Do not use the word ‘fetch’ with me, Max responded crisply. And have you noticed I don’t have opposable thumbs?
“You’ll figure it out, Max,” I said, trying to sound casual, but failing. “Unless you want me to go out there while you stay here and comfort Julian.”
With a grunt, Max plucked the bowl out of my hand with his teeth and pushed the curtain aside, practically running out of the hut.
I crawled over and peeked around the curtain to watch him as he sauntered among the huts, staggering slightly. He must be starving by now. The place was deserted. The remnants of the bonfire smoldered in the center of the clearing. In daylight, I could see the place clearly for what it was—a tribal village in a dense jungle. At least thirty huts formed the perimeter of the clearing. Two tigers sat outside each hut door as if on guard, their tails swirling back and forth as they watched the mammoth dog traipse through their village. Across the way, opposite our hut, sat a much larger hut than all the others. Four tigers guarded it. That had to be the Featherman’s hut. I guessed he was the chief.
When I thought Max was out of earshot, I turned and dove toward Julian, my hands landing on either shoulder, pinning him roughly to the ground.
“Ouch!” he cried.
“Shut up, you liar!” I whispered sharply.
That earned a wince. “I didn’t lie.”
“No, you’re right. You just conveniently left out an important truth. You and Max have a lot more in common than I thought!” I tempered my tone, realizing that my whisper was likely loud enough to carry in the quiet of the jungle.
“Do you blame me?” Julian whispered back. “How could I tell you? Especially after that first night, when you pretty much condemned every one of us!”
“Can you blame me? You want all of my friends to die!”
“No, I don’t! I mean, I did, but not anymore. Please, let me explain!” Julian pleaded.
With my jaw set stubbornly, I sat back on my knees, crossed my arms over my chest, and demanded, “Explain, then!”
Julian struggled to sit up. He met my stare with guilty eyes. “Two years ago, these men approached my parents with an offer. They said they’d help us break free of the vampires.” He pausing for a moment to regain his breath, his breathing shallow. “At first my parents weren’t interested. I mean, they didn’t need to do anything for the vampires except sign some papers every now and then and collect stupid amounts of money. Not exactly high-risk. But a few months later, the men came back with an offer to top whatever my parents were being paid. That, of course, sparked their interest.” There was contempt in his voice. “All we had to do was get marked—” he gestured to his hip “—and report in to a phone number if we heard or noticed anything strange. My parents agreed to it.”
“And you?”
Julian snorted. “They could be quite . . . persuasive.” As if sitting up was too hard, he slowly eased himself back. He stared up at the ceiling for a long moment before continuing. “They threatened not to pay for my med school unless I complied.” His head rolled to look at me now. “So of course I agreed. I mean, what did I care about a bunch of vampires? It was obvious these men wished them harm. I figured we’d all be better off if they actually succeeded in getting rid of them. I didn’t know about the curse, or about this underground Sentinel group and its alliance with the witches . . . I didn’t know about you.” He stared at me, a strange look on his face.
I exhaled loudly, and some of my anger went with it, replaced with a mixture of pity and confusion. Pity that his own parents would drag him into such a mess, and confusion over how they actually pulled off tricking a two thousand-year-old vampire who could read moods. “But how? I mean, how could Viggo not find out that his beard family were double agents?”
Julian shrugged. “It wasn’t that hard, really. We never saw them. The first time I ever stepped foot inside their place in Manhattan was the day you were there. Why would they suspect anything? The men . . . the Sentinel told us that if we kept our markings hidden, we’d be fine.”
I added to his explanation. “And Viggo is so arrogant, he never suspected someone could top his bribes.”
Julian nodded, rolling his eyes. “It took a lot of money, but it happened.”
Something still didn’t sit right with me. “You parents just took the Sentinel’s word at face value?”
Julian chuckled. “No . . . the Sentinel told them that Viggo and Mortimer wouldn’t be around much longer, so if they wanted to be taken care of, they’d be smart to take the deal. My parents accepted on the condition that they got several large advances up front. So I guess they figured that they couldn’t lose, either way.”