Blood of Zeus (Blood of Zeus #1) - Meredith Wild Page 0,53

resentful about having to admit that fact. We’ve always been so different, and I fear that will never change.

Just like that, the edges in his tone mellow into a softer cadence. “You do still have so much of your humanity.” That tone even takes on a hint of awe—one I find as troubling as his confrontational side. He doesn’t help by gliding the backs of his fingers down my bare arm, following the motion with an appreciative gaze over the rest of me. “I have to say, you wear it almost as beautifully as you wear this dress.”

“Kara.”

My senses don’t need a single second to react. The deep timbre of Maximus’s voice sends me back a full step away from Arden and his weird touch. One glance up at the towering man, proud and gorgeous in his all-black tuxedo, has my breath catching. But what really has me reeling is the equally dark look in his eyes.

“Maximus.” I clear my throat and quickly correct the blunder. “I mean… This is Professor Maximus Kane. He’s my instructor for—”

“And you are?” Maximus cuts off the rest of my introduction and squares his body with Arden, who’s tall and lean but a fraction of the professor in stature.

After they size each other up for a long, tense moment, Arden extends his hand.

“Arden Prieto,” he answers coolly. “A friend.”

“A friend,” Maximus repeats, like the words have a bitter taste.

I open my mouth to explain, but I’m momentarily lost for a better way to explain Arden’s presence here tonight. He’s a demon fine arts broker with a weakness for humanity, it would seem, but none of that sounds sane.

Maximus pivots back to me, so many questions swimming in his gaze. “You didn’t turn in your term paper proposal.”

My jaw unhinges again while my brain tries to catch up. Because I definitely did turn it in, and my first defensive instinct is to say so.

But that’s not what this is really about.

“Oh wow.” I laugh nervously, rushing to play along. “I can’t believe I forgot. I was so focused on getting ready for tonight, it must have slipped my mind.”

“No worries,” he replies tightly, like pretending to go easy on me is painful for him right now. “You’re not the only one who got caught up in the excitement, so I’m extending the deadline a bit.”

“Thank you, Professor.”

Maximus answers with a soft grunt. “You can drop it by tomorrow. You know where to find me.”

“Of course. Thank you again.”

Without any other acknowledgment, he faces Arden once more. “Pleasure to meet you. Sorry for the intrusion.”

Before Arden can reply, Maximus pivots and makes his way out of the courtyard. I watch every move he makes, unsure whether to be thankful or wrathful. Is he really leaving like this? Without another word?

Not that I’d hear him anyway. The crowd begins to clap loudly over my mother’s final utterings of gushy gratitude into the mic.

“We should go rescue her,” Arden says. “They’ll have her standing for photos for hours with this many people.”

“She has a way of gracefully exiting when she wants to.”

Speaking of…

“If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to let our drivers know she’ll be ready soon. She probably won’t be staying much longer.”

He eyes me carefully, like maybe he knows I’m hiding something. Or even worse, lying through my teeth. “When can we meet to discuss the acquisitions for Veronica?”

I stifle the frustrated sigh that wants to break free.

“Dinner Friday?” he offers.

I don’t give myself a moment to mentally draw up my calendar. All I care about right now is how the distance between Maximus and me is growing by the second.

“Sounds perfect.” I force a smile to smooth the air—and my departure. “Text me the details.”

Without a backward glance, I turn and follow Maximus’s exit from the party. The crowd thins the farther I get from the heart of the event, but Maximus is nowhere to be found.

“Damn it,” I rasp. I’ve lost him.

Stepping out to the library’s front entrance, I chance a look at the adjacent building. The windows are all dark in Archer, save one that’s dimly lit and achingly familiar. On the fourth floor.

By the time I scale the stairs and reach Maximus’s office, I’m breathless but hopeful. The door is cracked when I arrive. Through it I can see him, one hand pressed high on the window, the other clutching a glass of amber liquid.

As I push the door open, its soft creak hits the building’s silence like a lightning crack. Maximus