The class ended without interruption after that. I didn’t bother rushing to gather my things. I knew I wasn’t getting out of it this time. Julian would get his meeting with me, one way or another. Better to just get it over with.
“Want me to stay with you?”
My eyes lifted to Kyren waiting by my desk. I smiled and shook my head with a laugh. “No, it’s alright. Wouldn’t want to keep you.”
“I don’t trust him.” His gaze shifted to Julian, his jaw tightening.
Standing, I patted Kyren on the chest. His eyes darted down to where I touched him, and I pulled my hand back quickly. “It’s okay. Really. He probably just wants to gripe about me talking during class again.”
Kyren didn’t say anything more as he followed me down the stairs. When we landed at the base, Julian waited for me, his sleeve rolled up and a hand in his pocket. The tension in his shoulders told me exactly how he was feeling right then.
“Leave,” Julian instructed Kyren with a tone he’d used on many a hunter under his command.
Kyren bared his fangs at Julian. “You don’t command me, hunter.”
I lifted my hand to touch Kyren’s arm, then dropped it knowing how he reacted before. “Kyren, I’ve got this. I promise. Go ahead.”
Kyren and Julian stared each other down for a moment longer before Kyren broke it, stalking out of the classroom with a lingering growl.
My luck finally ran out. I’d ignored every call and text from Julian since that first day, making sure to dart out of the class with the horde of students before he could catch me.
Sure, it was petty and unprofessional, but Julian was a pain in the ass when he was trying to control me. Something he really should have given up on by now.
“We need to talk.”
Turning my head from the closed door, I pursed my lips. “Unless you have any new information about the mission, wedon’t have anything to talk about.” I moved for the door and turned the handle. It barely cracked open before his hand slammed down on it above my head, shutting it closed.
His body pressed up against the back of mine. His mouth next to my ear. “Dur — Jack. We need to talk.”
“I know. You just don’t have to be,” My shoulder sagged, “such an asshole about it.”
Julian chuckled, the sound vibrating through my back and lingering in my core. Fuck him. Fuck him sideways. The bastard knew exactly what he did to me.
“And you don’t have to be such a brat, and yet here we are.” His words brushed against my neck, sending a shiver down my spine. “Just work with me, Jack. We can’t let our personal feelings get in the way of the mission.”
I swallowed and turned, putting our faces inches from each other, his eyes boring into mine. “I can be professional, but you can’t.”
“I’ve been nothing but professional.” Julian’s eyes narrowed.
I let out a hard laugh. “Right, ‘cause you ride the ass of all your hunters. You let all of them throw themselves into danger, yet you hold me back. You’ve always held me back.”
He blew out a long breath and pushed away from the wall, dragging a hand down his face. “This isn’t the time or place to be discussing this.”
“If not now, when?” I followed after him, watching him pace back and forth. “You were my mentor. You helped train me to be what I am today. Then you were my comrade. We fought side by side against whatever came after us. Then... that night…”
“Jack.” Julian stopped pacing. “Don’t.”
“I very well fucking will,” I growled as I grabbed his arm. “You can’t pretend like it didn’t happen.”
Julian looked down at my hand and then back to me. “We can’t do this. I’m your commanding officer now. What happened before… it can’t happen again.”
My jaw tightened, and my heart cracked a bit more at his words. “So you say… but that doesn’t mean that you can keep holding me back. Either you care about me and want to be with me, or you treat me like everyone else.”
His eyes burned across my face, flickering over my features as if he were memorizing them.
“You can’t have it both ways, Julian,” I murmured, dropping my hand and stepping back from him.
After a moment, he dropped his gaze. “You’re right. We have a mission, and I’m holding you back from it.” Julian stepped over to his desk and picked through the papers on the surface. “I found a lead.”
