Chapter 21
Volik
Ikeep my hand over my heart as I focus on slowing the beat, needing my mate to be calm, rational.
Henry blows out a breath. “There are videos.”
I tilt my head. “Of what, exactly?”
“You.” He gestures to my body. “When this happened.”
“Not of Nix and me?”
He shakes his head. “No. Not that I’ve seen. Some people were loitering outside when I came into the building, but none were close enough to have seen… you two.”
“Good.” I knew people in the food court were recording me. It’s not ideal, but I don’t care. But if they’d gotten Nix on video, with her thighs spread… I would not handle that well.
Henry holds my gaze. And when I do not say more, he huffs. “No, stop your fussing. Don’t worry about all the phone calls we’re already getting from parents and the press. It’s not a hassle at all.”
I keep my expression flat, not amused by his sarcasm. “This is what you wanted to speak of?”
“No.” His shoulders slump. “But I’m going to have to tell them.”
“Tell them what?”
“About your mate.”
My lips twitch as a growl echoes down the hall.
Henry holds his hands up. “I just mean that I’m going to have to explain that you found your mate.
There’s no other way to explain the videos of this.
” He moves his eyes up and down my body, assessing.
“I don’t remember Renke bulking up this much.
But even if you wanted to play it off as something else, someone will eventually put it together. ”
Renke was the first, and only, vampire to find his mate since The Reveal when we universally exposed our existence.
It was forty years ago. Before the time when everyone could take videos with their phones. But enough was written down about it.
I recall a mention of his muscle mass increasing.
But I was too filled with jealousy to look into it more.
And the changes in me… this is more than my muscles expanding.
My brother and I, we were always big. Bigger than the other vampires.
But now… Now with my increased height and size, I will dwarf my older brother like no one else ever has.
I need to read more about Renke, see if there is anything I can learn that will be helpful to me or to Nix. But I think his mate was a born vampire, so our experiences will not be the same.
My parents never told me of their own bonding. They probably thought I was too young, and they expected to be around for millennia, but my father did tell me that the mate bond reacts differently in different families. Which I used as another reason to ignore Renke’s good fortune.
But Henry is right. Someone will put it together.
Anxiety presses in around me.
They will want to interview Nix.
They will want to study her.
They might try to take her.
“Volik,” Henry snaps.
I close my eyes.
This stronger power… I need to concentrate to keep it in check.
Opening my eyes, I watch Henry relax as my gravito stops trying to drag him closer.
“I will make a statement that the event was simply you finding your fated mate. No one is in danger, and classes are still on schedule. And I will tell them that a statement from you will be forthcoming. But that you request privacy during this adjustment, for yourself and Ms. Novak.”
“Nix Novak?”
The dean grins. “Our new substitute professor of journalism.”
Nix Novak. Pretty and smart.
“Anything else?”
He nods. “Two things. First, I’ll cover the damages with your salary.”
I lift a brow. I have never collected a salary. “And the second?”
“Just… don’t bite her tonight.”
My brow drops, and I glare at the man. “Explain.”
“It’s just… a lot. For humans. We wait what feels like forever to find our other half. But humans… They have no idea, not until it happens. So… be patient.”
“I would never hurt my mate.” Anger and defense color my statement.
“I know that.” He speaks in a placating tone that annoys me. “But she might not.”
Not wanting to admit that his words might be true, I turn and stride down the hall. Following Nix’s scent.