Chapter 74 #2
He gestures with his head for me to walk through the doorway.
I stare back at him. “Volik.”
“Da?”
“How are we getting to Tennessee so fast?” I’ve been so caught up with getting ready to go that I haven’t taken the time to put it together.
Until now.
Volik smirks. “Nixy, we are taking a portal.”
“Volik,” I whisper.
He tugs on my arm, pulling me outside.
The door shuts after us, and Volik maneuvers me so we’re facing each other.
I’m still too stunned to think.
A portal.
We’re going to use a motherfucking portal after we talk to a motherfucking wolf shifter.
Volik leans his face close to mine. “Ask me who controls the portal.”
My pulse tries to jump. “Who controls the portal?”
“A druid.” Volik wraps his arms around me. Then he jumps.
Feet back on the ground, I take Volik’s hand as he leads me deeper into the woods we landed in.
“About ten miles behind us is your old apartment.”
“Oh.” I glance back over my shoulder, as though I can see anything but trees.
I can’t believe I rented an apartment and lived there for less than a week.
Thinking about the difference between that little apartment and Volik’s house, I turn back to my mate. “Does the dean live in a house like yours? Secluded in the woods, I mean?”
“Not in the way I do.” Volik holds back a low branch, and I hurry past it. “Not all wolf packs are the same, but here, you must be a pack member to live on Argus pack land.”
“Can pack members choose to live somewhere else?”
Volik tips his head. “I believe so. I have known wolves to live in major cities, outside of any other pack territory.”
“Hmm.” I wish I knew how many shifters I’ve unknowingly walked past. “And are their houses… normal?” I scrunch up my face. “That sounded rude. But I mean, do they have…”
Volik chuckles when I clearly can’t think of a better way to put it.
“Da. They live in normal houses. Their neighborhoods are normal too. You have to be pack to live there, but it’s completely accessible to the outside world.
Looks like anywhere else with streets and mailboxes.
Shifters have their own abilities, but gravito belongs only to the vampires.
So, unless they are using a portal to travel long distances, they drive cars and travel as humans do. ”
“Huh.” I can’t help but picture getting into a shouting match with a driver after a fender bender, only to have that driver turn into a wolf and bite my face off.
“What?”
I glance up and catch Volik watching me. “Nothing.” I school my features. “How many people—er, wolves?—are in a pack?”
“Varies.” Volik shrugs. “Technically two or more, but I think there are over a hundred in the Argus pack. Perhaps much more. I have not been on their land in some time.”
“Did you know the dean before, and that’s why you moved here? Or did you move here and then meet the dean?”
I catch Volik smiling, and I bump my shoulder against his arm.
Not once has he ever seemed annoyed at my endless questions.
“I knew that the dean at Stalden was a shifter, but we had not met before my move.”
“And…” I squint up at him. “What do you actually do at the school?”
Volik smirks. “Look for my brother.”
“That’s it, though?” I snort. I remember him telling me that’s what he spent his time doing, but I guess I didn’t realize that was all he does. “You don’t have any duties? At all?”
He bumps me back. “Nyet.”
“Seriously?” I laugh at his answer. “Are you actually a staff member, or is that just a ruse?”
“Somewhere in between.”
I huff. “Explain that, please.”
“When I decided to move here, I went to Henry’s office—”
“With no warning?”
Volik grins. “With no warning.” I grin back.
“I told him I would be living nearby and that I would like a place to conduct my research. I could, of course, stay at home, but to do that every day… It gets old. So, we came to an agreement. I do not have to do any work for the school. I do not collect my salary. And the school gets the prestige of having a vampire on staff.”
“I mean, I’m pretty sure the only reason I know the Stalden name is because of you working there, so it’s been a successful marketing ploy.”
“Da.”
“But why here? Was it having the, uh, Argus pack close? Or did you just like Hemlock Hills?”
“It was you.”
I stop walking.
Volik stops too.
“What do you mean?”
He gives me that devastatingly soft smile. “All my choices have led me to you, Mea Unica. Even if I did not know why, I knew I had to come here.”
I press my lips together.
His smile falters. “Do not cry.”
I sniff. “Mind your own business.”
“You are my business.” His response doesn’t make me less likely to cry.
I squeeze Volik’s hand.
He squeezes mine back.
“Why did you choose Stalden?”
“It felt like I had to,” I tell him quietly. “I heard about the open position by happenstance and then couldn’t stop myself from applying. I’d never even considered teaching before.”
“You are a natural.”
“Thank you,” I sigh. “One of us has to actually work.”
Volik smirks. “Lots of money.” Then he starts walking again, tugging me with him. “Come, Mate. Since it is rude to jump into shifter territory, we still have a little way to walk.”
I look around at the woods. “Is there a way to tell when we enter their territory?”
“We already have.”
Okay, then.
After a few more minutes of walking, I break the silence but keep my voice low. “I’m sure the public information on it is skewed. And by skewed, I mean fabricated to put the world governments in the best light possible. But did The Trials involve shifters and druids too?”
It’s been a stain on humanity’s history since it happened, shortly after vampires became public knowledge.
But the horror of it hits a bit differently now that I’ve changed…
Especially given the fact that I changed, since I think the main, real reason behind The Trials was trying to find a way to harness Alt powers and give them to humans.
I have to resist the shudder that tries to crawl over my skin and remind myself that I have Volik at my side. And he’ll never let anything happen to me.
“They were.” Volik’s answer is quiet, matching mine.
“But unlike vampires, shifters and druids can blend in with the human population. If a shifter is in their human form, a human would not know the difference. Same for a druid, so long as they are not using their powers. So after everyone was rescued, we destroyed every record that mentioned either species.”
We.
Volik said we destroyed.
My chest aches as my heartbeat jumps.
Volik stops, feeling it.
Since he wasn’t expecting my reaction, he wasn’t able to do that thing where he prevents my pulse from racing.
“What is it?” He glances around, then looks down at me.
“I…” I shake my head. “I’ve read all the reports. Like all the reports. The—” The terrible details. “But they redacted all the names. So I never…” I reach up with the hand not holding his and press it over his heart. “With the names gone, I never thought about who was there.”
Volik lets out a gentle purr as he presses his free hand over my heart. “Mea Unica, I was not one of the taken.”
My shoulders sag in relief. “Promise?”
“I promise, my goddess of night.”
And it’s more than relief. I feel pride. Because if he wasn’t taken, that means he wasn’t at The Trials as a test subject. It means he went there to free those who had been taken.
It means Volik was there to kill humans.
All the ghost stories.
All those terrible details.
All the evil that was exposed.
My mate was a firsthand witness. And because of his participation in what happened that night, when the Alts were freed and the responsible parties were dealt with, peace has reigned.
I let go of Volik’s hand and step into him, wrapping my arms around him in a hug.
One heavy arm holds me tight, while a warm palm smooths over my hair. “I like hugs.”
He says it calmly, but I can feel how much he means it.
And I force my emotions to stay in line, because if he hasn’t been with someone in eighty years, his brother has been missing for a hundred years, and he can’t remember how many decades it’s been since he’s seen his aunt and uncle…
I doubt he’s hugged anyone in a long time.
I hug him tighter. “Me too.”
I sniff.
Volik grunts. “Do not cry.”
I poke him in the side. “I’m not.”
He hums. “How about another fact? Would that make you feel better?”
I pull back enough to look up into Volik’s eyes. “Are you trying to bribe me with information?”
“Da.”
“Well, I guess it all depends on how good the information is.”
He holds my gaze. “When we were destroying records, we found evidence that humans had cures for most cancers. More than a decade previous.”
I stare up at him with my mouth open. “We were taught that it was an international collective of doctors that cured cancer…” My speech slows as I think it all over.
That announcement happened just months after The Trials.
“It was a collective. But the original scientists were murdered and their results buried in the name of profits. We told the humans to release the cures and to make it all public. The process, findings, treatment protocols. If they did not, we would release the information anyway. And then we would also share how long the lawmakers had known. They agreed, because they knew that losing control of their citizens would cause a level of damage that could not be repaired.”
I keep staring up at my handsome mate.
He lifts a brow. “Good information, da?”
“So good.” I shake my head, trying to absorb everything Volik just told me.
He lifts a hand, tapping his temple. “I have lots more up here.”
I lift my gaze to his forehead, like I can see the memories within, then I meet his eyes again. “Seriously, that’s so hot.”
Volik smirks.
I feel the tip of my fang with my tongue as I think about how many stories Volik will be able to tell me over the years to come.
“What are you thinking about, Mate?” His attention is on my mouth.
I let my eyes trail down his body. “I’m wondering if I can still suck your cock with these fangs.”
A low rumble rolls out of Volik.
Then someone clears their throat. And someone else laughs.
I startle at the sounds.
Volik doesn’t.
I give him a what the hell look. “Did you know someone was coming?” I whisper.
Volik grins. “Da. But I did not know you would say that.” Then he lifts his gaze over my head to the newcomers. “Henry.”
I close my eyes.
Henry. One of the people who just heard me ask if I can still suck cock was the gods damn dean.
The throat clearing happens again. “Volik, Nix. What a pleasant surprise.”
Slowly, I turn to face my boss. “Hello.” Standing next to the dean is a man who looks closer to my age, and he’s clearly the one who laughed. I give him a small wave. “Sorry about that.”
His smile is full of humor. “It’s a fair question.”
Henry smacks him in the back of the head. “This is my nephew, Seb. Pretend he has manners.”
Even though they’re a dozen strides away, Seb still holds his hand out to shake.
I start to step forward, but Volik clamps his hand down on my shoulder with a growl. “Seb.”
I’m not sure if it’s a greeting or a warning, but the guy keeps smiling as he drops his hand. “The pack is gonna lose it when they find out I ran into you guys today.”
The men ignore him as Henry gives me an approving nod. “I’ve heard the rumors of the change but have to say, I like the new look.”
“Thank you.” I smile, even though I feel like my cheeks are going to melt off my face.
“Now.” Henry steps closer. “Tell me the reason for your visit. Is something wrong?”
“Not wrong.” Volik explains. “But we need to get to Tennessee tonight. And I was hoping you knew the current location of Dread.”
Dread? Gee, I’m glad the druid with the portal magic doesn’t have an intimidating name.