Before departing, Blair told Chloe she’d better avoid casually mentioning Levi around the school. As she definitely didn’t want a repeat of her mentor’s reaction, Chloe decided to heed the advice. She wasn’t one to purposely bring attention upon herself.
Chloe thanked her mentor for the beautiful flowers on her wall, and they wished each other goodnight.
The moment the witch left, Chloe’s smile disappeared. A good night wasn’t likely, now that she was alone with her thoughts.
First things first. The temperature was warmer inside the dorm, but she was still feeling cold. Chloe finished making her bed, then went to draw a bath in her small en-suite.
Small but delightful, with a cast iron sink and a clawfoot bathtub. She wished she had a bubble bath soak, but she’d only traveled with a small shower gel. She’d have to see if the handful of Adairford shops stocked any. She had a notepad in her backpack she should use to start writing down everything Blair had said, along with a shopping list. First item: decent outerwear.
Fresh towels had been left on a rack. She got undressed, dropping her clothes on top of the toilet, and wrapped the towel around her chest before returning to her bedroom.
She would have sworn she’d left her bedroom light on, but the room was now dark. Frowning, she reached for the light and turned it back on.
Chloe’s heart jumped, and an uncontrollable spasm made her shiver from head to toes. A dark figure was standing right in front of her, his back to her.
He was dressed all in black with a leather duster—the sorts of things a bounty hunter would wear. Chloe wished she could scream, but she was frozen in alarm.
Then he turned.
Recognizing him, she yelled at the top of her voice, ‘You fucking moron! You could have given me a heart attack.’
She wasn’t sure he hadn’t.
Levi just seemed amused, as was apparently his way. He lifted a small object in his hand.
‘I promised, I deliver. I’m nothing if not a man of my word.’
On closer inspection, the object was a flask containing a clear liquid.
‘What the hell?’
Chloe had no clue what it was.
‘Sleeping draught,’ he said. ‘After this morning’s unpleasantness, I promised I’d have my alchemist concoct something so you can sleep.’
Right. Now that her heart wasn’t beating at a billion miles an hour, she remembered something to that effect.
‘Cool. Next time, knock like a normal person.’
Only he wasn’t a normal person. Everything Blair had just shared came back to her.
Two thousand years old. Frightening. God.
She didn’t see it. Oh, he was intimidating enough, and if power were a scent, he’d be wearing it in spades, but he just seemed…
‘Yeah,’ he said with a laugh. ‘I wonder how that’d go down with your dormmates.’
If they were anything like Blair, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea.
‘Right, of course. I heard the whole ‘Leviathan is the Big Bad Wolf’ thing.’
‘Oh no. Plenty of big bad wolves in the woods. I’m a step or two above that.’
He seemed downright smug about it.
‘And no doubt you enjoy it,’ she said, rolling her eyes. ‘Well, thanks for the…draught thing. I was about to take a bath so I don’t freeze to death.’
‘Is it cold?’ he wondered. ‘Very well. Enjoy your ablution. The draught is to be taken when you’re quite ready to sleep, and I recommend you set two or three alarm clocks, to be safe.’
‘I will. Thanks ag—’
She never finished that sentence. One instant, he was right there in front of her. The next, there was shadowy smoke, and then nothing at all.
Well, he certainly knew how to make an entrance. And a departure.
