Page 58 of Blood Moon
“Yes.” I said it without meaning to.
He grinned. “Perfect.”
Focus was impossible. The lecture tunneled in one ear and out the other. It was a revelation that Julian could track animals, and it consumed me like an angry tide. I was back to square one, scribbling down every fact I knew:
He has unbreakable bones (he jumped from a cliff)
He’s fast (had I imagined the cup thing?) He had to be fast if he caught me that day
He can track animals by smell??? Superhuman, super strength?
Literally disappeared in the woods
My chest heaved, and I released the pen to grab my phone. I slunk into the seat to search whether humans had the ability to track animals. While it wasn’t common, itwaspossible. However, directly following that answer was this:Humans can’t track scents as effectively as hounds.
Hounds as in canines. As inanimals.
Shit.I gulped and my hands trembled at the possibility of what that could mean … of the reality I resisted due to my own obstinate views. But before I could dive further, I was called on by the professor—one reason I loathed smaller classes.
I found myself in a haze once class ended, meandering the halls.As in animals,I considered again. The reminder led me closer to the folklore of this godforsaken town. It wasn’t something I wanted to believe. Doing so would cast me in the same light as the townsfolk with their signs; it would transport me to a space in time when I was enamored with the lore, when I’d clung to every word my mother had spoken of it. It had the potential to tear me apart. If the accounts in that book I’d stolen were true, if Julian’s statements were true …
After Environmental Science, I was surprised to find that Julian wasn’t waiting for me. I’d become too expectant. A pity, really. But once I rounded the sidewalk on the Campus Center, I saw him perched on the edge of the Founders’ Fountain. The sun shone brilliantly on the back of his neck, his forehead. Water splashed over the edge of the fountain, marking his tawny-colored shirt. Directly behind him, the statue of the Timberwolf sat with a sort of regality.
I controlled my breathing, trying to find the words. “Making new friends?” I managed to say, an assessment perhaps more apparent to me than him.
“Friends or enemies? I’ve got plenty of both,” he said, picking at the petal of a flower he’d captured.
Sweat trickled down my back, beneath my armpits. “That’s concerning,” I muttered, and he shrugged and kicked off the fountain, releasing the petal to the wind.
I observed Julian closely as we walked to the Student Center. He was as human as they came. There were no claws. No patches of fur peeking from the collar of his shirt or on his forearms. No fangs or whiskers. He wasn’t like the book described, nor what the people in town had suggested.
“You’re quiet.” It was the first thing Julian said as we entered the dining hall. The space wasn’t as busy as I’d hoped it would be. A few people sat in booths and tables. Sharp light painted shapes on the wooden floor.
“Am I?” I scratched the side of my head. “Lots of thoughts, I guess.”
Julian squinted, but didn’t say what he was thinking. Instead, he pointed to a small booth toward the back of the hall, facing a window. It was away from the majority of people and much too intimate. “How about there?” he asked, and I pressed my lips together as I hurried to search for a spot that was in closer proximity to the exit … and possible witnesses.
I spotted an empty table close to a group of faculty members eating a late lunch. “How about here instead?”
Julian didn’t oppose, which made me feel a little less apprehensive. He simply set his things down before splitting to get food.
I was unwell. Panic seeped from every pore on my body as I glossed over the food selections before me. How could one eat with this amount of stress? Everything looked gross and smelled awful—eventhe cake. And I loved cake.
But I needed to play the part, get a grip on myself, remain calm, so I settled for a baked potato and a fizzy drink.
My heart pounded each second Julian was away. There was an exigent need to escape, to ditch this place and run to my dorm. I could pack a bag, never return—fulfill the request Julian had begged of me all those days ago.
And I almost did, but the moment I pushed away from the chair, he returned. On his tray was an array of everything.
“This is nothing for me,” Julian explained, noticing the scrunch in my nose. It wasn’t that I was judging him, more that I was curious how he planned to tackle it all before the next class.
I nudged my potato with a fork. “Whatever makes you happy.”
He smiled to himself.
“What?”
“This sudden change in you is quite remarkable. Usually, you’re all wit, and now you have this deer-in-the-headlights look on your face. You haven’t asked me a single question. Something’s gotten into you, Bells?”
