Page 26 of Blood Moon
Julian looked at me sharply. A flash of something there. But then he turned away again.
I sighed. “Were you born a dick, or has that personality trait come naturally for you?”
He smirked.Progress.
“Why are you so adamant that I leave LLU? Are you scared of me? Did I destroy your ego in a past life and that’s why you can’t stand to look at me?”
Nothing.
“Entertain me, Julian. I’mrighthere. Tell me, how does me leaving benefit you, since you want it so badly?”
“It doesn’t benefit me at all,” he said, still refusing to meet my eyes.
I didn’t believe him. Every conversation we’d had, he’d made it crystal clear that he didn’t want me here, that it wasn’t safe, so how would me leavingnotbenefit him? He needed to make it make sense.
I clenched my jaw, trying to bite down the rage the clawed at my skin. “Please.” I dropped my voice. “At the very least, can you tell me why it’s not safe for me here?” That was the real answer I wanted. “If this was truly about my safety, I deserve to know what’s coming. A threat like that is entirely too large to walk away from, but you did—youhave, twice. I need answers. You have to give me something.” A blink and a shrug, and I snapped, banging my fist onto my notebook. “What did I do to you?!”
Julian pivoted; the suddenness brought a draft that made me flinch. He leaned in with a look so close and scalding, my face burned. I had to turn away from him. “You got to play your little game, and now it’s my turn to speak. Look at me,” he demanded, but I refused.
His voice lowered. “Look at me…” I was compelled, turning to face him. I was met with a sneer. “I want you to see me when I tell you this because I’ll only say it once.You did everything.Your miserable existence is my demise. The longer you stay here, the more I hate you. And there is nothing you can do—besides leaving—that will change that. You have been warned, Mirabella. Do you understand?” He said it with a madness I’d never seen in anyone but myself. But there was no chance to respond; he’d fled, taking all his things.
My vision blurred into a blankness, still staring at where he’d been as tears fell sloppily onto my cheeks. It was the first moment where I truly wished I’d packed my things, left, and never returned.
CHAPTER15
In a universe complete with wonders, still, I dreamed of a new world.
Article I, Lost Letters from Aadan the First
Small stretches of white light filtered in and out through a lattice of leaves. Somewhere, tucked in the sky, was the sun, only the forest refused to share it.
Nearby, a stream bubbled over slick rocks, curving gently to the bend of the forest, and I stood close by, listening to something moving with tenacity against the moss-covered earth and tangled weeds.
I breathed in, unable to take a step forward, unable to face whatever thing had come up behind me. But the sound came to a halt, and with it, so did the life of the forest.
And in front of me, like a vision, was Rena. Pale brown skin and flowing black hair danced around her. Had she always looked this way, or was I seeing a distorted version of her?
Her long, white nails were like an arrow as she pointed behind me.
I turned reluctantly, panic at the tip of my tongue. Tucked in theshadows of the shrubs were red eyes and sharp white teeth. A venomous growl.
When I turned back to my mother, she was already gone, running.
My heart pulsed in my ears, and I followed her, trying my best to catch up, but she was going too fast, and I caught bits and pieces of her body cutting in and out past thick tree trunks.
Only then, at the realization that I couldn’t catch up to her, did I heave. I was losing her again, and it scared me more than whatever was behind me. I screamed out for her, but she kept going, kept running.
In an instant, the forest was absent of light, too dark to make out my own hand in front of me. Nothing but the sound of my broken breath, echoing far and wide.
“Please,” I cried out. “Please come back.”
She didn’t stall, didn’t bother turning around. She wasn’t coming back. It was never about my safety; it was because she couldn’t stand to face the truth …
“Mira,” a voice whispered from the nape of my neck. It sent a wave of chills down my spine.
There was no time to move, to scream. Fingers as cold as ice yanked me around, and before I could look, the monster sank their teeth into my neck, drinking me in and dragging me to the ground.
I jerked awake, wheezing in bouts of air as my heart squeezed and tears pricked my eyes. I clamped my mouth with my hands, silently giving in to the way the crying took over my body, hoping the sounds were muffled enough to not wake Stevie.
