"Oh," he said sheepishly. "Sorry."
Julian returned to Grace inside the closet.
She was sobbing uncontrollably as she ran her hand over the shredded pages. "Why would he do this?"
Julian picked her up and carried her out of the closet, then laid her on the bed. She held on to him so tightly that he could barely breathe, and she sobbed as if her heart were splintering.
In that moment, Julian wanted to kill the man who'd done this to her.
The phone rang.
Grace screamed and struggled to get up.
"Sh," Julian said, wiping her tears with his hand while holding her steady. "It's all right. I'm here. I've got you."
Officer Reynolds handed her the phone. "Answer it in case it's him."
Julian glared at the man. How could he be so insensitive as to ask her to talk to that rabid mongrel?
"Hi, Selena," Grace said, then she burst into tears again as she told Selena what had happened.
Julian's thoughts whirled as he considered the man who had invaded her home and wounded her so deeply. What concerned him most was the fact that the man knew what to go after. He knew Grace. Knew what was important to her.
And that made him far more dangerous than the police realized.
Grace hung up the phone. "I'm sorry for the outburst," she said, wiping her tears away. "It's been a long day."
"Yes, ma'am, we understand."
Julian watched as she pulled herself together with a strength of will he had known few men to possess.
She led the police through the rest of her house.
"He must not have seen this book," one of the officers said as he handed Julian's book to her.
Julian took it from Grace's hands. Unlike the officer, he wasn't so sure. If the bastard had tried to tear it up, then he had been in for one nasty surprise.
The book could never be destroyed. Over the centuries, he had tried to do it himself, countless times. Not even fire could mar it. But the book served to remind him of just how true Grace's earlier words were.
In a few days, he would be gone and she would have no one to protect her.
That thought made him ill.
The police were finally leaving as Selena pulled into the driveway. She got out of her Jeep with a tall, dark-haired man who had his arm bound in a cast, and came running to the door.
"Are you okay?" she asked Grace as she hugged her.
"I'm fine," Grace said, then looking over Selena's shoulder, she greeted the man. "Hi, Bill."
"Hi, Grace. We came to help."
Grace introduced him to Julian, then the four of them went inside.
Julian stopped Selena as soon as they entered, and pulled her aside. "Can you keep her downstairs for a bit?"
"Why?"
"I have something I need to take care of."
Selena frowned. "Sure, okay."
Julian waited until Selena and Bill sat Grace down on the couch. Then he went to the kitchen, grabbed a couple of trash bags, and headed upstairs to the closet.
As quickly as he could, he started cleaning up the mess so Grace wouldn't have to see it again. But with every piece of paper he touched, his rage grew.
Over and over, he saw the tender look on her face as she had looked through her collection, searching for a book to read. Closing his eyes, he could see her hair falling over his chest as she read to him.
And in that moment, he wanted blood.
"Jeez," Bill said from the doorway. "He do all this?"
"Yes."
"Man, what a psycho."
Julian didn't say anything as he continued to shove papers into the bag. All he could focus on was the scream in his soul that demanded vengeance. It made a mockery of the one that called out for Priapus.
It was one thing to wound him. But to hurt Grace…
The Fates had better have mercy on the man, because Julian wouldn't.
"So, you been dating Grace long?"
"No."
"Didn't think so. Selena hasn't mentioned you, but come to think of it, she hasn't been so worried over Grace being alone since her birthday, either. You must have met her then."
"Yes."
"Yes, no, yes. You're not much on talking, are you?"
"No."
"Well, I can take a hint. See ya later."
Julian paused as his hand brushed the cover to Peter Pan. He picked it up and ground his teeth. Pain assailed him. She'd loved this book most of all.
He clenched it tight in his hand, then added it to the bag, as well.
Grace didn't know how long she sat on the couch unmoving. All she knew was how much she hurt. Rodney had struck deeply in his violation of her.
Selena brought her a cup of hot chocolate. Grace tried to drink it, but her hands still shook so badly that she was afraid she'd spill it. She set it aside. "I guess I need to go clean up."
"Julian already did that," Bill said from her armchair as he flipped channels on the TV.