We play in the water for a while longer, splashing and dunking each other, rating each other's dives. Eventually, I swim over to the shore and lay out, allowing the sun to warm me and dry out.
When Julian joins me, I lift onto my elbows and eye him. “Do you have a place like this? A special place you run away to?”
"No. Well, I used to when I was a pup, but I'm too large to fit inside it anymore. I found a small hole underneath a tree. I used to burrow in there, and my wolf would sometimes sleep there. My parents couldn't find me one night. They were furious." He chuckles. "I've told my siblings about it. The older ones can't fit inside anymore either. It's that small. I can't wait to tell the newest ones once they're big enough."
The sheer joy in his voice makes me smile, and I refuse to be sad.
I stand and brush the dirt from my hands before bending down and tugging on his sleeve. “Come on. Let me take you to my spot.”
“It’s not here?” he asks, lifting his eyebrows in confusion.
I grin. “It’s right around the bend.”
My hand over his eyes, I whisk him to the waterfall and then step back so he can appreciate the cave.
“This is incredible,” Julian says, staring at me instead of all around us. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
My heart soars. Julian doesn't ask why I didn't immediately tell him that I snuck away. He doesn't press or push. If I need space, he'll give it to me.
But I don't want space. As much as I'm afraid of how things will shake out between our kinds, I don't want to lose him. What we have is special and true. Not many people have what we do, and I will fight for it up to and including my dying breath if that's what it takes.
Julian is my everything, my light, my moon.
And I’m his.
Chapter 26
Romelia
I reach for Julian’s hand and bring him farther into the cave until we reach a spot where moss grows almost in the shape of a blanket or bed.
“I use that rock for a pillow sometimes,” I say, pointing to the rock in question.
“Because rock pillows are comfortable.” He laughs.
I poke his side. “You think you would make a better pillow than the rock?”
“Yes.”
“Prove it.”
He grins as he lies down on the moss, his hands folded behind his head. He’s not using the rock, and I giggle as I lie down and curl up against him. The sound of his steady heartbeat makes me smile.
“Romelia?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you for bringing me here.”
"Of course." I don't want to move, but I wish I could see his face. "I've never brought anyone else here. That's not to say that no one knows about this place. Kids will sometimes come, usually in the summer, and they'll play, but no one else has ever come inside the cave here, not to my knowledge. Once…"
“Go on,” he prompts when the silence stretches to last a minute.
“One time, I was in the cave. I spent the morning swimming, and I was tired, so I fell asleep here. It was actually the first time I ever slept here. Anyway, when I woke, I realized two things.”
He starts to rub my back, soothing me even though he doesn’t know yet how upsetting the next part is.
“First, I was thirsty, thirstier than I’ve ever been before. I thought I was going to go mad with thirst.”
“And the second?”
"Werewolves were playing in the pool here."
“What happened?”
“I wanted to flee. I thought I could be fast enough, that I could race away and the werewolves wouldn’t see me, but there was a risk that they would smell me. I think the fish, their own scents, the roar of the waterfall, all of that helped to conceal me. I mean, the waterfall is a thick curtain.” I wave my one arm toward it even though I don’t lift up from his chest, needing to stay anchored to him. “They couldn’t see me.”
“You wanted to flee. I’m guessing you didn’t.”
“Not at first, no.” I hesitate and shake my head, burrowing deeper into him and his warm, safe embrace.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
"I wouldn't have started to tell you the story if I didn't want to tell you all of it." I blow out a breath before continuing, "The werewolves were talking, laughing. They looked like they were having a great time. A few of them were even playing around jumping on the rocks near the shore in their wolf forms. It was fine to watch them through the waterfall, but it made me thirstier and thirstier."
“What happened next?”
“A mouse ran across the cave floor. I pounced, desperate to drink from it, but vampires can’t drink from animals. We have to drink from humans or humanoids.”
“Like werewolves,” he murmurs. “What happened?”
“I became sick, violently so.” Now, I do sit up. Maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me, but I swear I can see a reddish stain on those rocks even now. “I stumbled out of the waterfall and fell deep into the water. The werewolves fled. I think they thought I was a banshee because I wailed. The pain, it was agonizing, and you know a banshee foretells death, so they all ran away as quickly as they could.”
“How did you survive?”
“I thought for sure I would drown, but I didn’t.”
“No,” he gasps. “Thanks for the spoiler alert.”
Giggling, I playfully swat him. “Of course I didn’t die! You’re a nut.”
“I’m nuts for you.”
“Hmm.” My smile slowly fades. “My vision was darkening as the water drew me farther and farther down, but I could make out a form on the far shore. Fear filled me. I don’t know why, but I was terrified. I did not want that form to find me, and I just knew he could see me. Somehow, I found the strength to swim, and I reached the surface in a second, and I just kept on swimming to the opposite shore, and I just kept on running until I reached my house.”
“And you came back? After all that, I would’ve been too afraid to return.”
“Mr. Hero is actually a little bit of a coward, hmm?” I tease.
He just pulls me back down to lie against him once more. “Who did you think the form was?”
“At first, I thought it was my father.”
“And he didn’t go to save you?”
"No. Father wouldn't have. He would've wanted me to save myself."
“Which you did. Did you ask him about it? You said after first…”
"It must have been a hallucination from the poisonous blood or the near-drowning. Nothing was there. I'm sure of it, and this place is mine. No one will take it from me. The werewolves haven't been back since—"
“I’ll be honest,” he whispers in my ear before kissing my neck. “The werewolves do think this place is haunted.”
I giggle. “You’re just saying that.”
"I would never lie to you. Werewolves honestly do."
“That’s ridiculous!”
“This place is yours.”
“Not anymore,” I murmur. “It’s our place now.”
We lie there, no longer talking, and it's so utterly perfect that I close my eyes. Julian's breathing slows first, and I don't take much longer to fall asleep myself.
When I’m next aware, I realize I’m crying, getting tears everywhere. I try to pull away, but Julian tightens his grip while still being gentle.
“It’s all right,” he soothes, brushing my tears away. “What’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?”
“No, not… No.”
He just stares at me and then sits up, pulling me onto his lap so he can cradle me.
“It’s just… Everything is so perfect when we’re together, but when we’re apart…”
“We aren’t ever truly apart,” Julian says.
“I know, but…”
“No. We aren’t.”
He eases me to stand up beside him, and then he darts around a huge boulder toward the back of the cave. There's a slight whine sound, definitely from a wolf, and
I start toward him when he remerges from the shadows and hands me a claw.
One of his fingers is gone.
“Julian!”
“You will always have a part of me now,” he says.
“That’s barbaric.”
“Sweet too, right?” He grins. “I was thinking you can wear it on a chain.”
Like Mercy did her trophy from the vampire statue.
No. This is a gesture of love and acceptance. Hers is not. They’re nothing alike.
I reach into my pocket. Because of blood magic, I tend to keep a vial or two on hand in addition to the ones that contain the spices to make the guards sneeze and blink so I can zoom on by.
I combine the pepper with the cumin into one vial. Quickly, I use my fangs to bite into my wrist and allow the drops of my blood to splatter inside the now-empty vial.
“Here, for you,” I say.
Julian grins and chuckles. “We make quite a pair.”
“I’m not done.” I have to bite my wrist again since it’s already healed. “You need to drink.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because.”
“It won’t turn you into a vampire. At least, I don’t think it will.”
“I just don’t want to take from you.”
“So I can drink your blood, but you won’t drink mine?” I ask dryly. “We should be willing to share everything.”
He ruefully shakes his head, but he’s grinning. He’s almost ready to cave.
“Besides,” I add, my stomach tightening, “I’m worried someone will think you lost your claw in a fight with a vampire.”
“Mercy,” he grumbles.
“She’s not the only one to hate vampires,” I protest.
“She would be the first to notice, though, and she would assume the worst. Fine. Yes, dear, I’ll drink.”
I wink and bite my wrist for a third time, and he drinks. Well, he more licks then drinks, but in the end, his finger does regrow.
“We are never truly apart,” Julian says, twirling me around.
“I know, but you can’t deny that actually being together is superior.”
“Of course. Who wouldn’t want to be in my presence?” he jokes.
I just shake my head. “You’re far too cocky for my tastes.”
“Am I? I thought that might be Constantine.” He scowls.
“You hate him.”
“I don’t know him personally, but I have… I heard him talk to someone. I was out… I was going to a human town for something.”
“For what?”
“A present. For my mom.”
I narrow my eyes. Julian's sharp words, his avert gaze…
“You mean for me?” I guess.
Julian throws up his hands and sighs. “Yes! I bought you a present.”
“You didn’t have to,” I protest. “Why did you?”
"I don't know when your birthday is, and I wanted to make sure I had something for you whenever that day comes." He hesitates. "When is your birthday?"
“A month from tomorrow.”
“Really? Good to know.”
I just shake my head. “And yours?”
“Mine doesn’t matter. Anyhow, while I was shopping—”
“Hold on now. Wait just a moment. Why does my birthday count but yours doesn’t? I beg to differ. That’s not how these things work.”
“These things?”
“Us,” I clarify. “We’re equals, and if you want to give me a present for my birthday, fine, but that means I’m allowed to give you one for yours.”
“You already did.”
I frown and shake my head. “What do you mean?”
He holds up the vial.
“Today,” I say, dumbfounded. “Today is your birthday, and you didn’t even tell me?”
“I didn’t have to.”
“I came here to be by myself. I invited you here on a whim. I easily could’ve not, and then you would’ve spent your birthday alone!”
He just smiles at me. “It all worked out.”
“Not alone. With your friends. Mercy is going to hate me all the more for stealing you away on your birthday, for hogging you to myself.”
“You didn’t steal me away. I came willingly, and shouldn’t I decide who I spend my birthday with?”
“Yes, of course, but if I hadn’t invited you here, you wouldn’t have told me.”
His silence is confirmation enough.
"Why? Didn't you want to spend today with me? And what about your family? Your parents and brothers and sisters?"
“I plan on seeing them this weekend.”
“Are they having a party for you?”
"Not really, but when the pack gets together, it's almost a party by default." He rolls his eyes. "And if you hadn't invited me, I wouldn't have told you, no. I would have loved to spend the day with you, but I don't know how many more times we can risk sneaking away like this."
“Julian, please. If there’s something else I should know about you, tell me now.”
He steps toward me and presses a kiss to my lips, telling me so very much more than words alone ever could.
Chapter 27
Julian
There’s something different about this kiss. It’s just as amazing and wonderful as all of the others, but this one contains a promise.
Without words, I am begging her to always accept me.
Without words, I am promising to always pick her.
Without words, we declare ourselves for one another.
When I pull back, we touch our foreheads together, our breathing ragged, in sync as always.
Finally, Romelia shakes her head despite our foreheads still touching. “You were telling me a story?”
“Yes, about Constantine.” With a sigh, I walk her back over to the moss, and we sit facing each other. “I spied two vampires, and I wouldn’t have thought much about them, but then I overheard your name.”
“They were talking about me?” she asks, shock coloring her words and her cheeks.
“Yes. One called the other Constantine, and I had to follow them a bit to know what they were saying. I know eavesdropping is wrong, but I just wanted to make sure you were all right.”
“What were they saying?”
My wolf wants to come out, wants to hunt down Constantine, wants to rip his throat out. It’s a very violent response. Even my wolf has been tamed by Romelia.
“Constantine was talking about you. He acted as if he possessed you, as if you were his wife already. It angered me so much, and I thought about confronting him, but I didn’t know what to say, and I knew you wouldn’t want me to fight him, so I slipped away.”
“No, I don’t want you to fight him. Not at all. Not now and not ever.”
“Please,” I beg. “Do not ask me to promise you that.”
“Julian, I do not want you two to fight over me,” she pleads.
I let out a growl.
Romelia just shakes her head, smiling slightly. “You sound cute even when you growl, but I am serious. I—”
“If I must, I will. You can’t expect otherwise.”
She hesitates. “I don’t even know him. Why would he act as if I am his? That’s… No. I am not his, and I never will be, no matter what my parents want.”
“He seems to think differently. If I have to defend you, I will.”
“I understand.”
“I won’t provoke him into a fight.”
“Oh, I realize that. You’re… That’s not you, and I know how loyal and protective you are, but I just… I don’t want him dead.”
I grin. “You’re confident I’ll win if we fight, hmm?”
“If you two fight, and he should win, I will step in and finish what you started.”
The scowl on my face has to be severe. “Romelia—”
"You are a fighter, and I am a hunter. Don't forget that," she says, cupping my face. Her gaze shifts toward the entrance of the cave. The waterfall is awash with all the
colors of the rainbow, a picturesque sight signaling the end of the day. "You're seventeen now."
“Yes.”
“You should spend some of your birthday with your friends. Go eat dinner with them. Maybe you can sneak home and see your family.”
"I live too far away from the academy for me to see them tonight, but I will go and see them soon."
“Your friends.”
“Even if I go and see them, Mercy still won’t approve of us.”
“I’m not doing it to try to win her to my side. I have a feeling she’s very much like Tyra.”
“I suppose,” I say, “and if that’s the case, we need to keep them apart.”
Romelia cups my face, her thumbs stroking my skin. Her touch is so very soft. “Happy birthday, Julian. I hope you’ve had a wonderful birthday so far.”
“It’s been perfect so far. Thank you.”
“Now go. Please.”
“I don’t want to leave you.”
“I know, but this will not be the last time we see each other.”
“Certainly not.” I kiss her again and again and another time for good measure.
The cave is our place, and I really do hate to leave it behind, but leave it we must. The sun has nearly set, and we head to the shore and kiss no less than five more times before we part our separate ways.
The day has been wonderful, and it’s not quite over yet. It is past dinnertime by the time I reach Moonstone Academy, but the scent of perfectly cooked steak perfumes the room as soon as I enter the castle.
Bermon, Mercy, and several other werewolves are there, waiting for me with not one but two steaks. They are impeccably seasoned, cooked enough to be brown on the outside and deliciously juicy on the inside. There's also twice baked potatoes and steamed vegetables. To drink is Mystic Twilight, a black drink with silver ice cubes. It's a drink werewolves love but that only is given on one's birthday because it is so very potent. It increases our power, of ourselves and our wolves. Some have been known to abuse Mystic Twilight, and consuming it too often will cause health complications, especially with one's heart, making it likely for the heart to literally explode.
Why then drink it on our birthdays every year? Werewolves have evolved over the years to be able to control our wolves and to be able to shift when we wish, but that came with a price. Some of our strength has waned some, and the Mystic Twilight grants us more of that strength that we lost, reclaiming it as ours once again, so we can be as strong as our ancestors while still maintaining our control.
Blood Haven: Year One: A Mayhem of Magic World Story Page 17
