The Apprenticeship of Julian St. Albans (10 page)

He could swear he got a burst of fussy amusement as
Horace hopped further away, then flew up to perch in one of the hanging plants
where he’d be safe, and it made Julian laugh with delight. “Maybe I am
learning to listen to you,” he said happily.

Somehow that one small thing made the rest of the
day seem worthwhile.

CHAPTER 7

Julian woke the next morning to the sound of Horace
chirping, and his phone trying to vibrate itself off the bedside table.
“Oh, thanks,” he said sleepily, rescuing it and checking the screen.
“Where’s Alex?” he asked with a yawn.

Horace flew over and rubbed his head against Julian’s
cheek, then presented his chest, which held a note. Alex had folded the paper
into a little heart, which made Julian smile, and he read it before bothering
with his messages.

Dear Julian,

It feels
like ages since I wrote to you, do you ever miss it?

Lapointe
called me, there’s been another murder. I’ve gone to the crime scene, but you
were so tired you slept right through the phone call and me putting more potion
on your bruise.

I love you,
and I wish I could leave a kiss with Horace along with my note.

See you
soon,

Alex

Julian beamed, hugging the little note to his
chest. “Oh, Horace, he really is the right one for me,” he said,
stroking the little bird’s head. “I hope he never stops being this
sweet.” Julian sat up properly with a yawn and stretch, though the latter
was rather less stretchy than usual. Even with the potion, his shoulder was
stiff and sore with a deep ache right at the centre of the bruise.

Julian checked his missed calls and texts, then
decided he wasn’t ready to deal with strangers before breakfast. He texted Alex
that he was awake and ignoring his messages for now, and then went to make
himself a little more human. Once he had clean face and teeth, he put on warm
slippers and dressing gown and headed out for breakfast. Alex had returned his
text saying if Julian stayed inside the wards until Alex got home, he was
welcome to ignore everyone else.

Julian giggled. “Alys, is there
breakfast?” he asked the thin air.

He heard the kettle start to fill, and followed the
sound into the kitchen. Alys came strolling out of the laundry room where she
and Nat had set up their own little home, and more things started to emerge
from cupboards and set themselves up. “You need protein, so it’ll be a
proper fry-up for you, young man, and then you’ll let me look at that
bruise.”

Julian sat, feeling very grateful indeed to have so
many people who cared about his well-being. “Alex put potion on it
already, before he left, but I wouldn’t mind another dose,” said Julian.
“I took some paracetamol, too.”

“Human medicine,” she said dismissively.
“Though Alex’s potions do work, he’s a very good mage.”

“I know,” said Julian proudly. “My
life is full of magic now.”

“He wasn’t ready for a brownie before you, but
he’s interested in life now,” said Alys.

Julian thought about this, and the way Alex talked
sometimes about life before they’d gotten together. “He was interested
before, I think, he just didn’t know he was allowed.”

Alys chuckled. “Wise,” she said. A cup of
tea floated over to him, already made up the way he liked, which usually meant
he’d done something to please her.

“What’s Nat up to today?” asked Julian
curiously. The cabinets all had their new hardware now, with a floral theme
that made him feel quite at home; the finials on the hinges were rosebuds, with
full rose blossoms for the doorknobs. “The kitchen is looking really
nice.”

“Oh, this and that,” said Alys, busy
adding things to the anodised aluminium frying pan. One of the first things
they’d requested Alex buy was some non-iron cookware, though the cast iron pan
still had a place of honour in case of future difficulties. They’d told him
that brownies had less problem with iron than some fae, having spent many years
on such tasks as cooking in big iron pots or repairing hobnail boots, but it
was still a bit of a discomfort. Alex had set up an account online and let them
get whatever they thought was best, which made Julian like him even more.

“Well, I’m sure it’ll be wonderful, whatever
it is,” said Julian. “We’re lucky to have you both.”

Alys grinned, “It’s a good place for us, too,
safe as houses and well-appointed, not too much work nor too little.”

“Good,” said Julian cradling his tea and
taking a sip. They talked a little bit about this and that, mostly the food and
any special requests. Alys didn’t seem to mind that they still ate out a fair
amount, which was good because Julian hesitated to think what she’d do if she
did take it amiss. He really didn’t want to be turned blue.

Breakfast was a huge fry-up, and Julian thought he
couldn’t manage to eat even half of it until he realised he’d eaten all of it
instead. “I swear, I never used to eat like this,” he said, wiping
his mouth on his napkin before finishing off his tea.

“You’re using your magic properly now,”
said Alys, and she sounded highly approving. “The only fat magic user is a
lazy one who never does any good work.”

“I’m glad you think my work is good,”
said Julian shyly. “I’m never quite sure of myself when I’m working
yet.”

“Your magic’s all about nurturing and listening
to the heart of things,” she said.

Julian smiled. “I suppose it is,” he said
happily. “More tea?”

She laughed. “More tea, then you go listen to
that message machine of yours, it went off about a dozen times earlier.”

“Yeah,” said Julian with a big sigh.
“Oh, but I can write Alex a letter as my reward,” he added, perking
up. He let his teacup go so she could float it over to the big pot and make it
up, then stood and caught it midair when it came back to him.

“I might bake some biscuits later,” she said,
by way of dismissal, already busy cleaning up after breakfast.

Julian grinned. “I’d appreciate that very
much,” he said, which they’d decided didn’t count as thanking, especially
in advance. He wandered out and plopped in the big, comfortable chair, curling
up and wishing he could see out the window from this angle. It was too heavy to
move around, though, so it lived in this spot, facing the conversation group
instead of the two big windows that flanked the fireplace.

He started with his texts, telling Alex he’d had a
giant fry-up thanks to Alys, then telling Lapointe that he was safe and sound
in the flat and had no intentions of leaving unaccompanied, especially as Alex
had yet to return his amulet. Then he started in on the voicemails, of which there
were nine. Nine! Ugh.

First was Lapointe, looking for Alex, which he
listened through and then deleted unanswered because obviously she’d found him.
Then there was the sweet Officer Tiny, who had called to ask if Julian was all
right after the attack last night, and then assured him that he knew Julian was
taken. Julian wrote down his number and saved that one to answer later, finding
he rather liked the idea of having his own friend in law enforcement. Maybe it
would make Alex a bit more aware that he could still have competition, which
Julian sometimes felt very keenly around the handsome doctor.

Two more messages were from Lapointe, asking after
his health, then saying she had more questions for him about last night, which
Julian thought was weird. He deleted those, but made a note to call her back
once he’d listened to the lot. Alex was the next three, telling him to stay
home keep himself safe, then asking him if he wanted to come down, then telling
him not to come down. That made Julian giggle, and he didn’t delete them just
so he’d have Alex’s voice for a bit longer.

The second to last message was, unsurprisingly,
from Fischer. He seemed very concerned about Alex and Julian’s whereabouts last
night, and Julian was tempted to delete this one and pretend he’d never gotten
it. He definitely put it at the bottom of his callback list, anyway. The last
message was Father Stephen, sounding very sad, and it wasn’t until then that
Julian realised the other murder had happened at one of the smaller Temples.
The big one had really good wards, but the smaller ones were often untenanted
at night and sometimes weren’t kept up as well as they could be. Julian had
always liked the ones where the plants were allowed more free rein than the
carefully tended gardens at the main Temple, and it made him sad to think of
more plants hurt by whoever was doing this.

Julian took a breath, then called Lapointe back
first, figuring he might get three calls in one that way if she’d take care of
Fischer for him. She was always happy to hand the phone off to Alex if he
wasn’t busy, anyway.

“Julian, how are you?” said Lapointe.
“Shoulder still hurting?”

“Yeah, but it’s not so bad. Alys said she’d
look at it once I’d done my due diligence and called everyone back,” said
Julian. “It’s just bruised.”

“That’s good,” she said, sounding
relieved. “Geoff wanted to go haring off and wake you up to make sure
nothing was cracked, but Alex talked him down.”

Julian smiled, then frowned. “Oh, no, does
this mean we’re bailing on poor Thomas?”

Lapointe huffed a laugh. “We’re trying not to,
we drafted him to come help here so the plan is to collect you on the way to
his. Alex said he only needs a little longer to fix your amulet.”

“Good,” said Julian with a little shiver.
“I’d hate to go out without it. But did you need me today?”

“No, tomorrow will be soon enough, Alex is
going to bring you by after you do whatever it is you’re doing at the nursery.
He thinks walking through it one more time will give you perspective here or
something.” Julian heard some voices in the background, and then she was
talking too distantly to hear properly before she came back. “Sorry about
that. Fischer is still determined to talk to you, but he’s been told to stuff
it.”

Julian laughed, surprised. “By who? He’d never
listen to Alex.”

“By our boss, who was impressed that Alex got
out of bed early on a Saturday to help us while the scene was fresh, and
apparently has also received a reminder from someone even higher up that you’re
still peerage and not just any plebe.”

“Ooh, no wonder he sounded so pissy,”
said Julian. “Good, I’m not going to call him back, then, you can tell him
whatever you like.”

“Well, not whatever I like, as I’d like to
tell him to shove it up his… Alex! Your boy’s on the phone and I’m certain
he’d rather talk to you than me.”
 

There was the sound of fumbling, and then Alex’s
voice replaced hers on the line, low and warm as usual. “Julian, how are
you?”

“Better, and Alys is going to look at it, and
apparently I’m to be cornered by Geoff later as well?” said Julian.
“How are you? Did you eat?”

Alex laughed. “I did, Alys wouldn’t let me
leave without some food in me, she cooked while I took a quick shower. You were
sleeping so soundly, I didn’t have the heart to wake you.”

“I liked my note,” said Julian softly.
“Horace was very pleased to have something for me, too.”

“I think he misses our letters a little,
too,” said Alex fondly. “I should be no more than another hour here,
then I’m going to come fix your amulet while they finish up and we’ll all meet
at MacLean’s, which he assures me is now fit for company.”

Julian giggled. “Why don’t you bring Geoff, he
can prod me here in the privacy of my own home.”

“Oh, good idea,” said Alex. “He’s
been loitering around here for a while, the coroner was running late and they
wanted some medical thing so Thomas dragged him in. Did you know Thomas has one
of those silly giant SUVs? He could hardly even park the thing in the
lot.”

Julian giggled. “I didn’t, he clearly needs
the love of a good man or woman to reassure him he can make do with a smaller
car.”

“Amen to that,” said Alex. “I know
you’ve done me wonders.”

Julian felt a wave of warmth cheer him to his toes.
“The feeling’s entirely mutual, my love.”

They shared a moment of perfect, comfortable
silence, then someone in the background said something and Alex sighed.
“I’ve got to go, but Murielle’s promised not to talk too much about the
case tonight, so we’re fresh for tomorrow.”

“Oh, Father Stephen called me, he’s still okay
to meet us. You didn’t tell me you were at a Temple!” said Julian.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t think… Have you
been to this one? It’s the little one out in Gainesbury,” said Alex.
“It was quite nice before this, I think, very green.”

“I have a few times, but not in years,”
said Julian with a sigh. “This feels worse than the nursery, somehow, but
I know the Temple can fix it easier than Mary Margaret.”

“They can, and they will, love,” said
Alex. There was more squawking in the background. “I’ve really got to go,
but I’ll bring Geoff over. And Lapointe is telling me to tell you to keep
ignoring Fischer if he calls.”

Julian giggled. “All right, love you. Stay
safe.”

“You, too,” said Alex, and then he was
gone. Julian sighed, then went and deleted Fischer’s message with glee, and
sipped his tea for a moment before calling Father Stephen.