Lady Killer (Dead Girls Club #2)

6. Luz

Chapter six

Luz

T he first couple days of the new semester were mercifully Blackwell free.

I had three new classes, Gender and Economics, General Sciences, and Statistics II, all of which looked promising.

Intro to Japanese was a full-year course, which meant more dry lectures with Michael. On the first day, he somehow looked even more exhausted than when I’d seen him at the coffee shop. He’d explained to the class that he would be defending his thesis this semester and might be slower to respond to emails and such .

Thursday rolled around far too quickly, and I was forced to face my least favorite professor again.

Locke had been conspicuously absent during my introduction to Lucian, and I couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened had he been there.

On the one hand, it was far too easy to imagine him calling for my death.

On the other hand, could my economics professor really hate me that much?

Who was I kidding? Of course, he could. He probably would’ve offered to do the deed himself.

Like Nixon did.

Nixon’s willingness to kill me didn’t hurt so much as irritate. I’d caught Lucian’s remark about protecting his twin. It was certainly plausible, and I couldn’t fault him if that was the case.

Still, no one liked hearing that someone was indifferent about murdering them.

Despite the lack of snow, it was an unseasonably cold day, which meant my preferred uniform of skirts and dresses was out. Not even the best tights could keep me warm when the windchill made it feel like eighteen degrees.

I went for a pair of ankle-length flared black wool trousers and my lug-soled patent leather boots. On the top, I layered a thin merino wool sweater in cream under a gray houndstooth blazer that I cinched with a belt. I put on an oversize camel coat and secured my thick hair back in a twist with a claw clip. A large scarf wrapped around my neck was the final touch before I headed out.

Stepping out of the elevator in Jackson College House to head across campus, I was caught off guard by a familiar voice whispering in my ear.

“Don’t you look absolutely scrumptious,” purred Everest, suddenly standing mere inches from me.

I shouldn’t have been shocked by him loitering in the lobby, but the man had a talent for sneaking up on someone and catching them unaware.

I shrugged, pulling my backpack up higher on my shoulders, trying to create some space between us. “Everest, what a surprise,” I replied cooly, silently thanking the universe that Autumn wasn’t with me.

“Now, Starbright,” he said in a low tone as he sidled up next me, less than a hair’s breadth away but never touching me.

“I know Ali would have let you know I was coming back. Let me guess, he ‘warned’ you.” His finger quotes were accompanied by an exaggerated roll of his bright blue eyes. “Silly boy thinks you need protection from me.” He screwed up his face as if it were beyond comprehension why Alister might think so.

Sighing, I resigned myself to his presence and started walking toward the doors. As expected, he moved with me, matching me step for step.

“Is it surprising that he considers you dangerous?”

“Dangerous, yes, but only in all the best ways when it comes to you,” he said as he slipped a cream-colored knit cap over his platinum locks.

Today, he looked like an affluent European businessman, dressed in a well-tailored camel coat several shades lighter than my own, immaculately pressed umber slacks, and of course, loafers in chocolate brown with neat beige cashmere dress socks.

“So, you aren’t going to kill me if Lucian orders you to?”

Everest stiffened. “It won’t come to that.”

I snorted dismissively, making my way toward the main campus artery. He maintained his position at my side, as if we were just a normal couple going for a stroll across campus.

“You seem awfully certain about things you can’t control.”

“Not particularly.” Everest's eyes darted to and fro as he inspected the growing crowds of students around us. “ Though I am certain you’ll die in my arms, it just won’t be anytime soon,” he added with a roguish wink.

“I feel so much better now.”

“Excellent,” he said, clapping his hands.

We lapsed into surprisingly companionable silence, and I found myself both drawn to and repelled by the warmth in his presence.

His body language somehow made it clear that I was with him, despite him never touching me.

Maybe it was simply his nearness, or the way he angled his shoulders toward mine. The maniacal smile he gave to anyone who got too close to the pair of us certainly contributed to others keeping their distance.

But despite his self-proclaimed violent tendencies, Everest had shown restraint around me, a respect for physical boundaries that the twins had never bothered with. It made me feel something that I hadn’t experienced since Mami.

Safe.

Before I knew it, we were in front of Granger Hall, with five respectable minutes to spare.

“Well, thanks for the company,” I said, moving to head for the doors into the building .

“My pleasure,” he replied, stepping forward to open the door for me, clearly not taking the hint.

“This is my class,” I said, pointing inside. “I know you’re looking out for me or stalking me or whatever, but the lecture hall is right there. It’s fine, I’m safe.”

“My darling,” he said smoothly, ushering me through the glass doors, “I think you know that a morsel as delicious as yourself is never really safe in a world like ours, but that’s besides the point . . .”

“I’m not sure it is,” I said, trying to step in front of him.

Everest dodged me effortlessly, striding toward the classroom without a care in the world. “You’ll come to understand that I am the total-package kind of stalker. It’s my job to keep you safe from all threats, not just the life-threatening physical ones.” He paused outside the lecture hall doors and turned back to face me.

The implication of his words was obvious, and it didn’t bode well for my afternoon.

“I don’t need you to protect me from Locke,” I said a bit too loudly, drawing the attention of some of the other students making their way into the room. The last thing I wanted was to create a scene on the first day of classes. Again.

“Maybe I’ll protect Locke from you then,” Everest replied with a waggle of his eyebrows before spinning around me and strolling into the lecture hall .

Sucking on my teeth, I had no other choice but to follow in his wake. I kept my head down and averted my eyes from the front of the classroom, opting to avoid Locke’s reaction for as long as possible.

“So where do we sit, Starbright?” he asked, surveying the space around with a cheery grin.

When Everest had stepped through the doorway, he’d somehow transformed himself. With his hands tucked in his pockets and his shoulders hunched forward, he gave off an aw-shucks energy as opposed to his usual maniac malevolence. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve assumed he was another professor or grad student.

Unfortunately, I did know better.

“ We don’t sit anywhere,” I hissed at him as I clenched my jaw tightly, still avoiding Locke.

Everest simply shrugged, keeping his head low and causing his platinum hair to fall farther over his eyes before shuffling closer to me.

Shaking my head in exasperation, I turned and trudged up the steps of the hall.

I was tempted, sorely, to wedge myself between two other students in an attempt to force him to sit somewhere else, but I knew that somehow, he would still find a way next to me .

As he continued to demonstrate, Everest was nothing if not persistent.

Sure enough, he plonked himself down beside me while I did my best to ignore his presence and dug out my notebook and pencil case. He quickly made himself comfortable, shucking off his coat and settling into his seat with his legs lightly spread.

The lecture hall was designed to pack students in like sardines, which meant that unless I was willing to sit twisted to the side for the entire class, my thigh would be braced up against his. He was surprisingly warm for a man who looked like an ice fae, and I was oddly comforted by the heat radiating from him.

Taking in a deep breath, I was enveloped in the scents of cedar, juniper, and something else. It took me a breath to place it before my mind was taken back to the night of Aaron’s murder—the cold, crisp scent of falling snow.

The combination of the three conjured up images of a rustic cabin surrounded by the bitter cold of deep winter.

“You can open your eyes, darling. I promise you that grumpy, old Locke isn’t that bad.”

Embarrassment swept through me as I snapped my eyes open. I hadn’t realized they were shut.

“And I told you, I don’t need you to protect me from Locke,” I whispered .

Everest offered me a lazy smile before turning to face the front of the classroom. I opened my mouth again to reiterate how unwanted his presence was, but he cut me off with a flick of his finger.

“Shhh, class is about to start.”

Blood rushed to my ears and my eyes shot forward.

Sure enough, Locke had come to stand behind his lectern and was looking expectantly out across the classroom, waiting for the students to come to order.

He looked as severe and beautiful as ever, with his black hair brushed away from the sharp planes of his face. As always, he wore one of his impeccably tailored suits that hugged the long lines of his body.

The class settled down as he continued to inspect the room, like a lord surveying his domain. His brow knitted as he cleared his throat to begin speaking.

“Welcome to Microeconomics,” he began, his piercing green eyes scanning the crowd for something. “I hope you all enjoyed a restful break, because—?”

Locke’s attention landed on Everest and me, causing his eyes to widen as he stumbled over his words. His jaw twitched, and I braced myself for another verbal lashing as he pressed his lips into a tight white line.

Everest leaned forward in his seat, biting down on his lip eagerly as my heart began to race in anticipation .

Then, as if I wasn’t sitting in his class with a madman grinning next to me, Locke’s mask fell back into place, and he turned to address the rest of the class.

“This term, the pace and difficulty of the workload will increase substantially . . .”

This was not going to end well.