Volik by S.J. Tilly

NIX

It’s my first day as a substitute professor. I’m in a new city, with new coworkers, and all I want to do is keep my head down.

And maybe catch a glimpse of Volik.

I’ve read everything there is to read about vampires. The good and the scary.

But I have all semester to sneak a look, so I focus my attention on the clock. Because in three minutes, I turn thirty.

But when the moment strikes, an invisible force slams into me.

Weight swells inside my chest, and heat roars through my veins.

VOLIK

I pause, feeling a shift in the air, telling me something is about to happen.

Then the clock ticks. And my world tilts.

The power inside me pulses. The building shakes around me. And I grow.

I get bigger. Taller. Stronger. Thicker.

My fangs lengthen. Sharpen. And I smile.

Because the moment I have waited centuries for has finally arrived.

The other half of my soul… She is here.

NIX

Screams echo down the hallway while people flee.

Impossibly heavy footsteps shake the ground.

But I don’t run. I can’t. The pull in my chest won’t allow it.

Then the giant vampire I’ve been daydreaming about ducks through the doorway.

And when he calls me his Mate, I do the opposite of run.

I reach for him.