Asylum (Causal Enchantment #2)(20)

Max was dragging something in with him. A body.

Julian.

I found him about a mile from here, waist-deep in snow, Max reported, gripping Julian’s jacket in his teeth.

Leo rushed to grab Julian under his armpits. Together, they dragged the still body over to lie beside the fire. I jumped off the couch and dove to his side, peering closely at him. Not a moan escaped him. No movement. “How did—” I began, then scrunched my face up in thought. Had I fallen asleep after all? Had Julian snuck past us and left? Or . . . I shot a questioning look at Leo, my eyes narrowing with suspicion.

He went out the window, Max quickly confirmed. I found prints leading from there. He must have pried it open and scaled down the wall.

“Determined fool,” Leo murmured, crouching down to inspect Julian’s pewter-colored lips.

“Is he . . . ” I couldn’t finish. A hollow bubble grew inside me. Another death.

“He’s not well, that’s for sure.” Leo hovered over him, his hands floating inches above his face. “Not well at all. Go and get some blankets and a pillow.”

I was on my feet and running up the stairs two at a time toward Julian’s room. Sure enough, I felt chill air the second I rounded the corner. I stopped at the shattered door and looked into the bedroom. The window still sat open a crack.

I scrambled inside, scooped the duvet and pillows from the bed, and half-dragged, half-carried them out of his room. Only when I was running down the hall did I remember his sister. She needed to know! “Valentina?” I called, my eyes roaming the hallway, wondering which room was hers. No answer. “Valentina! You need to come quickly!” My voice faltered for only a moment. “It’s Julian!”

“I’m sleeping,” Valentina called groggily. Where had that come from? Second door on the right. I grabbed the knob and turned it, only to hear a thud and feel resistance on the other side. Something was barricading the door. “I said I’m sleeping!” Valentina shouted.

“But it’s your—”

“Leave me alone!” she screeched, making me jump two steps back.

“Evangeline!” Leo bellowed desperately from below.

“Coming!” I ran back down the stairs, gripping the railing to keep from tumbling over the blankets.

I found Leo rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. “Make him comfortable and warm,” he instructed.

Comfortable . . . He’s unconscious and frozen. Possibly dead. Make him comfortable . . . I gently slid a pillow under Julian’s head, then draped the duvet over him, covering every inch of his body short of his face. “I don’t think this will help raise his body temperature,” I murmured warily.

“Of course not. Give me some space now,” Leo announced, kneeling beside him. “This will take a while. The trouble these bloody kids are causing me . . . ” he finished in a quiet grumble.

I dove for the nearest couch, hanging over the arm to watch Leo work. He sat completely still, his eyes closed, appearing deep in thought, or as if he were meditating.

Max settled directly beside me, and the other dogs appeared out of nowhere to investigate the situation as well.

“Magic?” I whispered, intrigued.

Yup . . . You know, I could have left him out there. Max began in a gruff voice. When I caught his scent, I went out of my way to find him. I figured you’d want to help him out. I glanced over to see his ochre eyes staring at me, brimming with something I rarely saw in them—anxiety.

My guilt-ridden werebeast was trying to make amends. I reached over and scratched behind his ear. “You did good, Max. Thank you.”

Not that he deserves it, Max said, earning a flat look. But I did it for you, he added quickly, leaning over to nestle against my neck.

“Do you think Julian will die?”

Max didn’t answer.

We sat. We waited.

I woke up to something warm and wet sliding across my cheek. Max’s tongue. Lifting my head from the arm of the couch, I groaned at a kink in my neck left by the awkward position. A colorful afghan draped my body. At some point, someone had tucked me in. I was thankful, given the draft that crept in from somewhere. I rolled my head to peer at the fireplace and saw only embers. The fire was Leo’s department. Where is he? I wondered, rubbing my eyes with my palms.

“How’d I end up back here?” a male voice croaked, startling a gasp from me. Julian was propped on the opposite couch, his face paler than normal, but alive. And he wasn’t scowling for once, which made his face pleasant to look at, his features dark and masculine.

I sat up to face him. “Max tracked you down in a deep snowbank.” I made sure I emphasized who his savior was. “He brought you back and Leo helped heal you. The lunatic butler and the freak mutt,” I added, repeating his words from yesterday.

Julian had the decency to look sheepish as he glanced over at Max.

“Are you stupid?” I blurted before I could stop myself. But then, after thinking about it for all of five seconds, I silently praised myself. He deserved it.

Julian smirked before dropping his gaze to his hands. “Yes, I suppose I am. I don’t know where I am, what is going on, why I’m here. I don’t know anything except that my parents are dead and I’m surrounded by . . . ” He didn’t finish, either because he lost his train of thought or he’d been about to drop another insult and decided against it.