When they got back to Julia's house he helped her take her coat off and then followed her up to her room. A smile played at the edges of her lips as they sat on the window seat facing each other. It was the first time she had a boy, other than Ren or Kuro, in her room. And they didn't count, because she had never looked at either of them as anything other than friends.

Silence stretched out between them as she gazed at him. The overwhelming feeling that she was deeply connected to him washed over her again. Julia reached out and ran her fingers through his hair. Damien didn't stop her as she traced her fingers over his pointy ears. His eyes flickered closed for a moment a wave of déjà vu hit her.

When he opened them again, they drew her to him like a moth to a flame. She wanted to reach up and pull his face to hers and kiss him. A lamenting voice called out inside of her, don't do it. Not again. Pain and regret knotted in her heart, halting Julia dead in her tracks. Once again Alex's face surfaced in her mind.

Before she could act, Damien looked away, breaking the moment. Julia wanted to scream in frustration as she backed away from Damien. He was everything she could've ever wanted and more and she could tell he liked her. Yet an overwhelming need just to be friends stopped her from taking anything further.

Julia blushed and cringed inwardly at the awkward tension she felt between them. She pulled her knees into her chest and launched into her family story. "I don't know anything about my dad. My mom met him when she was travelling and they fell in love; it was a whirlwind romance. When she found out she was pregnant with me she told him everything and he freaked out and left her.

"Not having any place to go to because her family shunned her for falling in love with him she came to Havenswood. This place is like a refuge for half-bloods and other supernaturals that don't want to live with their own kind. Because my mother is a powerful witch and the family line we come from, Havenswood welcomed her. She has always been crazy over protective. I think she thinks I will run out on her just like my dad."

Damien gave her an understanding look and rubbed her arm. "And do you plan on running away?"

She sighed, longing to be back in Europe or anywhere else other than Havenswood. Her trip opened her eyes to the vast and wonderful world, both human and supernatural that she'd been shielded from. Until now Julia had been okay with staying in the tiny town for the sake of her mother.

But that summer's trip changed everything. She got to meet tons of new people that welcomed her and were nice to her. Seeing the huge supernatural cities completely hidden from the human eye had left her with a deep longing to return to them. She had such a driving need to explore everything that the supernatural world offered. It hurt to be trapped in this boring tiny town where nothing happened or changed.

"I want to see the world. Ren has even promised to take me to Arcadia after we graduate. But no, I'm not going to run away. I'm just going to spread my wings and explore before I decide what to do. I don't think that's asking too much do you?"

"No. It's natural to want to go out and live your own life."

Julia smiled and grabbed his hand. There was something so familiar and comforting about him, just like Alex. The only difference was Damien felt like a comfortable pair of shoes, whereas Alex felt like a part of her that had been missing. "Okay, now your turn."

Damien looked out the window and grinned, lacing his fingers in hers. She forced all thought of Alex out of her mind and let Damien pull her closer to him, positioning her in-between his legs. Julia tucked her left leg under her and let her right dangle over the edge brushing up against his.

He used his free hand and ran his fingers through her tawny hair. "As you know I'm a pureblood. I come from one of the three royal clans: the Mietitores, which rule the southern lands in Europe. The Griffemorts are another and they rule the central lands and the Víðarr are the last and they rule the north. But unlike the other two clans, the Mietitores don't like the politics of dark faerie society. We try to stay out of the endless power struggles of the upper and lower clans."

She was captivated by what he said. At school they had only focused on the senate. "What are the upper and lower clans?"

"Dark faerie society is divided into purebloods, then half-bloods and so on. The smaller the amount of pureblood in your veins, the lower your status is, and that applies to the clan's."

The She Devil's face popped into Julia's head and she couldn't help but ask, "Oh. So what is Véronique?"

"Besides a pain?" Julia could tell Damien was trying to make a joke but the way he spoke sounded forced. "The Beaumont's are from one of the upper clans and even though Véronique likes to pretend, she is a pureblood she's not. She's three quarters pureblood but don't let on that you know, because she'd likely rip your head off."

Julia snickered at the image of Ren shoving his anti-dark fae blade in Véronique's face. "Well, she already tried that the first day of school when she told me to stay away from Alex. What is their deal anyway?"

The thought of someone that beautiful being so ugly and spiteful inside made Julia want to tell Ren that Véronique wasn't a pureblood, just so he could rub it in her face. She wouldn't have had the guts to do it herself, only because she knew Véronique would probably rip her head right from her shoulders as Damien warned. Ren, on the other hand, was more than capable of going head to head with a dark faerie and winning. Not to mention he had been itching for a way to provoke her into another fight.

A wounded look flashed across Damien's face for a split second. "Yeah, she has a major crush on Alex." He chuckled as though nothing had bothered him. "At any rate: because of the war a lot of the lower clans have been decimated. Even my clan has suffered great losses. The Griffemorts lost two important clan elders when Thorsen killed Alex's uncles. Thorsen even killed his own brothers so he could take over the Víðarr clan after that he wiped out anyone in his clan that stood against him. Over the years he's tried to overthrow the senate and take over and crown himself king. Fortunately, the Guard have stopped him."

Tons of questions surfaced in Julia's mind. It was common knowledge that Thorsen wanted to be sole ruler over everyone on the planet. It was common knowledge that he'd waged war on the senate and tried to do the same to the Faerie Queen when he killed her lover. But the adults would go tight lipped when she would try to dig deeper into the causes of the war.

"What is the war about? Everyone knows Thorsen wants to be King and wants to enslave the humans. But I have no idea what started the war," Julia asked.

He stopped playing with her hair and cupped her face in his hand. "Thorsen did something unspeakable when he killed a prominent and beloved pureblood. It caused a chain reaction and divided the clans."

"That's a little cryptic, Damien," Julia said miffed that he dodged answering her question fully.

He let his hand drop, leant back and looked out the window. "I know but it's hard to explain. There has always been a rift in the dark faerie and supernatural societies; as to whether we should come out of hiding and try to live together with humans or not. I mean, there are enough human supernatural half-bloods to know that not all the humans would react adversely to us."

She understood why some people thought that way. Supernaturals have had to hide from humans for such a long time and it really wasn't fair. But she had also never thought it was a good idea to come out of hiding. Humans were volatile and unpredictable at best, at worst they were petty, mean, and quick to kill things they didn't understand.

"But you know the secrecy law is around for a reason. All you have to do is look back though history at all the so-called witch trials and even the inquisition to see the humans' fear and hate us. Take my dad; my parents were supposedly in love. My mom risked everything by telling him the truth and he abandoned her. Some humans may be ready to accept us but most of them are not."

"You're very smart and you remind me of someone I used to care a lot about. She would say the same things but she also had such faith that someday we could peacefully coexist with humans."

Julia could hear the pain in his voice and it squeezed her heart. "What happened to her?"

Damien sighed and paused like he wasn't going to answer then whispered, "Unfortunately, she was a casualty of war."

Julia squeezed his arms. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, it happened a long time ago." He gave her such an affectionate look. In that moment everything slipped away until all she felt was the deep connection she had with him. She saw he felt the same way and without thinking Julia leant forward, closing the gap between them, until she could feel his breath tickling her lips. She didn't care she would regret it when her senses returned.

Julia was about to press her lips to his when an almighty CRACK ̶ that sounded like someone had smashed a huge branch off one the elm trees in the backyard ̶ ripped to the silence. She yelped and lurched forward, just as Damien looked out the window, smacking into the side of his face. Julia turned ten shades of crimson and tried to back away.

Damien laughed, wrapping his arms around her preventing her from moving. "That's a first," he whispered into her ear and let her go. Damien looked at his watch and said, "It's late I should go."

She didn't care that it was late; she wanted to continue talking with him. His company was comforting and inviting, like a warm summer's day that she didn't want it to end. But she got up and smiled at him. "I had fun talking to you."

Damien returned her smile, tucked her hair behind her ear, "me too," and planted a chased kiss on her cheek. "Good night, Julia," he said, then opened her window and jumped out.

What a crazy night, Julia thought closing the window. She walked over to her bed and flopped on it ready for the entire weekend to be over.

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