Xander had no idea how long he had been in the study. Time had slipped past him unnoticed, buried beneath files and thoughts he could not quite silence. When he finally decided to return, his steps were steady at first, but they slowed as he reached the hallway. His gaze drifted, almost against his will, toward Ivy's room.
He paused.
Ever since the day she had walked into his office, she had unsettled something in him. It was not trust, and it was certainly not acceptance. If anything, it was suspicion sharpened by instinct. Yet the more he tried to understand her, the less certain he became. She did not fit into any pattern he knew, and that alone made her dangerous.
And intriguing.
Xander stood there for a moment longer, then, as if pulled by something he refused to name, he found himself walking toward her door.
