Page 6 of Volik

That reaction was just me forgetting to breathe.

A lack of oxygen.

Another door slams, and the footsteps disappear altogether.

My shoulders sag. In relief? Defeat?

Insanity?

Forcing my attention away from the door, I turn back to Jenny. “Tell me you heard that.” I force out a smile, but I still whisper the question.

The side of her mouth quirks, but she leans forward and speaks just as quietly. “That was Volik.”

The name pulses over my skin.

Volik Vadas.

The vampire.

I swallow, my skin still feeling like it’s quivering.

“He must be in a mood,” she keeps whispering. “He only stomps like that when he’s mad about something.”

A mad vampire.

I swallow again. “What, um, does he do here?”

Everyone knows about the vampire who works at Stalden University, which is how I recognized the name. Because everyone in the world knows about Volik. But I have never found information on what his actual role is here.

Vampires are… famous is the wrong word. Since they keep to themselves. But with oversized frames, solid black eyes, fangs, and horns sticking out of their heads, they can’t exactly hide what they are.

Well, they did, at one time. But for the past seventy-some years, since The Reveal, vampires have been known to humans.

Vampires. Alternates. Alts. Some extremists still call them demons. Just not to their faces. But even though their existence has been public for much longer than I’ve been alive, half of our information still comes from fairy tales and myths. With even more debate as to whether there are other species out there, or if that’s strictly myth and the old stories only got vampires right.

So yes, I already knew that Volik worked here. And maybe I got a bit of a thrill at the idea that I might catch a glimpse of him someday. But I didn’t expect that day to be today, or that glimpse to be footsteps that shook the building and turned me on more than I ever have been in my entire life.

I try not to think about that last part as I shift uncomfortably.

Jenny lifts her shoulder. “I think his official title is Director of Alternate Studies, but I don’t think he actually does anything. His office is down at the end of the hall, but in the four years I’ve been here, I’ve only ever seen him coming and going. Never teaching a class. Never sitting in the cafeteria.”

I want to ask if he even eats regular food or if he just drinks blood, since that’s another fact that doesn’t have a definitive answer. I manage to stop myself, but my heartbeat quickens at the idea of him putting his mouth on me.

Sinking his fangs into me.

Okay, wow, Nix. Rein it in.

Jenny sits back in her chair and speaks at her normal volume, the chance of being overheard apparently over. “He might act cranky sometimes, stomping around like that. But I’ve never heard of him being rude to anyone. And he certainly hasn’t hurt anybody. So don’t stress about it, okay?”

I nod and start to reach for the map but stop when I remember my finger.

Glancing down, I see the tiniest spot of blood where the paper broke skin.

And before I can think better of it.

Before I can question the overwhelming need to do so.

I lift my hand and press my fingertip between my lips.