I took the water bottle out of my pack and swished the liquid around in my bone-dry mouth, then guzzled some down. The sleep spell I hit Roman with was meant to last eight hours. But since the spell guidelines couldn’t account for lazy students, he could wake up at any minute.
I forced my soggy walk into a jog. The plan was to be close to boarding a plane by now but trekking through the forest lining the Ottawa river was harder than I imagined. I forced my legs to kick out one after the other in a slow run. Ahead, the forest floor gave way to a worn walking trail. I followed the path to a dead end of shrubs. Bursting out of the woods, I staggered onto a cement sidewalk in the suburbs.
A family of three with a stroller gasped. They looked at me like I was a cave man who stepped out of a time machine. Apparently, my time in the woods hadn’t done me any favors.
“Sorry,” I said and folded in half to catch my breath.
They kept their distance walking around me. The woman with the stroller whispered to her husband. I worked to look normal, while panting, and walked down the sidewalk.
A taxicab rounded the corner up ahead. I flagged down the cabby. He smiled as he approached, until he was close enough to see the dirt on my clothes. Then the look he gave made me want to jump into the nearest shower. Once he spotted the hundred-dollar bill in my hand, however, he jerked his head to the backseat.
I hurled myself into the cab before anyone else could see me. “Carleton dorms, Grenville, please,” I said. Forty-five minutes later, we entered the campus grounds.
“Right here is fine, keep the change,” I said.
I stepped out of the cab and tossed my borrowed pack on the ground. Carleton University was nothing like the historical buildings of the University of Ottawa. For every dull brown brick the Carleton buildings had, there was an old retired KGB or CIA agent for a professor to go with it. It was part of the charm.
I peeled off Roman’s sweater and let the cool wind hit my skin. Then I slung the bag over my back again, hoping to blend in. A quick glance around the campus told me it was mostly deserted during the lingering end of summer. The occasional person’s voice quietly chimed in the distance.
I walked toward my dorm, Grenville, the only place left which had my belongings. Being covered in mud at the airport wasn’t incognito, and I wasn’t about to show my face on a store camera. Spread against the side of the building, I paused to listen. Everything was silent—except for the breeze against the grass.
I rushed the corner, ready to sprint in and out.
A low whistle broke the quiet. “Wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
I spun toward the wall and caught sight of a tall, black-haired man leaning against the bricks. “Oh yeah? Why’s that?” I asked. My eyes surveyed him for a badge. A day ago, I dreamed of being an officer. Now I was afraid of seeing one.
“They’re waiting for you in there,” he said. “I’m here to help.” His blue eyes studied me back. His face was young and almost boyish, like it’d been frozen in time compared to his athletic body. The accent he had was slight and hard to place.
“Who is?” I asked and stepped into the building’s shadow.
His body blurred and streaked forward, so fast, that in the time it took for me to draw a breath, he’d jarred to a halt before me. My hair blew back over my shoulders.
“You’re not normal,” I said.
“Thank you?” he asked. “Neither are you, princess. If you want my help, we have to move—now.”
“I don’t know who you’re calling princess, but I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Fine,” he said, “but I’m leaving, because no amount of money is worth dying for a stubborn brat.”
Dying. He turned to leave, but I stretched for his arm. “What money? You’re being paid for me? By whom?”
“That’s none of your concern, but what should be is how quickly we get the hell out of here,” he said.
He presented me with answers, and who was I to look a gift monster in the mouth. “Lead the way,” I said. Instead, he snagged my waist and threw me over his shoulder. I huffed out a breath when my stomach hit like a sack of bricks. He held me in place like I was paper light. I was small, but being half vampire, I was pure muscle. Whatever he was, he had unnatural strength too.
The world blurred around me the instant he ran. His feet turned up hunks of grass, and a second later my neck jolted when he stopped in the cover of the next building. I kicked my legs out while he rounded the corner, and he threw me down.
“Fine, but you better run your ass off,” he said.
I followed and called up my vampiric agility. But no matter how hard I ran, I lagged behind. We took cover again, and then he led me to the Frontenac dorm. He paused at his reflection in the window—fixed his mop of a haircut—and then walked inside. He shot a look at the young lady, a rezdon, behind the front desk. She blushed and buzzed us through the doors. When I joined him at the elevator, he hit the button.
“How do you have a room here?” I asked.
“They rent out the empty dorm rooms in the summer. It was the best place to stay close to your dorm and keep a low profile.”
“What are you, some kind of detective?” I asked.
“Close,” he said.
The elevator door beeped open and I followed him in. My face reflected at me in the steel doors. I touched a patch of hickeys on my neck. Guilt and butterflies swirled in my guts, but I reminded myself Roman could show up at any time to try to drag me back into our hometown. I imagined meeting his wolf form again wouldn’t end as pleasantly as the last time.
When we got off, he opened the door at the end of the hall, and we hurried inside.
I threw off the backpack and melted into the closest chair. I kicked off my shoes and lay limp for a moment, closing my eyes. I had the uneasy feeling of someone staring at me. I snapped my head up and caught him eyeing up my body.
“Who are you anyway?” I asked.
“Andre,” he said. “Private Investigator, but I’ll do anything for money.” He winked.
“You’re not human,” I said. “What are you?” I stretched out my Charmed senses and felt magic within him.
“I’m a vampire, princess. Same as you, but with a little extra dark superpower. I’m a full vamp though, and from what I can tell from your dismal amount of speed out there, you’re half.”
He dragged a chair from the wall and sat across from me.
“You have the Dark Charm?” I asked. “I should have figured; you ooze sleaze bag.”
“And you have a little special magic up your sleeve too, don’t you, princess? I bet you get a little hot now and then, don’t you?”
I narrowed my eyes.
“And with a name like Karolina Dalca…I bet you’ve got enough training to back up that look you’re giving me.”
He knew my name, my powers, and where to find me. My eyes fell over his body, sizing him up as he sat across from me. Strong jaw, tall, six feet and maybe four inches, and muscular broad shoulders. I could take him—if I took him by surprise.
I leapt from my chair, snatched his front chair legs, and flipped him over. He landed on his back with a thud. I advanced and mounted him with one knee over his throat. “Who hired you?” I leaned more weight into his neck. “Why are you here? Who’s looking for me? Who sent the Forged?”