Page 53 of Ashes and Lilies
“That’s not what I meant.” Julian’s eyes widened, and he squeezed my hands. “I just wish you’d let me take care of you. I don’t think you understand how important you’ve become to us over the last few days.”
That didn’t make any sense. “Then why are you sad?”
“Never mind.” He sighed, releasing my hand. “You’ll understand someday.”
I doubted it. “Okay…”
Julian quirked his lips before he walked to the chair and turned it to face the wall. “Don’t mind me,” he said, pulling out a blue-cased cellphone. “I’ll just be reading.”
“Blue?” I asked. Knowing what I did now, the color had taken on a new meaning. I side-eyed him.
He clearly hadn’t stopped watching me yet because he chuckled under his breath.
“Yes, Bianca.” He didn’t even glance in my direction as he spoke. “Blue is my favorite color. Damen’s favorite color is red. Miles’s is brown, and Titus’s is white.”
I stared at his unfazed form, incredulous. “Who in the world has favorite colors of white and brown? White isn’t even a color! I bet those colors are attributed to the element we’re supposed to represent. Could you be any more stereotypical? Finn’s favorite color is red, too, you know.”
There was a hint of a smirk on his lips, but he responded with the same matter-of-fact tone as he continued to watch his phone. “Didn’t you say that your favorite color was pink?”
“I did not.” I didn’t even realize he remembered that conversation. “I said that pink is my second favorite color. My favorite color is green.”
Julian smirked, glancing at me. “How… stereotypical.”
“What?” I wasn’t sure what to make of this. I never expected Julian to tease me.
“The color for the Wood element is green,” he replied.
“I’m going to take a bath.” I changed the subject, quickly stripping and ducking into the foamy water. I wasn’t even going to dignify that statement with a response.
He didn’t reply, and eventually, I leaned back against the side of the tub and closed my eyes. Whatever Julian had put into the water helped ease the deep aches that’d settled in my bones, and his presence remained a comforting reassurance.
I didn’t have to worry about being alone, at least.
Julian seemed content to let me be with my thoughts, which I appreciated. Somehow, he seemed to know exactly what I needed.
“Are you falling asleep?” Julian’s voice broke through my awareness. It was that, and not the lukewarm water washing over me, that reminded me I still sat in the tub.
I blearily raised my head from my crossed arms and glanced at him. At this point, I had no idea how long I’d been in here.
He picked up on my disoriented state. “It’s been forty-five minutes. The others are already back. Do you want to head down?”
“Yes.” I had to admit I felt much better now and more than ready to take on the rest of the evening.
Julian bandagedmy knees and hands—which, in my opinion, was still overkill as there was nothing there beyond theslightest of scrapes—and I got dressed. True to his word, we weren't alone when we entered the living room.
“Bianca!” Miles swooped in on my other side and grasped my hands. “I heard about what happened! Are you okay? If I’d been there, I would have—”
“You’d have what?” Titus scoffed, barely looking up from his conversation with Damen.
Miles glared at him, hackles rising. “I’d have killed them!”
“Sure,” Titus said. “Keep telling yourself that.”
“Be nice,” Damen frowned at Titus.
I glanced between them and found myself agreeing with the dragon. Miles was much too pure to go around murdering people—even bad guys.
“Thank you,” I said anyway. It was kind of him to offer. However, I’d observed him in a fight already, and even though he’d wiped the floor with his foe, in terms of lethality and strength, he was far from where he should have been.
