Chapter 64
Nix
Ipeer over the edge of the roof.
“Good.” Volik sees the same thing. No reporters.
“That’ll change by Monday.” I start to bite my lip, out of habit, but quickly stop.
Fangs.
Volik drapes his arm over my shoulders. “I will threaten them all.”
Huffing out a laugh, I let him lead me over to the stairwell. “I know making a statement will make things even more chaotic in the short term, but I know which journalist I want to use.”
Volik pulls the door open, and I head inside. “We will contact them tonight.”
No argument. No asking who it is. Just acceptance.
I pause on the steps.
Volik stops beside me. “Da?”
My mouth starts to pull into a smile, and I make a conscious effort to part my lips so I don’t catch the tip of my fangs.
“What is that smile for?”
I lift a shoulder. “You.” Then I slide my palm against his and grip his hand.
His fingers close around mine, and a deep purr echoes down the cement stairwell. “Nixy, are you sure you want to keep working?”
The laugh that pops out of me is bright. “Da.” I tug on his hand. “Come on.”
His groan mingles with his purr, but he manages to calm both by the time we exit onto the first floor.
It’s early enough that no one is waiting in the hall for my first class.
I catch my reflection in the door as I unlock the handle. My solid black eyes, that can see in the dark, look… right.
They feel right.
It was just Monday that I did this for the first time. That I looked at myself in this very pane of glass.
Just Monday. Today is only Friday. But it feels like an eternity ago.
I touch my tongue to the tip of my fang.
“Are you okay?” Volik’s body behind me fills the rest of the reflection.
I turn the key and open the door. “I am. I promise.” We step inside, and I turn on the lights. “It might sound crazy to anyone else, but I’m glad for the changes.”
He gives me a skeptical look that makes me smile.
“When I was in Jenny’s office yesterday, I was talking to her about moving in with you. For the record, she told me to do it.”
“I like her.”
I snort. “Me too. But most people aren’t like her. And I felt… crazy for just accepting this.”
“Accepting what?”
We stop beside my desk, and I turn to face him. “I’ve lived a human life. At no point in time did I think I would find a mate. And even though I can feel our connection”—I place my hand over my chest—“we basically moved in together after knowing each other for all of forty-eight hours.”
Volik shakes his head and steps closer. “No, Mea Unica.” He grips my wrist and lifts my hand, moving it from my chest to his. “We have known each other our whole lives. We just do not remember.”
My throat tightens.
This giant man.
My nose starts to sting.
He palms my cheek with the hand not holding my wrist. “Do not cry.”
“I’m not.” I sniff.
His nose scrunches. “I can smell them forming.”
“Well.” I sniff again. “Mind your own business.”
His lips twitch.
“Also.” I poke him in his rock-hard side with my free hand. “Your tears smell bad too.”
He gives me a solemn nod. “No more crying for either of us. Ever.”
“Anyway.” I make sure my eyes are wide as I roll them, positive he can read my expressions, like I can for his.
“My point is, I’m glad for my eyes. And my fangs and nails.
Because they’re proof of our connection.
Not just to me, but to the world.” I flatten my hand on his side, feeling the ridges of muscles.
“And I know it shouldn’t matter what other people think, but I also know it will add validity to our statement. ”
“I understand.” He glides his hand down the side of my neck until it rests on my shoulder.
“It will not be easy. I know what being mated to me means for you, and I am sorry for the stress that is to come. But I will never let anyone hurt you. And if you do not like our house, we can find a new one.”
It takes me a second to process everything he packed into such few sentences. “Volik.” I shift my hand and poke him again. “Do not apologize for being my mate. That’s… Just don’t.” I poke him again and watch the edge of his mouth lift. “And our house is stunning.”
His mouth shifts into a full smile. “Good.” Volik releases his hold on me and pulls my bag off his shoulder. “We can move the rest of your things in this weekend.”
I start to pull my computer out of my bag. “Should be easy since I never finished unpacking.”
My hands still as I think back to Monday night.
“What?”
I shake my head. “It was the weirdest thing. I tried to unpack, or, well, I tried to open one of my boxes so I could unpack, but my hand just… wouldn’t cooperate.”
Volik tilts his head. “Explain.”
“I know it sounds—”
“Nyet. Just explain.”
“I was in my apartment and decided I should start to unpack. But when I tried to reach out to open the top box, my arm wouldn’t move.
Like my brain told it to lift, but it just hung there.
It was the weirdest sensation because when I tried to do something else, like stick my arm out to the side, it worked.
But when I had the intention of opening the box, my arm…
did nothing. I even used my other hand to set my hand on the box, but it just lay there.
My fingers wouldn’t work.” I shimmy my shoulder in a shiver. “It was… bizarre.”
“I think it was the bond.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think the bond stopped you from unpacking. That apartment is not your home.” Volik’s eyes are narrowed in thought. “Were you in Jenny’s office on Monday, around…”
“Around the time you stomped through the hall, shaking the building?”
His nod is slow. “Da.”
“I was.” So much has happened since then that I almost forgot how intense that moment was. “I remember feeling this pull to go to the door. And I remember feeling insane for wanting to do that.”
“I tried to open the door.”
My brows lift. “What?”
“I had never been in that office before. But that day, I had this overwhelming urge to open the door. But it was just how you described. I could not make my hand grab the handle. Something stopped me. That is why I opened her door that afternoon when I was leaving. I wanted to see if I could.”
My mouth hangs open as I stare at Volik.
What the fuck?
“I believe the bond was preventing us from meeting before it was time.”
“Holy shit.”
“Da.”
“What would’ve happened if we did meet?”
Volik curls his tongue around his fang. “I would have wanted you. There is no force that could have stopped that.”
Heat pulses down my spine.
His nostrils flare.
And someone knocks on the door.
Volik grunts but still glances toward the door and lifts his chin, indicating for them to enter.
“Morning!” Jenny’s voice is cheerful as she steps into the room. “The dean told me to see if you changed your mind about needing help with classes today or if—” Volik shifts to the side, and her gaze meets mine. “Fuck me!” Jenny squeaks.
I snicker at her reaction, making sure to keep my lips mostly closed.
She slaps a hand to her chest. “Sorry. Sorry.” Her eyes are wide, startled, but not scared. “I wasn’t expecting…” Her laugh is a bit manic as she glances at Volik, then back to me. “Talk about a surprise.”
“You’re telling me.”
Jenny shakes her head, then stops when her eyes land on my hands.
I hold them out so she can see my black nails as she continues to walk closer. “My new permanent mani-pedi. Pretty cool, huh?”
When she’s close enough, Jenny reaches out and touches one of my black nails, checking that it’s real.
Jenny’s eyes are still wide when she looks back up at me, brows raised. “Gee, anything else new with you?”
Her tone is full of sarcasm. But it’s the perfect opening…
I lift a shoulder.
Then I grin.
Her eyes drop to my mouth. “Fuck me.” Then she sways.
I can’t stop my laugh even as I lunge forward and grip her shoulders, steadying her.
She grips my shoulders in return as she blinks at me.
“Please don’t pass out.” I mean it, but I’m still smiling.
She shakes her head. “I’m good now.”
We slowly let go of each other, but she doesn’t step back. And I’ll be forever grateful that she doesn’t flinch away from my new look.
“So…” I rock back on my heels. “Last night got a little crazy.”
Jenny barks out a laugh. “You fucking think? What the actual fuck, Nix? You didn’t think a little heads-up, a by the way, girly, I turned into a vampire last night, would be useful?”
I feel my bottom lip catch on my fang as I smile at her reaction. It doesn’t break the skin, just pushes my lip down.
She slaps her hands over her eyes as she laughs harder. “How are you more adorable?”
Volik lets out a rumble, and I can’t tell if it’s in annoyance, agreement, or at her calling me a vampire. Which is untrue, but still kind of fun to hear.
Volik clears his throat as he steps up beside me. “I will go find coffee for you. Jenny, would you like some as well?”
Her hands are against her cheeks now. “That would be really nice, thank you.”
Volik nods, then bends and presses a kiss to my forehead before he walks away.
I watch him leave. Watch the way his muscles look in that tight T-shirt as he ducks through the doorway.
Heat pools—
“Nix,” Volik snaps, and I blink, cheeks flaming.
“I’m fine,” I croak.
When I finally turn my attention back to Jenny, she slaps her hands back over her eyes as she cackles.