Chapter Seventeen
JULIAN
My phone rings just as I’m pulling into my driveway.
It’s not dark yet, seeing as it’s seven thirty, but the sun will be setting here in twenty minutes.
I know I didn’t give myself much time, but I wanted the least possible amount of time to be alone before Ezio arrived.
As long as I’m in the house before dark and locked inside the metal crate before the moon can fully be seen, I’ll be fine.
“Hey, Mom,” I say as I answer the call.
“You’ve been suspiciously quiet lately. Have you deserted me for your phenomenal new boyfriend?”
“Ah, I forgot to tell you that was a joke,” I say as I grab my laptop bag and fast-food bag from the passenger seat.
Mom’s quiet long enough that I start to assume I lost the call.
“You… there?” I ask.
“Oh, I was just trying to mentally prepare myself. There was like… this moment where I was like ‘My beloved son would never lie to me and make me regret so many things that happened in my past.’”
“‘That happened’? Oh, is this about you telling Casimir you wanted him to suck the life out of you?”
“I did not tell him that. I said that in confidence and your brother ran off and told everyone who would listen.”
“And one of those people who chose to listen was my poor Casimir. He said he’s not sure he can even look you in the eyes again. It’s… traumatic. I’m not looking forward to our wedding where he has to face you again.”
“I can’t believe you lied to me.”
“Well… we did it in an attempt to help the vampires and weres get along. I’m… not positive it’s working but it’s sure doing something! You should see the look on Dad’s face every time he sees me! And I was going to tell you sooner, but I was having far too much fun.”
“Just… keep your nose out of things and be safe. It really sounds like you’re not. Oddly, it sounds like you’re looking for trouble.”
“I’m being super safe.”
“You better be. You want me to come over tonight?”
“No, a big bad vampire is actually going to sit with me.”
“That’s… good, I guess… I’m just worried that you’re getting caught up in things that could get you involved in something dangerous.”
I definitely won’t tell her about being chucked out the window… or being attacked in the woods… or dear god, the bomb . “I’m being super safe.”
“And the way you said that makes me feel like you’re not.”
“Super-duper safe.”
“You’re causing me stress.”
“Nah, don’t be stressed,” I say as I walk into the house and set my bags down. “I’m going to try to eat really quick before I go climb into my hidey-hole.”
“Okay. If you need me, let me know.”
“I will. I’ll make sure to howl loud enough for you to hear.”
“You better.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too,” she says before hanging up.
The smell of this cheeseburger is calling to me, so I grab it and pull it out as I text Casimir to ask how things are going.
He responds with “Dreadfully,” so I really can’t tell if things are actually going poorly or if he’s being dramatic…
which, let’s be honest, any time Casimir has to interact with others, he thinks it’s going dreadfully.
It does make me wonder why he’s the leader of the territory if he hates people.
Just as I’m finishing up dinner, my phone rings again, and I see it’s Mom.
“I swear I just talked to you,” I tease.
“I was turning on the camera for your spare bedroom,” Mom says.
It was one stipulation she’d made for allowing me to do my full moon shift alone.
I refuse to let her stay in the house because I’m paranoid something will happen and I could attack her, but she worries about me being here alone.
So we compromise by keeping a camera in the room where she can keep an eye on me to make sure I don’t escape…
I’m not quite sure what she’d do if I did escape, but maybe she has an arsenal of tranquilizer guns I don’t know about.
“Yeah?”
“Your vampire friend… you didn’t mention they were already in the house.”
I toss the fast-food wrapper in the trash can. “No, he’s coming once it gets dark.”
“Then who the fuck is in your spare room?”
I hesitate as the question hits me. “What… do you mean?”
I take in a deep breath, pushing past the smell of the food that I’d been fixated on, and realize that I can smell another scent. “I have to call Casimir,” I say as I quickly hang up.
“Ohhh, don’t call Casimir,” Yorick says as he steps out of the spare room and into the hallway.
There’s no fucking way he’d just gotten here. He must have been here since last night. And while sunset is minutes away, his age and the cover of the house are offering him enough protection that it doesn’t seem to matter to him.
The issue is that Ezio can’t get here. Not yet. Not when he probably hasn’t even been able to leave his home yet.
I quickly try to hit Casimir’s number, but Yorick reaches me faster than I can do anything and chucks my phone.
His eyes are fixated on me like a dog watching a rabbit. “Why don’t you like me, Julian? I mean… maybe I threw you out the window, but I knew Casimir would grab you. And you look fine to me! I also kept those vampires from tearing you apart. Honestly, I’m your knight in shining armor.”
“I don’t need a fucking knight. Get out of my house.”
Yorick grins, flashing me his fangs as fear begins to creep across my body. “Oh? Well, that’s not very fun then, now is it? Not when I want to take care of you, Julian. Come on now. This territory is about to be turned into hell and I can protect you.”
I shove him back, but he snatches up my wrist and yanks me in so I’m flush against his body. His other hand grabs a fistful of my hair, forcing my head back and exposing my throat to him. I try to pull free, but his hand holds so tightly onto me that I can’t.
“Oh, Julian, come on now. You don’t mean that… do you?” he asks before running his tongue up my throat.
Fear latches on to me. He’s going to rip into my neck, and there’s nothing I can do about it. No! I have to fight; I have to get out of this situation.
I knee him in the balls, which of course does little more than irritate him, but I was hoping it’d help him loosen his grip.
“Julian, the moon is rising. What are you going to do? You’re going to lose control, but I can protect you.”
I jerk myself free of him as I realize that what he’s saying is horrifically true.
If I’m not in that fucking metal box before the moon rises, I’ll have no control over myself.
But how the hell could I lock myself inside with him here?
Yet I have no choice. I have to get in and hope Ezio will arrive.
I have nowhere to go, so with ease, he drags me over to the window as that wild feeling of needing to shift rushes through me. “You’re going to go out there and slaughter those innocent humans because of pure stubbornness? Because you refuse me?”
“Let me go,” I beg as my eyes turn to that moon peeking out at me. There’s a war raging inside me, one of fear of the vampire pinning me against him and another of the fucking desire to shift. To run, to hunt, to fight…
No, no, no. I can’t shift. I can’t shift until I’m safe.
I’ve seen the brutality werewolves leave behind on a full moon.
I’ve gone with my father to help the people who’d been torn apart, whose loved ones had been killed while they’d been left behind with a curse that would haunt them until they die.
I can’t do that to someone.
Yorick is all smiles as he clutches onto me. “I could protect you, though. I could keep you safe. Now doesn’t that sound nice?” he asks as he kisses the top of my head.
I shudder as my body aches to shift.
“I can give you everything you ever wanted, Julian. I can treat you like a king. You would never have to live in fear. You would never have to want for anything because I’d give it all to you.”
“Let me go,” I growl, voice dripping with venom.
I feel like my wolf is trying to tear through me, rip out of my body and begin the hunt. I’m doing all I can to stamp it down, but the vampire holding on to me is causing the fear to strengthen.
Twisting hard, I escape him, but I can’t seem to get my human legs to work as I stumble and fall into the kitchen table, shoving it back a few feet as Yorick laughs. The sound is chilling, like he’s loving this as I fight against the darkness in me.
“This is impressive. I didn’t know a werewolf could hold out this long.”
I just have to hold out long enough for Ezio to get here. He won’t be long now. He’d have left his home the moment it turned dark. I can fight this uncontrollable desire down for a bit longer knowing he’ll be here soon and can help me.
“Julian, you can fight me all you want but I will not stop. And let me just say that the more you fight, the meaner I’m going to get,” Yorick says. “I’ve already decided you will be mine, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.”
“F… Fuck you,” I growl and try to rush past him, but my limbs get all jumbled and he grabs me and pins me to the wall.
“Ah, such a pretty mouth spits such nasty words.”
“I’ll kill you ,” I threaten as the wolf inside me rages wildly.
“Nah, you won’t,” he says as he grabs me and starts dragging me back toward the door.
“No! STOP! Please,” I beg.
“Why would I stop now? When you’ve been so cruel to me and said so many unkind things?” Yorick asks as he throws me forward and I hit the cement driveway.
The moon is beating down on me as I claw at my arms, trying to do anything to distract myself. I feel like I need to rip this human skin off, let the beast out to roam, but I can’t. I can’t…
Fuck.
I roll onto my side, struggling to get up as I hit the ground again, digging my nails into the driveway as I see someone in the distance, a child chasing a ball that’s rolling toward the street.
My attention is fixated on her. My desire to hunt swells up?—
“Fuck,” I growl as I tear my eyes away and struggle to my feet. I need to get back into the house. I need?—
“Julian, it’s so simple. Just come to me and I will protect you,” Yorick says as he holds his arms wide open.
“You’re the one who put me in this fucking situation!” I snarl as I fall into the side of my car. As my hand slides across the hood, I realize I’m leaving blood on it from the bloody tips of my fingers.
“Oh, but I’m also the one who can take you out of the situation. You want to attack that little girl, don’t you? Tear into her.”
I rush for the house, but he grabs me and flings me back into the driveway. As I stumble back in an attempt to right myself, he rushes forward and catches up with me before tipping my chin up.
“Let me protect you. Let me save you,” he says, like I’m not in this situation because of him.
Anger tears through me as I lunge forward, losing myself to the shift as I clamp down on his throat. I can taste the blood, feel the flesh rip as I lose all control.