding in frustration, completely ruining any chance of future communication with our new contacts. Or, he could see this moment for what it was—a chance to be transparent and engage in some dialog with Felix and Liv.

It was an opportunity I wasn’t sure would present itself a second time.

“No one deserves to starve,” was Julian’s response, and a step in the right direction. “I just figured it was the least I could do.”

Felix’s gaze was fixed on Julian, but he said nothing in return. The look he wore was thoughtful, penetrating.

“I uh … I’ve had a lot of time to reflect these past few days,” Julian continued. “As I racked my brain, trying to come up with where to look next, it forced me to thinklike Corina, step into her shoes, take on her mindset.”

Felix’s expression softened as a quiet laugh escaped him. “And how did that work out for you?”

Julian laughed a bit himself as he seemed to get carried into a distant thought. “Honestly? It was fine at first. Right up until I stopped answering the questions that popped into my head as if someone else could hear them. I stopped saying what I thought others wouldwantthose answers to be … and started being honest with myself.”

I lowered into the chair as my nerves settled and curiosity increased.

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