Chapter 49
Nix
Undoing my seat belt, I glance at my reflection in the rearview mirror. Then I glance again.
When I was getting ready this morning, I thought my bathroom lights were playing tricks on my eyes. Making my skin look… dewy.
I lean closer.
The spots on my cheeks that normally flush red when I’m stressed are… not red.
The dark circles that have been under my eyes for the past decade, give or take, are not dark.
Is this from being mated to a vampire?
They live practically forever. They don’t get sick.
I turn my head side to side, noting the way my hair sways with the movement.
That also looks healthier.
Blowing out a breath, I slump back in my seat.
I like Volik.
A lot.
I think it might be impossible not to like him.
And in the hour we’ve been apart, I’ve thought of nothing but him.
My hand moves to my chest.
If our hearts beat together, and my skin and hair look better, does that mean I’m… turning? Is that even a thing?
Rumors surrounding The Trials spoke of biological tests. Trying to turn humans into vampires. Trying to utilize vampire blood to make humans healthier.
But the rumors all ended the same. With failure.
I bite my lip.
Maybe mating is different?
The idea of Volik having to watch me age and die…
I rub my hand in a circle.
That’s not fair to him.
He’s spent so much time waiting for a mate. Waiting for me…
It just wouldn’t be fair.
I’ll ask him, but not yet. He seems sensitive when it comes to me. And it is what it is. That question can wait.
I roll my shoulders out, psyching myself up for my class that starts in thirty minutes.
Yesterday went okay. But these are my Ethics students again, whom I haven’t seen since the first day. Before…
I roll my shoulders once more, practice a big smile, then push my car door open.
My phone vibrates in my bag.
I pause, debate ignoring it, then dig it out.
I pause for another moment, not recognizing the number, but still accept.
“Hello?”
“Hey,” a female voice replies with an exhale. “Gods, I’m glad I caught you.”
“Jenny?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry, it’s me. I snagged your number from your employee file. I’d say hope you don’t mind, but you’ll be thanking me in a moment.”
I start to smile at her nonstop talking, but it falters. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’re going to want to circle around and approach Bates Hall from behind.
There’s a handful of press—reporters, whatever—out on the sidewalk in front of the school.
They’re still on public property, so the dean can’t kick them out, but if you enter through the back, they shouldn’t be able to see you. ”
“You’re right. I will be thanking you.”
Jenny snorts. “You’re welcome. Oh, and the dean is in your classroom.”
“What?” My heartbeat jumps, and I close my eyes, forcing it to relax.
“Nothing bad. He’s just checking attendance. Making sure you don’t have any trespassers.” Jenny snickers, then hangs up.
It rings twice before Jenny answers. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Hey, uh, I was wondering if you’d go with me to the commons?”
“You want to go back to the scene of the crime?”
“Hardly,” I huff. “I just want lunch, and I don’t want to go alone.”
“Fair, fair.” I hear her rolling her chair across the floor. “You want to go now?”
“If that works for you.”
“Sure. You good meeting there, or do you want me to come get you?”
It’s such a simple question but says so much about the type of friend Jenny is. “We can meet there. But thank you for the offer.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll see you outside the main doors.”
“Okay. See you in a moment.”
I hang up and grab my room key.
Shouldering my bag, I make sure I have everything I need, then I lock the door on my way out.
Whispers reach my ears almost immediately, but I keep my attention down as I move down the hall toward the back doors.
I don’t know if the reporters are still out front, but I’d rather play it safe than have some weird clip of me trying to avoid them on the news.
As a journalist, I get it. Volik, or any vampire, finding their mate, is a huge deal. Not to mention one of the world’s biggest vampires getting bigger… That’s news.
But it’s like the dean’s email said: we’ll make a statement.
We just need to figure out the when and where.
Learning shifters and druids are real would also be global news, but that’s not our information to share.
Stepping outside, I keep my eyes on the path as I think over the logistics of the article we’ll need to put out.
I can’t publish the story myself. But there’s a woman I’ve been following…
“Oh, uh, hey.” A guy, maybe twenty, steps up beside me. “You’re the one that… ya know… right?”
I press my lips together, not sure what I’m supposed to say to that.
“Beat it, kid,” Jenny’s voice snaps out, and the kid and I both swing our heads forward. Jenny sticks her arm out, pointing back toward the admin building. “You want me to go tell him you were standing that close to her?”
I bite down on the urge to smile, knowing full well that Volik isn’t in his office. But based on the speed with which the kid backs away from me, he doesn’t have the same knowledge.
Jenny crosses her arms, staring the boy down as I close the distance between us.
“Uh…” I let my grin take over. “That was awesome.”
“That was nothing.” She snorts and pulls the door open. “But maybe we get our food to go and eat it in my office. I have a feeling…”
As we walk into the large food court, the noise level shifts. “Your office sounds great.”
Jenny goes with me to the sandwich counter.
I tell her it’s on me. And we both order meatball subs. Then I order two ham and Swiss and two grilled cheese with bacon sandwiches.
I can feel Jenny holding back her laugh beside me, but she waits until we’re out of the building before she breaks. “You really did want lunch.”
Laughing, I adjust the sandwich-filled bag on my shoulder. “I’m hungry.”
I really am.
I had three servings of oatmeal for breakfast. And between classes, I ate both of the granola bars that were in my desk, plus an apple. And I still feel like I haven’t eaten in days.
“For real, are you gonna put those all down? Because I’m about to be wildly impressed.”
“Prepare to be… disappointed.” We both laugh as I hurry up the few steps to the front door of the admin building and hold it open for Jenny. “I do plan to crush the sub though. But, uh, I’m staying at Volik’s tonight. And I don’t actually know if he has regular food in his house.”
Jenny gives me an impressed look as she passes. “Sounds like you two are hitting it off.”
I’m glad she’s walking ahead of me now so she can’t see my blush. “Yeah.”
We had building-shaking sex the first night. And then I cried all over him last night. Normal first dates type of stuff.
Jenny unlocks her door, and I follow her in.
“You can come back here.” She circles around the end of the tall counter to the desk side of her office. “I have an extra chair.”
“Thanks.” I drop into the spare seat.
“Were your classes okay?” Jenny asks as she unwraps her sub.
“Yeah, I think it was good that the dean was there though. He came back for my second class too. I could tell that a few of the kids were wanting to say something, but luckily, no one was brave enough.”
“The dean’s a good guy.”
I hum my agreement as I unwrap my own meal. “He is. And he offered to come again tomorrow, but I told him I’d try it on my own.”
I leave off the detail about the dean walking in on Volik and me that time. And how I still can’t get myself to make eye contact.
“Will Volik be with you?”
I lift a shoulder as I take a bite, then answer with my mouth full. “Probably.”
“That’ll do the trick.” She takes her own bite.
I think about that journalist again as I continue to eat my sub, careful not to get marinara on my white shirt.
The button-up shirt I have on is oversized and lightweight, so it’s not too warm. And with the front tucked into my dark jeans, it’s still work appropriate.
I wore my favorite boots again today, but I’m almost wishing I had sandals. Because this mate bond thing is really messing with my body temperature.
“Where is your big ol’ vampire anyway?”
I smile around a meatball at her description. “He is pretty big.”
“Oh my god!” Jenny coughs on her food as she lets out a laugh.
“What—” My cheeks flame. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Maybe not. But I bet it’s still true.”
I shove more food into my mouth.
She drops her head back with a dramatic groan. “Why can’t I be one of the chosen?” Then she rolls her head to the side to look at me. “I mean that in a normal funny way. I’m not trying to take your man. Don’t kill me.”
I roll my eyes. “I’ll try to refrain.”
“Obliged.” Jenny grins. “Now, quit getting sidetracked by his size. I was asking where he was. Or if that’s a secret or something, then no worries.” She says it casually, meaning it. And I seriously think she’s going to become my best friend.
Aside from Volik.
“He had to go get new clothes.” I leave off the part about Chicago, not sure if that’s important or not.
Jenny lifts her brows. “I didn’t even think about that. I mean, we all saw him bust through his stuff in those videos, but yeah, I guess he’d need a whole new wardrobe that fits.”
I nod and shove the last bite of my sub into my mouth, my hunger hardly touched.
“Again, I mean this in the least perverted way possible, I want to see him in person. So I can see how much bigger he really got.”
I make sure she sees me rolling my eyes at her again. “I don’t know how long the whole clothing thing is going to take. But he said he’d come get me.” I glance up at the ceiling. It’s normal height, I think. Probably about the same as my apartment. “He should fit in here.”
Jenny looks up at the ceiling too. “Damn.”
Then, as I dig into one of my grilled cheese sandwiches, Jenny tells me about Volik barging into her office Monday afternoon, after I’d been in here. How awkward it was. And how awesome it was to see him pull the door shut without touching it.
I grin the whole time, picturing him being all cute.
“I wonder what his place is like.” Jenny tilts her head.
“This’ll be my first time going there. But he said it’s spacious enough that his new height isn’t an issue.”
“Well, that’s good. It’s kinda crazy that people don’t know what his house looks like, when you think of it.”
“What do you mean?”
She shrugs. “Well, we know it’s not far from here. And he’s lived there for… I don’t actually know how long. And I get that he doesn’t like, have friends over. Or women, or whatever. But how has no one sent a drone there to take pictures?”
The idea of Volik bringing women to his house makes my jaw ache.
“You okay?” Jenny furrows her brows at me.
“I’m…” I blow out a breath. “I agreed to move in.” She keeps watching me. “To his house. Today.”
Jenny blinks. “Okay.”
I stare at her. “That’s it? Just okay? No words of warning?”
She huffs. “Warning for what? He’s your mate, right? Fated by… the universe or whatever.”
I swallow and nod.
“Then…” Jenny shrugs. “Seems like a waste of time to fight it.”
“Even if I’ve known him for all of two days?”
Jenny shrugs. “Look, you can take your time. Feel it out. Get to know each other better first. Or you can jump into the deep end. It seems like, in the long run, you’ll probably end up with the same results. So I say do whatever you’re comfortable with. Whatever feels right.”
I watch my new friend, looking for a flaw in her logic.
She lifts her brows at me.
I press my lips together.
She grins.
I lift my hands to my cheeks. “This is crazy.”
“Meh. Sane is overrated.”