“As you can see, I’m fully aware of what’s going on.”
“Are you?” the redheaded wizard responded with a smirk. “And just what would that be?”
Xavier took a menacing step closer to him but said nothing. Julien got the feeling that he was about to do something amazing. The gathered wizards seemed to get the same feeling, as all but the two Alaric still had bound ran to the middle of the street. They all put their hands on each other and disappeared.
Turning his attention on the last two, Xavier raised one hand. They began to writhe, and the woman cried out before collapsing to her knees.
Julien turned his head to look at Emory, who still held him securely in the air as his wings flapped. “What did he do?”
“Stripped them of their powers. They won’t be coming after you again. Nor will the others now that they know everything they’ve been trying to hide is now known to Xavier.”
Julien stared at the last two left, both of whom now wore stunned expressions of complete horror. He held no magic, so he had no idea how it would feel to lose it, but he imagined it was pretty fucking bad. “How are you going to explain all this to the people out here? They all saw everything.”
“We have ways to blur their memories, don’t worry.” Emory gave him a fierce frown. “Why did you get out of the car?”
Julien narrowed his eyes. “I may not have magical abilities, but I’m not completely helpless.”
That frown turned into a smirk. “What were you going to do against a wizard?”
Julien sighed, feeling foolish—all kinds of foolish—but he still answered honestly. “I didn’t get out to fight. I just wanted to hear what Xavier was saying.”
Emory threw his head back and laughed.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Emory
They were back at the safe house, and Emory watched Julien, who had gone back to his laptop. Bain and Alaric were outside, but Emory doubted they were needed now.
The attack hadn’t been very well coordinated, which told him it had been a last-minute thing. They had obviously been watching this house, so they’d known as soon as they left. He could only surmise they were trying to stop Julien from forwarding that information and now that they knew he had Xavier and his entire staff on his side, they would move their focus to Xavier.
Good luck with that.
When he’d pinned the red-haired wizard to the street, the preternatural had hissed words at Emory.
“You can’t stop what’s happening.”
He was wrong. Xavier was the most powerful sorcerer he’d ever met, and there wasn’t a preternatural out there who didn’t know that. And their internet guy, Daniel, was pretty fucking sharp. Between the two of them, they’d dig in and figure outwhat the fuckers were trying to resurrect. And with all the powerful preternaturals on Xavier’s staff, they would stop it.
But if those wizards came back—though he doubted they would—he’d be ready. He wasn’t letting them get close to his soulmate again.
He kept his eyes on the big man currently focused on his files. He’d thought Julien would drive him crazy, but he hadn’t understood that it would be a good kind of crazy. All his reservations were just…gone. Because a life without Julien wouldn’t be a life.
He needed to call both Ivor and Dax and tell them. No, he’d tell them in person. He wanted to see the expressions on their faces. He’d told Julien that the preternaturals at Protective Solutions were his family, and they were, but not like Ivor and Dax. He’d been best friends with them for over two hundred years, and they knew him better than anyone else. Knew he’d never wanted this and would be highly amused over his complete change of mind.
He looked back to Julien to find the man’s attention zeroed in on him. Something decisive passed over Julien’s face, his brows drawn together, his lips tight. He closed his laptop and stood to face Emory.
“We need to talk,” Julien said.
“Okay,” Emory drew the word out. He studied the fierce determination on that gorgeous face, and his lips twitched because there was also a hint of trepidation—something he hadn’t seen on Julien’s face before.
“I’d like you to move in with me,” he announced.
Emory lifted his brows.That, he hadn’t expected.
Julien went on. “I don’t know where you live or if you’re attached to it, but my home has plenty of space for two. I know it’s fast, and we talked of dating. I’m aware I sound crazy, but I don’t care.”
Amusement curled in his chest. “Is that what you’ve been sitting there thinking about?”
