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 they 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?” Mikar 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.