Chapter 8 Julian
JULIAN
The world smells like bleach and copper.
Pain drags me up from somewhere deep and heavy, and I choke on my first breath. It burns my throat, my eyes stinging, and I can’t even sit up to try and ease things.
There’s a weight on my stomach, something heavy and crippling.
Wait. No.
There’s something wrong with my stomach. There’s heat under my skin, a furnace burning hotter than I can manage. An itchiness across my abdomen as if the skin is pulled too tight, and it shouldn’t be able to stay together.
My heartbeat sounds wrong, too big for my chest, too slow for me to be alive.
A calm voice cuts through the pain, “Easy now, Nephew. Breathe carefully.”
Adrian.
Oh, thank fuck he’s here. I try to speak but I can’t, and even when I open my eyes, everything is blurry. I can only make out the outline of him, nothing more.
But where I’m relieved, my Pegasus is anything but. The animal is angry, furious, even, and underneath all of it is his fear.
He thinks we’re in danger.
That Adrian would let someone hurt us.
Fool—my uncle would never.
“Don’t try to move,” Adrian says, still speaking slow and calm as if he’s talking to an injured animal.
I suppose that’s accurate.
My muscles try to disobey him, but the band around my ribs keeps me anchored to the bed. I groan instead, not even able to reach up and rub at my blurry eyes.
Things are coming into focus a little more, but not enough where I can recognise where we are or who else may be here.
“Where—?” I choke the word out before erupting into another coughing fit. It fucking burns, and I can’t do anything to make it easier on myself. Tears prick at my eyes, an unconscious reaction to the pain.
“You’re safe,” Adrian says, brushing my hair out of my eyes. “You’re not in any danger, Nephew, so calm down, or you’re going to hurt yourself more.”
I nod, or at least I attempt to. It’s hard to calm down, though, when my pegasus is trying to push forward and take control of my body. He’s trying to force a shift.
Fucker.
It’s a natural response to being vulnerable, but if I let him have his way, we’d likely injure ourselves far worse.
“You’ve been admitted to the Tribunal Remand and Assessment Centre,” he continues. “You were brought here early this morning after your incident.”
My incident?
I don’t remember. There’s a block on my memories, and everything seems hazy. The last thing I remember was…
Maeve.
I tried to call her.
Or I wanted to call her maybe?
That one, probably. She’s a terror, my mate, but I’m obsessed with her. She’s gorgeous, sweet, and so fucking sassy. Honestly, her snark shouldn’t turn me on as much as it does, alas, I’m a sucker for her.
“I imagine you’re confused.”
That’s one word for it.
Annoyed. Terrified. Angry.
They might be more accurate.
Especially since my uncle’s tone is too practiced to be comforting. I know for a fact he’s hiding something from me.
Is it about the person who hurt me? Is it about why I’m here at TRAC rather than at the hospital?
Hell—is it about Maeve?
I whinny low and desperate, and he smooths my hair back again, hovering close.
“What happened?” I rasp, trying and failing to sit up once more.
Pain radiates through my abdomen, a hot pulse that makes the edges of the room ripple. The lights above blur into a single white smear, and my uncle’s frown comes into focus.
“Stop trying to move, for fuck’s sake,” he snaps, adjusting me slightly. “You were attacked, Jules. Stop trying to make your injuries worse.”
My mouth tastes like iron, and I let out a slow breath.
Attacked.
That’s okay. I can handle that.
Attacked.
It explains the way my pegasus is behaving and how unsettled he is.
Attacked.
It makes sense why I’m here at TRAC, too, so that I’m safer, and I’m not going to risk anyone else getting hurt.
“By who?”
He shakes his head, his steel blue eyes staying steady. “You were left to die in the loading yard.”
He doesn’t say by who—in fact, he’s deliberately avoiding the question.
My pegasus is angry about this, pushing against my pounding skull, fighting for control.
“You’re lucky we found you when we did,” Adrian continues, and despite his words, he somehow seems calm and unbothered.
Completely at ease with the fact that I was attacked in one of the safest parts of the world for someone like me.
I nod. “What day is it?”
“It’s still Monday. You had a minor surgery, but you’re okay. It’s going to be okay.” He studies the monitor, not me. “I had them move you here under my jurisdiction so that we can keep you safe. The hospital isn’t secure.”
My pegasus surges forwards, a sharp spike of insistence slamming into my skull.
From what?
The question runs through me, and honestly, I’d like an answer too.
I thought he’d brought me here for the safety of others—not me.
What the fuck is going on? Who hurt me?
Why did they hurt me?
“Why would someone attack me?” I ask, voice cracking. My throat is dry, and it hurts to talk and breathe. But I’m not going to sit here with missing memories and no recollection of what put me in here.
My pegasus is furious and is whining for his mate—for our mate. The desperation for Maeve isn’t new, but the intensity of his pleas is, and I’m concerned.
Did something happen to Maeve?
Is my attack related to her?
Adrian glances down, that faint, patronising smile in place. “You know why. Someone’s stirring the pot, and until we know who, I need to keep you safe. You are family, my boy, and I’m not risking another attempt on your life.”
“Thank you, Uncle,” I say gratefully. I relax, ever so slightly, wishing that my pegasus could behave. I’ve never known him to be so unruly—not until we met Maeve, that is.
He rears inside me—find her, find her now—but the pain cages him more than I ever could.
My hands twitch towards the restraints. “Have you heard anything from Maeve—”
“She’s fine.” Adrian cuts in before I can finish my sentence, as if he was anticipating this line of questioning. “Under protection, same as you should have been. But you didn’t listen.”
I didn’t listen? A memory tickles at the forefront of my consciousness but disappears before I can fully grasp it. I’ve never been offered security.
In fact, my whole reason for being here is to be open and naive. To let those we suspect think I’m another airhead nephew here because my parents can’t control me, when, really, I’m able to search around for information to help Adrian.
“What do you remember?” he asks carefully. He leans forwards, practically sitting on the bed now, as he hovers over the top of me.
My pegasus rears up inside me, preparing for an attack. I’m so confused by it.
He’s my uncle. Someone who has done nothing but care for me for my entire life. Why is my pegasus afraid of him?
“I know I wanted to call Maeve,” I say before getting cut off by a groan of pain. My entire body jerks at the force from my pegasus, who is trying to take control.
My face is contorted in pain, and I know I’d huddle my entire body up if I could just to stop the agony from racing through me. Every breath burns, every blink stings.
Fucker.
“Breathe, Nephew,” Adrian murmurs. He hasn’t moved from his lean. My mind is so foggy, as if there’s a cloud covering the most important parts of it, but, even in this state, I can tell he’s acting weird.
“What else?” Adrian pushes once I stop choking.
I blink through the fog, trying to anchor the memory. “I—I was working. Or leaving work? I was in the archives. I was… there was…”
I grimace, wishing I could rub at the pain.
“There was what?” he demands, edging closer. His tone is darker, and a tingle races up my spine. It hurts, but I try to hold still.
The air thickens with tension, his amber and leather scent choking me.
The quiet lilt is deadly. He already knows. He just wants to hear me say it.
But the issue is I don’t know. I don’t know what happened or what he wants to hear, but I know that it’s not going to be good. He’s hiding something big, and, clearly, there’s more to all of this than meets the eye.
“I have no idea,” I say with a heavy groan.
Fake it until you make it, Julian.
Don’t let him know you’re onto him.
“Did I suffer a head injury?”
He shakes his head. “The doctor said some memory loss is normal. Why don’t you try and get some sleep, and we’ll see how things are when you wake up?”
He says it like a father correcting a child, disappointment laced with patronisation. Somehow, it stings worse than if he was just honest with me.
I want to push, to try and understand, but I know it’s only going to cause more issues with us in this state. My pegasus is thrashing. The tether hums in my blood, louder and louder, because he needs her. He wants her.
She’s not safe. I should be there.
“I’ll try,” I manage.
Adrian’s gaze hardens, the faintest crack in his civility. “Good. I’ll get the doctor to bring something for you to help you sleep.”
The monitor beeps faster at the thought of him drugging me and me losing the chance to piece this all together. My uncle notices but doesn’t move.
“I need you to cooperate, Julian. You’ll stay under observation until the Tribunal concludes its investigation. No contact, no communication, no exceptions.”
His voice softens, all velvet and blade. “You do still trust me, don’t you?”
I close my eyes, pretending that exhaustion has taken hold. I don’t answer.
I can’t.
I might not remember what got me into this position, but I do remember the last few weeks and the doubt that I have been finding in my uncle.
The way he treats my mate, his obsession with her and her species… the way he’s been pitting Lucifer, Hadrian, and I against each other…
We’re all in a rocky position, and it’s clear sides are being drawn. I’m never going to be on his side—not when his opponent is my mate.
The door creaks open. A rush of cool air slips in, and my pegasus lets out a whine. For the first time in months, I smell the most perfect scent that has ever graced this world.
Pink roses and honey.