Page 49 of Blood Moon
“No, you don’t have to do that.”
His gaze pressed in on me. “I want to.”
A nod, and I entered the room, finding a seat next to Naomi. At the sight of me, her brows furrowed, lips puckered. She wanted to know why I looked unwell, but I uttered something trivial. The idea of Julian being superhuman burned at me. Maybe he drew his strength from sorcery? Even if it were illogical, it made sense. Still, I needed more answers.
When class came to an end, Julian was where he promised he’d be.
Naomi paused, fascinated by his presence; she fixed a smile to her face as she stared into the depths of my soul, willing me to read her mind. I knew what she wanted to say, but instead, she went for my hand, squeezed it. “I’ll see you later,” she murmured. It wasn’t until she passed Julian that she mouthed, “FUCKING LOVE TRIANGLE!”
A ragged breath escaped through my nostrils as I pinched a smile.Fucking Naomi.
The corners of Julian’s mouth curved into a peculiar grin as if holding back a laugh, as if he knew. He swallowed hard, cleared his throat. “Where to next?”
“The dining hall. I’m meeting my roommate for lunch.”
“What was her name again?”
“Stevie.”
“Oh, right. I remember her from the party.”
A memory came. A faded image of Julian carrying me to my room, tucking me into bed. The whispered sound of his apology. “By the way, thanks for making sure we got home safe. I should’ve had more water that night.”
“Seemed like you had fun,” he said. “And maybe I’d like to think that you’d give me the benefit of the doubt one day.”
“Maybe,” I mumbled, knowing how difficult it would be to promise anything to Julian.
Outside, we strolled down the long sidewalk that curved through campus, and I surveyed Julian, inquiring once more what he’d meant when he’d proclaimed his bones were different.
He chuckled. “It’s hard to explain, but trust me, they are.”
I pursed my lips. Paused. Un-paused. Shifted my bag. “I—”
“Trust me,” he said again. “They are.”
I scratched at my head and kept walking. “Okay … fine. The other day, in the woods, were you actually following me?”
“No,” he said, and almost immediately, there was something different about him. His muscles were rigid beneath his shirt, hands clenched into fists. The remainder of his sentence came out with a bite: “I was following something else.”
I tracked Julian’s line of sight, peering through a sharp ray of sun to find the cause of his sudden shiftiness. Illuminated with a smile and coming toward us was Seven.
The moment I greeted him, he was already lifting me into a warm hug. “Mira! How the hell have you been?” In a second breath, “Are you good?” he whispered, and I assumed he’d asked in regard to Julian, and the awkwardness of his stance. It dawned on me then that Julian and Seven weren’t friends, and I wondered what Julian’s side of the story might be.
“I’m good,” I said quickly, letting go.
He touched my arm, held it there. “We should hang out soon. It’s been a minute.”
“That would be nice; we should,” I agreed, and when he dropped his hand, I glanced at Julian. His jaw was tight, his expression choleric.
“I’ve got to catch my next class, but I’ll text you,” Seven promised, and my focus was pulled back to him. As he parted, he bumped into Julian’s shoulder with a pointed smirk. A look I’d never seen from him before.
Julian’s voice was low, and he didn’t move, only declared over his shoulder, “Watch where you’re going.”
Seven paused. When he turned around, he rested his hands in front of him, weaving his fingers together as if waiting. “Or what?” he egged, smiling like he possessed all the confidence in the world.
Julian faced him. “Come on,” he said through gritted teeth. “You don’t want to do this.”
“Nah. I’m begging you to try me.”
