Page 39 of Toward Immortal Ruin

Nero looked suspicious, but his concern was wiped away when he seized her hand. “I’m stealing you away, professor. My most sincere apologies, Key.”

“And what about Luna? Shouldn’t you be apologizing to her, too?”

“Nope,” he said, putting his nose in the air. “Luna assaulted you with a deadly weapon. I’m snubbing her.”

“Luna is innocent!”

“Only until proven guilty,” Nero finished, unrepentant.

Eden rolled her eyes. “Bye, ladies.”

“Do have fun, new friend!”

He tucked Eden into his side. “Hungry?”

The man was always trying to feed her. “Actually, I keep smelling blueberry pie, and gosh darn it, now I want some! It has to be around here somewhere.”

One of Nero’s dark eyebrows rose. “When I was walking in, I saw one of the women across the way serving one during a picnic.Thatblueberry pie?”

“Oh. Huh. Maybe someone brought a slice closer by.”

Linking his arm through hers, he pulled her out into the sunshine. While her headache had started to recede, the bright sun’s rays made her eyes water.

“Bright out here.”

“Should we go back to the house?”

There was a thread of uncertainty in Nero’s voice now, a hesitation. If she didn’t know better, she would’ve said it was nervousness. Shrugging off the thought, she nodded and blinked against the sun.

“Sounds good. Maybe I can makeyousomething to eat.”

“Nah, I’ve got it.”

Nero’s genial smile was all she needed to see. By the time they got back inside the chilled home, Eden was starving, happily watching as Nero shoved aside several notebooks before gathering ingredients for blueberry pieandFrench toast. He made quick work of the batter before putting a few slices on the griddle and moving on to the pie.

“So, professor Hawthorne,” Nero began, his eyes making eye contact across the island briefly, before going back to his work, “do you have any other lectures do you have stored up in that brilliant mind?”

“Oh, I can’t even count how many. One for every occasion.” Enthusiasm bubbled inside her. “Shifters and Lycanthropy: A Field Guide to Weres; Half A Dozen Men: The Rise of the Reverse Harem Romantasy; Supernatural Shows: A Study of Paranormal Television. Those aren’t particularly heavy on the Gothic literature side, but they’re what many audiences are looking for.”

“Do I even want to know what a reverse harem is?”

She snorted. “I’ll spare you.”

“Appreciated.”

“I’ve been hooked ever since I was a little girl and began reading about vampires in really cheesy Young Adult novels. I’ve always been fascinated with the lore, so making it my field of study seemed obvious.”

“Vampires, huh?”

“Don’t make fun, Nero.” Smirking, Eden sat up straighter in her chair and adopted a holier-than-thou posture. “Vampire fiction is one of the most widely read and celebrated paranormal genres.”

“Really?”

Eden softened at the genuine interest in Nero’s voice, urging her to continue. “Yes! And while vampires are my original love, there’s plenty of room in my heart for werewolves, ghosts and reanimated monsters. Fae are my latest obsession.”

“Equal opportunity, huh?”

Nero expertly flipped the French toast over to the other side, the cinnamon bread a perfect shade of golden brown. Her mouth watered just looking at it.

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