Chapter 150 Shifting Allegiances
Willow's POV
All I could focus on was Julian stripping off his coat and wrapping it around Briar's shivering body. Her fever was burning through her skin.
"She's sick," Julian said, not looking at me as he scooped her up. "I'm taking her."
I moved to block the door. "You can't just—"
"Move." His eyes flashed gold. "She needs medical attention."
"Do you even know she's carrying Lucian's child?" The words came out sharper than I intended, but they had the desired effect. Julian froze, his arms tightening around Briar's unconscious form.
"What?"
"She told me herself before you crashed in here playing hero." I crossed my arms. "Still want to save her?"
Julian's jaw worked, processing this information. His gaze dropped to Briar's face, pale and slick with sweat. For a moment I thought he might actually put her down. Then his eyes hardened.
"That changes nothing. She's burning up, and I'm not leaving her here."
My hand went to the silver blade at my hip. "If I hadn't wanted to keep that child alive, do you think she'd still be breathing? You're not taking her anywhere."
"Were you going to kill her?" Julian's voice went dangerously quiet. "If I hadn't shown up, were you planning to use that knife?"
I didn't answer. Didn't need to.
"You're not doing this for Dominic," Julian continued, his tone cutting. "You're doing this because you want to lock her away somewhere I can't reach her. You want to own her the same way you think you own me."
The accusation stung more than it should have. My fingers closed around the silver rod I'd stashed behind the door frame earlier—insurance, in case things went wrong.
"And what are you doing?" I shot back. "Saving her out of the goodness of your heart? You just want to trap her in a different cage."
Julian's eyes flashed again, gold bleeding into the edges. The mention of Briar's pregnancy had thrown him off balance, made him sloppy. I saw the exact moment his control wavered.
I swung.
The silver rod caught him across the back of his skull with a sickening crack. Julian crumpled, Briar tumbling from his arms. I caught her before she hit the concrete, lowering her carefully as Julian collapsed beside us.
I made the calls quickly. Two of Dominic's guards arrived within minutes to watch Daniel Cross, who was still unconscious in the next room. I had them load Julian into the back of his own car.
"Drive him to Sterling Manor," I instructed. "Leave him at the front gate. Make it look like he drove himself home."
They nodded and disappeared into the night.
My phone buzzed—Mom. I answered while checking Briar's pulse.
"Willow, your sister's at the hospital. Appendicitis. They're prepping her for surgery now."
"Is she okay?"
"The doctors say it's routine, but..." Mom's voice cracked. "Can you come?"
I glanced at Briar, still burning with fever, then at the warehouse that was supposed to be our holding location. Dominic's instructions had been clear: keep her here until the deal closed and all evidence was destroyed. But this place was compromised now.
"I can't," I said quietly. "I'm handling something for Dominic. But I'll call you after, okay?"
Mom's disappointed silence cut deeper than any blade.
I hung up and hauled Briar into my car. The drive to the abandoned factory district on the city's outskirts took forty minutes.
---
Lucian's POV
Julian wasn't answering his phone. Neither was Dominic.
I sat in my car outside Sterling Pharmaceuticals, engine idling, every instinct screaming at me to race to that warehouse where Lily had tracked Briar's phone. But charging in blind would get us both killed.
The building's lobby was empty at this hour. Security cameras showed Julian's office light still on, but when I accessed the executive floor feed, his desk was abandoned. Papers scattered everywhere, contracts half-signed. His jacket was still draped over his chair.
He'd left in a hurry.
Twenty minutes ago, according to the timestamp.
I pulled up my contacts and called Oscar. "I need you to reach out to Liam Miller. Get him to track Julian's vehicle."
"On it." Oscar paused. "You think he went after Briar?"
"Yes." I gripped the steering wheel hard enough that the leather creaked. "And I need Kai to check that location where we tracked her phone. Confirm whether it's a decoy."
"Already sent him. He says the alley's empty except for her phone smashed on the ground."
Fenrir snarled inside my chest, demanding I shift and tear through the city until I found her. But I forced myself to think.
Julian had moved first. He'd gone to that warehouse, which meant he either knew where Briar was or he'd fallen for the same trap I almost had. Either way, he was my best lead.
"Call me the second you have Julian's location," I told Oscar, then hung up and headed for Sterling Manor.
---
I nearly crashed into him.
Julian stumbled out from behind the manor's front gate, one hand pressed to the back of his head, blood seeping between his fingers. His eyes were unfocused, movements unsteady.
I slammed on the brakes and was out of the car before it fully stopped.
"Where is she?" I grabbed his jacket, hauling him upright. "Where's Briar?"
Julian blinked at me, consciousness slowly returning. "You..." He shook his head, wincing at the movement. "You're supposed to be protecting her."
"Answer the question."
"Is this how you protect her?" Julian's laugh was bitter. "By letting Dominic's people grab her off the street?"
I shoved him against the gate. "I asked you a question."
"I don't know." Julian met my eyes, and for once there was no calculation there, just raw frustration. "I got to the warehouse, and Willow was there with her. Then everything went black."
Willow. Of course.
I released Julian and pulled out my phone, accessing the video file I'd downloaded from Daniel's old phone. The one showing Moira Sterling at that charity gala, smiling as Dominic handed her a glass of wine. Two hours later, the news had reported her car accident.
"Watch this," I said, shoving the phone at Julian.
His eyes tracked the footage. I saw the exact moment recognition hit—the way his pupils dilated, his breathing stopped. On screen, his mother laughed at something Dominic said, completely unaware she had minutes left to live.
"Where did you get this?" Julian's voice came out strangled.
"Daniel Cross had it. He's been gathering evidence against Dominic for years." I paused. "Your father murdered your mother, Julian. And he's been using you ever since."
Julian stared at the frozen image of Moira's face, his hands trembling. Inside his mind, I could practically hear Nyx howling.
"Some things..." Julian's voice cracked. "Some things you can't come back from."
"Then don't come back." I kept my tone even. "Start over."
He looked up at me, eyes red-rimmed. "What?"
"I'm the real founder of Apex Bio-Solutions," I said. "Dominic's been trying to crush me for years, which is why I never went public. But I have resources he doesn't know about, connections he can't touch." I leaned closer. "And I know he's been using you as a pawn while grooming Callum to actually inherit Sterling."
Julian's jaw clenched. He knew it was true.
"When Dominic goes to prison," I continued, "you can claim your mother's inheritance. Use the Whitmore Medical Group she left you to build something real. Something that's actually yours."
For a long moment, Julian just stared at me. Then my phone rang—Oscar.
"We found Willow's car," Oscar said without preamble. "She split off from Julian's vehicle about an hour ago. Headed toward the old factory district on the outskirts."
My blood went cold. "Can you track her exact location?"
"That area's a surveillance dead zone. Best I can do is narrow it to a two-mile radius."
I grabbed Julian's collar. "Did Willow take Briar?"
Understanding dawned in his eyes, followed by something that looked like genuine fear. "If Willow has her..."
He didn't need to finish. We both knew what Willow was capable of when she felt threatened.
"You go find her," Julian said suddenly. "I'll contact Willow, try to keep her from doing anything stupid. Maybe I can get the location out of her."