“Alaric?!” Layla gasped, rubbing her eyes to make sure that her sleepy brain wasn’t forming images. Nope, she wasn’t dreaming. Alaric was standing at her door.‘What is he doing here at this time?’ She thought, smoothing the creases that had formed on her top while she napped.“May I come in?” Alaric asked, wearing his usual smile.“Of course!” She stepped out of the way and allowed him to come in.“I see you cleaned and did a little renovation of the place. Good job.” He said, inspecting the place, and her cheeks flushed at his compliment as she shut the door.“Thank you, but I just cleaned. I didn’t do any renovations.” She replied, taking off her bonnet so she could look more presentable.He was flattering her. There was obviously still a lot of work to be done. A lot. The roof, the floor, the door, the bathroom… There was no part of the cabin that didn’t need to be worked on.“Whatever you did, you did it well. You managed to make a dead place homely.” Alaric nodded at her, and sh
“What!” Zayne roared, shaking the entire dorm from its foundation.‘Geez, so loud and dramatic.’ Layla cringed, pressing her hands to her ears.“Who decided that?! Why do you have to stay with him?!” He seethed.“Lady Demeter and him discussed, and they came to a decision.” She replied, hiding the fact that they had also discussed if she could stay with him. If they found out, he would lose his head from rage.“And you agreed?” He glowered at her, and she flinched.“Of course, I can’t say no to Lady Demeter.” She frowned. Did he expect her to actually say no? Didn’t he see what she had done to her when she questioned her about the Zenzens?“That damned vampire!” He sneered, balling his fist like he was imagining that he was squeezing Alaric’s neck. Layla was sure that wouldn’t have been an imagination if he was with them.“Let’s go,” Zayne snapped, stomping down the path that led to the main campus. Layla quickly locked her door and raced behind him.She stared at his back, twisting h
“I’m glad you came down on time. I was afraid the pancakes were going to go cold before you did.” Alaric said, not turning to her as he flipped the pancakes on the pan.‘Alaric was cooking?! Cooking?!’ Layla gawked at him. ‘How does a vampire know how to cook? Do they eat normal food like humans do? I thought they drank blood.’ “Why are you still standing at the door? Aren’t you hungry?” He asked and turned to her.“No— I mean, yes, I am.” She stuttered, rushing to one of the stools by the kitchen island and sat down.“Here. I hope you like hit chocolate.” He smiled and dropped a mug in front of her.“I do. Thank you. Do you need any help?” She asked, jumping down from the stool and walking to him.“No, I’m almost done. Just relax and enjoy.” He waved his finger in her face, placing his hand on her shoulders and leading her back to her seat.“But, I—”“You’re my guest, and I don’t let my guest work in my house.” He propped her on the stool and gave her shoulder a small squeeze.“Um…
“A game? What kind of game? Will there be prizes?” Layla perked up, dropping her utensils and turning on her stool so she could completely face Alaric.If there was one thing she loved doing the most in the world, it was playing and winning games. Especially the winning part. Even better if it had prizes.“Eager, aren’t we?” Alaric chuckled, placing his elbow on the kitchen island and leaning his head on it. “Yes, there will be prizes. But no turning back if you lose. And don’t worry, I won’t ask anything outrageous of you.”“Deal. What’s the game?” She quipped, swinging her legs. A part of her warned that she was trusting a man without a single thought. He could ask her for anything, literally anything, perverted or not perverted. She didn’t know what she was agreeing to.She shoved that part into a dustbin. It was Alaric. She knew some guys would try to take advantage of the situation but she trusted Alaric. In her soul, she just knew he wasn’t that type of person.“If you can corr
“What?! Shopping? Why do you want to take me shopping?” Layla spluttered, staring at Alaric like his skin had turned purple. If it had, it would have been far less surprising than what he had said. Why in the great wide world did he want to take her shopping?“Don’t take it the wrong way, but I noticed your clothes have seen better days.” He pointed out, and the smug smile he wore turned sad.“Oh,” she mumbled, bowing her head in shame as she fiddled with her skirt. He didn’t need to tell her for her to know. She knew all too well the state of her wardrobe. Most of them were almost worn out of existence, patched in a lot of places, and so faded that she had forgotten the original colour.It was another of the reasons she hated going for dinner. Since she couldn’t wear her school uniform, she stuck out like a sore thumb. While the students would be dressed like celebrities, she looked like what crawled out of their gutters. They had noticed it, and it had fuelled their gossiping and je
“I thought we agreed on just a few clothes.” Layla pouted as she and Alaric walked out of the boutique to his car.“When did we make that agreement?” He asked with an ‘innocent’ smile on his lips.“In the car on our way here. We agreed on just a few clothes and two pairs of shoes, and now we have all this.” She huffed, gesturing to the hoard of shopping bags they were carrying.How they had gone from a dress to a multitude of clothes, bags, and shoes she couldn’t understand. It was all blurry to her. One moment, she was picking up a cute dress; the next, two female shop attendants were suggesting what bag would go with it. Before she could blink, they managed to trick her into saying what style she loved, and they created a perfect wardrobe of what she liked, all in her size. And Alaric had paid for everything without a second thought.It wasn’t until Layla stepped out the door that she realised she had enough clothes to start her own boutique.“Um… I remember you saying something li
‘This is bad. This is really, really bad.’ Layla panicked as her heart drummed in her chest and she slowly lifted her head.A figure sat in front of her, dressed in a black hoodie, dark shades, and a face mask.‘How can she see past the spell? It has been working fine since, so how?’“Who are you? Are you from Nox-Luminis?” Layla whispered, though she knew the answer. No one else in the supernatural world knew her identity apart from those in Nox-Luminis, and that only fuelled her anxiety. If someone from the school saw her having fun with Alaric, it would be the end of her. The news would spread around the campus like wildfire before they returned and almost immediately reached the ears of the headmaster. Once it did, it would be only a matter of seconds before Demeter came in her full glory and summoned the both of them.It was going to be a catastrophe. Though Layla had assured herself that they weren’t breaking any rules, facing Demeter was the last thing she wanted to do. Who co
“Thanks for dinner, Alaric. It was the best pasta I have ever eaten.” Layla said as she arranged the clean plates in the cupboard. She wasn’t lying when she said the pasta was the best one she had eaten; it was delicious. She doubted that any chef could ever beat the masterpiece he had made. How had he learnt to cook so well?“You’re welcome, and you didn’t really need to do the dishes.” Alaric replied, from the kitchen island where she had forced him to sit.“Of course I do. I can’t just let you do all the work after everything you’ve done for me. Washing the dishes is the least I can do to show that I’m grateful.” She turned around and walked to him.“You don’t need to show that you’re grateful. I’m not complaining about doing what I did. It’s not like I did anything special.” He shrugged, and she rolled her eyes. Alaric was just too modest. How could he say that letting her stay in his house, taking her shopping, and cooking breakfast and dinner was nothing special? He had even g