Page 142 of The Blairville Legacies

He went to his desk to pour himself some coffee, but then set the mug aside again.

Alarik and stress had never been a good mix, even if he reacted surprisingly well in all kinds of stressful situations. It was about the reactions afterward, about the nights when he had alwayswandered restlessly in the woods back then, when I had still spent time with the Copelands on the pack’s estate.

I skillfully pushed the burgeoning memories aside.

Suddenly the feeling of confusion ran through me again, and instantly I had images in my mind. Images of Bayla in the woods, running and running, completely out of breath, looking around again and again. A road...

“Julian?” Alarik jerked me back into the present.

Out of breath, I propped myself up against the desk and threw my head back. The next thing I knew, Alarik was shaking me.

“Julian!” He pulled me in. “What’s wrong, boy?”

Confused, I blinked, but the sun suddenly seemed far too bright. Once again, I saw the road, and a feeling of fear flooded my entire body.

I groaned.

“When was the last time you turned?”

Even if I could have responded to his question, I didn’t want to because the answer was clear.They allknew the answer.

“Damn it, boy! Get a grip!”

I had snapped Alarik’s thread of patience because he grabbed me and shook me even harder until I opened my eyes and sank into the hard padding of the leather couch, overwhelmed.

Alarik let go of me, leaving me alone, but eventually came back, only to lift my head and dump a disgusting liquid that smelled like compost down my throat.

Goddammit!

I coughed violently, and the burning pain finally jerked me into the present, Alarik’s worried face in front of me. He had just given me liquid wolfsbane. Something he had shown me back then, shortly after the incident, and which I had been taking at least once a month ever since.

“Julian, we need to talk!” Alarik cursed.

But I shook my head. “What are the Quatura girls up to?”

I propped myself against the back of the chair to stand up again.

“They’re going to take away the girl’s memories.”

Shocked, I looked at Alarik.

If that was true...

“But, she’s...”

“Julian, I think you should calm down first and tell me...”

But I had no time to waste, so I jumped up and pushed past Alarik.

Whatever they would give Bayla wouldn’t work... She was one of them, and who knew how disturbed she was right now.

“Julian! Come back here, boy!”

I ignored him and stormed through the door.

“Where’s Bayla?”

Grace gave me a disparaging look before turning back to the bowl of plants. She was crouched in the middle of the girls’ room floor, waving a twig in the air. Her eyes turned from brown to greenish, beginning to glow, but then it stopped abruptly, and she looked suspiciously at me, then at Julie, who was leaning nervously against the desk, bobbing up and down.

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