"Understandably," Doc replied.
Doc kept me talking until I was back inside my building, and then we hung up with the promise to see each other the next day in class if nothing else. We had plans for the weekend, and I had no doubt that Allan and Doc would sort Ed out. He needed to know he couldn't control my life. Some things I was willing to give on, like anything related to keeping me safe from the magic mafia, but he couldn't tell me who I could and couldn't talk to. Alex hadn't turned into someone I wanted to date. He could still be a friend and someone to hang out with.
Frigging guys, anyway.
Victoria was out for the evening with a school group she had joined, so I decided to get ahead on my schoolwork, since I suspected I wouldn't have a lot of time this weekend.
Chapter 22
Victoria
Victoria's phone chimed that she had a text. Grinning, she picked it up and looked. Her parents were here! She hoped Sofia would get back from wherever she was soon. They were supposed to get pizza. It was Friday after all.
It didn't take long to run down to the main door. She saw her parents standing with a white couple on the other side of the door.
She opened the door, grinning. "Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad."
"Victoria, we ran into Sofia's parents while waiting for you to open the door. Meet Beth and Dan Collins," her mom said.
"Hi. Come in. Sofia isn't back yet. She should be here soon. Does she know you're here?" Victoria let everyone in since she recognized them from a picture Sofia had shown her once.
"We wanted to surprise her. It can be really hard to get away, so when we had the chance, we took it," Mrs. Collins answered.
"It's nice to meet both of you. Sofia is great to have as a roommate."
"Honey, maybe you can call her and see if she'll be back soon. Don't ruin the surprise," her dad asked.
"Sure." Victoria led them to the elevator, not sure if Sofia's parents would want to take the stairs or not. She pulled out her phone and called Sofia.
It rang. She didn't answer.
"Weird. Let me text her." Victoria sent a quick text, then left the elevator when it opened on her floor. They all followed her to their dorm room, and she let everyone in.
Victoria called again, icy fingers of dread curling down her spine. "Let me try Doc. She usually answers right away."
"Who's Doc?" Sofia's dad asked.
She hesitated for a moment before answering, not sure what Sofia would want her parents to know. "He's a friend of ours. We hang out, and he might know where she's at."
Unlike Sofia, Doc answered right away when she called.
"Victoria, how are you this evening?"
"Hi, Doc. I'm fine. We were looking for Sofia, do you know where she's at?"
The hesitation on the other end of the line was all she needed to know. She managed not to swear out loud and reminded herself that Sofia's parents didn't know the magic mafia was after their daughter. Now she wondered about the wisdom of not telling them. She also understood why Sofia hadn't.
"No. Ed and Allan are with me. I haven't seen her since this morning. She seemed fine then."
Victoria made a note not to mention Doc was also Sofia's teacher. That might not go over well after she'd already said they hung out. She had encouraged Sofia down the path of dating multiple people, but she hadn't realized how complicated that might get for both of them when parents got involved, and she knew the teacher thing wouldn't go over well at all. The werewolf thing probably wouldn't, either.
"Can you call her and see if she answers? Call me back."
"Of course." Doc ended the call, and Victoria stared at all four parents.
"Should we be worried?" Sofia's mom glanced at her husband after studying Victoria for a moment.
"Maybe."
"Maybe?" Mr. Collins' eyebrows rose. "What could possibly be going on in a small town like this that Sofia couldn't handle? She's very capable."
Victoria almost answered car accident before she remembered Sofia didn't have a car. She wasn't sure what to say, but was temporarily saved by Doc calling her back.
"She didn't answer. She didn't happen to leave her phone in your room, did she?" Doc's voice was tight with worry.
"Let me look." Victoria hurried over to Sofia's side of the room and searched a few likely places before sighing. "If she did, it's on silent and I can't find it."
"I'm on my way over. Wait, you said we. Who's there with you?"
"Um, her parents and my parents. Her parents came out to surprise her."
"Bloody wonderful timing," he muttered.
"Yeah."
"Okay, I'll be right there. I'm still on campus."
"Doc's coming," she told everyone. "He'll be here in a minute."
The silence following that pronouncement was extremely awkward. If it had just been her parents, Victoria would have told them what was up. She didn't know much about Sofia's at all, and wasn't sure what to say.
It didn't surprise her that Doc got in without her having to open the door for him. She really didn't want to know how when she opened the dorm room door for him.
"Doc, this is Beth and Dan Collins, and my parents Jasmine and Xavier Hayes."
"Ma'am, Sir," he said shaking hands with all of them and laying the country boy drawl on a little heavier than normal. It was disarming. She had gotten used to his quiet intensity and the liquid grace of his movements, but she did remember the first time she had really paid attention to Doc. She had gotten the impression he was dangerous, and now she knew he was. That wasn't something Sofia's parents needed to figure out.
"Doctor of what?" Sofia's dad asked.
"Oh," Doc looked down and scuffed his toe on the ground. "It's a nickname a friend of mine gave me. Doc Holliday. He loves westerns, and I'm a cowboy. Name's
