Page 33

Viewing the body had been surprisingly anticlimactic. It probably helped that I’d built up the scene in my head—expecting copious amounts of blood, severed guts, and splattered brains instead of the lifeless, gray, and cleaned-up crew-cut sporting man.

However, Julian’s strange behavior was more concerning. He’d left me at the mortuary door, moving to cross the sterile, silver room to look on my behalf before I blurted out that the deceased was one of my potential abductors.

He’d let out a long breath with my confirmation, and his relief hadn’t gone unnoticed.

Strange. He was a doctor-to-be. What did he have against the dead?

Still, it felt like no time before we were back at the main entrance, ready to escape the stifling confines of the hospital, when a nurse rushed into the lobby, beckoning for Julian’s attention.

Julian frowned as he looked over his shoulder.

“This will only take one minute, darling,” he said, touching my shoulder.

In the center of the room was a fountain amidst a miniature garden, and he pointed to it.

“Would you mind waiting for me over there?” he asked, then inclined his head toward the door.

“I’ll be just here. Don’t leave my sight. ”

I nodded before meandering to the water display. Julian was very important—even as a medical student. I couldn’t begrudge him for working tirelessly to save lives. He and the nurse spoke as she showed him her notes. One of his patients was being transferred to a new floor.

I crossed my arms and looked away. The last thing I wanted was to intrude on a private conversation.

Then, I noticed a glimmering from the corner of the room, nearest to the sliding glass doors, as a melodious humming began thrilling through the air.

My fingers tingled, and I looked around the sparsely filled room.

No one else seemed to hear it. This feeling was vaguely familiar—but not entirely so—to something I’d come across once, a long time ago, and my chest tightened at the memory.

It hadn’t ended well then, and probably wouldn’t now.

“Jul—” I began and glanced back. But now the nurse was upset, and Julian was frowning at the chart.

Someone’s life might be on the line. I couldn’t disturb them.

But…

The music was growing louder, and the glittery light flickered again. My thoughts began to buzz, and my concerns no longer mattered. Why did I need Julian again? There was nothing wrong.

A sense of peace flowed through me, a feather-like sensation against my skin, as my legs moved on their own. My feet felt weightless, and my skirt brushed across my calves as the afternoon breeze caressed my face .

Something was shining in the distance, and it almost felt like I could touch it.

Then, the blinding brightness faded. My steps halted as calloused hands gripped my wrists and pulled my arms behind me. Scratchy rope cut against my skin. Before I could utter more than a whisper of sound—a balled-up cloth was shoved in my mouth.

“Thank God!” He wrapped his forearm around my chest, and my thoughts screamed as I recognized the voice of my second assailant. “Otherwise, I’d be next. No job is worth this much drama.”

“Oh, you’re definitely next.” Julian’s ice-cold tones sent a shiver down my spine, and my disquieted spirit instantly settled at his presence.

My attacker froze, and his limbs tensed. He pulled me closer. Julian had stepped in front of us, hands in his pockets, as his serene, relaxed expression somehow still spoke of his deadly intent.

“You’re J-Julian Kohler!” My attacker’s grip turned painful, and I choked when his forearm pressed against my neck. However, despite the situation, I didn’t think the villain even knew what he was doing. He, instead, seemed dumbstruck by terror. “No one warned me that I’d be dealing with you .”

Julian frowned at the other man’s arm. “The fact that you didn’t even notice me is a testament to how terribly incompetent you are in your chosen profession,” he said mildly. “However—”

He moved so quickly that I couldn’t see him. The unyielding force trapping me against my assailant was ripped away. I fell to the ground, landing on my shoulder.

Still, I could hardly feel anything past the initial impact. Instead, I lay on my side, unable to take my eyes from the scene before me. My heart was still racing, and I shivered as a cold sweat soaked me.

“Your reasons don’t matter. You’re still good for something, at least,” Julian continued. The other man’s eyes bulged, and his hands grasped Julian’s arms as he held him against the ground by the neck.

“Who hired you?” Julian asked, and an icy coldness spread through the ground. “What were you planning on doing with her?”

There was an eerie silence, yet somehow it felt like the air was screaming before it suddenly quieted, and Julian stepped away.

The other man lay clutching his chest, eyes wide open as he stared at the sky. I wasn’t entirely sure what had happened, but whatever it was—whatever Julian had done—resulted in Julian no longer caring that he’d escape.

Instead, now that it was over, his entire attention moved to me.

“Bianca,” he said, kneeling to the ground beside me. His touch was gentle yet firm as he held my shoulder, helped me sit back up, and removed the gag from my mouth. “Sweetheart, are you okay? I’m sorry I took so long.”

What was he talking about? He’d rescued me instantly—before I had time to register what was happening.

“T-thanks.” I was shivering. I’d been saved—Julian was already removing the bindings around my wrists—but I couldn’t seem to tear my gaze away from my potential abductor.

“Don’t look at him.” Julian leaned in front of me, blocking my vision. He placed both hands on my cheeks as he peered into my eyes. “He won’t come after you again.”

“But…” My breathing grew heavy. It wasn’t him I was worried about—nor his dead friend. “What if there’s more?” I asked. “We don’t even know who sent them. ”

“Yes, I do,” Julian replied. “Unfortunately, however, only that.”

I stared up at him through my heavy, wet eyelashes. What did he mean?

Julian sighed, then stood as he pulled me with him. He kept his arm wrapped around my waist and took another step closer to the hospital. “Let’s get you checked out,” he began. “Then we can—”

I pulled away.

“I-I don’t need to be checked out,” I told him. “Let’s just leave.”

“Bianca—” he began, and I interrupted him, pointing at his defeated foe.

“What about him?” I asked. “Won’t he just run away?”

“He won’t,” Julian replied. “He can’t. Besides, my grandfather will come pick him up shortly.”

I glanced at the man. What, exactly, was happening? “What do you mean ‘he can’t’?”

“Bianca—” Julian reached for my hand and squeezed it, but the vague reassurance of his touch did little to calm my fears.

“How do you know?” I asked him. Julian’s clear blue eyes shifted slightly, growing dark, and I was almost afraid to ask. However, this was important. “You said you knew who sent them. How?”

“Bianca,” he began again, and this time, I allowed him to lead me away. My palms sweated, as it seemed, just for an instant, that we might be headed back to the hospital. But then Julian moved to the right, guiding me to his vehicle instead.

The tense worries I’d been holding on to loosened, and my jaw no longer felt tight. I touched my head, and a wave of dizziness passed over me. While I had questions and still expected answers, my thoughts began to fuzz as my adrenaline faded .

Julian opened the driver’s side and turned me until the back of my legs pressed against the seat. “Darling, please sit,” Julian said. “Let me take care of you, and I’ll answer all your questions.”

I should listen—otherwise, I might pass out. It was growing more difficult to hold back the choking bile. Dimly, I was aware of a commotion in the background—flashing lights, piercing sounds, and a collection of nameless people scattered throughout the scene.

I… I didn’t understand what was going on. I’d only been inside one second ago. “H-how?” I asked him. “What happened?”

“You were targeted by a witch’s spell,” Julian replied.

He was on his knees in front of me, rubbing his hands down my arms as he peered into my face.

“I suspect the ring you found might have something to do with it—but I’m not entirely certain.

However, in this instance, you were summoned in a ritual specific to the fae. ”

I was shivering, and Julian’s frown deepened.

He removed his jacket and wrapped it around me before continuing, “Don’t worry.

This group will not be coming after you again.

But…” He seemed nervous, and he looked away.

“While I know that someone in the Cole family is involved, I haven’t seen anything that would lead me to any concrete evidence we can tie to Alexander Cole himself. ”

“I…” I began, my teeth chattering. “What are you talking about?”

Besides, how many people were in that family?

“I read his memories,” Julian replied, and an air of resignation passed over him. He lowered a hand onto the seat beside my leg as he pressed his forehead against mine. “It’s one of my abilities—I’m a necromancer.”

A… necromancer?

That didn’t explain all the doom and gloom.

“Okay,” I told him, peering at him, but his eyes were closed. His breath was slow, even across my cheek, and there remained a tenseness to him that I couldn’t quite pinpoint.

“What’s wrong with that?” I asked.

He looked at me and touched my shoulders as he moved back.

“Bianca,” he said carefully, “necromancy is the magic of the dead.”

“Okay,” I said again. What was his point? “You deal with dead bodies. I deal with their haunting spirits. So what?”

Julian frowned. “I am able to hurt, maim, or destroy people by controlling their bodily functions, read the memories clinging to their forms and objects related to them, and even animate their abandoned forms as soulless creatures ready to do my bidding.”