“How can I help you, Professor Rendell?”he replied in his politest voice.The one he’d seen his mother use when she talked to someone she particularly disliked but couldn’t be rude to.Two could play that game.He offered his most innocent expression as if he didn’t have a clue about how much Rendell hated him.
“I came to check on how your first class went.Did you have any difficulty controlling the students?”
Considering Rendell’s assistants constantly burst into tears.He doubted Rendell had any insightful tips that wouldn’t get Quentin banned from the program or arrested.
“The students appeared to enjoy it.”He kept his tone neutral and his dislike hidden, mostly.
“And did you?”
Quentin shrugged.“We’ll see.It’s hard to judge after just one class.The students were motivated to learn, so that helped.”
The truth was, he had enjoyed it more than he’d expected.He’d also stab himself in the eye with a stake before admitting he liked anything to this man.If he didn’t appear eager, Rendell might leave him alone.Experience had shown that Rendell hated anyone having fun, especially Quentin.
“Hmm.I guess we’ll see.It takes more than one class to tell whether you can cut it as a professor.Right now, you’re new and shiny.Wait until you return graded work.”With those inspiring words, Rendell stomped off.
“Asshat,” Quentin muttered.A giggle behind him revealed the hallway wasn’t as deserted as he had thought.
Oops.
He didn’t turn around to confront the eavesdroppers.Instead, he staged a strategic retreat.He was already late for his long-awaited nap.Hanging out with nocturnal leaning creatures was hell on his sleep cycle.
As he stepped outside, Dean Mearson appeared from around the corner, blocking Quentin’s escape.Had someone pinned him with a location spell?
“Good afternoon, Dean Mearson,” he greeted her politely.
Her delighted grin did nothing but send shivers of apprehension down his spine.“Professor Heart, just the man I was looking for.How did your first day go?”
He didn’t sigh, but the urge was strong.He knew he should be happy that she bothered to ask about his teaching, but he was pretty much done for the day.He wanted his vampire and cuddles.All the stress before teaching had left him exhausted.Worrying was an energy sucker.
“I think it went well.Not much has happened yet.I took roll and explained the foundations of spell theory.Nothing too exciting.”They had to know the basics before they could move on to casting, despite their enthusiasm.
“Good.Good.”She patted him on the arm.“If this works out, we might make it a permanent class.Let me know if I can do anything to help.”
“Thank you.I will.”He kept his opinion about being a full-time professor to himself.As much as he was enjoying teaching so far, it wasn’t where he saw his career heading.He’d rather be inventing spells than explaining them.For now, the extra money was nice, and a teaching position on his resume, even for one semester, would lend him extra credibility when he finally branched out independently.He almost mentioned the students’ request for an additional class, but held back.She might assign it to him if he spoke up.
Never volunteer for anything.That was his personal motto.
That reminded him he still needed to clear out his lab.Rendell had been getting far too nosy about Quentin’s projects.As much as he liked the security of his college lab, it wasn’t truly secure if the one person trying to steal from him had access.It wouldn’t be impossible for Rendell to break Quentin’s safeguards if he were dedicated enough.Right now, Rendell was trying to be subtle and cautiously poked at Quentin’s wards, but not hard enough for him to complain to the higher-ups.By the time he could lodge an official complaint, Rendell could have made off with his research.
He’d already decided to accept the lab space Jaks offered him last week.He was just dragging his heels on packing his stuff.
No one enjoyed packing.
The vampire manor would be more secure because the vampires wouldn’t care enough about his research to sabotage anything, and even if they wanted to, his new rune design would keep them out.He’d modeled them after his necromancer friend, Grevin’s.Due to their lethal nature, the university wouldn’t allow them, but Jaks had agreed to let him have as many security features as he wished on his manor lab.Some days, it helped to have a sugar vampire.
Unaware of his thoughts, Dean Mearson gave him a cheerful goodbye before scampering off, undeterred by her three-inch heels.
He’d never understand women.
She had barely left his sight before an oddly familiar perfume of old roses and mint wafted through the air.Spinning around, he saw nothing nearby to explain the scent.It triggered a vague memory, but for the life of him, he couldn’t recall where he’d last smelled it.Not surprising with his crap memory.
Brushing off the scent, he changed trajectory and headed for the lab.He could safely hide here for a few hours before Jaks started to worry.
Sometimes, he just needed to get away from it all.
CHAPTER2
After sucking down an energy drink he bought from the hall vending machine, Quentin got to work.It would take several hours, if not a few days, to carefully pack everything.The less breakage, the better.As a professor, even a junior one, Quentin could technically keep his workshop space, but a nagging feeling in the back of his mind told him to grab everything that didn’t belong to the college and run with it.
