by Sage, May
“You know, you don’t have to serve me like this every morning. I’m already taking up your space.”
“My ancestors would roll in their graves, come out and kick my ass if they suspected I might not adhere to proper etiquette with my guests.”
“You don’t usually make me breakfast,” Greer pointed out.
The vampire shrugged. “That would be because annoying little girls aren’t considered guests.”
These two truly did act like siblings.
“Little girl? Avani’s a year younger than me.”
“Yet only one of you acts like a seven-year-old.” He went to the fridge, extracting a small bottle of red liquid.
“Blood, again?” Greer had stopped sounding petulant. Now, she was worried. “You don’t usually drink that much, do you?”
“I’m in control,” Alexius said smoothly, walking out of doors. “Have fun, ladies.”
Avani didn’t see more than a glimpse of him for most of the weekend.
Greer roped her into practicing yoga with her that morning, then they visited Chloe, who was practicing fancy sparring techniques with the hot blonde vamp Avani was formally introduced to for the first time: she was called Cat.
Then, they headed off the hill, to Adairford. They were trailed—by whom, Avani wasn’t sure, but she definitely caught a glimpse and a whiff of a vamp on their heel. Mikar? Maybe. He certainly seemed powerful enough to mask his presence.
Avani stole numerous glances toward the woods as they approached the small town, still feeling eyes on her. She knew it was unlikely that anyone would bother her when she had a witch and two vampires with her—not to mention whoever was guarding them. Or more specifically, guarding Chloe.
They arrived in front of a white stone mansion with two wings; inside, everything was smooth black and white marble, Greek sculptures, columns. It was fit for a king. But the girls told her it was the dorm.
“I live in the right wing, with the rest of the scary things that go bump in the night.” Chloe rolled her eyes.
“So, me,” Cat said, holding her hand up.
“Now we’re waiting for my friend, Gwen, and my mentor, Blair.”
They remained in the hall. Avani was rather intimidated as she looked at the fancy room, about ten times the size of her miniscule house in the pack territory. Was she going to live here too if they managed to enroll her in the Institute like they said they would? Shit.
“I think they’d put you inside our wing,” Cat told her, as though she’d been reading her mind. “I mean, I don’t think you’re dangerous or unstable like a fledgling vampire, but as an Elder Pack were, they’d probably want to take precautions.”
They’d be right to.
“Besides, you’re enrolling late; the west wing might be full, even though there’s only about a dozen students in the west wing at any given time.”
“That’d be nice!” Chloe said. Then she rolled her eyes. “Not that I actually spend any time in the dorm. But I’m technically a resident until December. I signed up for a year last January. Oh, maybe you could have my room, if they don’t manage to find you a place.”
Avani didn’t know what she felt about any of that. The place was fancy and gorgeous. She’d be lucky to live here. The issue was that a part of her wanted to stay exactly where she was now, in Alexius’s house.
She was spared the need to answer when two women walked out of the left-hand side door: a tall and striking brown lady with silky black hair and curves to die for, arm hooked in the hand of a brunette with a short bob highlighted in blue streaks. She wore leather warrior gear and her body was obviously well trained.
“Hey! Sparring time. Hey, while I think of it, still up for a séance on Halloween?”
“I think it’s the dumbest idea in the world,” Greer supplied grumpily.
“Hush. You’re just grumpy because you’re hungover.”
The pixie-like brunette frowned. “Why didn’t you take one of your cures?”
Greer bared her teeth, growling.
Avani had to laugh. The girl would have made a good werewolf. “Alexius stole them from her. Apparently, she offended him yesterday somehow. Can’t remember the details. There was wine.”
The brunette laughed and opened the satchel at her side. She fetched a green flask identical to the one Avani drank that morning and handed it to Greer. “Here, sweet. You definitely deserve it; your cures have saved me many a time in the last four years.”
The witch snatched it up and drank it greedily, moaning in relief. “Thanks. I owe you, Blair. By the way, Blair, Avani. Avani, Blair. The gorgeous one is Gwen.”
Avani smiled and waved her hand to both of the women.
Blair looked between Chloe and her. “Wait, Avani, as in the werewolf who helped you on your first day after Jack made you run in the woods?”
“Mm-hm. Long story short, she has a thing for helping people, regardless of the consequences for her. She’s one of us now.”
One of us.
Just like that, tension Avani hadn’t even realized she’d been holding on to left her shoulders.
She’d spent two days wondering why the hell these strangers were nice to her. Now she knew. For some reason, they considered her part of the pack she’d been observing from the sidelines.
Head trip.
“Awesome. If you want any lame rain spells, I’m your girl.” Gwen pointed to her chest. “Otherwise, go to one of these two.”
To her surprise, she was indicating Blair and Greer. Avani wouldn’t have identified the former as a witch. A huntsman, perhaps.
“Shush. You’re doing great with water spells—including ice, snow, and binding. That’s more than most can do in their first year.”
Gwen shrugged self-consciously. Seeing that she was uncomfortable, Avani was keen to change the subject.
“So what are you guys doing on Saturday afternoon?”
Chloe grinned. “Same as any woman, I suppose. Slaying it.”
Avani discovered she actually meant it literally. The women gathered by the lake, dragging large bags behind them. They set up a temporary archery range and practiced their aim for a few hours. Blair seemed to be the authority among them; all her shots hit target. She helped them hold their bows correctly, stand at the right angle, position their feet well.
Avani surprised herself when she realized just how much fun it was.
They ate on the hill, at Chloe’s dark, intimidating mansion.
“What about everyone else?” Avani asked when Chloe invited her.
“Levi and Alexius are in their labs, and no doubt, Luke is getting some admin done, but I texted them. They’ll come. It’s Ruby’s day off; she likes to do her thing. Mikar is probably still patrolling the area.”
In the end, everyone did turn up, even Alexius, though he sat too far from Avani for her to catch up with him.
Avani had assumed the black stone hall at the summit belonged to Levi, but once she saw them all together around a large, white, round table, it made sense that the house would be Chloe’s. The woman, though younger than any of the vampires, and sweeter than anyone, immortal or not, ruled the room. Her words were orders everyone was only too eager to carry through. She presided over the barbecue without any challenge; Avani assumed she’d command a war as smoothly.
The food was delicious and the company so very relaxing.
The next day, Cat held a tea party in the afternoon, with so many cakes and sandwiches she doubted she’d need to eat in the evening.
When they returned to his place, she told Alexius, “You’re all very social on the hill.”
“A new development,” he replied. “I think Levi has encouraged it because he knows his mate craves social interaction. I don’t dislike it, myself.”
“Do you make dinner for them, too?”
He tilted his head. “No, not often. Perhaps I should.”
She lifted a brow. “You like to cook. Why not?”
He headed right to the fridge when the
y got home, and disappeared soon after.
She tried not to be too disappointed.
At least, she tried.
On the Way
“No way.”
Monday morning at ten, an hour before her appointment with the school administration, Avani was facing down three determined vampires who didn’t realize how stubborn she could be.
“It’s no big deal. I’ll just drive you and take you back.”
Avani shook her head, firmly opting against taking a guard with her to the Institute. It was only a couple of miles for heaven’s sake. If she was observed and they saw Mikar or another one of Levi’s slayers flanking her, that would project nothing but weakness.
“I take a guard,” Greer pointed out, shrugging indifferently.
“Sure. But you had a zombie after you. I just have the pack on my back, and they won’t attack me right now, when they’re already on shaky ground with Levi—not in broad daylight, in front of everyone. I won’t.”
“Avani—”
“The woman has spoken.” Alexius appeared from the main staircase, walking down with his blond hair still wet from the shower.
The man was ridiculously gorgeous. He should know better than to walk around wet, for heaven’s sake. Instead of wearing jeans like he had all weekend, his thick thighs were molded in light wool suit pants that he’d paired with a silver shirt. The material looked so smooth and soft. She was dying to touch it. And it had nothing to do with the way his clothes fit around his defined muscles. At. All.
Were professors even allowed to look that damn sexy?
“She’s not taking a guard, the end.”
Then Mikar, Luke, and Ruby stared at him like they’d never heard him give them anything that could pass for an order before. They were evidently not quite sure whether they could go against him.
“Levi asked us to make sure she got to the university safely. He thinks there’s a risk.”
Alexius rolled his eyes at Luke. “And there’s a risk of lightning striking you down—especially if Seth is around. Does that stop you from going out of doors?”
No one had an answer to that. Avani grinned. She definitely liked it when Alexius’s snark was directed toward someone else.
He grabbed a gray suit jacket at the door, and a set of keys from a small wooden console. “Come on, I’ll take you.”
Avani groaned. “How is that different from them escorting me?”
“I’m going to work. You’re just hitching a ride. And no one has ever mistaken me for a bodyguard before. I don’t think they’ll start today.”
He had a point; going with him wouldn’t be seen as an act of weakness.
Levi’s slayer relaxed. “That’d work. Could you also bring her back?”
“Nope. I have a class. But as she pointed out, she can take care of herself. If you’re worried, observe her from a distance. It’s not like you couldn’t get there in time if you spot an altercation.”
Alexius went outside like the conversation was over, as far as he was concerned. Avani wondered whether he was born with that absolute air of confidence. She went back on her analysis from the previous evening. Sure, he’d made her think him the beta of Night Hill, but now that Levi wasn’t here, dominating the space around him, Alexius was all alpha.
Avani set out after him. As she’d guessed, none of the others protested. She shot them an apologetic glance before following Alexius to a row of parked cars.
There were five of them, each one striking and clearly valuable. That was the only thing they had in common. Though she didn’t know much about vehicles, she could identify the orange, modern, slow beast with sexy angles as a Lamborghini. Next to it, there was a dark green classic car with an identifiable sign on the hood—a leaping jaguar. The third was a huge four-wheel drive, with tires almost as tall as she. The fourth, a convertible that plugged into an electric socket; out of all the cars, this seemed the most practical and understated one. The last one was a racing car.
Alexius unplugged the electric one, opened the passenger door, and circled it to slide into the soft beige leather driver seat.
Avani got inside and whistled. Understated as it might have seemed from the outside, compared to the others, this was clearly the top of the line.
“You’re into cars?” she surmised.
Alexius grinned. Some vampires kept their canines hidden, letting them flash only when they couldn’t help it, but every time he smiled, his elongated fangs showed under his lips.
It was strangely fascinating.
“I’m into everything. If you live long enough, you start to accumulate hobbies.”
“What hobbies?”
He drove off, heading down the hill.
“Reading, writing, piano, violin, guitar, singing, crocheting, baking, chess, basketball, football, handball, jewelry-making, painting, sculpting—” He trailed off. “I’ll spare you the rest.”
Anything he could do from here, she gleaned.
“Crocheting?” Avani echoed.
He grinned. “There’s a knitting club in town. I met them every Thursday for a couple of decades.”
She attempted to picture it, and failed. Still, it was fun trying.
“I’d like to place an order for a crochet scarf for Christmas, if you please.”
Alexius laughed, slowing down his car to cross the bridge leading to the large stone castle with high towers. Her stomach had been twisted in knots for a while as she thought about passing these doors. She’d seen them for over ten years, but it would be the first time that she crossed the threshold. His car went through the immaterial barrier at the gates, and he parked close to the main entrance, driving around groups of students sparring in the courtyard.
All her anxiety resurfaced. She was really doing this. Applying to the Institute.
Most applicants sent out forms and a recorded presentation rather than getting an interview, but her situation was different. They were at the end of August; the term was going to start in three days. All the applications had been sent long ago. As she lived here, the admin board had figured seeing her in person would speed up the process.
She kept telling herself to relax. Unlikely, when her future was on the line.
She could do this. She had to.
“Do you know where to go?” Alexius asked.
Avani managed to nod, though speaking out loud wasn’t in the realm of possibilities right now.
“All right. You should be fine, by the way. Stanton, the director, is away until tomorrow. She’s a hardass, but in her absence, it’ll be Everett, Wade, and Silver speaking to you, probably. If you get stressed out, just stare at Wade’s mole. There’s hair growing out of it.”
Avani snorted, her shoulders loosening a little. “Yeah?”
“Yep. Seven of them. I counted. One of them is white.”
She got out of the car, grinning.
“Thanks,” she told him, hoping he knew she wasn’t just talking about the car.
She didn’t know how he’d gotten that her anxiety was flaring up, finding he’d managed to make her think of something else in a few short words.
There truly was more to Alexius than people could see at first glance.
And she was dying to know how much more.
Which was stupid. She wasn’t on his radar. He was a vampire. An old one. And he wasn’t interested in her. She should keep her distance before she embarrassed herself.
“I’ll see you tonight, crazy wolf.”
He hadn’t spoken that much to her since last Friday, and she was ridiculously happy about it.
Dammit. She was in danger of developing a serious crush on the undead hottie.
Thirsty
“Jesus. That’s not what I expected.”
Alexius was recording his latest formula in the study, mostly tuning out the chatter around them.
They had a fairly lively room—Levi, Mikar, Luke, and Fin were working on their respective projects in relative silence.
“Mh?” Mik
ar said, turning to Luke to see what the interruption had been about.
“I’m handling the wolf girl’s entry. Avani Parker. The professors cleared her interview so I was supposed to chase down her transcript to see if she could keep up with our courses. When you said she only had her high school diploma, I’ll admit, I winced. You didn’t say she got it at age eleven, while being on the run from anti-shifters.”
Everyone turned to Levi’s assistant, their eyes zeroing in on his computer.
The picture of a sullen mini Avani, little more than a child, flashed on the monitor.
He scrolled down. “Looks like she did her best to turn up to any testing. She never applied for college, though. I guess they didn’t have the money. Or safety.”
“That’s a shame.” Fin’s tone relayed nothing save indifference. “But she’s here now. I suppose if she has the mental capacity, I may be able to teach her a thing or two.”
Mikar snorted. “Yeah, right. Now that you know she’s a genius, you want all the praise for mentoring her, I bet.”
The fae grinned, stretching on a velvet sofa. “Do I?”
He often resorted to questions, mostly because he couldn’t lie.
“I’m glad you helped her, Alexius. It would have been a waste if her pack had mauled her to death.” Again, he sounded casual and blasé. “By the way, how did you manage it?” he asked.
Alexius stiffened. So far, in the three days since the blood moon, no one had caught on to the strangest thing that had occurred that night.
The fact that he’d been outside of their walls.
Alexius had no idea how to answer that, so he’d been relieved that it had passed under the radar. Count on Fin Varra to ruin it.
“Shit.” Realization dawned on Luke’s face. “You were outside of Oldcrest. Is your curse over?”
Alexius laughed, remembering the searing pain each of his steps had caused him when he’d gone out. He’d felt his skin burn bit by bit.
“I don’t think so. I was literally barbecued alive.”
Levi frowned. “Then how?”
Alexius shrugged. “Didn’t kill me. So I kept going. I got the job done, that’s the main thing.”