Alex
Skye has been gone for four days when I knock on the door to President Alloway’s office. Her voice is pinched when she mutters, “Come in,” but her eyes light up the second I open the door and step inside.
“Dr. Scarlett. I wasn’t expecting you, but I’m happy to see you.” She rises and motions for me to sit in one of the armchairs in front of her desk.
I shake my head. “I won’t be here long.”
“I’ve been meaning to reach out,” she says, easing back into her chair while I lean a shoulder on her office door to close it, remaining there, taking in the slate gray walls dappled with diplomas, certifications, and pictures. She tucks her bright white, stick straight hair behind her ears and clears her throat, closing her laptop. “Dean Kanten hasn’t been responding thoroughly to my inquiries into the biology department and how he plans to move forward, safety-wise, after Laney’s death.”
“That does not surprise me.”
She blinks and then motions again for me to sit down. This time, I accept the invitation, realizing that the one thing I came here to talk to her about just grew by leagues. I’m barely in the seat before she asks, “How are things in biology?”
“I can only speak for my department.”
She waves a hand in dismissal. “I know that’s not the case. Now that the warriors from Aurorium are starting to go back to their territory, and things have settled enough for student spaces to reopen, and people can mingle….” She meets my eyes with a sharply knowing look. “I have it on good authority from your colleagues that you and Kanten have a tense relationship.”
I lean back in my seat. “That’s not far from the truth.”
“Then what is the truth?”
I glance at the same floor-to-ceiling windows I have in my own office. Dr. Alloway has an impressive view of campus, which is lit up like a star. “Despite his numerous awards, and his extensive background in the biological sciences…” I meet her gaze again, “I find him to be an arrogant, irresponsible scientist and a worse administrator.”
A wistful smile touches the corners of her mouth. “Can you elaborate?”
“Is there a reason you’re asking me about Dr. Kanten?”
“Isn’t that the reason you’re here?”
“I was actually hoping to talk to someone from campus resources, but most of the administrators are still locked out of their offices, and I was sent here instead.”
She purses her lips and sighs heavily, twisting a pen between her fingers. “I’m only asking because I’m obligated to ensure the safety of our faculty and students. Several of your colleagues mentioned the tension between you and Dr. Kanten but wouldn’t go into detail, citing how you tend to keep your life exceedingly private, as well as your research. Your lab, as well, is an exclusive place.”
“Not exclusive enough for Dr. Kanten to completely ignore every email and maintenance request for the past four years.” I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees. My phone buzzes silently in my pocket, alerting me to a text, likely from Skye, who's been sending me updates the past few days–pictures of Moonrise, the train she just boarded, which she’ll be traveling on for the next two days on her way to Crescent Falls. Meanwhile, I send her pictures of the plants in her office, pictures of watering her plants as proof I’m not neglecting them, and pictures of her precious rocks. I smile at the thought of her, then notice the slight tilt of Dr. Alloway’s head. “Dean Kanten and I have been at odds for as long as I can remember. It’s personal. He took issue with the research I chose to write my thesis on when I was finishing my PhD.”
“Because it contrasted with his own research?”
“It devalued his published research, yes.”
She takes a deep breath, letting it out with a whoosh. “I actually remember that.”
“Then you’ll remember the ethics committee got involved.”
She nods, flexing her fingers before continuing to fiddle with her pen. “He’s a difficult man to work with.”
“He’s purposefully ignoring me and my lab, and it has nothing to do with what exists below the ice. It’s personal. He doesn’t like me and has his own bias when it comes to me, my research, and the way I go about things, but that should have no bearing on the safety of my lab.”
She looks down at her hands.
I continue, “Our sensors need to be replaced. Desperately. For years. We work closely with the engineering department, as you know, and they’ve been helping us fix the sensors, but repeated repairs have worn them down, and we can’t trust the readings. A cave-in would be catastrophic, and something we have the technology to avoid, but as it stands, Kanten won’t sign off.” I don’t say it’s about the price, but I can see the truth settle in her eyes.
“I’ll sign off on new sensors.”
I nod, murmuring, “Thank you.” I know I could go into detail about my issues with the dean, but that’s not why I’m here, and I have a rather busy afternoon.
Alloway doesn’t seem to care as she rises and paces to the window overlooking campus. She’s essentially the Alpha here–the queen. “He didn’t even know Laney personally, and she was a star student within the biology department.”
“I know. I was the one who called her parents after finding out he’d alerted them about her death via email.”
Alloway turns to face me. “I can assure you, the board is aware that Kanten isn’t doing his job appropriately, and there’s movement on that front to possibly replace him within the next year.” I nod again, closing my eyes to hold back the chuckle threatening to break the dam of curses and raw rage I want to let out, but then she says, “And you’re a front runner when it comes to who will head the biology department.”
“No, thank you,” I say without even needing to think it through.
This shocks Alloway, who looks confused and slightly alarmed. “You’d be dean–”
I rise, tucking my hands into my pockets. “I understand. However, I have no interest in any position other than where I am now. I enjoy being out in the field, in my lab, and with my students.” She parts her lips to argue, but I press on, continuing, “And I didn’t come here to talk about Kanten or my career trajectory.”
She purses her lips, a deep line between her brows telling me exactly how she’s feeling–annoyed. Likely frustrated and wondering why anyone would turn down the idea of moving up in academia. “Then why were you wanting to speak to campus resources? I assumed it was because of Kanten.”
“I am in a relationship with a colleague and need to alert the administration.”
“Oh.” The furrow between her brows deepens. “May I ask who?”
Here we go. “Dr. Skye Abbot.”
“Oh,” she murmurs again, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Well, now, this all makes sense.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
She walks back to her desk and sits, opening her laptop and clicking a few keys. “I’ll ensure Maisie is aware and will email you the paperwork you both need to sign.” A knock sounds on her door, and she invites the person in–a board member, which is effectively my dismissal, but I sense something unsaid–something that shines through the way her heart began to beat with more fervor when I said Skye’s name, and I don’t like that.
I explain as much to Toby, two hours later, while walking briskly through Aurorium, bundled against the elements and washed in ever-present neon light.
“Alloway’s always been kind of weird,” he says with a shrug, the words leaving his tongue in thick puffs of mist. “Like she’s had a stick up her ass since the moment she was born.”
“I don’t think it had anything to do with her personality,” I argue, stepping out of the way of a trio of wolves pulling a sled weighed down by crates. “I’m under the impression she thinks my relationship with Skye is somehow influencing my decision to not pursue the position of dean when she cans Kanten.”
“Why would it? Skye is a tenured professor now. She can stay here forever with a nice paycheck if she wants to. It’s not like you can follow her anywhere sunny–” I grab his arm and pull him to a rough stop. Toby chuckles, shaking me off. “Sorry man, but I had to. You gave me a wealth of things to give you shit about when you finally admitted you’re not just an anti-social dork but a vamp–”
“Don’t say it out loud,” I hiss. Another group of shifters pass in their wolf forms, eyeing us with interest before slinking into the neon glare bleeding onto the icy street.
“All right, all right,” he gripes, tilting his head toward the shadow of a large box-like structure at the very end of the block. It’s a warehouse, technically, and serves as a shipping hub for the territory, but also a bulk store. It’s also where we get most of our supplies for the lab. “So, do you, like, want me to grab you some extra blood samples? Or should I stop in at the butcher’s? What’s your flavor? Reindeer? Just a bucket of blood or what?”
“I’m going to fucking kill you.”
He laughs heartily and turns toward the warehouse, waving me off. “I’ll be about ten minutes. I’ll meet you back out here.”
I huff a breath, watching his form fade into the shadows, and turn toward the post office. The bundle slung over my shoulder weighs against my back in a way it shouldn’t, based on its contents. I step into the fluorescent warmth of the snug mail room and go through the motions of choosing a box that fits, buying a shipping label, and answering the endless questions of the mail tech in regard to shipping batteries and biological material. This bundle is none of those.
I stood outside Laney’s dorm room yesterday while her roommates were let back in for the first time after her murder. Watching two twenty-something young women bleakly pack up Laney’s things, tears streaming down their cheeks, had enlightened me to who Laney was. She wasn’t just a mousey, shy lab tech. She was a friend. A daughter. A kid with a whole future ahead of her that was stolen with very little to show for it.
I slide the box of her personal belongings across the counter and watch the mail tech carry it into the back, which feels like closing the chapter on Laney’s life in a way I don’t know how to process.
I step back out into the frigid darkness and start walking back to the warehouse, but I’m not alone.
Across the street, a plume of cigarette smoke catches my attention, and I stop when a figure comes into focus under the glare of a streetlight. Hooded, with his face cast in shadow, he could easily pass as a local–someone out on an evening stroll and a vice.
But this man is standing far too still.
Instinct swallows my rational mind in one bite.
He takes another slow drag of his cigarette and then flicks it onto the ice, slowly crushing it with his boot, and tilts his head into the light.
Red eyes confirm what I’ve been battling with over Laney’s murder and the previous murders. Of course, the bio-markers in the case I worked for the Beta of Aurorium didn’t align with any genetic profiles on hand. They wouldn’t have because I’ve never given blood here, and up until recently, I was the only vampire in Lunaria.
“Prince Alex.” Kai smiles, fangs on full display. “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”
I step off the curb, walking determinedly in his direction, not a single thought in my mind other than my fangs slashing across his neck, like it would be that easy. He grins, backing into the darkness, his voice reaching me even when he falls out of sight, “What a life you’ve built on lies. Does she know who you really are? Or will I be the one to tell her all your dirty little secrets before I drain her to nothing and turn her into what you despise the most?”
I snarl and lurch into the darkness, sprinting after the blur of shadow weaving between buildings. Kai turns a sharp corner, sliding, his cloak billowing out behind him, carrying the scent of cigarettes.
I slide around the same corner, but the thick tread of my boots slows me down significantly, and when the next alley comes into view, nothing’s left of him but scattered newspapers and several knocked over garbage cans.
I bend at the waist, panting, resting my hands on my knees while my lungs expand and sharply contract. I’m so out of practice. I’ve been cosplaying as a shifter and a wizard for so long. I’ve let my previous skill set fall by the wayside. I’ve forgotten why I’m here.
“Fuck,” I rasp, straightening, trying to catch his scent, but he’s long gone.