"When will he be back?"
He shrugs. "I can't say. He hasn't contacted me."
I feel strangely at home at Julien's warehouse and spend the evening reading or watching television news and staring at the cityscape. I remember the last words Julien spoke to me, wondering what he meant when he said he's taking out one threat against me. Does he mean Luke? Finally, I'm too tired to stay up and say goodnight to Vasily. I fall asleep quickly, feeling for the first time in a while that there's nothing I can do to change things, and so I stop even trying to figure out how. All I know is that I'm falling in love with Julien. I miss him. I worry about him, and I want him back safe.
Noise from the apartment wakes me sometime in the middle of the night. I go to the bedroom door and crack it open enough to look into the main foyer. Julien has returned and is standing with Vasily, the two men speaking in low voices. His shirt is off and his chest bare. There's a bandage on his arm stained crimson.
I go to him immediately and cup his face, kissing him, not caring if Vasily and his other men see me.
"You're hurt," I say. "Can I check it?" He nods so I peel back the bandage to reveal a laceration several inches long, clean edges, the cut at least a quarter inch deep. "What happened?"
"Luke and I fought. He used a silver blade."
"Luke fought you?"
"Don't worry," he says and cracks a lopsided grin. "He got the worst of it."
Before my eyes, the wound begins to heal, very slowly, but it's apparent even to my eyes. The blood seeping from it slows, and then the edges pull together so that soon, it's just a thin seam of white.
I daub the wound and the gauze comes back clean.
"Your skin isn't cold," I say and run my hands over his chest. I notice a light pink blush to his cheeks. "You have some color. You just fed."
"Luke," he says, grinning. "To the victor, the spoils."
I smile and put my arms around him, pulling him down to me, my mouth by his ear.
"I'm so glad you're alive," I whisper, tears making my vision blurry, my throat choked. He says nothing, just smiles and pulls my arms from around his neck. Then I see movement in the shadows.
Michel.
"Michel…" I whisper, my voice breaking. I can't help myself and run to him and he's there, his arms open when he sees me coming and I'm in his embrace and his mouth is on mine. He picks me up, lifting me off the floor, turning around, holding me there, kissing my face and throat and neck.
"You're here," I whisper.
"I'm here."
"How? I thought I'd never see you again."
Over his shoulder I see Julien, a frown on his face.
"How? Tell me!"
"Soren released me."
He glances at Julien. I turn back to Julien and he's not looking at me, his hands in his pockets.
"Why did Soren release you?"
Michel shakes his head and leads me into the bedroom, shutting the door behind us.
"I made a bargain with the devil. I've just done a thing that I detested very much, but I had no choice. When I learned you met Soren in Ramallah, I knew what I had to do. Julien knew what he had to do. I have to be very careful from here on in. Every step has to be taken with complete calculation, every move perfect."
“What do you mean? What did you do? What did Julien do?”
He smiles softly.
"Eve of a thousand questions. I can't tell you. Just accept that I'm back." He brushes hair from my cheek. "I have to sacrifice if you do."