I must have been in such a state of shock that I'd allowed something like that to happen.
He had sat me on my bed, told me that I should sleep now and also that I was safe here in the house. A werewolf had told me that I was safe here, and I had believed him.
Somehow, I must have fallen asleep.
The memories of yesterday seemed like a surreal dream.
How had Mum not noticed?
Reflecting, I got up, texted Larissa that I was okay, and went to make my bed, which rarely happened. But I dropped the pillow, in shock.
I grabbed my head and when I looked at my hand again, it looked like the pillow: Full of brown hair?
I jumped up in horror and rushed to my standing mirror. Examining my head, I came closer to look at my scalp.
I felt sick to my stomach.
It looked like I had less hair. My freckles seemed paler, like the rest of my skin.
A radical fear grew inside me.
What if Amara had made me ill? What if something had gone wrong with this ritual? A small mistake? Maybe because I wasn't one of them? What if my body couldn't take it?
A sweet melody snapped me out of my destructive daydream.
Julian was playing the grand piano again.
I tiptoed to the curtain and pushed the hair thing out of my mind. Peering past the curtain, I spotted Julian sitting at his open old floor-to-ceiling window, shirtless as usual, playing on the keys in front of him.
His broad shoulders were relaxed, and I caught a glimpse of his taut skin and large chest muscles.
I shook my head.
No, Bay, better give him his T-shirt back.
I walked across my room to my backpack, where his – fortunately not sweaty – T-shirt from a few days ago lay, and took it out. A pleasant smell hit my nose.
What? Wait, no...
I grabbed the piece of clothing in shame and went back to the window.
Lots of people smelled good. And besides, that was probably just his cologne...
A little confused, I pulled the white curtains away and opened the window so that I could sit down and let my legs hang out. Then I waved at him and held up his T-shirt.
“You left something with me,” I croaked in my morning voice, feeling instantly embarrassed.
Oh God, I sounded like one of the ravens, like I was catching a cold, which, by the way, happened quite often. My immune system was broken.
Julian stopped playing and eyed the T-shirt. Then he closed his eyes in embarrassment for a second.
I had to grin and threw the T-shirt, hoping it would make it over there.
Julian held on to the window frame, hung himself out a little and caught his top. His upper body muscles tensed as he did so.
He was certainly doing more than jogging to keep that body in shape.
I was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday, and although they were thick, I was freezing again.
Julian didn't seem to mind the low temperatures. I wonder if it had something to do with the fact that he was a werewolf.
“How are you?” He gave me a worried look, which brought back all the memories of yesterday. “I mean, because of last night, you looked knocked out.”
“I just want to get out of here, Julian.”
I looked at him, exhausted.
There was pity in his expression, and I didn't like it one bit.
“You shouldn't have gone into that area. It's dangerous and no one goes there unless they have something to do with the DeLoughreys or a death wish.”
I looked up.
“What were you even looking for there, at this hour?”
Julian suddenly seemed very interested in what was going on. He'd been acting so strangely yesterday.
“Were you there?” I asked, seeing invisible question marks pop up above his head. “Did you follow us?” That look again. He didn’t answer, so I continued. “We were attacked yesterday until something fast suddenly appeared and snatched this man away.”
“Tell me about this man,” he demanded.
I would probably still be able to describe this guy in 50 years' time.
“He was bald and his eyes were completely black. And the skin around his eyes...”
“Completely black eyes? Not red?”
I looked at him again.
“No, black...”
Julian's expression darkened.
“What?” I asked. “Do you know him? Is he one of you?”
Julian shook his head.
“He's a Ruisangor.”
