I hugged her again. "Thanks, Victoria. You really are the best. Let me get packed for the weekend."
Victoria already had a bag packed, and it didn't take long to change the clothes in my overnight bag to fresh ones and make sure I had everything, including my tablet so I could take a look at class material. Maybe I would remember enough of it from the demon going to class, that I could pass my tests.
We shouldered our bags and headed out of our dorm room. I went first, on alert and ready to cast shields thick enough to stop bullets. Fortunately, my caution was unnecessary and we made it out to the student parking lot without trouble.
"David!" Though Victoria had just seen her boyfriend, she still squealed happily and threw herself into his arms.
David was a taller black man with short hair and a blazing smile, at least when he turned it on Victoria. Clearly, he loved her as much as she loved him.
The wattage of his smile diminished from blinding to merely extremely friendly when Victoria led him over to me.
"David, this is my roomie, Sofia."
"It's very nice to meet you." David's deep, soothing voice and his firm but gentle handshake set me at ease. If he was anything like Victoria we would get along great.
"Nice to meet you, too."
"So, I hear we're all getting pizza tonight." His eyes twinkled.
"Yeah, it's our favorite restaurant."
"Meet your guys there?" He said it casually, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
I still blushed when I nodded.
"Great. Victoria, you want to drive, or want me to?"
"We can leave my car here since it has the parking pass."
"Cool." David drove an Outback and I climbed into the backseat while Victoria took the passenger seat. He had clearly been here before, because she didn't have to give him directions to get to town, though she did give him some advice as to where to park.
I saw Doc's pickup parked on the street not too far from where David stopped and I took my bag so I could throw it in the bed. A quick concealment spell would keep anyone from running off with it, and then I didn't have to remember to grab it later.
Victoria and David watched me while I cast the spells, careful that no one else would see me, then I tossed my bag in the back of Doc's truck. After a quick thought, I also cast a small binding spell so it wouldn't bounce around if I forgot to take it out before we headed back to the cabin. Well, back to the yurt, I guess.
The pizza place was busy, as always, and I scanned the crowd until my eyes were drawn to my guys. They saw me at the same time and Ed waved. The hostess let us head back to our table.
Ed stood and I fell into his arms feeling like it had been forever since I'd last seen him, instead of a few hours. He buried his nose in my hair before giving me a quick kiss and pulling out a chair between him and Nikolai. Doc sat on the other side of Nikolai and Allan was on the other side of Ed. Two other chairs waited for Victoria and David.
Fortunately, though we were at a table instead of a booth, we were in the corner. Doc and Nikolai had their backs to the wall and even Ed and Allan acted extra watchful. Doc was a master of looking outwardly relaxed, but being ready to spring at any moment, and for all of Nikolai's easy smile I caught the hard edge in his gaze as he studied everyone around us, attention never settling in one place for very long. He was a seasoned warrior, and Doc had long years of experience. Ed and Allan were my age and had grown up in the same world I had, though as newly turned werewolves. They were more obvious about their nerves, but no less ready for an attack.
I hoped we could simply enjoy our dinner, but being out in public had me on edge, too.
David and Victoria sat with their backs to the rest of the restaurant, though David angled his chair slightly so he wasn't completely unaware of what went on behind him.
Victoria trusted us to watch her back, though she did glance over her shoulder now and again. She introduced everyone, and they all fell into an easy conversation, interrupted only when the server came to take our order.
Before we could get settled back into a conversation, Doc tensed and glanced over at the door. Ed and Allan's attention was pulled that way moments later. The rest of us looked after that.
Sam, the mage who ran a local curio shop in the touristy downtown section of Sunnyglade, stood just inside the door. She glanced around before her gaze settled on our table.
"Think she's looking for us, or just happens to be here?" I said quietly.
"Hard to say. This is a popular place on a Friday," Allan replied.
"Did something happen with Sam that has you all on edge now? I thought she was a friend? You're way more upset about her than you have been about Ash, and you know he works for the Andersons," Victoria asked.
"We're not completely sure," Allan replied tightly. "Just don't say anything important in front of her. And Ash doesn't have a choice," he added.
Sam came over in our direction after a quick word to the hostess.
"Hello, everyone," she said after a brief awkward silence.
"Hi, Sam," Doc said for all of us.
"What's up?" Ed asked.
"I hadn't seen any of you for a while, so I wanted to see how you were, since I saw you over here." Her eyes fell on me. I
