Chapter 12:

It took me a few days for the venom to actually dissipate enough for me to be able to get out of bed. Luckily, Jaxon never came back after the first time, and no one tried to bother me since I had woken up, but either way, Xavier left Bane with me throughout the day. Lexi and Genie ended up coming to visit pretty much every day after classes, bringing their dinner in so they could eat with me, and catch me up on everything that's been happening in our classes. Generally, they ended up leaving after helping me work on some of the classwork they brought for me, not being able to stay too late, with having classes in the morning. Xavier, however, surprised me; he came back every night. Normally, he would come in around eight or nine before spending the entire night beside me. It was far more than I was expecting from him, but I was so grateful for it. While I felt bad about the fact that he was actually sleeping there, it couldn't have been comfortable, but I really didn't want him to stop either. I actually felt safe with him there of a night. I wasn't scared of who might show up or anything as long as he was there.

When I was finally able to get out of bed, they discharged me and sent me back to classes. It was rough to say the least. Every single part of me felt too heavy, and it took far too much energy to do the simplest of tasks. I ended up almost passing out in combat as we were working through different combinations and had to sit on the mats as I watched Lexi work through the different sets. Xavier hadn't said anything, though, and I couldn't justify skipping out on him as long as I could make it there.

After barely eating dinner, I reluctantly made my way back towards the gym. I leaned against the heavy doors, having to use far too much energy just to open the heavy door. Xavier was standing in the center of the mats and raised an eyebrow as I staggered in, letting the door fall shut behind me. He held a dagger in his hand, flipping the blade with a flick of his wrist, he caught the tip between his finger and thumb before flicking it at the target behind him. The hit landed without him so much as glancing back at the target. The solid thunk of the blade burying itself into the eye of the dummy, as the hilt of his blade vibrated with the force behind that throw, had my eyes quickly going back to his, only to find them simmering with anger. It should have been a terrifying sight, but why did I find it so damn sexy? "Why did you come here?" He questioned, and I just looked up at him in pure shock. What did he mean by that?

"We always practice of a night. Why wouldn't I come here?" I asked as I leaned back against the wall for support, but those eyes only hardened as they narrowed on me now. My body felt like it had already gone ten rounds with him, and my head was currently pounding, making this interaction that much harder at the moment.

"You look like hell." He threw another dagger, effectively punctuating his statement, and I rolled my eyes.

"Thank you, because I didn't already know that." I sighed... I didn't have the energy for his mood swings tonight.

"You obviously didn't understand it, considering you're here, even after you almost passed out in combat today. Now what are you doing here?" He threw his last dagger before crossing his arms over his wide chest. Was he seriously pissed at me just because I wasn't about to just not show up when he's the one who hadn't said anything to me today?

"You didn't say anything in combat, so I assumed you still wanted to train or something. Even though you tend to be an ass about it, you're still at least decent enough to help me. So, forgive me for not wanting to assume anything and just not show up."

He sighed, looking up at the ceiling like I was the problem here. "I didn't say anything because I assumed you knew your own limits." He ran a hand over his face and muttered something about stubborn women under his breath before those hard eyes were back on me. "Fucking sit, Ari, you're in no condition to even think about training tonight. Hell, you're barely in any condition to even walk. The only reason I was here was because I stayed after my sparring session to work on my throwing a bit. I was leaving after that set." He pointed at the target that had ten of the daggers he carried protruding from it as his eyes narrowed on me once more. He raised an eyebrow, looking pointedly from me to the floor at my feet. I rolled my eyes, but gave in, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor before he turned, walking over towards the target. He pulled all of his daggers out before going over to the bench that held his swords. "I guess this works, though, considering I was going to have to come find you to talk anyway." I just looked up at him as he sheathed his last dagger and picked up his swords, slinging the straps both over one shoulder like they weighed nothing as he picked up a smaller set from under them before walking over towards me. "They gave me orders to go to the front line for a few days." My eyes went wide as I watched him drop everything once more before sitting on the mats in front of me.

"But what about Bane and Nova?" I asked as he just looked at me for a moment.

"You're coming with me." I blinked several times, trying to make sure I had just heard him correctly. There's no way I would survive even a single day on the front lines. "Obviously, as a student, you're not going to actually be fighting there. You'll just be helping out with some of the camp chores."

I let out the breath I had been holding as I nodded to him. "When do we have to leave?"

"Saturday, and we won't be back until next Sunday, if all goes well. Have they given you your armor yet?"

"No, not yet."

"I'll check with them in the morning and put in an order for some winter gear for you, too."

"Thank you. Where are you being sent to?" I asked as he leaned back slightly, and I started to relax back against the wall, letting it take some of the pressure off my battered body.

"Directly to the center of the line." I'm sure my eyebrows joined my hairline at that. Sure, he was obviously a seriously good warrior, but to send him directly from here to the bloodiest part of the war seemed a little much, even for him, and especially for him to be bringing me with him.

"They're sending you to the worst part of the front lines?" I asked, and he just nodded to me, raising an eyebrow like this wasn't a big deal.

"It's not like it's the first time I've been there." That made me blink once more. Here I thought this was his first year out of the academy. I mean, it's not like he looked any older than any of the other students here.

"So this isn't your first year out of the academy?"

"No, this is my second year out and second year assisting here, although last year I spent more time on the front than I ever did here. This year, though, they're not going to be able to do that as much, considering that you're here." Well, that explained a lot more about how he acted. Everyone's heard the rumors about the camps at the center of the front line. They were known to be absolutely ruthless compared to any of the others, not to mention that they were the ones who saw the largest amount of actual fighting.

"There must be something major going on then."

"They didn't give me all the details, only that we have to go there." I just nodded, and he moved, pushing up from the mats before reaching a hand between us. I didn't hesitate in taking it, giving him a soft smile of appreciation as he helped me to my feet before reaching back down to grab his things. "Let's go." He gave a nod towards the door, and I looked up at him for a moment. He never followed me out, but to be fair, I never really waited around for him either.

I raised an eyebrow at him, but he just mirrored my expression before looking pointedly towards the door. Rather than dwelling on it, I just moved, considering my legs felt like they might just collapse under me at any moment. He followed me to the door before quickly moving around me to hold it open for me to walk out. I honestly wasn't expecting the genuinely nice gesture from him, but I thanked him anyway before turning the corner to head back towards the main hall.

It was a little odd, but at the same time, he had said that he was leaving after that set too, and while I didn't know exactly where his room was, it wasn't a stretch to think he probably had to go back through the main hall too. Although when I turned to start up the stairs that only led up to the dorms, I couldn't help but to question him.

"Hold up, is Xavier Knight walking me back to my room?" I asked, raising an eyebrow in question as I turned to look at him from where I was standing on the first step of the staircase. I still had to look up at the man as he placed a hand on the railing of the stairs, blocking the entrance entirely with his large frame.

"If by walking you back you mean making sure you don't fall over and crack your skull open while you can barely put one fucking foot in front of the other, then yes." On any other day, I probably would have had some snarky remark back, but today, I just simply didn't have the energy for it. Instead, I just turned and focused on the task of dragging myself up the stairs, but even with the snarky remarks, I still couldn't help but to smile to myself a little just because it had to mean something that he cared enough to watch over me.

When we had finally made it up to my room, I was honestly glad he had followed. He actually had to catch me once as we made our way up the stairs, and then again in the hallway when I stumbled over my own two feet. Luckily, everyone else was already in their rooms, probably working on the whole slew of assignments that were given out the second our classes were all combined. Lexi and Genie had been nice enough to collect them all for me and were helping me through them, but I knew that I wouldn't be getting anything else done tonight.

He stopped me just as I was about to grasp the handle of my door, taking hold of my wrist and drawing my attention back to him once more as I raised an eyebrow at him in question. "Here," he pushed the two smaller short swords he had been carrying into my hands, and for the second time tonight, I could have sworn my eyebrows actually became part of my hairline for a moment. "They're special made, extremely lightweight blades meant for speed more than anything else. They're not going to pierce through any heavy armor, but if you know where to strike, they'll still do far better than any knife."

I was honestly stunned for a moment as I just looked up at him. Since when did he give me things? Especially something like this. Was he feeling okay? "Thank you... I really appreciate it," I whispered, a little more than dumbfounded as I quickly glanced over the blades. They were nothing fancy, but he was right, they were extremely lightweight. Normally, I wouldn't even be able to lift a normal sword, but I could carry both of these no problem.

"You're welcome, now go to bed, and don't show up like that again unless you're actually up for training. Next time, I won't be so nice." I couldn't help the grin that spread across my lips, even as he turned on his heel, totally dismissing me as he started back down the hall. Something about how he was acting tonight was so different from how he's been up to this point. Even all of his sharp-tongued remarks seemed far less sharp tonight, almost bordering the line of teasing rather than actually trying to cut into me. Shaking my head, I turned back towards my door just as Nova landed on my shoulders.