by Dakota Brown
"No way." She propped herself up on her elbow and stared at me.
"I'm not lying to you," I said in Russian.
"That's so cool." She flopped back down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. "Is he going to teach you magic?"
"Some. We'll see how it goes."
"What's he going to do while everyone is in classes?"
"Doc got him a guest pass, so he'll shadow us this week. We're still trying to figure all that out. I mean, he may just want to hide in the cabin for a while after he spends a week following us around school. I think Doc showed him the internet."
"He's doomed now." Victoria laughed.
I echoed her laugh, though I was very curious to see what Nikolai thought of the modern world once he got somewhat of a handle on the past several centuries. Poor guy.
Chapter 7
Sofia
The next morning Victoria and I stumbled through our morning routine and then headed to the dining hall together. The cool morning air caught my breath and carried it away.
"Won't be long before it snows," Victoria informed me, grinning.
"You're crazy."
"If you don't like snow, you came to the wrong college."
I sighed. "Very true. I think it's more that you all talk about it as if it's a national holiday or something."
"Around here, Sofia, it is. This town survives on ski season. Well, and beef and the college, but ski season is what really brings in the tourists and the money."
The warm air of the dining hall was a bit stifling after the cool crispness of outside. My stomach grumbled, and I hurried to the buffet, Victoria right behind me.
Briefly, I considered trying some coffee, but the thought still turned my stomach, so I got hot water and a tea bag instead.
"It's not going to bite you," Victoria said.
"What?"
"The coffee maker. You're looking at it like you can't decide if you want to blast it out of existence or make sweet love to it." She giggled.
I groaned, trying not to think about the images my brain came up with. "It's too early for that."
"Too early for what?" A familiar Russian accent caressed my ears and caused a few butterflies unrelated to the coffee maker in my stomach.
I turned, eyes wide. Ed and Nikolai had come up behind us. Ed had a tray full of food. Nikolai looked curious, but Ed was looking at the coffee pot as if trying to figure out what it had done to deserve Victoria's comment.
"Nothing. Good morning, Ed, Nikolai. Let's grab a table."
Victoria studied the Russian mage, eyes sparkling with amusement.
We found an empty round table. Victoria sat on one side of me, Ed on the other, and Nikolai across from me. Much of his attention was focused on me, but he looked around quite a bit as well, though he wasn't as wide-eyed as he had been yesterday.
Ed leaned against me for a minute, and I returned the gesture, tilting my head for a quick kiss from my handsome wolf.
Victoria nudged me and nodded toward Nikolai. Oh right, introductions.
"Nikolai, this is my good friend and roommate, Victoria. Victoria, this is Nikolai."
He brought his attention back to the table and focused on Victoria. I saw her eyebrows raise, and I thought she might have blushed a little. It was hard to tell with her darker complexion.
"It is nice to meet you." He smiled warmly at her.
I thought I heard Ed sigh a little and glanced at him, but by the time I looked, he was focused on his food.
I tilted my leg so I could touch his knee with mine. He returned the pressure but kept eating. I understood. Werewolf metabolism. Food was one of the more important things in his life.
"It's nice to meet you, too. I look forward to chatting when we're not around so many other people." Victoria smiled back.
Nikolai glanced at me and tilted and eyebrow. I was pretty sure he was curious to know how much she knew, so I nodded slightly.
He switched to Russian. "It is safe to talk around her?"
"Mostly," I replied in the same language.
"That is so cool," Victoria exclaimed, cradling her coffee.
I leaned away. It wasn't a latte, but even the smell of coffee was turning my stomach. It was possible it was time to break the caffeine habit.
Nikolai noticed, but I shook my head when he gave me another questioning look.
"So, why live here, not at the cabin?" Nikolai studied me while I sipped my tea.
"Um, well, it's kind of complicated, but long answer short, my parents probably wouldn't be comfortable with that, I haven't known Ed, Allan, or Doc long enough to invade their space that completely, and it's easier to get to morning classes when I'm down here."
"I see." His tone conveyed confusion though, and I guessed he didn't really understand.
I picked at my food, knowing I would be hungry later, and was staring remorsefully at my plate when Victoria gasped.
We all looked in the direction she was.
"I wonder what he's doing here," I exclaimed, surprised to see a familiar looking Viking with husky blue eyes wandering toward us with a tray of food and an angry scowl on his face.
Ed watched him warily, but didn't seem as concerned as I thought he should have been at seeing the Andersons' pet demon walking toward us.
Ash clearly wasn't happy about being here. He hooked the chair with his foot and pulled it out, before nearly dropping his tray on the table and sitting next to Nikolai.
Victoria was shooting wide-eyed glances between us, so I put my hand on her arm and squeezed reassuringly before nodding toward Nikolai. If nothing else, I was certain he could protect us.
The Russian had noticed our reactions and studied Ash closely, his hands on the table, and I got the impression he was ready to defend us if necessary. We had mentioned Ash to him the previous day.
Ed went back to eating, though he had his attention on the demon.
"Hi, Ash." I could at least try to be polite. He wasn't exactly an enemy, according to Doc. A smile tugged at my lips when I pictured the grumpy demon kissing Doc. I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but I certainly wasn't going to argue with someone who could probably incinerate me. At least not while he was under someone else's control.
He grunted irritably.
"You're back in classes?" We needed some information from him.
"I have been instructed," he growled out, "to find out more about this new friend of yours." He turned his glare on Nikolai. "The school was informed I was sick. My absence was excused. It's all very tidy." He shoved some eggs in his mouth and chewed angrily.
"No more hunting us down?" I wondered if they had changed his orders.
"Not right now." His voice lightened a bit.
"Is he not the enemy?" Nikolai asked me in Russian.
Ash looked like he was in pain for a minute before he grunted again. "I was not instructed to hide from you my knowledge of many languages."
Nikolai raised his eyebrows and smiled. "You know," he continued in Russian. "I think we might get along just fine."
The demon's glare faded slightly, and he sighed, but didn't reply.
Victoria stared at me.
"It's…" I hesitated. "A long story. You know most of it. Ash isn't the enemy."
"You cannot trust me," he grumbled, staring at the table.
"No. Of course not," I answered softly.
My roommate shook her head and went back to her coffee.
I tried to focus on the bergamot aroma of my tea and ignore the rich coffee scent that made me want to hurl.
∞ ∞ ∞
"Ed acted anxious to get rid of me," Nikolai stated once we were headed for Doc's history class. Ed had left the Russian with me and went off to his own class. Victoria headed toward hers, and Ash trailed along behind us, scowling.
I wasn't terribly comfortable talking about anything with Ash around, so I shrugged. "Maybe he just wanted you with me."
"Why?"
"Protection?" I whispered as quietly as I could
and hoped the demon couldn't hear me.
"Perhaps."
A thought occurred to me. If Ash was back in classes, what about Alex?
"Hey, Ash?" I spoke a little louder, but he didn't reply. Maybe he hadn't heard?
"Ash?" I turned to face him.
He glared at me but took a few steps closer.
"Is Alex back at school, too?"
His expression turned murderous, and I forced down the urge to hide behind Nikolai while we walked.
"Yes."
"Great," I grumbled sarcastically.
The demon nodded. He moved next to me, and Nikolai dropped behind as we went inside the history building and climbed the stairs to the classroom.
Ever since I had drunk a fair bit of Doc's blood laced with Ash's demon magic, the altitude didn't bother me at all. When I had first arrived from Nebraska, a set of stairs had winded me, but now I could probably run up them with no issue. Hopefully, that was the only side effect I would experience. So far, it was the only thing I had noticed. I think it had more to do with the healing aspects of vampire blood than anything else, but I wasn't sure.
Nikolai was breathing a little heavily when we reached the top, and I hoped the guys had thought to warn him about the altitude.
We walked in, and Doc just about dropped the notebook he was holding, his eyes widening with alarm at the sight of Ash. The handful of other students already in the room turned to look at us, but other than Nikolai's presence, they couldn't tell there was anything unusual with Ash's return. The class size wasn't large, so they would have noticed Ash missing from class.
I shook my head, and Doc cleared his throat. "Welcome back to class, Ash. I trust you're feeling better?"
I happened to glance at Ash when Doc addressed him, and the unmasked desire on his face surprised me.
"Yes," was all the demon said.
I looked back at Doc to find a distressed look on his face, like he might be trying really hard not to blush.
"You know, Ash," I said in Russian as I sat down. "You might not want to look at the teacher like you want to eat him."
Ash dropped his gaze to the desk, and Doc took a deep breath, looking relieved.
"You're one to talk," Ash replied in the same language.
It was my turn to blush. Nikolai laughed.
"If the foreign language department is ready, we'll start class," Doc chided, eyes shining with mischief.
"Carry on then," Nikolai replied imperiously in English.
Doc rolled his eyes, but he also laughed. "By the way, class, we have a visitor from Russia with us today. He's a colleague. He'll be shadowing a handful of students for the week, so make him feel welcome."
Nikolai wasn't completely comfortable with the attention, but he nodded politely while the students greeted him.
Class itself was uneventful, but when Doc dismissed us, several of the students came over to talk to Nikolai.
Ash grumbled and left before I could say anything to him, but he was in a couple of my other classes, so I would see him later even if he wasn't actively following us. Of course, I would see Alex later. The thought made me shiver.
Nikolai noticed and put a hand on my shoulder. "All right?"
I nodded.
"What's Russia like?" One of the students surrounding us asked.
"What do I say?" he asked in Russian, sounding desperate.
"Be vague," I replied in the same.
"Cold," he finally replied. "Always cold. Snow everywhere. Buried in it." He grinned, and the student laughed.
He managed to answer a few other questions before Doc chased everyone off.
"Are you two doing okay?"
"Yeah," I replied. "Well, I am anyway."
"Surviving," Nikolai answered.
"You can come with me, if you want, or stay with Sofia. It's up to you."
Nikolai considered both of us before he answered slowly. "She mentioned it might be useful to have me around as protection."
Doc nodded.
"Then, if no objection, I will stay with Sofia."
Doc tightened his lips for a moment before nodding. "If I don't see you before, I'll catch up to you this evening. Try to keep the Russian to a minimum. I'm pretty sure they don't speak your dialect anymore, but there are a few Russian speakers on campus."
"Sofia was merely warning Ash that he looked like he wanted to eat you and that might be considered inappropriate."
Doc's face turned all sorts of red, visible even through his darker skin tone.
Nikolai chuckled.
"Yeah, well, uh, thanks," Doc stammered.
"You do seem to have caught the demon's attention."
Doc shrugged uncomfortably. "Apparently."
"This is a good thing," Nikolai said. "Means he is less inclined to kill us all once we free him."
Doc raised his eyebrows.
"You mentioned that was part of plan."
"Yes, if we can figure out how."
"I will put some thought toward it," Nikolai stated.
The two men shared a glance I couldn't interpret.
"Guys, I need to get to my next class."
"Quite right. Lead on."
We said quick goodbyes and then left the classroom.
Allan caught up to us once we were outside.
"Sofia!"
"Hey!" I hugged him and gave him a quick kiss.
"Hi, Nikolai."
"Allan," the Russian replied.
"How are you two holding up?" Allan glanced at Nikolai.
I took his hand, and we walked together, arms touching.
"We're fine," I answered.
Allan clenched my hand and growled softly. I saw where his attention was and sighed.
"Less fine," I amended.
Alex sauntered toward us. He didn't say anything, just met my eyes deliberately, the sneer on his face a sharp contrast to his short blond curls and sapphire blue eyes. He walked past, as if he didn't have a care in the world, though he did eye Nikolai.
"Quite certain I cannot blast him?" Nikolai whispered once Alex was out of earshot.
"I wish," Allan answered for both of us.
He chuckled, and Allan squeezed my hand.
At least I wasn't facing him alone.
Chapter 8
Sofia
I did end up having to hand Nikolai off to Doc later in the day so he could go meet with some of the administrators. Doc was going to see what options they might have for letting him continue to shadow us for the rest of the semester. It would be a good way to get him used to everything. After that, we would have to see what happened.
Victoria and I were in our dorm room working on homework when my phone chimed that it had a text.
Doc: Nik wants to check the wards on your dorm. Where are you?
Sofia: Conveniently, my dorm.
Doc: We'll be there in a minute.
Sofia: Ok.
"Victoria, Nikolai and Doc are going to sneak up here and check the wards."
"Good."
A few minutes later, I heard a soft knock on the door and got up and opened it.
Nikolai looked annoyed, and Doc had a carefully neutral expression on his face. Uh oh.
Nikolai studied the room for a minute before shaking his head. "You did well enough, but only warding her room makes it fairly obvious where she is."
"I did the best I could," Doc muttered through gritted teeth.
"Yes, yes, of course you did." Nikolai waved his hand dismissively. "Wards are fine. Simply not enough of them. I'll return."
I stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Where are you going?"
"Yes, I must ward entire building. I will be discreet." Nikolai held his hand over his head for a moment, then I saw a faint hint of blue sparkles before he vanished.
"Whoa," Victoria exclaimed, eyes wide.
"Invisibility spell," Nikolai said from the doorway.
Doc stared at the space the mage had occupied before growling.
"He's going get s
tuck in the elevator or something," Doc muttered, and followed him out into the hallway.
Victoria laughed.
"It's funny, but at the same time, I really do feel sorry for Nikolai. There's a lot to catch up on."
"Yeah, no kidding. I can't even imagine."
Doc came back after a minute. "He took the stairs."
"You okay?" I went over and wrapped my arms around him.
Doc hugged me back, but not with his usual enthusiasm.
"Yes. He's just…" Doc shook his head. "You do realize he's actually the next thing to royalty?"
"I guess I hadn't made that connection."
"He seems to be trying to rein it in, but he's used to having servants, and it's pretty obvious." He slipped into a fair imitation of Nikolai's accent. "You did fine, Doc, this is wonderful," Doc snapped.
I raised my eyebrows and shared an amused look with Victoria while Doc went off on a fairly detailed rant about Nikolai, all in a Russian accent. I tried really hard to be sympathetic, but Doc's drawl mixed with the Russian in an extremely pleasing way, and it was kind of turning me on. Unfortunately, I knew at some point he was going to notice my arousal, and that just made the flutter in my stomach harder for me to ignore.
He finally stopped and glanced at me, eyebrow raised.
I blushed and shrugged, putting my hands up in a helpless gesture.
"Ugh." Doc rolled his eyes and flopped onto my bed dramatically.
Victoria laughed. "Are you going to be all right?"
"Yes. It will be just fine. He really is trying. He's quite grateful we saved him, if nothing else."
"I thought Sofia saved him?" Victoria said.
Doc opened his mouth to reply, snapped it shut, sighed, and nodded. "Yeah, that's what I meant."
"Sorry," Victoria backed off, realizing she had touched on something we didn't want to talk about.
"And of course, now Ash is back in class." Doc changed the subject. "The Andersons are getting restless, and who knows what they're going to do next."
"I'm curious about Ash. You know he's working for the Andersons, but you all actually seem okay with him. That's…a little strange," Victoria questioned.
"He likes Doc." I shrugged. "And he hates the Andersons. He's not working for them willingly. Seems like he's trying to help us."
