It might have made sense for me to stay on campus, since it was late in the day and they would have to bring me back down in a few hours anyway, but I wasn't ready to go back to the dorm and Doc didn't suggest it.
The trip back to the cabin was quiet. Doc was lost in thought, and Nikolai was probably overwhelmed. I didn't have anything left to say.
Ed and Allan came out of the woods to meet us when we arrived. Ed practically pulled me out of the truck, a big grin on his handsome face. He swung me around before setting me on the ground and putting his arm around my waist.
Allan helped Doc grab the bags, and Nikolai, still looking a little lost, followed after them.
Once inside, I collapsed onto the couch.
Ed sat next to me, and I pulled my feet up and set my head in his lap. He ran his fingers through my hair.
"How'd the day go?"
"We ran into Alex. It was okay until then."
Ed growled.
"Pretty much. He happened to remind us that he knows our secrets. We know his, so it might be an empty threat, but it's hard to tell."
"Asshole."
"Yeah."
Ed continued to play with my hair, soothing me.
Allan came back and gently lifted my legs, sliding under them so my calves were lying across his lap. "Doc and Nikolai told me what happened with Alex," he grumbled. His soothing touches joined Ed's.
I sighed.
"It'll be okay, Sofia. We'll figure something out," Allan tried to reassure me.
They had lulled me to a half drowsy state by the time Doc and Nikolai joined us. They sat on the loveseat. Doc was showing Nikolai how to use a tablet and explaining the internet.
"I have so much to catch up on." Nikolai sounded a bit overwhelmed.
"You can stay with us as long as you need to," Doc offered again. "Of course, you may be better off somewhere else. I suspect things with the Andersons are going to get worse before we figure out how to resolve the issue."
Nikolai waved his hand dismissively while he stared at the tablet. "I am battle mage. Yes? I may as well fight. Besides, Alex is a…" He hesitated, muttered something in Russian that must have been slang because while I understood the word, I didn't know what he meant. "I will learn the modern equivalent. He is not as powerful as he believes he is." Nikolai looked up, eyes scanning all of us. "I suspect much was lost in the Renaissance. I am…" He hesitated again. "I used to use magic constantly. It makes a large difference." He focused on me, seeming to ponder before shrugging. "It is problem that you cannot. It will keep you from reaching your full potential."
I didn't reply, certain he was right. Though really, my short-term goal was simply not to get turned into a host for a greater demon.
Chapter 6
Sofia
"So, spill," Victoria ordered when I returned to my dorm room that evening. She had already changed into pajamas. She had a towel wrapped around her head, covering her fro, and a light-colored face mask contrasted with her dark skin.
"You gotta try this." She tossed a bottle at me.
I studied the ingredients. Lavender featured prominently.
"It's supposed to help reduce anxiety." She beamed at me.
"Do you have anxiety?"
"No, but I figured you might have a little extra stress in your life right now, so I got it for us to try."
"Aww, thanks." I returned her grin. "I showered at the cabin."
Her grin widened.
"So, I can try it after I change," I continued, trying to ignore her expression or the blush that spread across my face.
"Great. Who's the new guy?"
I laughed, dropped my bag onto my bed, and pulled my sleeping clothes out of the dresser. Our room had a divider down the middle where the two desks were, and the closets sat back to back. The beds were on the outside walls, and we each had a window. We had a corner room, so I had an extra window since I was on the outside wall. Our room was protected by wards that Doc, using borrowed magic, had placed for us, and it was reasonably secure, so I felt comfortable talking.
Victoria sat in my office chair and turned her back to give me a bit of privacy while I changed.
"So, do you remember that knife I, uh, stole from the Andersons?"
"Yeah."
"I was poking at the knife with my magic and somehow triggered a release or a key or something, and suddenly we had a nearly dead Russian mage on our floor."
Victoria cursed. "And he was trapped in the knife? How?"
"Turns out back in like, fourteen fifty-five or something, one of Nikolai's students—he's the new guy—decided she wanted his position. So, she made a magical trap with the knife as a trigger. Then she stabbed Nikolai in the back. Literally. She also poisoned him, just in case the rest wasn't good enough. Fortunately, the magic put him in some sort of stasis."
"You're shitting me." She stared, incredulous.
"No, I'm totally not. Doc helped guide my magic, and I managed to heal him." Victoria didn't know that Doc was a half-vampire, and it was safer if she didn't find out. Not that we didn't trust her, but some secrets were pretty important to guard. Vampires in general were one of the most dangerous of the supernatural community. They tended to avoid humans except for food and dealt with discovery with lethal finality. Doc had started life as a vampire hunter with his father, and likely wouldn't be popular with a full vampire regardless, but the fewer people who knew, the better. It was bad enough that the Andersons knew.
Somehow, Doc had come to an agreement several years ago that the Andersons, who ran the local branch of the magical black market,
