“No one said you were, Eve,” Julian said, putting his arm around my shoulder and squeezing me to his body.
I stiffened. Back in the mountains, the gesture had been comforting and welcomed, as close as we were. Now, it made my body turn in on itself like a turtle struggling to hide in its shell. And yet, I had no idea why. Perhaps it was because of his insane new girlfriend.
“It’s just that everyone is so willing to do it. It’s like they don’t care!”
“Oh, they care, believe me. Well,” he added with a sneer, “except maybe Viggo.”
I scowled. “They didn’t even fight. They didn’t argue. They just went along with it.”
Julian was shaking his head before I’d even finished speaking. “You weren’t there earlier, Eve,” Julian said, his tone now scolding. “I thought Amelie and Caden were going to tear Sofie to pieces when she told them what she needed to do. Why put him through more pain when he’s already suffering so much?” Julian’s heavy dark brows furrowed deeply. “Man, does Amelie have a temper … Luckily, it only lasted for ten minutes before they came around but … damn, those ten minutes! I seriously thought they were going to kill each other. Bloody vampires …”
Vicious Amelie. I wouldn’t have believed it before. Even when dealing with Rachel and Jethro, she’d always been calm and collected, delivering biting blows with grace. But the incident I’d seen earlier with the innocent servant girl had shown me a new side of Amelie. An uncontrolled one I’d prefer never to see again and hoped not to be the target of. At the same time, hearing that they put up a fight on Bishop’s account made me feel a little better.
Julian continued. “Vampires are pragmatic. You know as well as I do. Amelie would rather see Bishop bound up and feeling a hundred razor blades than be dead. It’s the lesser of two evils, though it may not sound like it. It’s the right thing to do.” Julian zipped his jacket and hunched into himself, no doubt freezing by now. “Whatever is about to enter these gates—this Lilly—I don’t know about you, but I want Sofie’s full power to protect us. She sounds pretty scary if Viggo doesn’t want her around. Amelie and you need to be protected. You two mean everything to me.” His voice dropped to a low whisper as he leaned in, squeezing more tightly, his forehead resting against the side of my head. “You might hate me but you’re all I have left.
Hate. Such a wicked word. I sighed, shifting to look over at Julian, those chocolate-brown irises only inches away, pleading with me. I stared silently at my fellow captive, my fellow orphan, my fellow everything. My friend. Tattoo or not, he had saved my life and my sanity.
“I don’t hate you, Julian,” I whispered.
He snorted. “Really? Because you haven’t exactly been friendly since—”
“Shhh!” I warned, checking the shadows.
“Since … you know.” Julian finished vaguely.
“Yeah … well … it caught me off guard. I trusted you and then … bam! Surprise! But that doesn’t bother me anymore. What I care about is what it will do to Amelie if she finds out. I’m afraid this will be more than she can deal with.”
“I know,” Julian groaned, dropping his forehead into his palms, reddened from the cold. “God, I know, Evangeline! Do you think I planned this? I don’t know what happened. I just remember waking up in the hut and there she was, like an angel, hovering over me and then …” He paused, searching for words, a crooked smile curving his mouth in a cute way. “I can’t get her out of my head! It’s like I crave her! I’ve never met anyone like her before, Eve. If I knew back then what I know now, I never would have let … you know what … happen. I never expected to fall in love with a vampire.”
In love … I smiled, despite everything. “I know what you mean.” I remembered that first moment, waking up in the cave after knocking my head to see Caden standing over me with an armload of wood for the fire. Of course, I didn’t know it then, but that was the second I fell in love with him. Everything after that was merely supporting evidence. He didn’t have to speak; he didn’t have to do anything. It was like some inner connection pulled us together, firmly lodging him into my soul so that he could never leave without me losing a part of myself. Was that what true love was like for everyone? Or just when your heart was tied to the devastating predicament of being in love with a vampire?
I looked back at Julian, watching me silently. Again, another level in which our fates were linked. How could I be angry with him for the very thing I was guilty of? I felt my shoulders sag, the chip I harbored against him dissolving.