Page 4 of Drop His Mask

Julian

Five Years – Three Months Ago

It was two months after Raven had told Julian the news. That she was pregnant.

Knocking drew Julian up off of his couch and towards the front door.

He wasn’t sure who he expected to be there, but it wasn’t Jayce.

Julian had been pointedly ignoring the man for weeks. Eight specifically.

“Come talk with me?” Jayce asked.

“Just get inside before anyone sees you.” Julian stepped back from his apartment’s doorway, gesturing for Jayce to join him. He needed to have this conversation either way.

Betternow than never.

Jayce didn’t pause in the living room; they couldn’t discuss anything there. There was only one place where they could talk freely.

Julian followed him into the master closet, shutting the door behind them. He knew it was suspicious, but so long as they didn’t use this room too often or stay too long they would be left alone.

“Anadil is prepping, we only have three days left. Where have you been?” Jayce’s words were soft, but his tone was harsh.

Julian turned away. “Don’t you mean Nightingale?” He spoke the question at the closet door.

Jayce grabbed his shoulders, flipping him around. “Shut the fuck up! Not even in here.”

Julian’s lips curled up cruelly. “You’re an idiot. You are going to lose the last good thing left here.”

Eyes widening in confusion, Jayce dropped his hold. “What are you talking about?”

Julian thought about it for a moment. Mulling over the words. “Night—sorry, Anadil is up to something. She has been meeting with a few men fromyour groupwithout you.” Men from the Brutality Faction. More specifically, the assholes that joined because they enjoyed fighting not because they wanted to right any wrongs in the world.

It was clear Jayce wasn’t expecting that. “What do you mean?” The words echoed around the small room.

Julian was fuming from Jayce’s ignorance. Everyone else could see that Nightingale was unhinged, that she was going to go off the rails; they just didn’t care. They wanted something to happen.Anything. But Jayce was just ignorant, blinded by his longtime friendship with the girl.

How would Jayce feel if he knew she was conspiring with more than just those in their Factions? With those that had hurt him on more than one occasion?

She had been disappearing off with Jayce’s parents, the Rogers, for hours at a time and Julian couldn’t imagine it was for anything good.

“Raven is going to get caught up in this.” Julian reached up as if to catch the words.

“Keep her name out of your disgusting mouth. You think I don’t see the way you watch her? How you ogle her? You’re fucking lucky I haven’t kicked your ass for it,” Jayce boomed, no longer confined to a softer tone.

Jayce’s temper was a flare and Julian had ignited it.

Julian reared back as if slapped, but quickly recovered. “At least I didn’t get the poor girl pregnant and keep her trapped! Put her directly in the line of danger! How soon until she’s caught up in this mess? Until Anadil turns her wrath on Raven?”

A plethora of emotions sparked across Jayce’s face–confusion, apprehension, understanding–before finally landing on anger.

“She toldyou?”

“Don’t get your panties in a twist, she was on the way to find you after our fight,” Julian sneered at him.

“That was two months ago. She told me last week.”

Ice dropped into Julian’s stomach. He had just broken their pinky promise. “She was on the way to tell you…something must have happened. What were you doing after the fight anyways?”

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