A Thief of Nightshade (13 page)

Jullian, however, did things in private and public that others only did for show and it was this quality, perhaps more than anything else about him, that took the edge off her bitterness.

He took her hand to help her out.

Brooke’s singsong voice greeted them before her feet touched the custom-stamped pavement. “My, you really are Prince Charming. Honestly, I’m shocked she’s letting you open her door.”

Jullian extended a hand to Brooke, giving her a short nod of his head. “Oh, it took some convincing. Mrs. Fuller, it’s a pleasure to meet you as well. Aubrielle has given me quite an earful concerning your musical gifts. May I assume you’ll be entertaining us this evening?”

Aubrey wanted to sock him in the ribs. She’d given him an earful all right— her sister’s giftedness was up to interpretation. When she and her sister were younger, Brooke had always been the one in the school choir who was chosen as the soloist only because of how much their father had donated. She should have been told years ago that she couldn’t carry a tune.

Brooke lit up.

“Well, if you insist,” she said coyly.

Harry was going to kill Jullian for this. He swore Brooke’s singing was the sole cause of his migraines.

Jullian whispered in Aubrey’s ear, “I would rather hear you, of course.”

Aubrey rolled her eyes.

As if her thoughts had summoned him, Harry rounded the corner and clobbered Aubrey with a bear hug. He was her little brother but he was a force to be reckoned with. At 6’3” and a tad on the heavy side, he was a taller, mellower version of Jim Belushi. “Insist on what?”

he asked.

“Harrington, you’re going to ruin Aubrielle’s dress. Jullian has asked that I sing for us this evening.” Brooke beamed, even as she absently brushed Aubrey’s dress free of dirt that apparently only she could see.

“Jullian,” Harry laughed, just faintly enough for Brooke to miss it from where she stood. “I wasn’t aware you were a connoisseur of the arts. Remind me to discuss it with you later.”

The evening went by mostly as Aubrey had imagined it. Brooke displayed her usual knack for choosing just the right caterers, the perfect decor and impeccable gifts for the guests. Most of Aubrey’s immediate friends already knew Jullian, but her family’s idea of acceptable acquaintances

and

hers

differed

considerably. This evening’s intention was for those in the Wright family’s economic peer group to meet the newest member of the circle. She hated every minute of it, aside from those spent in the company of her nieces and nephews.

“Dinah caught a rabbit yesterday. It was white and had huge front teeth,”

Pearson, her eight-year-old nephew, told Jullian. They’d managed to sneak away to visit the children.

“Who, may I ask, is Dinah?” Jullian sat down a beanbag chair with his long legs stretched comfortably in front of him, as though he’d lived in that chair his whole life.

“Our kitty cat,” Peyton said. She was almost three.

Aubrey

arched

one

brow

dramatically. “She’s something of a legend around here, what with her conquests with the other neighborhood felines.” She pulled Peyton into her arms.

“Brooke isn’t terribly fond of her, given her penchant for dragging dead things into the house. The cat, I mean, not Brooke.”

Pearson giggled but fell quiet when his sister spoke again.

“She isn’t even scared of the big, mean dog next door.” Peyton looked up at Aubrey innocently.

Jullian shifted positions, the beans in his chair sloshing loudly, so he could better see Pearson. “Are you afraid of him?”

Pearson nodded, wide-eyed. “He’s really awful. You’d be afraid of him, too, if you rode your bicycle around here.”

“Well,” Jullian said, “you know there is only one thing to be done when you fear someone or something like your neighbor’s dog.”

“And what would that be, Dr.

Sellars?” Aubrey asked, grinning.

“Well,” he leaned into Pearson, “you’ve got to close your eyes and, with your heart of hearts, believe in magic.

Believe in something beyond yourself, beyond what you know as reality.”

Peyton and Pearson, who had both been told on more than one occasion that daydreams and make-believe were for children who couldn’t afford decent toys, laughed. Pearson realized suddenly that Jullian wasn’t kidding and even Aubrey was surprised to see the seriousness in his eyes.

Jullian looked at her and spoke then as though he meant his words for her, not the children. “A very fine line exists between our world and magic. When emotions are strong enough, they will carry a person over. I’m not talking about if the dog is chasing you. If he’s chasing you, run.”

She narrowed her eyes. “And what good exactly will that do if the neighbor’s

dog doesn’t believe in faerie tales and bites you anyway?”

Jullian smirked. “How do you know he doesn’t? Have you asked him?”

More laughter erupted from the children. Aubrey no longer saw the humor in it, “Well, I’m not quite fluent enough in canine to do so. Perhaps you should do the honors next time we’re outside?”

“Yeah.” Pearson giggled, his eyes wide. “Make sure he’s eaten dinner, though.”

Jullian snatched up the boy and tickled him. “I’ll be sure to bring steak.”

“That went surprisingly without incident,”

Jullian said.

Aubrey buckled her seat belt, but remained quiet.

Jullian, who was driving, smiled without looking at her. “I can behave myself, you know. Don’t you think it went well?”

“I guess. Sure.”

“Oh, love, it went great. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s just ... you did after all tell two very gullible children that nothing could hurt them so long as they wish on faerie dust.”

Jullian kept his eyes on the road.

“That isn’t what I said.”

“Yes, you did. Look, I’ve said it before, this is part of who you are and I love you for it, but what happens when they find themselves in a really bad situation and all they can remember is ...

is something from Neverland? Bad things happen, Jullian. They need to understand that. Fear isn’t always a bad thing, it keeps us out of trouble sometimes.”

He dipped his head once in agreement and looked at her sideways.

“What happened to you?” he asked carefully. “You’ve asked that of me, but something tells me you’ve got an answer of your own.”

She swallowed hard. “You know what happened, I told you. I fell. Broke my leg. Lots of surgery...”

Jullian shook his head. “That’s certainly affected you, but that isn’t what I’m talking about.” She paled as he continued. “It goes deeper than that. You shy away from my touch at times, usually when you’re half-asleep. As soon as you realize it’s me, you’re fine. Early on in my class we discussed the role of childhood trauma in faerie tales—you left early that day, to Samantha’s dismay. It isn’t like you to walk out of a lecture. I can’t help but to put two and two together.”

She turned to the window and stared at the streetlights as they drove. The view was mainly dark forest, with an occasional glimpse of the river through the trees. She couldn’t answer him. How could he have known? Surely Grant hadn’t said anything. She finally asked, “Did Grant tell you?”

“No,” Jullian said gently, “he didn’t.

I’ve known since the night you drove me to get my keys. I’d read your most recent essay a number of times while I waited on you to get out of class. That piece was rather poignant.”

She started to speak, but stumbled for a second. “I might have walked out of class but I wasn’t going to flake on an assignment. Did you say while you waited on my class to let out or that you waited on—”

“I was waiting on you. I locked my keys in the car on purpose.” He smiled bashfully. “I needed an excuse to get you to talk to me. My previous efforts had turned up empty.”

Aubrey turned up the heat in the car and pulled Jullian’s jacket tighter around her. She was flattered by his admission, but still couldn’t bring herself to say anything.

They pulled into the driveway and they both remained still after Jullian cut off the engine. “You don’t have to tell me if you aren’t ready. I hadn’t intended to bring it up tonight.”

“I know.”

“Let’s go inside, you’re cold.”

Jullian had just grabbed the door handle when Aubrey reached out and touched his arm.

“Can we just sit here for a minute?”

“Of course,” he whispered.

“What did you mean when you said that you knew that night?”

Jullian took her hand in both of his and brushed his thumb across her palm with tender strokes. “Aubrey, you are unlike anyone I’ve ever known. You joke about disliking other people at times and yet your heart knows nothing of hate or judgment, not with any real conviction.

You are without a doubt unaware of your own strength.” The smile faded from his face as he tilted her chin up to look at him directly. “But you go to great lengths to hide your pain from everyone. I just don’t want you to think that you have to hide it from me. Harrington did tell me that he’s never seen you cry and in the time we’ve been together I haven’t seen but one single tear; a tear that you clearly hadn’t intended to shed. Which is why I thought twice about what you said. I caught you off guard then, just like I caught you off guard tonight. You normally wouldn’t have cared what I said to the kids, why tonight?

What about this particular evening was different than all the others?”

“I don’t have an answer for that. And you said yourself that I’m not the emotional type, remember? I just know how Brooke is and—”

“You don’t care what your sister thinks.”

She clenched her jaw. “I can’t do this.” She turned in her seat to get out when he pulled her back with an arm across her collarbone from behind, his hand firmly gripping her right shoulder.

She felt his heartbeat on her back and closed her eyes when the warmth of his breath hit the side of her neck.

“You aren’t alone. You may not feel like you can do this, but I’m right here with you. What about tonight was different?”

“They’re children. You can ask

whatever of me, to think about whatever you’d like me to think about, but to ask it of them isn’t fair.”

“How old were you?” His tone was soft and gentle but the words were sharp as glass.

“Not much older than Pearson.” She couldn’t believe what was coming out of her mouth. She hadn’t even told Samantha.

“I did wish for something beyond myself.

Believe me, I did.” She fought with another breath. “I’m sorry, Jullian. I can’t.

Not right now.”

Aubrey sat alone in the bathroom later that night. Jullian had fallen asleep quickly and lay in bed not ten feet from where her back rested against the door. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t keep the panic from rising. She didn’t want Jullian to know, didn’t want anyone to know ... but especially not him. Her chest tightened as she recalled the warmth and innocence in his handsome smile. What would he think of her once he knew? She thought back on what Grant had said that night at her parents’ house ... maybe the reason Jullian hadn’t told her much about himself was because he already sensed how fragile and weak she was. She’d never be ...