Let Them Kneel (kaelani and Julian) novel Chapter 38

Julian woke with a sharp inhale, every muscle taut as his eyes adjusted to the dim light spilling through the blinds of his office. For a fleeting, fractured second, he could still feel her — the warmth of her body pressed against his, the scent of her hair, the fading echo of a song that didn’t belong in his world.

A knock broke through the silence, abrupt as thunder. His head throbbed as he dragged a hand down his face, trying to steady his breathing. Another knock followed, firmer this time.

“Come in,” he said hoarsely, his voice rough with sleep.

The door creaked open. Jace stepped inside, his usual smirk replaced with mild concern. “You okay? I’ve been knocking for a while,” he said, hesitating near the threshold.

Julian pushed upright, the leather of the couch sighing beneath him. His shirt clung damply to his skin, a sheen of sweat catching at his collar. “Yeah,” he muttered, reaching for the water bottle on the side table. “Didn’t hear you.”

Jace nodded, though his eyes lingered on Julian’s face a beat too long, searching for whatever lay beneath the calm facade. “Yeah, you must’ve been out cold.”

Julian exhaled through his nose, scrubbing a hand along the back of his neck. Something itched at his senses. He frowned.

“Do you smell that?”

Jace blinked. “Smell what?”

“Smoke.” Julian’s gaze swept the room, sharp and unfocused all at once. The scent still clung to him—burnt sugar and something faintly sweet beneath it.

Jace’s brow furrowed. “Uh… no. Nothing’s burning.”

Julian’s hand closed around his phone on the end table, thumb brushing over the screen. He didn’t remember setting an alarm last night.

“Was there an alarm going off?” He asked after a beat, tone edged with something unreadable.

Jace gave a curt nod, but his gaze lingered. “Didn’t think you’d want a trail leading back to you.”

Julian didn’t respond. His fingers drummed once against his thigh, restless, before going still. The silence stretched thin, heavy with everything left unsaid.

He couldn’t allow Jace to keep digging, but the unanswered questions gnawed at him all the same—why she wasn’t in the records, why her scent was unlike any he’d ever known, and why every instinct in him screamed that there was more to her story than she herself realized.

And despite himself, that lack of answers burned hotter than the smoke still ghosting his senses.

Julian’s jaw tightened. “Let it go,” he said finally, his voice low, stripped of any pretense of patience.

Jace tilted his head, studying him. “You sure?”