Chapter 32 Caesar

"So let me get this straight," Kai said, as the secret subway took us away from the only home we'd known for the past seven years. "You really have been working with a vampire behind the scenes?"

His incredulous tone caused my heart to flare defensively.

"I tried to tell you before you up and resigned on my behalf, but there was no time," I replied, my patience teetering on falling apart. "I hope you, my friend, will let me explain things, unlike Arthur did."

Kai eyed me, the look in his eyes seeming torn between loyalty and suspicion. That hurt. But what did I expect? I always knew that keeping a secret like this, doing this in general, was not without great risk. It wasn't in our nature to trust vampires.

He sighed and shook his head. "Well, I hope it's a good explanation. I want to trust you—I do trust you—I just don't understand."

I sucked in a deep breath, held it for a few moments, then released it slowly. A little bit of calmness entered my soul. "You actually met this particular vampire once, back in South Dakota."

"South Dakota?" Kai gave me a questioning look, then snorted. "I met a lot of vampires in South Dakota. I also killed most of the ones I came across."

Thinking of Julian, I chuckled. "Not this one. He's not one for fighting. Although, you did encounter him during a fight. Remember the convenience store we visited right before the vampire attack on The Island?"

"With the doofus cashier who'd been bitten the night before?" Kai asked. "Yeah, I remember. But there were two vampires in that store."

I nodded. "The male vampire is who I'm referring to."

A flicker of humor played in Kai's eyes. "The last thing I remember seeing was food and candy flying through the air after he went crashing into a stand. Like fireworks."

Ignoring the visual that came into my mind, I said, "His name is Julian. And he defected right after The Island fell."

Kai stared at me, as if waiting to see if I was trying to pull his leg. "Wait. How does a vampire defect? Has that ever happened before? And how in the world do you know he really defected?"

I held up my hand and cast my eyes toward the pale blue light of water beyond the window. "Too many questions. Just...let me relay what happened with Julian Asher. Six years ago, Celeste had a vision of a family of harpies in Seattle. The family had a set of triplets dealing with their first shifts all at the same time. I went to recruit them because I knew the school could help."

"The Lowry girls," Kai said. "Yes, I remember them."

"Well, it turned out Celeste hadn't been the only one to discover them. I arrived just minutes before a group of vampires converged on the Lowry household."

Kai's eyes sparked with interest.

"I shifted in an attempt to protect the Lowry family from the attackers, but I was caught off guard, and the vampires were quick. I had three on my back, holding me down before I could finish shifting, and they were far too strong for me to throw off. Manipulating the weather would've put the Lowrys at risk. And that's when Julian came."

Kai blinked once, then twice, then three times. "A vampire...turned on his own and took down three vampires?

"The three on me, yes," I said with a nod. "But he killed the three other vampires going for the Lowrys first."

"Why?" Kai asked in confusion. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he saved your life. But why would he fight his own kind to save a few shifters?"

I sighed, slumping forward. "Julian Asher is a complex man. He hates what he is. But he hates the vampire cause more. After being a part of the destruction of The Island, Julian cast himself out from Hadrian's forces. After having numerous discussions with him, he moved to Chicago to keep an eye on vampire activity. There are many reasons the Dome has remained safe for as long as it has—your technology, for example, has shielded us from evil eyes. But Julian has ensured that vampire activity has stayed at a minimum here. Until Kendall Green spilled everything to Hadrian."

Kai shook his head as he processed all this, then looked up at me with a pinched brow. "Why haven't you told me about any of this before?"

I chuckled humorlessly. "Because I was afraid of exactly this outcome. You've known me most of our lives, and you still distrusted me when I told you it was true."

He frowned, then nodded guiltily. "Fair point."

I slumped back against my seat on the train. "As it turns out, I didn't actually have to tell anyone to be condemned for it. Arthur was determined enough to do his own digging."

"Bastard," Kai muttered angrily.

All I could do was nod. I should've been smarter about covering my tracks once I knew Arthur was interested in Arya. I should've deleted my correspondence with Julian immediately every time. But I'd been a fool, secure in the false assumption that my fellow professors would stand by me. Celeste was the biggest blow of all.

"You should tell Celeste what you told me," he said, always having the uncanny ability to read my thoughts.

I shook my head. "Her prejudice against vampires is too strong. I doubt she would ever find my actions justified."

"You have greater reason than anyone I know to hate vampires," Kai argued. "They killed your parents and destroyed the school you called home. And yet you were still able to see the good in one of them. I believe Celeste as heart enough to hear you out."

"That's only because you're hopelessly in love with her," I retorted, but I regretted it immediately as pain crossed his features. "Anyway, even if she did believe me, it's too late. Arthur's in charge of the Dome. Not even Celeste's vast wealth could remove the military at this point."

Kai frowned in agreement, combing his fingers through his foxy tufts of black hair as we both accepted our defeat on this matter.

"So where is this Julian dude?" he asked after a moment. "He sounds like the perfect addition to our band of exiles."

Ah, there was the other shoe I was waiting to drop. But Kai needed to know everything.

"Yeah, about that," I began, then paused. "Actually, let me just answer your question first. Julian returned to Heritage Prep a few days ago. I had asked him to return to Hadrian's service as a spy, to see if Hadrian knew anything about the prophecy."

"Okay, and did he?" Kai asked.

"As far as Julian had been able to discover, no," I said, bolstering up what remained of my emotional strength to tell Kai the next part. "But, um…there's one more thing you don't know, which involves Julian."

Kai looked at me expectantly, curiously, and the blood drained from my face in apprehension of how he might react.

"Uh-oh," Kai said. "I don't think I've ever seen you this pale. Okay, just let me have it."

Leave it to Kai to be so blunt.

"Alright, you know that witch Celeste and I were talking about the other day?" I began.

"The one you were proposing we bring into the school and Celeste brutally shot you down?" Kai replied. "How could I forget?"

I nodded, my heart beating a million times a minute in preparation of this confession. "Well, the truth is, I believe I've imprinted on her."

"What?" Kai burst, and I honestly couldn't tell if he was outraged or excited.

"I know, it's unconventional but—"

"That's great! I was always hoping some lucky lady would come along and capture your heart. And it actually makes sense that she's a witch, come to think of it."

Excited it was. I certainly wasn't expecting that reaction.

"Y–you're not…put off by that?" I asked nervously.

"Why would I be?" Kai asked, like I was the one missing some vital understanding. "You can't control who you love, and by shifter law, imprints are infallible."

I flattened my lips as I tossed that idea around in my mind. If only I'd realized it sooner. Not that it mattered now anyway.

"Okay, but what about the minor detail that she's a little young?" I added with extreme discomfort.

"Again, imprints are infallible," Kai retorted, shaking his head matter-of-factly. "They trigger as soon as you meet your mate, age and circumstances aren't important. Did you know that my father imprinted on my mother when she was ten years old? Granted he was fifteen, so not a terrible age gap."

I grimaced reflexively. I could imagine how uncomfortable and scary that would be, being so drawn to someone so young. I was grateful that wasn't the case with Shea and I.

"What most of our kind just doesn't understand is that an imprint isn't about sex," Kai explained. "It's not something dirty or shameful. The imprinted is compelled to be whatever their mate needs, and that evolves as life stages progress. If you meet when your mate is young, you're compelled to be their guide and confidant, their protector. Then as they mature, you're compelled to be their lover and partner. And when they're old and gray, you're compelled to be their caregiver. None of that is wrong, I don't care who you are."

His soliloquy deeply touched me. I had never thought about it like that before, but that was a good description of how I felt for Shea. It was so much more than simple desire. I needed her, but I also needed her to be happy, whatever that meant. That was why it was almost easy—eventually—to accept her affection for Julian.

"I'm glad you said that, Kai," I said. "But like you said, most of our kind doesn't understand that. As evidenced by Celeste's reaction to Shea just being a witch, I don't think she would have taken reasonably to my imprint on her."

"I'm inclined to agree with you," he said with a mournful look. "I think I might be getting over her."

I laughed and slapped his back. "It's about time!"

He blushed and looked away.

"Oh, wait," he said suddenly, turning back to me. "You said earlier that this somehow involved your vampire spy. How does he have anything to do with your imprint?"

Nail. Coffin.

But then again, Kai had been surprisingly receptive to everything so far. Might as well take a leap of faith.

"Right, so the thing about that… Shea is also romantically involved with Julian," I informed.

Kai just stared at me for a moment, seeming frozen, and not for the first time, I wish I could read his mind.

Finally, he pinched his brow. "Okay, let me just see if I'm understanding correctly. You are imprinted on a witch who's in love with a vampire?"

I nodded.

"And she doesn't love you?"

I squirmed slightly. "Well, I mean, we haven't used that word yet, but I believe she does."

"So your witch—"

"Shea," I corrected.

"So Shea loves both of you, and you love her?"

"Yes."

"And the vampire?"

"Julian," I offered. "And yes, I believe he also loves Shea."

He frowned, looking at me skeptically. "Are you punking me? Because this sounds like a fucked up version of Twilight."

I snorted a laugh despite myself. Why did he have to be right about that?

"I know it's weird, and it's been a really confusing and bumpy road to get here, but it works," I defended. "Julian has become like a brother to me over the years, and if Shea needs me to accept him as part of our whatever this is, I'm here for the ride."

"Mmm-hmm," Kai hummed, his frown deepening. "So, like, do you and Julian trade off, or is this like a together type thing."

Now my cheeks were burning. "Okay, can we just not go there?"

"Aww, come on, I'm really invested now," Kai complained. "This is just kinda fascinating. The infamous manly Caesar Rex in a threesome with a vampire and witch! Now I really have seen anything."

I closed my eyes and shook my head in mortification. "Just drop it, okay. Get your own sex life and then tell me how comfortable you are talking about the intimate details."

Kai gave a knee-slapping laugh.

"Anyway, that's where I want us to go," I said loudly over his lingering amusement. "To Shea's house. We can figure out our next steps from there."

Kai's laughter subsided and he shrugged. "Well, I've followed you this far. Where you go, I go. Just…leave me out of the weird sex stuff."

"Kai," I warned, inciting his laughter once again.

Ugh, this was going to be a very long night.