Author’s Note:
Sometimes characters don’t always cooperate when you want them to. This scene desperately wanted to be written, even though it had no place to go and didn’t fit. My serial voters wanted Julius to apologize to Max, because in the original version Julius was a little out of line and Max was perceived as innocent, but I knew Max was not the good guy and this scene came out instead.
Spoiler Alert: I used the first part of this scene in the first chapter of Love Game. I loved it too much to get rid of it. Haha.
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10
Julius
“IT’S COLD AS BALLS OUT HERE!” Dani drew her coat closer to her frame when the wind picked up, blowing his sister’s jet-black mane into the wind as she deboarded a private plane. Julius’s brows raised in amusement.
“You say I need to be less conspicuous,” Julius gave his younger sister a wry smile before lifting her into a hug.
“You’re going to squeeze me to pieces,” Dani made a show of grunting. “It’s good to see you too. Now let me down. I can’t feel my arms.”
To her credit, her arms were pinned at her side. With a chuckle, he let her go.
“By the gods, you look the same. I see you still have that mouth on you.”
She made a face.
“And you’ve matured,” Evan moved to greet their sister with a hug of his own.
“How was your flight?”
“You have no idea how hard it is to refrain from draining the pilot when you’re thirty thousand feet in the air.”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” Julius said watching ten other passengers descend the same flight of stairs his sister had.
“Do you have the goods? I’m starving,” her exasperation was a little more dramatic than he remembered, but completely welcomed. He’d never admit it allowed, but he missed his pain in the ass sister.
“There’s plenty in the car,” Evan said, taking a small duffel bag from his sister.
Julius tossed him a look. Liar.
Evan merely shrugged, then looked around toward the plane. “Where are your bags?”
“They are being shipped. I couldn’t very well lug those heavy things around.”
“You do realize those aren’t heavy to us,” Evan mused.
“I have to blend in! Unlike some of you, I take my inconspicuousness seriously.” She pulled her sunglasses off her face and slid them up into her hair like a makeshift headband.
“By taking a private flight?” Julius laughed.
“Semi-private,” she corrected him. “Besides, that’s my role. I’m a rich kid, going to boarding school abroad, while I look for opportunities for our brother. We all have our parts to play. Speaking of, Evan tells me you’re getting ready to screw this all up.”
Julius turned to her teasing smile and softened. The distance from the tarmac to their waiting car was short.
“Evan lies,” Julius replied with a hard laugh, watching Dani hop into the back seat, her eyes were on the black box on the floor behind the front passenger seat. “You’ll see.”
“When do I get to meet her?”
“I’ll have to warm her up to you first.”
“I’m no worse than Evan,” Dani feigned indignation.
“Hey! I thought I was your favorite brother.”
“And I love you just as you are,” she teased before pushing the combination to the box and rifling through it. “Where’s the blood?”
“That is the blood,” Evan said, starting the engine.
“No, the real blood.”
“I told you,” Julius’s voice turned sing-song. “Evan lies.”
Just as Dani began to fuss, the phone in his pocket rang.
Erica.
“Hello, love,” he smiled despite himself.
“He-he’s after me,” her voice was small, but the stress was clear. She was in danger.
He sat up in his seat and leaned forward trying to hear her better.
“Who? Who’s after you? What happened?” The car was too noisy. He couldn’t hear her. Julius plugged one of his ears. “Can you two stop bickering for a second? Erica, where are you?”
“A-at my school.”
“What school? I’m coming to get you.”
Immediately, the car stalled for half a second as every set of ears listened intently to the girl on the phone.
“Lincoln Graves.”
“Got it,” Dani said beside him, her fingers flew over her phone. Less than a moment later, her phone was talking, giving them directions. Evan stepped on the gas hard.
“Erica, what happened?” Julius said, panic rising in his throat.
“He-he just came out of nowhere.”
“Is he still there?”
The longest silence of his life stretched between them. When she didn’t answer right away, ice shot threw his veins.
“Erica? Is he still there?”
“N-no. He’s gone.”
“Are you safe?”
“Y-yes,” she said.
“Where are you right now?”
“I’m hiding in a classroom. I didn’t know where else to go.”
Relief washed over him. “Is there a lock on the door?”
“Yes.”
“Lock it. I’m on my way.”
“Don’t hang up. Please,” she begged.
He didn’t have any intention to. “Drive faster, Evan.”
For once, his brother didn’t complain. He gunned it, weaving in and out of traffic. Horns of all kinds blared as they whipped in back and forth, barely pausing at the red lights before racing through the intersections. He needed his brother to go faster. Just as the thought left his mind, Evan pressed the gas pedal harder when they met a stretch of open road.
“Erica, what happened?”
“There was a guy… He—He was going to kill me.”
She was in tears. He could hear her breaking over the phone. His insides crumbled. Julius tried to soothe her. “It’s all right. You’re safe now.”
“Did she call the police?” His sister asked from the backseat.
“Erica, did you call the police?”
“N-no. I should—”
“No,” Julius cut in, he needed to hear her voice now. If he lost connection, he’d lose control. “We’ll handle everything.”
Dani’s gentle squeeze made his vampire hurt worse. She was shooting for comfort, but he’d only felt helpless. Erica was in trouble and he could do nothing but wait in the car until they arrived.
“We’re almost there. The phone says we’re five minutes out,” Evan reassured him.
Five minutes was too long.
“Get there,” Julius said, calculating how long it would take him to run on foot. Longer than five minutes, so he stayed put.
“Get her mind off of things,” Evan murmured from beside her. Julius nodded.
“Erica, are you still there?”
“Yeah,” this time her voice was a whisper.
“How’s the painting of me going?” Julius asked.
“What?”
“My painting,” he said again. “The one of me. Are you almost done with it?”
“Not yet?”
“What do you still have to do?”
She was silent for a while, but when she spoke her voice was louder, like it was gaining strength. “Well, I finished the color blocking. I’ve set your eyes. I still have to get the angles of your face right.”
“So, you need a live model?” He offered. His chest felt less tight as she talked. Over the phone, she managed to soothe his beast. The most beautiful sound met his ears. She chuckled.
“I guess you’re offering your services.”
“Always.”
End
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