Page 88 of Blood Moon
“My feet will be fine, they’ll heal. Yours won’t.” He placed them by my feet, and I stepped in, swiping the rain from my eyes.
“Thank you,” I said, my voice sunken, lips trembling as the rain showed no signs of relenting. I hated this version of myself, so emotionally frail. It was impossible for me to stop once I got started. Throat thick with sorrow, I said, “And thanks for … for everything. You saved my life again.”
“It seems that keeps happening, huh?” Julian’s words were almost stolen by rainfall, so I moved closer.
“You don’t get it. My existence prior to this was mediocre at best. My mother leaving was emotionally jarring, and it wounded me inside and out, but I’ve never been a magnet to anything this detrimental. I just can’t comprehend why this is happening now. If my blood is so precious, wouldn’t they have come sooner? I’ve had eighteen years of living.”
“You don’t think you’ve ever experienced anything out of the ordinary?”
“No.”
He looked at me, tilted his head.“Really?”
“Why are you looking at me like that? Yes, really. I feel like I’d know,” I said, and doubt came rolling in at the same time as I stepped in a puddle, mud splattering my legs.
“I think you’re oblivious to it. That necklace you were wearing—it’s a ward, remember? It stops people with the intention of hurting you from doing so. Do you know how much that encompasses? It’s not just physical harm, Mira, it’s magical harm, too.” I’d already considered the oddity of the family heirloom, questioned how Rena got her hands on something so powerful.
“But I haven’t worn that necklace every day of my life. Plus, Julian, this is all new to me. You were born into this world, and I’ve only discovered it in the last two weeks.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.” He winced again, and we decelerated. “I’m trying to find a way for you to understand that … that I don’t believe you’ve been sheltered from this world the way you think you have.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean, while yes—this is all new to you, and you haven’t had to wear that necklace everyday—it’s also possible that someone close to you kept the scent of your blood hidden from creatures like us.”Hidden?Had Rena been capable of doing something as adept as that?
“Hidden how?” I asked, but we came to a halt. In front of us was a mature cottonwood tree, a hollowed-out hole in the base. Without hesitance, Julian reached inside, pulling out a navy hiker’s bag, covered in leaves.
“It’s an emergency station,” he said, answering my question before I asked. “For cases like these.” There was a tent inside the bag, along with supplies, dry goods, and water.
A break from the storm came. Still, it was a challenge to assemble the tent with water dripping into our eyes and mouths from the hoarding leaves above. Julian was also in an unspeakable amount of pain. He wouldn’t admit it outright—we were comparable in that way—but I witnessed it all: the way his jaw twitched as he bit down in agony, the limp he’d developed from the uneven path we’d trekked, the fresh blood still coming from a wound at his side. He was down an arm, spine bending with each step. He refused to see how every part of him was falling apart. Aside from a few bumps and bruises, my ankle was the only thing in a substantial amount of pain. If I swallowed hard, it subsided enough to ignore.
“I’ll take it from here.” I gently pulled the poles from Julian. He tried to refuse, this I foresaw. Likewise, I was convinced he’d start a fight with me, perhaps remind me how ungrateful I was, but for once, heneededme, and this was the only power I had.
Like a sad weed, he gave in, released his grip. Head down, he staggered to the tree and leaned against it while he held his arm.
I allowed myself a single breath before I went to work. Once the tent was pitched, we rushed inside, escaping the new downpour. Julian unpacked a battery-operated lamp and turned it on. Soon, he was tossing a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt in my direction.
There was a single towel, which we shared, drying off as much as we could. I set Julian’s shoes to the side and gave him a look.
“What?” he said, mouth half-full as he peeled open a granola bar with his teeth.
“Thanks for the clothes. If you could …” And I signaled a turning around motion with my fingers. “… that would be great.”
He chuckled as he turned around, the sound almost incredulous. I hadn’t heard him like this in days. “Some things never change, huh?” he said, and just like that, I was remembering it all. Those last moments of being draped around him, like the wind touching the surface of water. Head against his shoulder, nose close to his neck. Fingers brushed my hair before I woke; his thumb lingered above my cheekbone. If time had been forgiving, I would have crawled into his skin, relived those last two days from his perspective. Maybe then, I would’ve been prepared for when he inevitably pulled away.But we were only friends …
The rain drummed against the tent, and I almost broke the zipper of the gown as I tried to get out of it. “Julian, what happened?” I asked, and when the words came, they stung as they forced themselves out. “Was it something I did?” He’d been so avoidant, heavily guarded, but that wasbefore.Before we were on the run. Before he’d stretched himself around me to keep me safe as we tumbled in his car. And he just kept saving me. I didn’t know how much more of it I could take.
“It was because of me,” he said.
“That’s so bogus,” I said, dressing in the clothes Julian had given to me. They smelled of wet wood and dead grass. “And you know it.”
“I know it sounds that way, but—”
“But,”I interrupted.
“I’m not supposed to be around you. Because of …” he trailed off, facing me as he sensed I was dressed.
My shoulders folded in, and I sank further into the ground, so exhausted from simply existing. “So, itwasme,” I said, my voice timid and small beneath the sound of rain.Of course, it was.
