Chapter Twenty-Six
CASIMIR
My calls and messages continually go unanswered as I rush down the hallway to find Ezio, who is sleeping.
“Ezio!”
“Hmm?”
“Julian just messaged to tell me that he and Cyrus have been attacked by Ivo.”
“What? During the day?” Ezio asks as he jerks awake.
“That’s all I have. I don’t… he won’t fucking answer his phone,” I growl as I rush downstairs and over to the garage.
“You’re going to drive there? What if Cyrus doesn’t have a garage, and you can’t get out of the car? What are you going to do, stand there and watch?” Ezio asks.
“What the fuck do you want me to do?” I can’t just… sit here and twiddle my thumbs.
“I want you to call someone who can help. Get Terrance on the phone.”
“FUCK,” I growl as I kick the end table, absolutely pissed that I can’t help. That I’m practically useless . Quickly, I call Terrance who answers almost immediately.
“Hello?”
“Julian has been attacked. I…” I turn to Ezio. “Where the fuck does Cyrus live?”
“I don’t know.”
“Isn’t it your life goal to fucking stalk him?” I growl. “How can you not know?”
“I… he asked me not to go to his home, so I don’t know! I usually meet him at his work!” Ezio says.
“What the hell is happening?” Terrance demands.
“I don’t know, but I just got a message from Julian that he was attacked at Cyrus’s house. That’s all I have. I’m going to call the department and get someone to tell me his address,” I say.
“Three of my employees didn’t come into work this morning,” Terrance informs me. “I don’t… I don’t know if something happened or if it’s related, but they’re gone and I can’t get ahold of them.”
“Fuck, that could be how Ivo is attacking them during the daylight… he could be making the wolves do it. Do you have any way of tracking them or Julian?”
“I don’t, but his mom does. She has access to his phone and car’s location in case he ever shifts during a full moon and she has to find him,” he says. “I’ll call her and tell you what I find out.”
I pace the house as I wait for the call before going into the garage and getting in my car to wait. A few moments later, I get a text from Terrance that gives a location and an “I’m headed there now. I’ll let you know what I find.”
Ezio gets into the car with me as I look over at him before saying, “You know it’s not the safest to do this.
If the car failed or something happened, we’d be locked in here and die.
You can stay here.” The car really is only supposed to be used at dawn or dusk, when the sunlight isn’t high enough to cause any damage.
Even with the windows as coated as they are, they’ll likely cause discomfort as I drive.
“I’m not staying here and letting you play hero alone…
even if we’ll likely become crispy,” he mutters as he pulls his hood up and tugs it as tight as he can so I can only see his eyes which are covered in sunglasses.
“Let’s go, but I swear to god if you run out to do…
something and burn to a crisp, I get your house. ”
“The house goes to Gustov, but you or Julian may live in it to care for him,” I say as I open the garage door and back out into the driveway. I can feel the sun on my skin as Ezio groans.
“Oh fucking hell, I’m going to be burned to a crisp,” he moans as he climbs into the back seat and curls up in a ball on the floor. “Alert me when it’s safe.”
He is hundreds of years younger than me, so it’s not a surprise it’s affecting him worse than me, but why does it have to be so goddamn sunny? I don’t think there’s a cloud in the sky as the sun beats down on us with clear vengeance.
Better question is, why was I so fucking stupid earlier? If I hadn’t been in that stupid fight with Julian, we could have gone earlier to get Cyrus. He wouldn’t have been alone.
What if he dies? What if I can’t get to him in time?
What if, after five hundred years, I’ve finally found someone who makes me wake up every morning and think about something other than how much I hate myself? And what if that’s taken away from me? Just like that.
“Julian is tough as hell,” Ezio mutters from his huddle.
“I know he is.”
“He’s tougher than you and your weak common sense.”
“I’m aware,” I grumble, unsure what the jab was for.
“He’s going to be fine is all I’m saying.”
“He better be or it’s your fault.”
“My fault! Why the fuck is it my fault? Are you just jealous you didn’t get to give him tummy rubs? Have you gotten to rub your face all over his fluffy tummy yet? It’s like little clouds of heaven.”
“I’m going to roll your window down if you don’t shut up.”
In the rearview mirror, I see the ball Ezio is in tighten. “Fucking hell, man. You’re so mean!”
I growl at him so he can be well aware how “mean” I am.
As I turn onto the street, my eyes are instantly drawn to the pack of wolves fighting behind the house.
They’re a good distance from the road, but I can see them…
and I can see that Julian isn’t winning this fight.
And just as I decide that I’m going to jerk my car off the road and run the fucking wolves down for touching him, they stop.
“Aww! My Cyrus is so sexy with his gun!” Ezio coos.
I see a car speeding off and realize that Cyrus must have driven the man off.
The vampire must have gotten far enough away to stop the control he had over the wolves.
I would love to chase him, but it’s not like I can get out of the car to murder him, and right now, I care more about Julian, who is lying on the ground in the middle of the wolves.
“Something’s wrong with Julian,” I say as I realize he’s not getting up. “He’s hurt…”
I need to get out of this fucking car. I need to get out and go to him. I need to help him, I need to save him from the pain that seems to be tearing through him as he writhes on the ground, and instead, I have to sit here and just watch him.
“I’m going to drive through the fence to get to them.”
“Or we could not risk busting the windshield,” Ezio says as he lays on the horn. I see Cyrus look over at the car and then rush to tug Julian.
“Why don’t you get out of the car and get the garage door open?” I bark.
“Ah yes, let me die a senseless death.”
“Something’s wrong with Julian.” Anxiety is eating at me as I’m forced to sit there and watch.
“Yes, and something more will be wrong with him if you get us killed! Look, Cyrus is running back to the house,” he says as I see Terrace racing across the field, all while I sit here, unable to do anything.
The garage door opens, and I quickly drive around Cyrus’s car to get in before he shuts it. I grab for the door when Ezio clutches my wrist. “Make sure everything is sunproof first!”
“It’s fine,” I growl as I jump out.
Cyrus looks a bit alarmed. “Stay in the car for now. My curtains are open, but Julian says he needs you. I… I don’t know what’s going on,” he says, and it dawns on me what it is.
“They need to get him to me now,” I demand.
“They’re coming. Just stay here,” he instructs as I hear the front door of the house open. I rush forward, needing to get to Julian before the silver kills him. Why did it strike him so quickly? Did something make it happen sooner than it should?
The sun leaking in through the windows burns me as I rush over to Terrance standing in the doorway with Julian in his arms. I pull him to me body limp in my arms as I lower him to the ground.
I tear into my wrist, ripping it open as blood spills out of me and onto his face. “I’m here. I’m sorry.” I press it against his lips. He’s not swallowing, he’s not even responding. “Come on, Julian, come on,” I beg as I gently smack his face, wanting to jar him awake.
“What are you doing?” Ezio asks as I realize Terrance and Cyrus are also watching us, but I don’t care. I have to protect him. I have to do something for him.
“Julian, please, wake up,” I say as I shake him. He gasps and chokes on the blood that’s filled his mouth before swallowing it. Then he desperately grabs for me as he swallows more blood.
“Well, isn’t this fascinating,” Ezio says. “Boy, Casimir, you sure do like to get yourself wound up in some… peculiar situations.”
Julian lets go of me as I heal and the blood flow stops, but at least he’s not writhing around and his heartbeat seems to have steadied.
“Julian?” I ask, but though he roused briefly to drink, he’s still unconscious in my arms. I just want him to wake up. I want him to show me he’s fine. Gently, I brush my fingers over his face, but he feels warm and his breathing is steady.
Fuck. Why have I been so foolish? No, I don’t deserve him. I don’t deserve a man so nice and sweet and funny, but I want to be greedy. Just this once, can’t I be selfish? I’ve hated myself for so long, so can’t I have just this?
“He… he still has silver in him… from when he was attacked?” Ezio asks. “How the hell could that happen? How could it not kill him?”
Terrance looks down at his hand that looks like it’s been burned, telling me he got some of Julian’s blood on him, but he stays silent.
“I didn’t think vampire blood could affect a wolf,” Cyrus says.
I ignore them, not caring about any of that, only caring about the man in my arms as I pull him onto my lap. I run my finger over his neck where he’d been bitten, but the wound isn’t severe.
“Come on, get out of this room. You can… hide in my closet,” Cyrus offers as he starts trying to drag me. I really don’t care about the burning sensation on my skin. All I care about is that Julian is with me and he’s going to be okay. He has to be okay.
Oh.
And that I’m going to rip Ivo apart piece by fucking piece.