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“A female child of Dark Fae blood will save the land frozen in winter—or leave them in a ruin of their own making.” ~ Unknown Elder, Dark Kingdom
Lex shoved her sociology notebook into her backpack and glanced at her brooding uncle sitting on the bed. “What’s wrong with you today?”
Jasper blinked and looked away. “Nothing. I just don’t understand why I can’t go with you.”
“I told you, you’re not signed up for the class.” She grabbed her wallet and dropped it into her backpack. Jasper—or Jas, as she called him—was only a few years older than Lex, but after the accident that had taken her mother’s life when she was thirteen, Jasper became her guardian. And he took his guardianship literally, believing himself her bodyguard too. “My professor noticed you last time, and he’s not going to let you get away with it.”
Lex had social anxieties, and she often depended on Jas to help her navigate society. But sometimes, his overprotectiveness was a pain in the ass.
Jas’s frown deepened. “It’s not too late for me to register for your courses. It would be like last year.”
The corner of her mouth pulled back. “I’ve got issues, but even I knew that was overkill. Not to mention, you hated the classes and bitched the entire time.”
She could tell by the look on his face that she was right. Even so, he shook his head stubbornly. “I have a bad feeling about today.”
She sighed and looked around one last time for anything she’d missed. “I’ll only be gone a couple of hours, and I haven’t had a panic attack in six months. Everything will be fine.”
His lips flattened into a tense, straight line. “Come immediately home afterward.” The look in his eye said he was a hairsbreadth from following her.
Jas was totally obsessing.
“Why don’t you go upstairs?” she suggested. “Maybe Alice is around?”
His pale green eyes flashed. He had the biggest crush on Lex’s dorm neighbor, though he would never admit it.
“Perhaps I shall.” He hoisted his long limbs off her bed—the only place to sit in her dorm room—and stretched his arms above his head.
Lex let out a sigh of relief.
Jas didn’t grow up in any one place, and his accent sounded like a combination of British and German. Add the hot accent to a handsome façade, and her uncle was catnip to college coeds. But for some reason, he refused to date. That didn’t mean he was immune. Shy Alice with the soft brown eyes was one of Jas’s weaknesses. And Lex’s best bet at distracting him.
Lex had never met Jas’s family, but she’d heard tales of their competitive nature and cold winters. Lots about the cold winters. One of these days she’d visit her extended family. Just as soon as she got her anxiety under control.
“I’ll catch you back here in a couple of hours.” She leaned up—way up—and pecked him on the cheek. Lex was tall for a woman, but she felt short compared to Jasper.
He moved toward the door, then froze, his hand on the knob. “It is cold, Lex,” he said softly, but with an intensity that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. He looked over his shoulder. “Do you not feel the chill?”
What in the what?“Um…sure. I’ve got on my sweatshirt.” It wasn’tthatcold in Northern California, where she attended Dawson University—not like Germany or the myriad other locations he’d lived—but she’d agree to anything to get her uncle moving on, and a conversation about the weather wasn’t going to speed things up.
He squeezed the back of his neck. “Call me as soon as you return. Are you certain I can’t wait outside your classroom?”
For the love of God, what was wrong with him? “Please don’t. You’ll only make me look like an even bigger social pariah than I already am.”
“They don’t know you.” His expression softened. “You must not let their ignorance upset you.”
Her uncle was kind, but with her six-foot-two height, no men found Lex attractive, and the women on her campus stared at her as though she were a freak.
“It doesn’t bother me,” she said, silently addingmostlyto that statement.
He hesitated, then gave her a nod and opened the door. Lex pulled her backpack around to make sure it was zipped, but she sensed Jas’s attention on her. She held her breath. After a moment, he stepped out and closed the door behind him.
This was insane. Jas couldn’t follow her anymore. At her age, it was getting weird.
Lex wanted to be stronger. Strong enough to live without the constant emotional support of her uncle. But thoughts of that would have to wait. Because her darn sociology paper was due, and nothing would stop her from turning it in on time after she’d stayed up half the night to complete it.
She hurried for the door.
