Elena’s POV
The sound of footsteps on my bedroom floor made whip around. Julian stood near my dresser like he belonged there, his pale hands casually tucked into his jacket pockets.
"Breaking into a girl’s bedroom without an invitation is generally frowned upon," I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
"You make yourself difficult to find," he replied with that infuriating smirk vampires seed born with.
"That was intentional. How exactly did you track down?" The question ca out sharper than I intended.
"My network runs deeper than Marcus’s." His dark eyes held mine steadily.
"You’ve had centuries to build those connections. He’s barely had decades." I moved closer to the window, putting distance between us.
"True enough. Age has its advantages."
"Cut to the chase, Julian. What do you want?" My patience was wearing thin.
"Marcus’s closing in. He knows you’re in this area."
"He suspects I’m here. There’s a difference." I turned back to face him. "If you ca all this way to tell sothing I already figured out, you can leave the sa way you ca in."
His expression grew serious. "That book you took from his pack house. Is it secure?"
"Safe and sound. Haven’t had much ti to dive deeper into it yet." I studied his face for any tell.
"You need to make ti. There’s information in those pages you can’t afford to ignore."
"Such as?"
"Family histories. Not just Marcus’s bloodline. Yours too." The weight in his voice made my stomach clench.
"Why would my family be ntioned in so ancient pack record? We were nobody special. Dad served as head warrior until he died, then everyone pretended we didn’t exist." The old bitterness crept into my voice.
"You’ll discover exactly why your family was sidelined when you read further."
My heart hamred against my ribs. "What are you talking about?"
"Every answer you’re searching for lives in those pages. Contact when you find what I’m referring to." He moved toward the window with fluid grace.
"Are you one of the vampires bound by the treaty?"
"Just read the book. With your literature background, deciphering old text shouldn’t challenge you." He paused at the window fra. "We’ll speak again soon."
Before I could respond, he disappeared into the night.
I walked to my wardrobe and carefully removed the false back panel. The leather-bound book felt heavier in my hands than usual. I’d stopped reading at a passage ntioning Alpha Fairfax, assuming it referenced so distant family with the sa surna. The tiline placed these events centuries ago.
After finishing my assignnts, I settled by the window with the book and a cigarette. The nicotine helped steady my nerves as I picked up where I’d left off.
"Smoking while pregnant isn’t exactly mother-of-the-year behavior," Gage’s voice carried from the hallway.
"Mind your own business, player," I called back sweetly.
Soone’s laughter echoed through the house. Definitely not Damien’s deep chuckle.
I managed several dozen pages before exhaustion hit. The archaic language required concentration I didn’t have left. I secured the book back in its hiding place and collapsed into bed.
Trusting Julian felt wrong on every logical level. Vampires and werewolves maintained an uneasy truce at best. Our species tolerated witches when necessary, but vampires represented everything we opposed. They killed humans.
The ones who fed only to survive earned our reluctant understanding. They hadn’t chosen their fate. But the bloodthirsty ones who killed for pleasure beca our responsibility to stop.
So why did every instinct tell to believe him? My gut had never steered wrong before. More importantly, Tara remained calm around him. My wolf’s judgnt ant everything.
If only I understood what that sothing was.
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