by Lexi Ostrow
“Julian, I need your answer on all of this, it is part of the process. I cannot say for sure if there is a time limit on this return policy, but I can promise you the longer she’s here the harder it will be to send her back and the less likely you’ll retain any sort of power.”
He was up, the chair flew backwards and he vaguely heard it crash into the counter. His hands grabbed hold of the collar of the stupid trench coat. He tried to yank the man up out of the chair and he couldn’t. The growl this time was loud and he cursed as he let go with his right hand to punch the man in the nose. Only the punch never happened. His hand barely left the collar of the coat. In an instant he realized he was soaring backwards. His back slammed into the counter and his head bounced off it before he crumpled to the floor. Using what little strength he had he pushed himself up off the floor. The motion sent pain racing through him and he quickly crashed back down.
“What the fuck was that?” He was panting hard, trying to fight back a wave of pain. The man had clearly attacked him. Wasn’t that the opposite of good?
“Do not think to attack me. You’re not broken in anyway. I didn’t toss you hard enough. But I can stop the pain.” He walked closer and Julian inadvertently leaned away from his touch. “Don’t be foolish. You attacked me, I attacked back. Now I feel the error of my ways, as you do yours I’m sure. Let me fix the pain.” Julian gritted his teeth as the man simply moved a hand over him. The searing pain between his eyes stopped and he accepted the outstretched hand to stand.
“I got it. Don’t attack the all powerful deity.” His eyes darted to Serena. She was standing with her back against the far wall, her hands over her mouth and her face white. She looked like she wanted to help him, but she took a step forward and stopped as he took his seat again in another chair. He couldn’t stand the look of pity in her eyes. He wanted the look of ecstasy he had seen the last few days or the joy and laughter. Anything but the pity because he wasn’t ready for her to leave and he certainly didn't like pity. He’d had enough of that after the news that his ex fiancé was sleeping around got it.
“Julian, are you alright?” Her hand was on his arm and he battled the need to let her know it was not all ok and to shout at her; blame her.
“All good.” He turned to face her, but didn’t remove her small hand from his arm. He needed to know the answer, needed to hear her say she was going back to her world. Right now a nod wasn’t good enough. “Serena, I need to know. I need to hear you say the words. Do you want to leave my world and return to yours?”
Her eyes never left his. The sparkle of life he loved to look at was dull. Hurt swirled in the depths. She blinked rapidly and the emotion didn’t clear, but confusion added to their depths. She might want to leave, but it wasn’t easy on her and he sure as fuck wasn’t going to make it any easier. He would play dirty, because for his entire life he’d done the right thing and he wasn’t going to let Serena slip away so easy.
He leaned over and captured her mouth with his. His tongue pushed into her mouth angrily and she met his anger with her own kiss. His hands reached out and wrapped around her waist, tugging her from her chair into his lap. Her weight pressed against his swelling dick as their mouths fought for dominance. Gone was the timid lover, replaced with a tigress, determined to sate her own her need. Her hips rolled over him and his hands tangled in her hair to pull her back from him. He forced her to look him in the eyes as he gently held her head in his hands.
“Tell me that you want to leave me, Serena.” He hated the pleading tone in his voice. How much he feared losing her now that he had just finally found her. It was about more than losing his Guardian. It was about losing the woman who felt like his everything.
A soft cry passed between her parted lips. But she held his gaze as a tear slipped down her cheek. It cascaded over her chin and dripped onto his grey shirt. But she still wasn’t saying the words. So he remained there, bodies locked together, eyes seeing nothing but each other. Until she finally spoke, her voice wavering and soft but the words sounded like she screamed them in his ears.
“I’m so very sorry, Julian. But I must go home.”
Chapter Eleven
For the second time, a painful silence filled the cooking area of Julian’s home. Her heart seemed to be beating too slowly and her lip trembled at her admonition.
Because it was true.
Several days in this world had not made her forget who she was. She was born a noble and destined to rule her father’s castle by the side of a eligible duke or even a knight if one rose to high enough standards. She was not meant for a world full of technology and a love so passionate it made her toes curl and her body heat like molten fire. She was to be a dutiful daughter and wife. Not a war going Guardian.
Julian had dropped his head and his gaze remained on the floor since she had spoken. His breathing was loud and shallow, but he wasn’t speaking. But she could feel him shaking under her legs. His whole body tremored like he was holding back a scream or a curse or perhaps the desire to launch her off his lap. He did none of those things. No one in the area moved at all. The man in the trench coat had not moved any closer than he already was by the counter. Serena should have risen on her own, but she wasn’t ready. She might be leaving, but she wanted as much connection to him as she could get before it was time. Memories.
Seconds ticked by and the tension and quiet felt like that would wrap around her throat and strangle her at any second. Gently she slid off his lap, careful not to touch him, only the back of the chair as she rose onto her own two feet. Her back bumped into the table rim and she tipped forward. Julian stood and quickly reached out to grab her, his hands gripped her arms and steadied her. Just as he had done numerous times these last days when the things in his world had overwhelmed her, or their passion had left her on shaky legs. He had been an anchor, her anchor.
She sucked in a deep breath and slowly let it out as Julian loosened his grasp on her forearms and helped her to stand fully on her own. She stepped to the side and he brushed past her, walking somewhere she couldn’t see. The idea of being on her own again slammed into her. Maybe if she couldn’t stay here, he would go with her. Maybe this didn’t need to be goodbye. Hope blossomed and fluttered in her stomach.
“Julian—” She turned as she said his name, but he cut her off, not even bothering to turn around himself.
“Enough, Serena. You say you need to go home. Then go. I will not trap you here, in my world. Or with me.” His final words slammed into her and tore the breath from her body. She gasped at the pain the words wrought from her. But he just remained in the doorway to his living area, his broad back filling the space so completely. His shoulders were stiff and there was no way she could tell through the tension what he wanted.
“Come, Serena. I was not lying. I do not know how long it could take before I cannot return you home as you wish. These decisions are swift and my actions swifter still the few times they have occurred.” The man placed his palm on her lower back and suddenly she was staring into a section of air that distorted. It swirled in a pattern that made it impossible to look through, blocking her off completely from Julian.
“What?”
“Do not be afraid. That is a doorway. Julian was focused on you while tending to a fire and the flames crossed from his world to yours on your journey over. This time I am controlling it.” She watched as the swirling stopped in the center and only the perimeter of the shape was blurry. Inside were the lush green hills and the tall stone keep of her own world.
Her hand extended and she took a step forward. When her hand passed through the strange doorway and she could see it plain as day in front of the castle, but she grew nervous. She couldn’t see Julian past it and her heart ached to thank him for showing her what passion was. So that even when she married for duty, she would always remember what being loved felt like; even if they hadn’t said the words she knew it was what she felt for him. That he felt it for her.
“It won’t hurt. All y
ou need to do is step through. I’ll close it off after you give a little wave. Sometimes people can hear on their side of the doorway to this world and other times they can’t. I assure you, I won’t close it until you are safe. Thank you for your time as Guardian Serena De Bauc. You shall not see us again.”
Her head peeked around the magical doorway one final time. She wanted to see Julian one last time. He was in the same position, only his hands were braced on the doorway and his back slumped forward and his head hung. She had the camera in her pocket, but without electricity she knew she could only look at the photos for so long.
“Goodbye, Julian. I love you.” She didn’t wait for him to respond, she stepped through the doorway to her own world. Her feet landed on the grass, squishy from a recent rain, and she felt nothing different at all.
* * *
Her words were almost a second too late. But he heard them and he refused to let her leave once they were said. Somehow they would work something out. Julian had heard the man explaining the doorway. But he hadn’t realized how fucking close behind him it was. He shoved off the doorframe and turned to tell her to stop and tumbled straight into it. His face smushed against soaked grass and he heard Serena shout his name and run back toward him.
“What? What are you doing here?” She helped him to his feet and completely forgot to turn and wave to the man in the trench coat as she’d been told to do. Which was fine because they clearly needed to have a little talk if he was willing to race after her.
He took her face in his hands and kissed her, chastely for once. “I couldn’t let you leave after you said that. I’m not certain how long he can hold this doorway thing open, but we have to talk. Serena I’m in love with you. Or as damn close as a person can get in a few days.”
Her eyes widened and she pointed at the doorway behind him. “Julian! Look!” His head whipped around in time to see a man, identical to the one in the trench coat appearing in his kitchen. A dark shadow trailed behind him and he lunged at the man in the trench coat who was smiling at the two of them, unaware of what was happening.
“Hey! Look out!” Julian shouted and waved his hands in the air. But it didn’t do any good. “I’ll be right back. Don’t forget what I just said, Serena.” He was about to step through the doorway again when he saw the identical man, as if he had a twin, lunge forward and suddenly the doorway snapped closed and he simply stepped over a patch of grass. “FUCK!”
Over and over he walked over the spot. Julian had paced over the spot at least fifteen times in twenty seconds. Nothing changed, the doorway didn’t come back and he couldn’t see his kitchen. Serena’s hand slid around his waist and he turned to look at her. She looked upset and he could imagine why. If he wasn’t mistaken the doorway just closed. It was a one way one time trip if the guy hadn’t been lying. Which meant he was trapped.
“Julian, this is all my fault. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault, Serena. I shouldn’t have let you ever walk away, fuck I shouldn’t have let you off my lap. But I wanted to be a good guy. I wanted you to leave if you wanted to, even if it destroyed me.” He didn’t tell her it was ok. It wasn’t, he had a life in his world. His grandparents and brothers in arms would never know what happened to him. He wouldn’t see his family again. “I’m here now. There’s nothing we can do. I am pissed sure. I lost everything in the blink of an eye.” She flinched away from him and he tucked a strand of golden hair behind her ear. “But you had it happen to you and you survived.” He offered her a lopsided smile. His stomach rolled and he was mentally screaming obscenities, but he didn’t want to upset her because in the end, he had raced through the fucking swirling doorway to her world on his own.
“So much so that I ran home the moment I had a chance and ruined your life.”
“Serena, promise me that we can convince your father to let me marry you and I promise that while I might never get over it, that I might never stop searching for distorted air and a way home, that I will never blame you for it.”
“Do you mean that? Can you mean that? I couldn’t say the same when it was me in your world.”
He shrugged, he was at war in his own head with his thoughts. If this was how he got to stay with Serena he would make the most of it. He would slay dragons and rescue the damsels until her father saw fit to let them wed. Three days was plenty of time to fall in love. He’d do whatever it took. “I mean every word of it. Just promise me, Serena. I won’t sit back and let you marry another.”
A small smile tugged at her lips and she slipped her hand in his. “I promise you, Julian Michelson. I am yours. Let me show you my world as you showed me yours and then I will talk to my father.”
“Don’t you think after so many days away you should return?”
She laughed and the sound startled him. It was whimsical and full of joy, like the events of the morning didn’t just happen. “The nice man in the trench coat who refused to ever introduce himself, told me that when I’m not here the book doesn’t move forward. It doesn’t exist. They don’t even know I’ve been gone.” Mischief twinkled in her eyes and her grin matched it. “Which means we have a few hours of daylight left. Are you up for learning the past, Sir, so to be knight?”
He liked the sound of that. He’d always dreamed of what it was like to be a knight. They were chivalrous and strong. Everything he’d tried to be and often failed at being. He had a chance to live a fairy tale. “Lead the way, my lady. My entertainment is in your knowledgeable hands.”
Chapter Twelve
The blast of power caught him off guard. His mind blanked, only for a second, but it was long enough for the swirling doorway to snap closed and trap Julian and Serena on the other side. When he saw Julian turn around to chase her he wanted to give them a moment to reconcile. He had been so absorbed in the potential of their happy ending he hadn’t noticed the sizzle of energy that usually accompanied his brother’s arrival.
“You’re going to fucking pay for that brother.” He spat the word brother, something he had never done. For all their bickering and torments he had never disliked the blood that linked them. Today he had finally reached his edge. He turned and stared at his brother.
His leather jacket was neatly set on the table, like he had all the time in the world and was stopping in for a quick visit. His eyes were their normal brown, his mouth in a relaxed grin. His brother radiated ease and it infuriated him.
“Awfully touchy these days aren’t you?” His brother jumped off the table and without a thought he raised his arm and flung him backwards. His brother’s body smacked into the wall with a thunk and he heard his growl.
Seconds later he felt his head slam into a cabinet when his brother retaliated. His fangs slipped free and he saw his eyes gleaming red in the microwave door. Very rarely lately his eyes changing didn’t result in blows and lost control between the two of them.
At once they charged each other. He reached out and wrapped his arms around his brother’s neck as he felt a head plow into his stomach and arms wrap around him. The collision dropped them both to the floor. His fist flew out of the tangle and sucker punched his brother in the head. He was met with a knee to the side of his leg, one centimeter to the right and he would’ve been kissing his boys goodbye.
Rage poured through his body as the beating continued. He kicked, scratched, punched and choked his brother, who retaliated in kind. They were not going to fatally wound each other. Despite it all, they were still brothers and once this was over they would be broken and bloody, but they would always be brothers. Or maybe their gifted powers prevented them from killing each other. God knows they’d tried over the centuries and for a myriad of reasons.
Hands shoved into his shoulders and his brother broke the physical hold allowing them both to fight mentally again. Their powers clashed together and a wave of pushback sent them both in opposite directions. His feet were almost swept out from under him and he focused on being upright to regain his balance. His brother’s head sma
cked into cabinets and a sickening crack echoed in the kitchen. The cabinets were destroyed, not his brothers head. That remained intact as did his after bashing into a wall.
They both stood across the kitchen from one another. He with his hands on his knees breathing hard, his brother cradling his left arm. “Are you done yet?” He was winded and each word hurt to say.
His brother gnashed his teeth at him and snarled low. “Not this time, my brother.” Again a wave of energy slammed into him and he flipped ass over feet and his back connected with the refrigerator. He felt it crumple under the force and was barely able to maintain a standing position. A psychic band wrapped around his neck and he felt himself choke. His hands flailed, clawing uselessly at an invisible rope. The room began to spin out of control and he wondered if his brother had finally slipped all the way into the darkness he played with.
Fear whispered to him. For so long he had silently wished for a way out, a way to enjoy his life and not watch his brother slip away. But death had been the farthest thing from his mind. Until he realized it was upon him. His vision grew as distorted as a doorway opening and he could feel a tingle beginning in his fingers.
Forgive me, Huracan, for I have failed.
He let his hands stop clawing at his neck and his brother walked up, a smug smile on his face and squatted on the floor where he had sat when he grew dizzy with air loss. He felt the scrap of his brother’s fangs on his neck and knew suffocation would be too clean a death.