Chapter 11:

The door at the end of the long room swung open with a slight squeak, instantly catching both of our attentions, but it was just one of the field medics coming through to do night checks. Xavier was still completely at ease, barely even glancing up as the man started making his rounds, even as he started over towards us.

The more I've been around him, training with him, and even just watching how he conducted himself in our combat class, I could tell that even while he may look relaxed, those sharp eyes caught on every single little move the man made. The closer he came towards us, the more those eyes tracked and assessed him, even as his body stayed in that relaxed position. It only proved further just how lethal he actually was. The more I trained with him, the more I understood that he didn't need to look ready to strike. Xavier was just as capable of killing someone from the position he was currently in as he was in a full fighting stance.

I finally pulled my gaze from the gorgeous warrior beside my bed to look up at the man who was now mere feet from me. I couldn't help the reaction as I automatically recoiled, not even the amount of pain that pulsed through my whole body was enough to stop me from shoving myself as far up that bed as I could as those eyes met mine. I would know those eyes from anywhere as he came to stand at the foot of my bed. This must have been why he had left the village. Nova let out a low growl as she recognized him, instantly jumping up to wrap her small frame protectively around my neck, and causing Bane to let out a far more threatening growl from the foot of my bed. Bane stood then, thrashing his long tail from side to side as his wings flared in agitation. Bane's reaction had Xavier sitting up a little taller as he fully palmed the dagger in his hand, glaring up at the man who wasn't even paying any attention to the danger right in front of him. Jaxon Archer stood there, his lips pulled back into a menacing grin as his oily gaze slid over my body.

I saw him reach for me, apparently ignoring the obviously pissed-off dragon at the foot of my bed and the deadly warrior staring daggers at him. I curled in on myself further, gasping as another wave of pain ripped through my body. Bane snapped at his hand, causing Jaxon to pull back and glare at the dragon, who roared at him. "Don't touch me." I managed to stammer out as I tried to catch my breath through the pain. I couldn't help it as I started to tremble with a mixture of the pain currently wracking my body and all the horrible memories of those hands on me. That, however, apparently wasn't enough of a warning for him, and he started to reach for me again. I watched as Bane crouched, going very still as he prepared to actually attack him this time, but Xavier beat him to it. He moved so fast that I barely caught a flash of black from the corner of my eye before Jaxon was on the floor with that wickedly sharp blade poised at his throat. Xavier leaned down, whispering something to Jaxon that I couldn't hear, but whatever it was had Jaxon going entirely still under him. The moment Xavier moved off him, allowing him up, Jaxon all but ran from my bed.

I took a breath, attempting to calm my trembling body, but nothing was helping until Nova moved. She lay on my chest, laying her head against the side of my neck as she made a low rumbling, purring sound. She had always done it, every single time I got like this, and it took a moment, but slowly she soothed me down. I was finally able to relax back down a little, leaning back against my pillow, but Bane and Xavier were both just watching us now. Xavier had come back over and reclaimed his seat, but I did notice that he still looked like his whole body was strung tight.

"Who was that?" Xavier asked in an almost gentle tone as I finally calmed down enough that Nova moved off to my side and Bane came up beside her, lying against her.

I took another breath, trying to think of exactly what I wanted to tell him. I didn't know what it was, but something about how he was looking at me right now had me wanting to tell him the whole story. Those eyes almost frantically took in every aspect of my body, starting with the searing wound on the side of my neck before finally settling on mine. Although I didn't miss the flicker of something that almost looked like fear as it passed through those emerald depths. I wasn't prepared for how that look made me feel, though. Something about how he had just checked over me made me feel surprisingly... safe... like he would actually protect me from Jaxon, more than he had just done. But since when had I ever felt safe around Xavier? "He's from my old village. His name is Jaxon Archer." His eyes narrowed on me like he knew for a fact that I wasn't telling the whole story.

"Okay, let me rephrase that. Why were you so terrified of him that you were moments away from having a panic attack? You've never acted like that before here. Hell, when I told you people were literally going to be hunting you, you practically told me to fuck off, and I'm one of the scariest people in this place, Ari. So cut the bullshit, and give it to me straight so that I know how to proceed from here."

I looked away from him for a long moment, but I couldn't deny that he was right. He deserved to know what he just saved me from, but it was hard to find the words to describe what all happened without just straight-up throwing my heart at his feet. "I...I guess you could say that he's kinda my ex, but I never actually got a choice in that relationship to begin with... So I don't know if it really counts. Every time I tried to get away from him, things just got worse until he finally moved away. I guess to come here." I tried to explain it in the simplest of terms. The last thing I wanted to do was go into all the details of how he would beat me, or worse. I couldn't even look at him as I told him that much. After how hard I've worked to be different here, I didn't want to see the disappointment on his gorgeous face when he realized that I wasn't nearly as strong as I've been trying to be.

When he didn't answer for a long moment, I finally looked up at him, only to see those eyes studying me as if he had never seen me before. A moment later, that gaze snapped to Bane, who sat up as Xavier gave him an unreadable look. Bane, however, made something of a chuffing sound before jumping from the bed up onto Xavier's shoulders, wrapping himself around him in something of a comforting gesture. I just watched their reactions in pure shock before Nova rubbed her cheek against mine, catching my attention once more.

'Do you happen to know what's going on there?' I asked her as she lay her head over my neck, careful of my wound as she nestled in against me.

'He's stopping Xavier from hunting Jaxon down. I heard him tell Xavier that leaving you unguarded was unwise before he blocked me from their conversation. Although, with how tense Xavier got after you told him that, I can only imagine what was actually said between them.' I looked up at Xavier once more as he took a breath, but he still looked just as tense as a moment ago. Bane looked towards me, and I saw a spark of something in those golden eyes as they shifted from me to Nova. Bane asked me to ask you to touch Xavier. I wasn't expecting a request like that, and couldn't help but think it was a little odd, but I didn't want to deny it. Not when Bane thought it would help with whatever was going on with Xavier right now, so I listened.

Slowly, I reached out, lightly resting my hand on his forearm. He was so tense that the muscles twitched under my touch, causing me to take in a sharp breath as I looked up at him. I hadn't realized he was this tense, but with a hand on him, I could feel that his entire body was coiled to strike. I should have guessed, considering Bane's reaction, but to actually feel it was something entirely different. However, just as quickly as I had felt it, it seemed to melt away as he glanced down at my hand. I didn't miss the slight widening of those eyes as he looked at my hand, but it fell away the second he looked up at me.

"Are you okay?" I asked, watching as he slowly relaxed once more and nodded to me.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you or anything." He whispered, and I couldn't help but to gawk at him for a moment. Since when did he care if he scared me? "It's just that, in my book, people like that don't deserve to continue existing. If I had known that beforehand, he wouldn't have walked away."

"Well, the next time he comes around, I wouldn't be opposed to him not existing anymore," I whispered back, and he gave me a wicked grin that had my heart skipping a beat. It was so royally unfair, he didn't even have to try to be hot as hell; he just was, and honestly, I was a little jealous.

"While I would gladly take another piece of shit out of this world, I'm not the one he wronged. Therefore, unless he comes back here while you're out, then that one is your kill if you want it. Now, don't get me wrong, I would gladly hold him down for you, but I wouldn't take that from you unless he gave me a good reason to do so." I couldn't help the tip of my lips as I grinned at him. It definitely wasn't a normal thing to say, but it was honestly more of a choice than anyone else had ever actually given me, and that meant far more to me than he would ever know. Sure, it was crude, and maybe a little morbid, but we were also at a military academy where murder was an almost weekly occurrence. In the grand scheme of things, it was actually almost sweet, coming from him at least.

I ended up just talking to him for a bit, and it was rather nice to actually have a conversation that didn't end with me wanting to punch him in his perfect face. I don't remember when my hand had slid down and entwined itself in his, or when I ended up falling asleep once more, but I do know that I was actually genuinely happy as I drifted off.