Page 47 of Blood Moon
“Hmm. Right.That.” He carried on like nothing happened.
“You’re being strange,” I muttered.
“How is sitting next to you strange?”
I hissed. “Since when is it normal?”
He shrugged, relaxed. “I thought we were becoming friends.”
I looked at him pointedly, my hands curving into fists. “We’re not friends. I’m not sure what makes you think that.”
He tilted his head. “You don’t have theslightestidea?” There was a sanguineness about him, a cheekiness in the smirk on his face as he sat up. “I feel like we know each other so well. Potentially more than that.”
I knew what he was getting at, what path he wanted me to go down. I deviated swiftly, recalling the words he murmured after we kissed. “You said you were going to be honest. So, what is this? What are you doing right now?”
Julian slunk back in his seat, sucked in a breath. It was only then that I noticed a gold chain peeking through the opening of his ivory shirt and falling down his chest, comparable to the one Seven wore. “You’re right. You got me there. That is what I said.”
“Own up to it then. This is your chance to tell me the truth, to tell me everything.”
Beneath the light that cut through the long windows, I watched his form go rigid. A tap of the foot. A squeeze of his pencil. A bob in his throat. “If you guess correctly—”
“Youcan’tbe serious.” I gasped, my words sharp. “I’m not playing this game with you. It’s now or it’s now. Those are your options.”
“Mira, wait. Give me a second.” He fixed himself. “Listen. I want to tell you. Something is on the verge of happening, and you deserve to know. But the oath,” he said through his teeth. “It prohibits me from saying anything outright. So, if you—”
“If I guess,you’ll tell me.”
He took a breath. “Yes.”
My body thudded with anticipation. Every question came rushing to, and still, I had no idea where to start. Minutes passed as I chewed at my lip, toes curled at the tip of my shoes.
Magic was knotted in this, only I was unsure how. My speculations had spiraled after what I’d seen in the woods. Julian, and those men, disappeared. The idea of a werewolf would be in accordance with the folklore of Timber Plains, but I needed more evidence. Solid evidence. Although the moon and an ominous higher power were mentioned in the conversation I’d overheard from my snooping, it wasn’t enough for me tobelievewerewolves existed, and were behind this. Any number of religions could encompass those very things. Paranormal creatures were a wilder thought, a bit too far from reality.
Perhaps witches or a cult. A stretch, I knew that much, but it would explain my family heirloom, along with the rabid animals and the deaths. Maybe this cult collected souls as a means for power and spell casting, using the wolves or bears as a tool to retrieve them. The notion wasn’t that outlandish, considering the various documented cases of cults in the surrounding Kansas City and Timber Plains area. It would justify what Rena was trying to cover up and her connection to the woods. It would explain Julian’s as well, and the oath he was tied to.
In fear, I didn’t feel right suggesting my assumptions out loud. I needed to conduct a process of elimination first.
“It’s okay.” Julian startled me. He’d leaned in, shoulder close to mine. I thought it was an attempt to rush me, pull the thoughts from my head like clothes strung on a line. But on a second glance, I grasped the exhaustion in his eyes, pooling at the edges of his irises. He continued, this time with a gentleness: “Anything … Ask me anything.”
I drew my attention away from him, took a moment to listen in on the lecture, but it was impractical. “What happened to you?” I pointed to the bandage and the scar on his face. It was an easier place to start.
“Got in a fight,” he said apprehensively; his fingers twitched.
“With who?” I considered one of the guards that lingered in Chase’s shadows.
“A brother.” So perhaps Chase?
“Why?”
He gripped his pen. “He thinks I’m weak.”
I’d seen the way he stood before Chase. Though he had men protecting him, Julian had an essence about him that appeared more threatening. “You don’t believe that, do you?”
“No. I’ve been at odds with my family, breaking vows because we don’t see eye to eye. They’ve always had different plans for me … but this threat is bigger than that, and I’ve refused to see it the same way as them until now …” He trailed off, like he was still trying to convince himself. If this was a cult, or a coven, perhaps he didn’t want to be involved anymore? Briefly, I felt a twinge of sympathy.
“What was it that—” I was interrupted by the sound of someone shushing us. They sat in the row behind, probably unable to concentrate. We’d been rather distracting for some time now, I understood, but it was still agitating.
“Later,” Julian whispered.
