Chapter Eighteen
CASIMIR
My phone rings, and when I see it’s Ezio, I pick it up. I’d generally debate ignoring him, but when he’s in charge of Julian, I can’t do that.
“Hello?”
“Someone attacked my baby .”
I hesitate, confused about what he’s talking about. “What?”
“My car! They came out of fucking nowhere and slammed into it. I ended up flipping the car in a ditch.”
“Did they attack you then?”
“No fucking idea what they wanted. They just disappeared… but my baby! Casimir, my baby .”
“You’re not with Julian?”
“I was heading there when they attacked—you don’t… you don’t think… they were trying to slow me down, right? Maybe you need to get to Julian. I wonder if they thought the car was yours since we ride in it together…”
“Fuck,” I snap as I hang up and rush right out of the meeting I’d just been heading into. Everything here is a mess, but there’s other shit that is much more important right now.
I dash down the stairs and jump into my car. If I can get myself out of the main part of town, it’ll be faster for me to ditch the car and run, so I swerve around vehicles as I try to call Julian’s phone, only for it to ring and ring.
I should never have left Julian alone. I should have kept him with me the entire time. But it’s barely dark out. Ezio had to have left his house while it was still light out, likely using the protection his car gives, so he couldn’t have been that far behind.
But for the vampire to be there already…
Was he there all day just waiting for Julian to come back?
If I keep driving, I have to follow the road until I reach the bridge that crosses the river, which takes me away from Julian’s house, so I pull the car into a parking lot and jump out before melting into the darkness where I can run without anyone noticing me.
I race across the river and through the trees, aiming for the suburbs where I know he lives.
When I reach his house, I see the front door standing wide open and blood pooled on the driveway.
I kneel down and run my fingers through it, but it’s definitely not his blood. Did he manage to get back into the house?
Rushing inside, I go to the spare bedroom, but the metal crate stands empty.
“Julian! Julian!” a woman yells from behind me.
I turn quickly and find Julian’s mother standing in the doorway.
“Casimir! There was a vampire in his house. There’s blood on the driveway,” she says, voice shaky.
“It’s not his. Get back in your car and go home. We don’t know where he or the vampire are.”
“No, I can’t. If Julian hurt someone, it would destroy him… and if he killed someone—” Her face twists up with pain at the idea.
“Yes, and if he killed you, it would also destroy him. Get in your car. I’ll call you when I find him.”
She hesitates but slowly backs toward her car as I catch Julian’s scent. He’s bloody, so it helps me track him as I run toward the back of his house, into a field.
While it might seem like he’s running away from the city, werewolves know how to protect themselves through instinct. Sticking to the darkness and picking off people that are easy to target will be his main goal.
Running as fast as I can, I rush across the field, wishing I knew how far behind I was.
He could have been running for twenty minutes for all I know.
It depends on whether he dashed off the moment the sun set.
I hesitate as I realize his scent has shifted, telling me he must have run this way.
Following, I chase him through the darkness, the moon peering down at me, when I suddenly see a flash of movement.
My eyes fixate on him as I realize he’s stalking toward two teenagers walking down the street, oblivious to what’s moving in the shadows. Just as I hurry forward to stop him, I hear noise to my right and jerk back when that fucking vampire called Yorick moves toward me.
“Oh, no, no. Enjoy the show, Casimir,” he says, not getting close enough to engage in a fight with me. He’s smart to be wary of me because I’m prepared to kill him.
“You did this,” I growl.
Yorick laughs, like this is all just a huge joke to him. “Yes, I did! Because I know you think he’s yours, but he really does need a strong man like me to protect him. Imagine how distraught he’s going to be after gobbling up those kids!”
I rush toward him, wanting to slaughter this vampire, but he keeps dancing backward, knowing I won’t let too much distance get between Julian and me.
“What are you going to do? Chase me while he slaughters those innocent humans?”
One of them screams and I turn as the vampire cackles.
“Casimir, just remember that I get whatever the fuck I want,” Yorick says. “And right now, I want that wolf.”
I bolt forward as Julian lunges at the teenager. Trying to get away from him, she slams into the other, who goes crashing to the ground. Knowing I’m leaving my back open to the vampire, I speed over and grab on to the wolf, tearing him away before he can make a mistake that will haunt him forever.
“RUN,” I yell, and the teenager is up and fleeing with the other.
“Oh, that’s no fun!” Yorick shouts.
Julian snarls and twists as he snaps down onto my arm, jaws locking down a moment before he shakes his head, and pain tears into my limb as he breaks the bone.
He doesn’t seem pleased with mauling me and springs off, wanting to chase down the teenagers.
Rushing after him, I tear him to the ground, but in this state he’s uncontrollable.
He thrashes and twists as I hear Yorick coming for me.
My arm is healing, but it also seems to be a weak spot that Julian is trying to take advantage of.
“Let him play!” Yorick calls as I’m forced to hold Julian back to try to protect him. The man won’t stop laughing as Julian does everything in his power to break free to kill them or me. It’s whatever he needs to do to feed his desire.
Yorick knows that my arms are full and uses that to his advantage as he dashes toward me. I’m forced to drop Julian to fend him off, but before he can reach me, I see Ezio move onto the scene. Yorick draws back just as Julian bolts.
Since the teenagers have made it to their house, he seems to have become fixated on something else as he runs forward as fast as his paws can carry him.
Julian is fast, and it’s evident he’s doing everything he can to keep from being caught by me.
I don’t know if he’s caught sight of someone else or just wants to get away from me, but I have to stop him before he gets too far.
Racing forward, I grab on to him and tackle him to the ground.
He swings his head around and tries going for my throat, and while I don’t think he’s strong enough to kill me, I don’t want to hurt him while trying to get him to stop.
“Julian, stop!” I say, trying to use my aura on him. While it doesn’t work as well on weres as it does on humans, I can usually get some reaction out of them, but it doesn’t seem like he can hear me or even focus on me.
He thrashes and nearly slips out of my hands as I try my hardest to hold him still. He kicks me hard and bites me, proving to me just how strong he is.
“Julian, you’re fine. Just stop.”
He throws himself at me, knocking me back onto my ass.
Can I actually get this thing back to the house? I guess if I just start running while clinging on to him, I’d probably make it as long as that fucking vampire isn’t around to harass me into dropping him.
Julian clamps down tightly on my arm, but his struggling seems to calm a little. “Hey, Julian. Can you hear me?”
His fangs are still dug in deep, but he seems to be listening orrrr maybe he’s just enjoying the taste of my blood. Who knows, but it’s calmed him down. I hug him to me, my fingers sinking into his thick black fur.
“You done?” I ask, not quite sure he is since, to my understanding, weres remain out of control until the sun rises. “You’re not supposed to be so stubborn.”
His blue eyes flick up to mine, making me wonder if he can hear me. Running my fingers through his thick fur, I try to soothe him.
“You can’t just go chew on random people after preaching kindness.
Hell, after you complain about me threatening to off them, you can’t be the one who actually does it.
” He’s sprawled across my legs as I debate trying to unhinge his jaws from my arm.
Slowly, I reach over and try to retrieve my arm from his teeth.
Julian growls at me, but I move slowly enough that he lets me retract my arm from his mouth.
“Thank you for allowing me to have that back,” I say.
He’s still lying on top of me, watching me closely. It’s like he wants to know every single move I make, but he’s doing it quietly, so I’ll take it.
“Let’s see if we can get you home,” I say as I try to get up with him in my arms, but the moment I start to lean forward, he begins to flail, so I sit back down and he settles.
I pull out my phone and he proceeds to growl at it. “Knock it off,” I snap as I call Ezio.
“Heya!” Ezio announces.
“I see you’re still alive.”
“I sure am! The vampire seemed to think fighting the two of us wasn’t ideal and he trotted off. I tried to catch him but the fucker’s fast… and I’m going to be real honest. I think if he decided to fight and you were too far away, he’d probably kill me. Did you catch up with the fury floof?”
“I did.”
“Did he eat anyone?”
“Not yet. I have him held here but every time I try to move, he gets angry. Can you tell his mother I have him?”
“Sure, sure. What’s she look like?”
“I don’t know… a woman?”
“Oh lovely! I’m so glad you’ve graced me with such a beautiful description. What’s her name?”
“I… don’t remember! Stop asking me such stupid questions.”
“You don’t remember your future mother-in-law’s name? Oh, Casimir, you need to work on that.”
“How about you work on going to tell her he’s fine?”
“Yes, yes, excuse me while I wander the streets and tell every woman I see who might be his mother.”
“Good.”