Fantasy Lover

Grace stepped tentatively inside. A quick perusal showed the same kind of damage in here. Both her and Julian's clothes had been thoroughly searched. Underwear was scattered all about, and her bed had been stripped and the mattress was askew.

How she wished the beast had found Julian's sword beneath the bed and made the mistake of touching it. Now that would truly have been justice.

But Rodney hadn't found it. In fact, Julian's shield was still where he'd left it, propped against the wall beside the bed.

Looking around at her scattered clothing, Grace felt so violated, as if Rodney's creepy hands had touched her body.

Grace saw the door to her book closet slightly ajar. Her heart stopped beating as she walked to it, and opened the door wider. In that moment, she truly felt as if Rodney had ripped her heart out and stomped on it.

"My books," she whispered.

Julian crossed the room to see what she was looking at. His breath caught in his throat as he stood behind her.

Every single book she owned had been torn to pieces.

"Not my books," she said, falling to her knees.

Grace's hand shook as she touched the pages of the books her father had written. They were irreplaceable. Never again would she be able to open them up and hear his voice speaking to her from the past. Nor would she be able to open up Black Beauty and hear the faint memory of her mother reading it to her.

It was all gone.

In one move, Rodney Carmichael had killed her parents all over again.

And then her gaze fell to the shredded pieces of The lliad. Tears filled her eyes as she remembered the way Julian had looked when he'd seen it. The hours they had spent with each other as she read.

Those hours had been so special. So magical as they lay in front of the couch lost in the words of the story. It was their own little realm. Their own special heaven.

"He decimated all of them," she whispered. "Oh, God, he must have been here for hours."

"Ma'am, they're just-"

Julian grabbed Officer Reynolds by the arm, and pulled him back into the bedroom. "They're not just books to her," he said between clenched teeth. "Don't mock her pain."

"Oh," he said sheepishly. "Sorry."

Julian returned to Grace inside the closet.

She was sobbing uncontrollably as she ran her hand over the shredded pages. "Why would he do this?"

Julian picked her up and carried her out of the closet, then laid her on the bed. She held on to him so tightly that he could barely breathe, and she sobbed as if her heart were splintering.

In that moment, Julian wanted to kill the man who'd done this to her.

The phone rang.

Grace screamed and struggled to get up.

"Sh," Julian said, wiping her tears with his hand while holding her steady. "It's all right. I'm here. I've got you."

Officer Reynolds handed her the phone. "Answer it in case it's him."

Julian glared at the man. How could he be so insensitive as to ask her to talk to that rabid mongrel?

"Hi, Selena," Grace said, then she burst into tears again as she told Selena what had happened.

Julian's thoughts whirled as he considered the man who had invaded her home and wounded her so deeply. What concerned him most was the fact that the man knew what to go after. He knew Grace. Knew what was important to her.

And that made him far more dangerous than the police realized.

Grace hung up the phone. "I'm sorry for the outburst," she said, wiping her tears away. "It's been a long day."

"Yes, ma'am, we understand."

Julian watched as she pulled herself together with a strength of will he had known few men to possess.

She led the police through the rest of her house.

"He must not have seen this book," one of the officers said as he handed Julian's book to her.

Julian took it from Grace's hands. Unlike the officer, he wasn't so sure. If the bastard had tried to tear it up, then he had been in for one nasty surprise.

The book could never be destroyed. Over the centuries, he had tried to do it himself, countless times. Not even fire could mar it. But the book served to remind him of just how true Grace's earlier words were.

In a few days, he would be gone and she would have no one to protect her.

That thought made him ill.

The police were finally leaving as Selena pulled into the driveway. She got out of her Jeep with a tall, dark-haired man who had his arm bound in a cast, and came ru

"Are you okay?" she asked Grace as she hugged her.

"I'm fine," Grace said, then looking over Selena's shoulder, she greeted the man. "Hi, Bill."

"Hi, Grace. We came to help."

Grace introduced him to Julian, then the four of them went inside.

Julian stopped Selena as soon as they entered, and pulled her aside. "Can you keep her downstairs for a bit?"

"Why?"

"I have something I need to take care of."

Selena frowned. "Sure, okay."

Julian waited until Selena and Bill sat Grace down on the couch. Then he went to the kitchen, grabbed a couple of trash bags, and headed upstairs to the closet.

As quickly as he could, he started cleaning up the mess so Grace wouldn't have to see it again. But with every piece of paper he touched, his rage grew.

Over and over, he saw the tender look on her face as she had looked through her collection, searching for a book to read. Closing his eyes, he could see her hair falling over his chest as she read to him.

And in that moment, he wanted blood.

"Jeez," Bill said from the doorway. "He do all this?"

"Yes."

"Man, what a psycho."

Julian didn't say anything as he continued to shove papers into the bag. All he could focus on was the scream in his soul that demanded vengeance. It made a mockery of the one that called out for Priapus.

It was one thing to wound him. But to hurt Grace…

The Fates had better have mercy on the man, because Julian wouldn't.

"So, you been dating Grace long?"

"No."

"Didn't think so. Selena hasn't mentioned you, but come to think of it, she hasn't been so worried over Grace being alone since her birthday, either. You must have met her then."

"Yes."

"Yes, no, yes. You're not much on talking, are you?"

"No."

"Well, I can take a hint. See ya later."

Julian paused as his hand brushed the cover to Peter Pan. He picked it up and ground his teeth. Pain assailed him. She'd loved this book most of all.

He clenched it tight in his hand, then added it to the bag, as well.

Grace didn't know how long she sat on the couch unmoving. All she knew was how much she hurt. Rodney had struck deeply in his violation of her.

Selena brought her a cup of hot chocolate. Grace tried to drink it, but her hands still shook so badly that she was afraid she'd spill it. She set it aside. "I guess I need to go clean up."

"Julian already did that," Bill said from her armchair as he flipped cha

Grace frowned. "What? When?"

"He was up there a little while ago, cleaning out the closet."

Gaping at the news, Grace went to find him.

Julian was in her parents' room. She watched him from the doorway as he straightened the last of the mess. He folded her father's pants in a way that would have made Martha Stewart cringe, then placed them in the drawer and slid it shut.

Tenderness flooded her at the sight of a once legendary general cleaning up her house to keep her from having to do it. His kindness touched her all the way to her heart.

He looked up and met her gaze. The warm concern in those deep blue eyes warmed her deeply.

"Thank you," she said.

He shrugged. "Didn't have anything else to do." Though he'd said the words casually, there was a note in his voice that belied his nonchalance.