Atlas #2
As Jeremy walks away, I can hear Julian whisper, “I’m sorry, Dad. I’m sorry.”
But Jeremy just shushes him.
“I’ll fill your mother in and meet you there,” Father adds, kissing my head briefly before breaking off to go to Abigail’s room.
The entire time that Julian is being patched up, if he is not wincing through the pain, he’s asking where I am, demanding that I stay within his line of sight.
Eventually, Jeremy moves out of the way, and I sit next to where he lies, holding his hand.
His nervous brown eyes dart back to me every few minutes, taking in everything he can see and breathing a breath of relief.
I want to tell him that it’s not his fault—that he did everything he could—but now doesn’t feel like the right time.
With six new stitches and gauze taped over his eye, Julian is done, and he sits up shakily.
Jeremy attempts to coerce Julian into sleeping in his bed for the night, but Julian throws a fit, demanding that he sleep with me in his own bed.
Surprisingly, Atticus and my father don’t fight him on it, and Jeremy gives up rather quickly. Oscar, on the other hand, lets him know that he’ll be right outside the door the entire night.
I balance Julian’s weight on my side as I guide him to his quarters, and Jeremy kisses the crown of his head gently before departing to his own.
“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” Atticus asks as he and my father stand at the end of Hall E2.
“Yes,” I respond. “Plus, Oscar will be right outside the entire time.”
Oscar gives them a stern nod. “With a singular yell, I’ll be inside this room. If that bastard returns, you’ll know.”
That seems to bring my family some comfort, and they depart as well.
I lay Julian on his bed, leaving him in the pajama pants my father had brought to him on his way back from visiting my mother.
“Come here,” he murmurs, reaching his arms out for me.
Stripping off the bloodstained robe, I crawl in naked, letting him wrap his arms around me. As soon as we’re settled, Julian sighs.
“We’re safe,” I tell him, because I can still feel the tremors in his fingers.
“I should have… I’m sor—”
“No. Don’t even think about it,” I cut him off. “Your apology will only make me feel worse. I just want you to be okay.”
Julian sighs once more, tightening his hold on me. “Alright. You’re sure you didn’t get hurt?”
“I’m sure.”
Silence settles over us, and I listen to the sound of his heartbeat—the way it calls to mine. How it calms and soothes me with each thump.
“Julian?” I whisper after a few minutes of quietly existing together, and he shifts against me just slightly.
“Hm?” By his tone, I can tell that he’s nearing sleep.
“Thank you. For protecting me.”
“Always,” he mumbles, pressing his lips to my forehead.
It appears he doesn’t have the strength to pull away, because he falls asleep like this, breathing in my skin and resting his warm lips against me.
In any other circumstance, I would be so insanely happy. But right now, considering everything that has transpired, I just feel like a curse. A burden.
Like I’m destroying him.
As I wake, I find myself alone. The left side of Julian’s bed is cold, and panic immediately takes over me.
I leap from under the covers, pulling Oscar’s bloodstained robe back over my body and running out into the empty hall. But I can hear voices.
I follow them to the main foyer, where I find my father, Atticus, Oscar, my mother, and Julian and his father standing around awkwardly.
“Ah, there he is,” Father calls upon seeing me. “Now we can get some answers.”
“Sorry?” I mutter, eyeing Julian as I approach to make sure he doesn’t have any untreated injuries we didn’t catch last night.
Once I’m certain he’s fine, I find my spot next to him, with Atticus to my right. I feel the heavy weight of Julian’s palm landing on the small of my back, rubbing gentle circles. Everyone else in the room notices, but Julian pretends they do not.
“I refused to talk until you woke up. I… It’s not my story to tell,” Julian tells me, peering down at me with his good eye as the other is covered in fresh gauze.
I wince, turning away to look somewhere else. Seeing the destruction I caused only hurts.
All eyes are on me, expectant and patient, but as I look around, my brow furrows.
“Where is Abigail?” I ask.
“Hannah took her on a walk,” Oscar supplies, motioning for me to continue. Or, well, to start.
I clear my throat. “Yesterday, I had a flare-up. And I know I should have informed you all sooner, but an accident occurred some time ago that divulged my condition to Julian, so—”
“You mean your curse,” Atticus interrupts. “If everyone knows, there is no point in calling it a condition anymore. It’s just silly. You’re cursed, Atty.”
No one chastises him or denies it, so I nod softly and divert my gaze to the floor.
“Alright,” I concede. “Point is, he already knew of what I was dealing with, so he… he helped me.”
I’m essentially admitting to a room full of my closest relatives that I got railed by one of our employees last night. If it weren’t for Julian’s gentle rubbing on my back, I think I’d be having a panic attack.
“You don’t listen at all,” Oscar mumbles, but he’s looking at Julian, not me.
Julian shrugs.
“I guess we fell asleep after, which was my fault. I know that it comes when I’m sleeping. I’m assuming that it got angry when it saw Julian with me, and it retaliated.”
I’m not assuming anything. Julian has encountered the incubus before, and it all but told him to stay away. So, I know what the demon was feeling.
But I’m choosing to keep that piece of information, as well as the Black Book and the altar room, a secret as of right now. Not only am I convinced it will only endanger my family by knowing, but it hasn’t led us toward the cure anyway.
The start of this curse isn’t that important in my eyes—only the end.
“Well, I appreciate your help, Julian. And I’m sorry you’ve been roped into all of this,” Father says, giving Julian a soft smile.
“Sweetheart, you’re very brave. Truly. I’ll forever be grateful for how you stuck up for our boy,” Mother adds. She’s been relatively quiet until now.
“It was nothing. It was my responsibility,” Julian responds, tone level and calm.
“No,” Jeremy suddenly interjects. “It was not your responsibility. Julian, you are not cursed, and you are not a part of this family. Why would you endanger yourself like that?”
He sounds hurt, borderline betrayed, and so scared that my heart aches for him. At the end of the day, he’s not wrong.
But Julian’s face twists into a glare, his eye narrowing in on his father. “I will not sit by while he is harassed, Dad. You raised me to be kind and protective, so why are you so surprised? If I’m faced with the choice again, I’ll stand between Atlas and that thing without hesitation.”
The finality in his tone has me outright shivering.