Page 13 of The Pretty Savage

The closer he came, the more I could see his face. His long legs ate the distance between us within seconds, and before I could even blink, he was standing in front of us, his dark eyes perusing me from head to toe, sending chills over my skin that had nothing to do with the cold air surrounding us.

I knew men like him my entire life—the predators, the ones you should be afraid of, and the moment he spoke I knew exactly who he was.

"Vega Konstantinova?" he asked, earning a small nod from me. "I am Andries Jansen, the dean of St. Vasili's Academy." He eyed Elias who was still standing next to me, but I stepped forward, my instincts taking over. Elias was an outsider to our world, and Andries… Well, his reputation preceded him, and not in a good way.

He might have been in his mid-fifties now, but we’d all heard stories of the man that single-handedly took down the entire lineage of the Quinn family, who used to rule over the underworld in London more than twenty years ago. People often joked that he was Satan himself, the darkness we should all be afraid of, and the way those cold eyes watched me, I understood why.

"It is nice to meet you," I answered, shaking his extended hand swiftly. I could hear Elias moving to the back of the car, opening the trunk and rolling my suitcase to me. "Thank you, Elias."

"Is there anything—" Elias started talking, when Andries interrupted.

"That will be all, Elias. Thank you for your service." Elias looked at me pointedly, nodding once as if he was trying to say something to me, but instead of saying anything I simply smiled, hoping he would never have to come back here, least of all for me. "Vega." Andries pulled my attention away from the car. "Follow me, please. It's already quite late and I'm sure you'll want to eat something and go to sleep. The trip here isn't exactly a pleasant one." You don't fucking say. "Here," he pushed the extra umbrella he had toward me, "this is for you."

The second I took the umbrella from him, he started walking toward the entrance to the building, uncaring if I was following or not. I mean, it wasn't like I had a choice, but man, he was fucking pissing me off.

My hand wrapped around the handle of my suitcase just as Elias turned on the ignition of the car, and before that more sensible part of me could talk me out of following Andries, I started walking, opening the umbrella as I went. Not that it would make any difference.

The wind kept slapping the rain all over me, and I had a feeling I was already drenched even though I'd spent mere seconds standing there without an umbrella.

The sound of the wheels of my suitcase broke through the cacophony of noises created by the wind, and before I could step through the doors where Andries went, a familiar feeling crept over my neck, lodging itself deep into the base of my skull.

Someone was watching me.

I stood there, unmoving, before I slowly turned around and looked at the dark forest behind us.

There was nothing there, nothing visible at least, but the longer I stood in front of the school, the harder it was getting to shake the uncomfortable feeling in my stomach. It was the same as… as when that stranger looked at me, but where his eyes made me feel like I was burning from the inside out, right now I was feeling as if I should run and never look back.

"Ms. Konstantinova!" Andries's voice boomed behind me. "If you don't mind." I turned around to see him at the entrance to the building. "We don't have the entire night. You can check out your surroundings tomorrow or, hell, any other day, but not tonight." Someone was definitely cranky, but I kept my mouth shut. There was no point in starting this with a fight with the dean, and besides, what was I supposed to say? That I could feel someone watching me?

Not gonna fly, that was for sure.

"Sorry," I mumbled, hating the word the moment it rolled off of my lips, and pushed myself forward, moving right next to him and into the warm foyer. "I guess I'm more tired than I thought I would be."

He huffed, rolling his eyes like a fucking child, but he didn't say another word before he started walking up the massive staircase located in the middle of the foyer. Signs were hanging on the walls, indicating where the offices were with the names of people I did not know yet, but I had a feeling that most of the faculty and staff resided here.

Andries all but ran up the stairs, and I looked down at the drenched umbrella in my hand. Well, if he could be a motherfucking dick the moment I arrived, then I guess he wouldn't mind getting his floor wet. I dropped the umbrella to the floor and started walking upstairs with my little suitcase in hand, but no matter how much I tried to focus on keeping to the story Alena and Heinrich had made up for me, I couldn't shake off the creepy feeling settling in my gut, because out there, someone was definitely watching me.

Andries was nowhere to be found when I climbed my way upstairs and I was thankful the same signs that were on the walls downstairs existed up here as well. Following it I was able to find his office within minutes, but judging by the harsh look he cast my way the moment I stepped through and into the white room, I was still too late.

"I don't appreciate tardiness, Ms. Konstantinova," he said, opening a file in front of him. "And I would appreciate it if you could temper that little trait of yours down." My hand twitched at my side, the urge to pull out the dagger I kept strapped to my thigh stronger than ever before.

But Alena's words rang in my head, and instead of attacking, which was always my first instinct, I pushed it down, nodding as I closed the door behind me. "It won't happen again, Mr. Andries."

"Jansen," he mumbled. "You may call me Dean Jansen. Have a seat." He pointed toward the two plushy sofa chairs in front of his table, and without another word, I left my suitcase by the door and walked toward them. "We were expecting you hours ago, but I guess that this is okay as well. Classes are starting tomorrow, so I'll make this swift. One of the students will come to take you to your dorm, and if you have any questions you can ask them. Unfortunately, you have missed the general assembly we had two days ago, on Friday, but I'm sure you'll manage." A snake-like smile spread over his face, and I had a feeling he was one of the snobs that thought only people who were from important families should be here.

I mean, he himself was from one of the said important families, so it didn't really surprise me that he had such a cold welcome toward me.

"Don't worry, Dean Jansen." I smiled as well, crossing my legs as I relaxed in the chair. "I am pretty resourceful. I'm sure I'll be able to figure out things even without the general assembly."

He bristled at my words, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly as he went through the documents in front of him, but he didn't say anything else.

Which was fine with me. After this trip I did not want to listen to yet another entitled motherfucker who thought the sun shone from his ass.

I could almost feel the warm water on my skin once I took my shower, and as if on cue, my stomach rumbled, reminding me that a shower wasn't the only thing I needed.

Andries looked up at me with an arched eyebrow, and with each passing second I started realizing why no one really liked this man. Don't get me wrong—I didn't exactly play well with a lot of other people, but Andries Jansen officially surpassed even my level of unfriendliness.

"You will find all the information about the Academy and your classes here," he said, handing over what looked like a booklet with a black cover and the golden emblem of the Academy. "The first class starts at seven in the morning," he said pointedly, almost waiting for me to groan at the fact that I would have to get up that early.

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