Page 71 of Blood Moon
“Well.” I sighed. “I’m jealous. It’s not fair that you get super cool abilities,” I said. I moved around the room again, this time touching a sansevieria and a monstera, questioning how he had the time to keep all these plants alive.
“You shouldn’t be,” Julian said. “I’m sure there are plenty of persuasive traits about you.”
I rolled my eyes and plopped onto his two-seater. “Like being prey?” I mumbled, regretting the statement. I didn’t want to think about the deadly target I had on my head. Not right now. But it was unavoidable, a neon sign with arrows pointed toward me.
Julian cleared his throat and offered me tea. When I agreed, he placed the drink on the table and reached over his bed to open the window. The autumn wind rolled in a pleasant breeze that smelled of burning wood and rotting leaves.
“Wanna watch a movie, or would you prefer to continue talking?” he asked, turning the TV to face his bed before sitting. There was a good amount of distance between us, and I pondered why that was before understanding the lack of room on the couch. If he sat beside me, we’d be thigh to thigh due to his long limbs.
“Movie,” I said, my voice almost withering in the quiet. I was so drained from talking, from thinking, from simply acknowledging this reality.
Julian made space for me on the bed, and without hesitation, I kicked off my Vans, climbed up, and pressed my back against the wall.
“What should we watch?” I asked, and the way he looked at me tore into my flesh. He carried a blame he didn’t need to. This happening wasn’t his fault—like he’d said days ago,thiswas bigger than us.
“Anything. I have access to all of it.”
I scowled, wondering how that was possible. “Any esteemed recommendations from you then, since you have it all?” I said, taking a sip of tea.
Julian snickered.
“What?”
He held a knuckle to his lips. “Okay, so they’re not completely accurate, but there are some fun movies about werewolves.”
“Fun or scary? There’s a stark difference.”
“Oh, right.” He paused. “Would it be too much? I know you’re still processing, and we can watch—”
“No, it’s okay,” I said, determined not to let the knowledge of immortal creatures scare me. If I was being hunted, I didn’t want to wander around sightless and afraid. Perhaps these movies could give me insight, even if they weren’t entirely accurate as Julian said. It was better to know than to be left in the dark.
“You sure?”
“Yes,” I quipped. “Very sure.”
Julian raised his brows. “Okay,” he muttered and then retrieved his phone. After pressing around on the screen, he handed it to me. In the web browser, Julian had searched “werewolf movies,” and while I looked at all of the results, he pointed out a few of his favorite options.
We decided onVan Helsing, an early 2000s movie about a hunter named Van Helsing who found himself tasked with the impossible mission of traveling to Transylvania to kill Dracula and his brides, while also protecting the last of an ancient Romanian bloodline. And no, it wasn’t lost on me how closely the storyline resembled my own life.
Julian made popcorn, and as the movie played, we found ourselves drifting toward the center of the bed. It held the best view—no more straining my neck—and between scenes, I took note of how Julian watched me from the corner of my eye. It wasn’t continuous, or unnerving. It was as if he were measuring me, speculating on what my reactions would be to a film he’d probably seen hundreds of times.
And when I finally returned his stare, he smiled, and so did I.
At some point, Julian tossed me a pillow. I laid my head on it while the motion picture flicked through colors and images, scooched close to Julian’s thigh. His pillow smelled like a sunset. A sweet tangerine. The faint scent of earth and burnt oak. And I wasn’t falling asleep,I wasn’t,but my breathing eased into an even rhythm.
Julian was still sitting upright when I glanced up at him, but his head rested on the cinder block wall, mouth partially open, hair falling away from his face in waves. Sleep had conquered him, but I cast no judgments. At almost an hour into the movie, we still hadn’t reached the climax.
And Iwasn’tfalling asleep. I wasn’t. But with the midnight air rushing through the window, and the soft sound of Julian inhaling and exhaling beside me, I felt a sense of serenity, a wall of protection. Something I’d been without.
Easily now, I drifted into tranquility, hypnotized by the music and sounds of the film, until I was far gone, my thoughts coaxing me into another dimension.
CHAPTER35
Oh, little wolf. You grew too fast; we both did.
Article I, Lost Letters from Aadan the First
In a hushed slumber, a memory came.
