CHAPTER 49: THE CALL THAT STAYED

Chapter 49

JACE MARINO

We lingered outside. Watching Aiko’s building until nightfall. Father hadn’t called after returning from his meeting.

I thought he’d explode if we didn’t come home today. He’d made it clear. All of us were to be there.

But he’s quiet. Unnaturally quiet.

After placing two of our most trusted men on watch, we left.

The night was too quiet on the drive back. The city outside the car windows looked washed out under streetlights, all silver and tired. Marco kept one hand on the wheel and one on the radio, flicking through static. Mateo was half-asleep in the backseat, arms crossed.

None of us said much. What Aiko had told us sat heavy in the car. Her father selling her sister. The betrayal. The way she’d been hiding with that man who looked too soft for this world. It was too much and too close to home.

When we reached the lake house, the security lights blinked on automatically. The guards outside nodded as we passed. It was safer here than the old safe house, but not by much. Safety didn’t mean peace anymore.

Inside, the fire had burned low. Marco dropped onto the couch and muttered, "I need a drink." Mateo walked straight to the kitchen. I just stood there for a second, watching the flame fight to stay alive.

"Do you think she’ll be fine?" Marco asked after a while.

"I don’t know," I said. "We left two men to watch her building. That’s the best we can do for now."

He nodded but didn’t look convinced.

Mateo came back with three glasses and a bottle. "Dad’s not going to like that she’s missing. You know he’ll think we’re hiding her."

"He already thinks that," I said. I know my father isn’t blind to Aiko’s disappearance. He’s no fool. Whether he’s planning something or just waiting, I can feel it. He’s holding something back.

We drank in silence for a while. The liquor burned, but it helped clear my head. I could feel the exhaustion sitting behind my eyes, but my mind refused to stop turning. Every move now had to count.

At some point, Marco started talking about strategy. What to do if Aiko’s father came after us, if our father tried to use this to his advantage. I listened, but I wasn’t really there. My thoughts drifted back to Julian.

It had been almost two days since I’d last seen him. I’d sent him that message, the one that said I’m with the devil. It wasn’t a joke. I just didn’t have the words to explain what kind of hell I was walking through.

By the time Marco and Mateo called it a night, the clock was nearing midnight. The house was quiet again. I walked outside, into the cold air. The lake stretched out like glass, reflecting the faint moonlight.

For once, I pulled my phone out without hesitation. There were two unread texts from Marco about a security rotation and one from an unknown number. Julian.

Unknown: you alive?

I smiled before I could stop myself. My fingers hovered over the screen.

I need to stop using this burner phone. I want to save his name with something sweet... something just for him

Me: Barely

I wrote back.

The reply came quickly.

Unknown: Good. I was worried you’d ghosted me.

Me: Never

Unknown: Long day?

Me: Long day

Unknown: You want to talk about it?

I didn’t. But I also didn’t want to stop talking to him.

Me: Can I call you?

Unknown: Yeah. I’m at Luka’s. Everyone’s asleep

The phone rang once, twice and then his voice came through. Soft and half-whispered. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," I said, and for the first time in hours my chest loosened a little.

He laughed quietly. "You sound like someone who hasn’t slept in a week."

"I haven’t," I said. "You?"

"Same. Luka snores like a dying engine. Rico talks in his sleep. I might actually start studying just to stay sane."

That made me laugh, a real one. "That’s the worst idea I’ve heard all night."

"Maybe. But I missed this. Talking to you."

That hit somewhere deep. I sat down on the porch steps phone to my ear eyes on the dark water. "Yeah," I said. "Me too."

For a moment there was silence. Not awkward just the kind that feels like breathing.

"So," Julian said after a while, "you still with the devil?"

"Not anymore. We are someplace new"

"That’s good. Maybe you’ll stop picking fights with demons for once."

"Doubtful."

He chuckled. "I should’ve known."

I could hear rustling on his end, like he was lying down. "What’s it like where you are?" he asked.

"Cold," I said. "Quiet. There’s a lake. I can see my breath when I talk."

"Sounds peaceful."

"Not really. It’s the kind of quiet that feels like it’s waiting for something to happen."

Julian hummed softly. "You always talk like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you’ve already seen the end of the story."

I smiled faintly. "Maybe I have."

He didn’t answer for a moment and I thought maybe I’d said too much. Then he said, "If you’re at the end, can you at least tell me I make it?"

I leaned back, watching the mist rise off the water. "You make it," I said. "But you drive me insane in the process."

He laughed again. "Fair trade."

The sound of his voice pulled me out of the darkness I’d been sitting in all week. He told me about classes, about Luka trying to prank Rico, about how his dad had been digging into the Marino name but hadn’t found anything yet. He made jokes that shouldn’t have been funny, but I laughed anyway.

Somewhere in the middle of it, I forgot about Aiko. About her father. About mine.

Julian talked about how nervous he was for exams, how he kept almost calling me "Professor" in public and then had to pretend he was talking about another teacher. I told him about Marco’s terrible cooking, about Mateo pretending to meditate but just falling asleep sitting up.

It felt normal. Almost domestic.

At one point he said, "You know, if things were different, we’d probably be boring together."

"Boring sounds nice," I said.

I couldn’t see him but I know he smiled into the phone. "I don’t think you’d survive boring."

"Maybe not."

There was another pause softer this time. I could hear him breathing slowly and even.

"You should sleep," I said quietly.

"You first."

"I can’t. Too many things in my head."

"Then tell me something until you do."

So I did. I told him about the time Marco and I tried to steal our father’s car when we were teenagers and ended up crashing it into a fence. How we blamed it on a stray dog and somehow got away with it. Julian laughed so hard I thought he’d choke.

Then he told me about how he once forged a doctor’s note to skip gym class and accidentally used his mother’s hospital ID number.

The laughter came easy. It filled the space between us like light.

When it started to fade, Julian’s voice softened. "You sound better," he said.

"I just needed to hear you. My peace and medicine." I said

"I think I’m having butterflies" he said and I smiled

"As it should. I’m the only one that has that effect on you"

"The only one" he replied softly then he went silent for a bit before speaking again.

"You know, if we survive all this, I’m holding you to that ring thing."

That made me pause. I could almost see his smile through the phone, the one that made him look younger and lighter.

"I don’t make promises I don’t mean," I said.

"I know," he whispered. "That’s what scares me."

The line went quiet again. Not the empty kind of quiet. It’s the kind of quiet that is filled with everything we didn’t say.

After a while his voice came back low and a little uncertain.

"After this exam, you know we’re gonna have a long break."

I nodded. Finals start next week the end of the fall semester.

"What are you doing for Christmas?" I asked.

"Spending it with you."

I blinked, caught off guard. He went on before I could say anything.

"I know it’s stupid. Considering everything that’s going on. But that’s what I want."

"Then let’s do it," I said. "If that’s what you want."

We’re asking for trouble and we both know it. But I don’t care. I want him.

"Really?" he asked, voice soft, like a kid being handed something he didn’t think he’d get.

"Yes."

"You won’t take it back?"

"I won’t."

"I’m happy, let’s go to bed." His voice was soft but tired.

"Yeah."

"Goodnight. I love you

"Goodnight. I love you a lot."

He hung up first.

I stayed there for a long time with my phone still in my hand watching the lake reflect the stars. For the first time in days, the silence didn’t feel heavy. It just felt still.

And for a few hours, I forgot there was a war waiting for us when the sun came up.