That got his attention. He whirled around, glaring at her. “Why?” he demanded.

She didn’t balk. “She asked me to.”

“Who’s ‘she’?”

Instead of answering, Nora smiled. “You’re sexy when you get serious like this, did you know that?”

Before he could stop himself, he replied, “Ren said the same thing. Only he meant it.”

Her eye twitched, the color fading from her lips. Her nails dug into the chair, the wood splintering under her grasp. He turned back around, not caring how hurt or jealous she was. It was because of her they were in this position in the first place.

“You’re still holding out for him, aren’t you?” she asked, trying to keep her emotions in check. 

Julian stared at the spines in front of him, seeing Ren’s face, his eyes, his smile…the demoness behind him could be as vindictive as she wanted, it didn’t matter. They weren’t soulmates, she had no claim on him, he didn’t answer to her. He pulled out another book, a thicker one this time, and opened it to a random page. 

She sighed loudly. “Julian, come on,” she said. “You need to move on already. It’s been four years.”

“You can keep track of time, too. Good for you,” Julian replied sarcastically, his eyes dancing over the words but not comprehending them. He turned the pages absently, hoping she’d get the hint and leave.

“Julian,” she said, her tone gentle. “He’s dead.”

His shoulders tensed. He was getting real sick and tired of people telling him that. He was starting to feel like he was the only person in all of creation that hadn’t given up on Ren, that no one else cared, even if he knew that wasn’t completely true.

She sat there for several moments in silence, watching him as he stared blankly at the book in his hands, pretending to read. She wasn’t oblivious, nor was she stupid. He didn’t want her there, didn’t want to listen to her speak coldly about the man he loved. At the very least, she wasn’t being completely nasty about it like she usually was.

As the saying goes, Hell hath no fury…

She sat up, draping her arm over the back of the chair, tucking one leg under her as she sighed, looking off to the corner of the room where an old suit of demon armor stood on display. She sighed, fluffing her hair. 

“That book isn’t going to tell you anything about the box,” she finally said. She shifted her gaze back to him. “But I’m sure you already know that.”

He still refused to acknowledge her, flipping more pages, his eyes still unseeing. He wasn’t looking at the words in front of him; he just didn’t want to look at her. When she’d heard he’d arrived at Helman Hall earlier that day, she had been excited and eager to see him again, holding on to a foolish hope that maybe he’d changed his mind and would finally see her differently. 

Obviously, that wasn’t the case. He was still cold, still angry for what she had done. As much as she wanted to blame him, she really couldn’t. Besides, she hadn’t come here to dredge up the past and renew an old fight. Julian was here to work and being a bitch to him wasn’t going to help anything. 

She stared at his profile, saying nothing, wondering what move she could make to get his attention, even if it wasn’t the kind she really wanted. She could be petty and become an obstacle in his path, one he had to negotiate with in order to get what he needed, or she could just help and let him and Felix be on their way. It hurt her that she couldn’t have him, that he despised her for what she’d done. His father’s encouragement, his mother’s insistence…it had only made things worse. She’d allowed them to use her emotions against her, and it had backfired royally.

Maybe she should have just…

She flinched inwardly, pushing aside memories she’d rather forget. She had done things she had come to regret later, especially after Julian’s violent rejection. It had been for nothing. The steps she’d taken, the choices she’d made, everything he had said, even if it was said in a bed that wasn’t hers…all of it pointless.

She exhaled softly, shaking her head slightly, doing her best to dislodge her thoughts and send them back into the farthest corners of her mind where they belonged, willing the emotions they brought to fuck right off. None of that mattered anymore. What mattered was now. And if she could help, which she knew she could, there was no harm in extending that branch. 

“I didn’t come here to antagonize you, Julian,” she finally said. “I really did just want to talk.”

“Unless it has to do with the box, I’m not interested,” he said, flipping several more pages.

“It does,” she said. His gaze shifted only a bit in her direction. She pointed at the book. “That’s worthless so you may as well put it back instead of using it as a bad prop.”

He shook his head, slamming the book shut and shoving it back on the shelf. He folded his arms and leaned against the wall, glaring at her. “Fine, you have my attention now. Happy?”

“Mildly,” she nodded without a smile. 

“Then get on with it, I’m busy.”

She didn’t bother to make a smartass remark. “The box is covered in writing not of these Realms. They’re a language from a race of stars several million lightyears away called Wanderers. They are beings literally born from a dying star. All its power, magic, elements, essence, all of it combining to make one entity. They are extraordinarily powerful, even more than the Devil Gods who are the most powerful entities in our known universe.”

He stared at her, unblinking. She wasn’t sure if this was information he already knew or not, but he didn’t stop her. 

“Anyway, these beings don’t come this far out very often, and when they do, they don’t stick around for long.”

“Why?”

She shrugged. “Maybe we don’t interest them enough, maybe they’re power is so strong that trying to contain and control it is next to impossible, maybe some of the Divine want to capture them and suck them dry so they can have all that magic and energy to themselves. No one can really say. The fact that Hawk’s mother was here for so long is an anomaly at best.”

“She was thrown here by an angel who she rejected,” he said. “At least that’s the story I heard.”

“Does Lord Hawk know why she was in this neck of the woods to begin with?”

He shook his head. “That would be interesting to find out, though.”

She shrugged. “Perhaps but that’s beside the point. Wanderers don’t stick around, but she did. Likely because she met her soulmate or whatever and had a kid.”

“Which is why I’m standing here today, impatient as hell for you to get to the damn point.”

She started, her hands fidgeting in her lap. “Right,” she muttered, clearing her throat. “So, that’s where that writing comes from. The box itself isn’t made from anything special, just normal wood found around western Europe. However, it’s what’s inside that has the most significance. It has to for a spell that strong to be placed on it.”

His eyebrow ticked. “What do you know about the spell?”

“That if I tried to break it, I’d die. So would anyone else who tried.”

“Hm,” he said softly. “That tracks, actually. The writing is most likely from Ynda, Hawk’s mother. She said explicitly that he and Hero aren’t allowed to touch it until they’re supposed to.”

“How did they get it back here, then?” Nora asked, genuinely curious. “Hawk had to have carried it around somehow.”

Julian shrugged. “Maybe it was because he was supposed to bring it home at that particular moment in time, who knows?”

Nora shrugged. “Makes sense. Anyway, Ryu wasn’t able to translate the rest but I can guess she said they can’t break the spell, either. Someone else has to do it.” She stared pointedly at him. “A Wanderer.”

He stood up from the wall, his face registering his surprise at this bit of information. “You know that for sure?”

Another nod. “Yeah, she told me that only a Wanderer, or a…” she thought for a second, “a child born of celestial light and power can break the seal and open the box.”

“There are no Wanderers here…” Julian said weakly, his mind racing through what Hawk had told him about being the last true star child in their Realms, and the words on the box that was verified by someone who probably didn’t even know him. He gulped and he felt the color drain from his face. “And who is ‘she’?”

Nora smiled knowingly. “Our other resident oddity.” 

He gasped softly. No way…

“Cameo Graves.”

-*-