Emblem Julian Hyper Novels & Stories

Julian wasn't dead. The wight I had just destroyed had been a decoy. The real Julian Crescent stepped out from behind the heavy iron pipe organ on the high balcony. He looked identical to the vessel the same charcoal-black hair, the same predatory golden eyes but his aura wasn't a static, oily frequency. It was hot, thick, and laced with the genuine, unyielding authority of an Alpha born to command. He didn't carry a silver axe; he held a standard Southern enforcer saber, the steel gray and unadorned.

It wasn't a gun. It was a heavy metal crest, stamped with the Castello family emblem: a black eagle spreading its wings. The smile froze on Julian's face.

He looked desperately at Elena, who was standing perfectly still by the console table, untouched and entirely protected within Killian’s line of sight. "Elena..." Julian rasped, his eyes frantic. "They set me up... run... call the police..." Elena looked at the man who had traded her freedom to save his own skin. The silence in the room was heavy, broken only by Julian’s ragged gasps. She slowly reached up, her fingers undoing the top buttons of her dove-grey blouse, pulling the fabric aside to expose the heavy, raw emerald pendant resting against her skin. Julian’s eyes locked onto the green stone, his pupils dilating in sheer shock as he recognized the missing Dutta family relic.

"I need a list. I need the names of every councilor who knew about the restart sequence. Every one of them." "Julian, what are you going to do?" Bernard asked, his voice full of fear. Julian reached into his jacket, pulling out the hilt of his sword, which had been snapped during the collapse. He tossed the broken blade into the darkness of the crater, listening for the sound of it hitting the stone far below. "I'm going to finish what Kael started," Julian said, his eyes glowing with a cold, dangerous resolve that mirrored the obsidian of the statue below. "I’m going to tear the foundation out of this city, stone by bloody stone."

Claire let out a small gasp, her legs instinctively wrapping around his waist to find her balance. They were now eye level. Julian stared at her with a hunger he no longer bothered to hide. Claire could feel the hard muscles of his body pressing against her skin. Her heart raced so fast it felt as though it might leap from her chest. "Do you still want to talk about that badge?" Julian asked, tracing her lips with his finger. Claire tried to find the remnants of her sanity. She saw the diplomatic badge still lying inside the open safe behind Julian. It was tangible proof that he was someone of high authority. But at this moment, Julian’s gaze was more intimidating than any badge in the world

The car turned onto the main road, accelerating smoothly, leaving the Knight villa, and the man still standing at the window far behind. Julian reached into the inner pocket of his suit and pulled something out. A card. Black. Matte. He held it between two fingers before pressing it into my palm. Black titanium. Sterling insignia etched in silver. My card. My chest tightened. “Your mourning period for that peasant is over,” Julian said coldly. “Tonight, you become a Sterling again.” I stared at the card, my fingers curling around it like muscle memory waking up. “I wasn’t mourning him,” I said.

On the sleeve of his pristine school uniform jacket was a crimson armband embroidered with gold lettering: Student Council President. That was Julian—my twelfth-grade classmate this year. And at school, no one knew he was actually my cousin. With his stern, sharp features and piercing eyes that always strictly enforced discipline, Julian possessed an implicit authority that intimidated even the most rebellious students. Julian stepped up to stand between Ben and me. He cast a freezing glare at Ben, completely ignoring me as if we were total strangers. "Do you want to get a disciplinary report on the very first day of the school year, Ben?"

"Look at the tattoo on your chest, Julian. Tell everyone what it means." He instinctively covered his chest, then, as if to prove a point, ripped open his shirt. The iris tattoo was still there, but it had been altered. A high-definition close-up appeared on the screen beside him. Where the heart of the flower should have been… was a small, sharp dagger. The Rosso family crest. A collective gasp swept through the pews. "No… that's not possible…" Julian stared down at his own chest, as if seeing the change for the very first time.

"You forgot who you are, Julian? You are a former Alpha who was almost crushed to death because he threw away his own woman. Now you are demanding ownership rights?" Julian rose to his feet. His physique was twice as large and dense due to previous mutations stabilized by Vane Corporation’s forbidden science. The killing aura of an ancient predator radiated from him. "I threw her away because I was blind. And that blindness has been paid in full with my right eye. Now... I am back to reclaim what I should never have let go."

Suddenly, he understood. "No!" he roared, lunging at Julian. "I don't accept this! I am the Don! I order you to attack him!" He turned to his own men, screaming. "Fire! Kill him! That's an order!" But no one moved. Julian slowly raised his right hand. The sun glinted off a ring on his finger. It was a black ring, carved with an ancient, intricate crest. I recognized it. The symbol of the Capo di tutti i capi—the boss of all bosses.