Alexius winced. He hadn’t known, actually. But she did have millions of people following her, according to what he saw on the screen.
“Sorry.”
She sighed. “It’s fine. They loved it; the engagement was great. Just don’t do it again, please. Well, I guess I’ll be in the dorm soon.”
And he didn’t like that at all.
“So, you watch movies and review them live? It sounds fun.”
She nodded. “I read books too, and sometimes I review games. Not as many; they’re too time-consuming. I sort of fell into it. It’s sort of useless, but at least I get paid a little bit per visit thanks to ads.”
“There’s nothing useless about entertaining yourself. Double points if you can make money doing so.”
She beamed, like she wasn’t used to hearing any form of encouragement. He didn’t know much about her life in the pack. From what he could gather, it had sucked. Avani seemed surprised by any form of expression of thanks, compliments, or praise.
He wanted to change that. He wanted to tell her she was fun, beautiful, irresistible, sweet, and courageous.
Nearly as much as he wanted to run in the opposite direction and hide behind a boundary spell until she disappeared.
She was dangerous for him.
Greer wanted to push them together because his apprentice saw him stick to casual affairs—if they could even be called that. “Hookups” was more accurate. She was a romantic at heart, and she wanted to see everyone have a happily-ever-after story. For a while, she’d tried to push Alexius and Anika Beaufort together. That wouldn’t have worked out, even if the ex-teacher hadn’t been a betraying, scheming bitch. First of all, there was no attraction on his side, but it was more than that; Anika had always gotten on his nerves. Even so, Alexius would have entered into a relationship with Anika more readily than he would with Avani.
Because Avani was leaving. Maybe not this year, or the year after, just someday she’d leave this hell hole and make a life for herself in the real world, where Alexius couldn’t follow. That was the simple reason behind his desire to remain unattached. He was anchored to Oldcrest, and he wouldn’t make another person sink with him.
Besides, she was mortal. There was no sense in getting attached to a transient life-form. Carrying a plucked rose and watching it whither within a heartbeat was madness.
He could see how easy it would be to have feelings for the she-wolf; already, he’d grown quite fond of her in just a few days. Giving in to loving her would be as effortless as falling. Avoiding it was akin to pulling himself out of a steep, muddy ditch. He had to keep his distance. He had to keep his sanity.
Right now, he should move away. Get a bottle of blood and return to his lab, his bedroom, his study—anywhere.
And he found that he couldn’t. Not yet.
“What’s next on your list? I wouldn’t mind watching a movie.”
Movies were safe, right? They wouldn’t be talking, or getting to know each other.
Friendly
Avani was officially enrolled in the Institute by Friday. She couldn’t believe her eyes, but the letter in her hands said that she could start college on Monday, regardless of how many times she read it.
Her orientation was going to be a private one on Monday, with a professor called Fin Varra. When she said so, the group of girls fussing over her and congratulating her all fell silent.
Chloe’s mouth hung open, Blair swore out loud, Cat gasped, Gwen’s eyes widened, and Greer whistled.
Starting to feel wary, Avani asked, “What? What’s wrong with that guy?”
“Everything.” Chloe was adamant.
“Nothing,” Greer replied at the same time, equally forcefully.
Gwen told her, “Imagine the hottest guy you know.” That wasn’t hard—she immediately pictured Alexius. “Now multiply his sex appeal by a thousand, add a voice that could literally bring you to orgasm, and try having to pay attention to what he says when he gives you a history lesson. Also, if you don’t pay attention, he’s likely to curse you. Or eat you, I don’t know, man.”
Avani laughed. “He can’t be that bad.”
“He is,” everyone replied at once.
Jeez. “Any advice for dealing with him, then?”
The five women inundated her with answers that ranged from posture tips to fashion advice. Apparently, he was likely to be considerably less evil if she wore something green—his favorite color.
“Why do they let someone that weird teach here?”
Chloe shrugged. “Maybe because he’s actually great at what he does. Maybe because we’re all various shades of weird. Probably because there’s no way anyone could stop Varra from doing, like, anything. I’m guessing he showed up one day and informed them he was going to be a professor, and they were going to like it.”
There were nods of agreement in the vast gym where the girls were sparring.
Avani had taken to joining them before, after, and in between classes, until it was time to go home for dinner and a movie.
She’d started watching one with Alexius last Monday, and they’d kept doing it for the rest of the week. It was nice. Companionable. Avani was surprised she could hang out with someone so hot without melting, or at least hyperventilating, but she’d grown used to him. The only thing about him that hit her just as strongly each time was his scent.
In one short week, she’d established a comfortable routine here. She wanted to break it tonight.
He’d cooked every single night. She fully intended to head back home before him and get started. In a few days, when she started school, she wouldn’t live with him anymore. She absolutely wanted to cook at least once for him.
During the day, she’d gone all the way back to Edinburgh with Mikar to pick up her bank cards. She’d also bought groceries, and she was going to thank Alexius with food, dammit.
Not that she was nearly as good a chef as he, but it was the thought that counted. Or something.
“All right, green top, hold my head high and shoulders back, avoid wearing too much makeup, as he’d see that as a failure to look fabulous naturally…and absolutely bring a fountain pen with me, if not a quill. Did I get all the basics?”
“Oh! Also, if he says something weird that suggests you might be a vampire or something else, ask him to clarify.” Chloe grimaced. “That would have saved me a lot of grief.”
Avani laughed. “I could have told you that you were a fledgling. You smelled like one.”
Chloe stuck her tongue out. “All right. Let’s get another round in, Cat. I feel like getting punched in the face again, apparently.”
Chloe and Cat were actually closely matched, because Chloe was faster and more powerful than the blonde Italian, while Cat’s experience meant that she often won their sparring sessions. Neither of them was pulling punches.
Avani watched them with a certain amount of envy. Training was part of the werewolf routine. They had an excess of energy, and they used it up running, sparring, and fighting for no good reason.
Avani ran in her wolf form now that she was a little less stressed out about the pack attacking her without notice—they hadn’t tried for a few days, and she’d come to terms with the fact that they were unlikely to do so on the hill. Unfortunately, she hadn’t had a chance to spar in over a week. Cat and Chloe were larger than life with their vampire strength and speed. Avani’s wolf senses were just acute enough for her to detect their movements, though they were so fast sometimes they still blurred. In her wolf form, she might have managed to hold her own against one of the two vamps, but not without actually harming them; she would have had to use her fangs and claws.
“Watch out for her legs,” Avani told Chloe. “Cat has a tell. She sidesteps before punching.”
Cat frowned. “I don’t.”
Avani grinned. “Sure.” The problem with tells was that no one actually realized what they did.
The women got in position on their practice mat, without any protection—while they were strong enough to do each other some damage, their healing rate was fast, even faster than that of a wolf. If Avani cut herself, the wound would be gone by morning. A broken ankle might take a couple of days to mend. With vampires, it was a matter of minutes, or hours at most.
At the speed of light, Chloe lunged, scissor-kicking the air, as Cat moved to the side in time to evade her blows. The Italian grabbed Chloe by the waist, trying to topple her over, but Chloe used the motion to gain speed, and launched herself around Cat’s shoulders, flipping back. She managed to get her down with her. Half a second later, they were both on their feet. Neither of them had a hair out of place.
Damn vampires.
Then Cat sidestepped to anchor herself. Avani smiled when she saw Chloe’s eyes widen as she caught the movement. Cat started to pull back to prepare a nasty punch, except Chloe grabbed her arm before she’d gotten anywhere close and locked it behind her back. She kicked Cat’s chin to get her to the ground and pinned her down with her knees, a hand around her throat. A clear, clean win.
“Fuck!” Cat wasn’t one to swear; the curse, out of her aristocratic mouth, was twice as efficient. “I yield.”
Chloe let her go, offering a hand to help her to her feet. Cat took it. Once they were up, they laughed and hugged each other.
Zero bad blood. Avani watched the whole thing in wonder. With wolves, sparring sessions ended in actual fights, because the concept of losing graciously wasn’t a thing.
Cat turned to her, then. “You totally pinned me. I do have a tell, don’t I?”
Avani shrugged. “Sorry. It’s obvious after watching you for a few days. There’s a thing or two you fall back to—habits, if you will.”
“I’ve never noticed.” Blair frowned. “I mean, that shouldn’t surprise me. I don’t even see half of your fights. Hey, you’re a fighter?”
Avani snorted. “I’m a wolf shifter.” She didn’t add “duh” although it was implied.