Chapter 25 Julian
Chapter twenty-five
Julian
“This is ridiculous, Julian,” Jack argued, chasing after me as I searched around her room and grabbed the few things that hadn’t been covered in blood. “I can take care of myself.”
I laughed harshly. “I have no doubt about that, but this has gone too far. Even if I wanted to let you stay here,” I gave her a pointed look when she opened her mouth to argue, “which I don’t, your parents would kill me.”
“I hate to admit it, but I agree with the professor,” Tate commented from the bedroom door. “I don’t like you staying here either. I’d offer for you to come back to the dorm room—”
“But it’s even less secure than here,” I interjected before she could agree to the idea.
“They didn’t hurt me,” Jack huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “It’s just a bit of blood. Not anything I’m not used to.”
I shoved the items I’d gathered into a bag, holding it out to her as I gave her a hard stare. “Either you move in with me, or I’m calling President Fleming and pulling this mission.”
She snorted, readjusting the bundle in her arms. “Do you really think Tristen is going to pull this mission for this?”
“No,” I looked down at her, my arms over my chest, “but he’ll pull you off it. He cares more about your safety than this mission and, just like me, he doesn’t want to see you get hurt because you’re being stubborn.”
“I still don’t think I need to move in with you,” Jack growled, hitting the bag with more aggression than needed. “I could just commute from the house if I can’t stay here.”
I arched a brow at her. “Are you really going to want to go back and forth from campus? We still don’t know who the people are who are threatening you and your family. It’ll be easier to keep an eye on you if you’re staying with me.”
“And,” the wolf jumped in, “I’ll walk you to all your classes and meals.”
“This is a bit overboard,” Jack grunted. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
Placing a hand on her shoulder, I softened my gaze. “Don’t see it as being babysat. Look at it as us having your back.”
Jack’s eyes lingered on me before shifting to the wolf. Her shoulders sagged as she sighed. “Fine. I guess if I don’t have any choice in the matter.”
“You don’t,” I reiterated, ushering her toward the door. “Did you need anything else?”
Jack peered into the bag I’d given her and frowned.
Without answering, she stalked into the bathroom for a minute before coming back out and throwing the bag toward Tate.
As the wolf caught it, she proceeded to walk around the room and pull out half a dozen daggers and two more guns.
Then she reached under her bed, making me grimace as she kneeled in the blood, before pulling out another bag.
“Geez, think you’ve got enough weapons there?” Tate cocked his head to the side, a startled look mixed with awe filling his face.
“Can’t be too prepared.” Jack smirked.
“Done?” I asked.
“Yes, I’m done. Take me to my prison.” She gestured forward with an exaggerated wave of her arm.
Ignoring her jab, I walked us through the halls, shooting a warning glare at anyone who dared think to ask about the dried blood on our clothes. Once we reached the teacher’s quarters, I led us to my apartment door.
Where Abigail waited.
Great.
“Julian,” she cried out happily and then saw who was with me. Her lips turned down into a frown, her eyes moving over us. “What happened? Is someone hurt?”
“Abigail,” I said, stopping in the hallway. “Just a prank gone wrong. Don’t worry yourself about it.” I tried to brush past her, but she placed a hand on my arm.
“Julian.” She blinked up at me, a flirty expression on her face.
“I thought maybe we could have that dinner together tonight. Then maybe…” She trailed off, her eyes flicking to where Tate and Jack stood before lowering her voice and stepping in closer.
“We could have some dessert back at my apartment.”
Tate snorted.
I didn’t bother looking over at him, but I was very aware that Jack was watching this interaction very closely. Even if we weren’t together, I didn’t want her to think there was or had been anything going on between me and the other professor.
“I apologize if I gave you the wrong impression.” I shifted away from her. “But I do not think it would be appropriate for us to have dessert. I would be happy to meet to discuss anything regarding our classes or work, but I do not think you should come to my apartment anymore.”
Abigail pulled back, her hand dropping. “I… um… I’m sorry I misunderstood. I’ll just… go.” She glanced over at Tate and Jack before ducking her head and walking quickly away.
Tate walked toward me with a small smile on his lips.
“Don’t,” I quipped, unlocking the door.
He held his hands up in front of him as he walked in. “I didn’t say anything.”
Jack lingered slightly back before slowly moving toward the door too.
I touched her arm. “Durand… Jack?”
“I know.” She shook her head, giving me a tight smile. “Nothing happened. You already told me. I just… want to take a shower, okay? Get this blood off me.”
I watched her move through my place as if she belonged there. To me, she did. She dropped her bag on the counter and turned to Tate.
“If you’re good here, I’m going to check in with Kyren,” Tate began, wrapping his arms around her waist.
My jaw tightened at the movement, but I resisted saying anything.
“Maybe he’ll recognize the blood or have heard anything from the other vampires.” Tate kissed her softly, then deepened it, pressing her fully against his front.
I rolled my eyes and moved into the kitchen to get a drink.
“I know what you’re doing,” Jack said softly when they were done. “It’s childish.”
Tate chuckled. “Just making sure he remembers you’re mine, too.”
“Too?” Jack’s voice rose in pitch. “We’re not together.”
The wolf laughed again, locking eyes with me over her head with a warning look. “I know you’ll take good care of her. Or else.” He strutted out of the apartment and closed the door behind him.
Jack huffed and turned to me. “I guess… I’ll just get cleaned up.” She gathered her things and walked down the hallway to the bathroom.
I busied myself finding something I could make for dinner while listening to the sounds of her showering.
For a moment, I could pretend that we weren’t on a mission, and she wasn’t using my shower because someone threatened her.
For a moment, we were a regular couple living together, me making dinner and her showering after a hunt.
It was a pretty picture. One that, unless something changed, would never come true.
While I waited for Jack to make a reappearance, I called the guild president.
“Fawley,” his cheerful voice answered on the second ring. “I didn’t expect to hear from you today.”
“I need to report an incident.”
There was a pause. “Is everyone okay?”
I turned the burner down on the stove, mixing the chicken and vegetables around one more time before sitting the spatula down. “She’s fine. There have been a few developments.”
“Threats?”
“Yes.”
Fleming sighed. “I hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but I can’t say it wasn’t expected.”
“Durand is currently staying in my apartment in the teacher’s quarters until we can assess the level of the threats and figure out where they are coming from.” I pulled down two plates and set them in front of the seats on the island.
“Oh, I’m sure she loves that,” Fleming chuckled.
“It took some convincing,” I admitted, grabbing a bottle of wine from the fridge. “But Durand knows it’s for the best.”
“We both know that’s a lie.” Fleming snorted. “She hates being protected, so the only way she agreed was because you threatened to have her pulled off the mission.”
I didn’t respond to his assessment.
“Alright.” Fleming blew out a hard breath. “Keep me updated. I’ll try my best to keep this from her parents, but it’s going to be a pain in the ass and likely cause me more work than it’s worth.”
“Thank you.” I hung up just as Jack came walking into the kitchen.
“Something smells good.” She rubbed a towel over her head, peering over my shoulder as I moved the food from the pan to a plate.
“Fajitas?” She gave me a pointed look. “If you’re trying to make my favorite food to get on my good side, it’s not going to work.”
I hummed, setting the plate and the tortillas with a side of sour cream, pico de gallo, and several other toppings I knew she would want on the table.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just had this stuff in my fridge. Figured it was a quick and easy dinner.”
“Uh-huh.” Jack slid into a chair, picking up her glass of wine. “You know, this really should be a margarita if you’re trying to win brownie points.”
Sliding into the chair next to her, I started to put my plate together. “Which I’m not. So you’ll have to make do with plain old wine.”
She gave me another look before digging into the food in front of her. We sat there in companionable silence for a few minutes, eating and drinking until Jack finally turned to me.
“What’d Tristen say?”
I looked up from my plate. “What do you mean?”
Jack pursed her lips and sat her wine glass down. “I’m not stupid, Julian. I know you reported to Tristen. Was he freaking out?”
“No.” Sighing, I turned in my seat to face her. “I also didn’t tell him everything.”
Inclining her head, she shoved a piece of chicken into her mouth, chewing slowly. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I did. I promised I wouldn’t make them pull you from the mission, and I meant it.” I slowly turned back to my food. “There’s only one bedroom so I’ll take the couch, keep watching in case someone tries their luck here.”
“Really?” Her fork clattered on the plate, her body twisting to face me. “You can’t really think they would come here, do you? They haven’t been very brave up until this point, and they didn’t even attack me. It’s still all threats and notes.”
She picked her fork back up, shoving food into her mouth. “I can take the couch.”
“Duran—Jack,” I turned her in her chair to face me our knees knocking together. “Please. Don’t fight me on this. Just let me… let me protect you. Just while you’re here, then you can go back to being Miss Independent later.”
She stared at me for a long moment.
I hoped she saw the real concern I had for her in my eyes. I felt like I’d done a pretty good job hiding how worried I’d been about her during this mission, but this was too close.
What would have happened had she walked in while they were redecorating her room? Where did they get all that blood? I was doing everything I could not to have her pulled off this case simply for my own peace of mind.
“Fine,” she relented, taking a mouthful of wine.
After we both finished our food, Jack insisted on rinsing the dishes to put in the dishwasher while I prepped the couch for me to sleep on. Looking at it, I realized it wasn’t going to be very comfortable. I was too long.
Still, I didn’t say anything, going to the bedroom to change my clothes for bed.
Jack lingered outside the bedroom door until I stepped out. She waved her toothbrush in front of her.
“I already did my teeth, so the bathroom is all yours.”
I nodded, side stepping her to go brush my teeth.
Once I was done, I stopped in the doorway of my bedroom. My eyes lingered on her laying in my bed, all snuggled down and looking like she belonged there. The t-shirt she wore was clearly a man’s shirt, but I didn’t ask whose. I didn’t want to know.
I swallowed thickly. “Night.”
Jack turned on her side, her eyes locking with mine. “Good night.”
Turning the light off in my room, I closed the door before working through the apartment. I turned lights off as I went. When it was just me in the living room, I sat on the edge of the couch and rubbed my hands together.
This wasn’t anything different from when we used to bunk in the barracks together after a long hunt. There was no reason to make this more than it was. I was watching over her, guarding her. Yeah, that was it.
I took my glasses off and sat them on the coffee table before turning and clicking the side table lamp off. Laying back on the couch, I shifted around and tried to get comfortable.
My feet were hanging over the side of the couch if I put my head down flat. If I put it up on the edge of the couch, then the hard siding under the thin cushion stabbed me in the neck.
After a few minutes, I gave up. Sitting up, I grabbed my blanket and moved to the recliner, the only place that was going to be any semblance of comfort to me.
Before I could sit down, a crash that sounded like glass shattering echoed through the apartment.
I raced toward the bedroom, grabbing my gun off the side table on my way. I threw open the bedroom door, flicking on the light before I swept the room.
Jack knelt on the ground picking up the pieces of a lamp that had been on the nightstand. She lifted her gaze at my sudden appearance.
“Sorry, I forgot it was there and knocked it off the table.”
Fighting to slow my breathing, I sat the gun on the dresser before kneeling beside her. “It’s alright. Here let me—”
“No, no. I did it. I can clean it up. Oh fuck.” She gasped, holding her finger up where a piece had cut her.
“Here let me see.” I took her hand in mine and looked over the cut. “There doesn’t seem to be any glass in it. But I should…” I paused digging into my nightstand, pulling out a box. “Have bandages. Hold your finger out.”
Jack did as I asked for once, not arguing and letting me put the bandage on her bleeding finger. When I was finished, I pressed a kiss to the tip of it, not thinking much of it.
She smiled, staring at me.
“What?” I smiled back as I finished picking up the lamp pieces.
“You used to do that a lot before. Every time you helped patch me up.”
“If I recall, you patched me up more than the other way around.” I brushed her hair back from her face. “But I didn’t mind. It meant I got to spend more time with you.”
Jack stared at me. This was as close as we’d been since that incident in the shower. That didn’t have anything to do with the mission. Still, the memory of our kiss in the woods resurfaced.
My fingers brushed her jaw line. My eyes flicked down to her lips. I watched her tongue dip out, wetting them.
“Julian,” Jack breathed, and it was the longing in her voice, the desire for me, not anyone else, that finally did it for me.
I finally closed the distance between us.