His gaze darkened.
“It certainly didn’t take long for you to become just like the others,” he said, icily.
“Who?”
“Madalynn and the others. Distinguishing between us and them.”
He shook his head and I was filled with the sense that I’d disappointed him.
“I expected more from you than that, Jaden,” he said.
My heart stuttered a little as I realized how much his obvious disappointment saddened me. He looked toward Shaylee. She was walking back to the table.
“Just keep those skills of yours ready for action,” he whispered before standing and walking out of the Dining Hall with Shaylee.
***
I spent the day sleeping and didn’t even make it to dinner. When I finally woke up, I rolled over to see that Shaylee was sound asleep. I stretched and prepared myself for another long night of boredom.
I sat up and grabbed a book off of my nightstand. I fumbled around before finding a book light. I turned it on and settled in, pleased that I’d at least grabbed an interesting book and not a textbook.
I read for hours, getting distracted only once when Shaylee started crying out in her sleep. I debated waking her, but decided against it. I put the book away about an hour before dawn, deciding to try and sleep some so my schedule wouldn’t be too off.
Instead of waking up with Shaylee, I somehow managed to sleep until one in the afternoon. I cursed when I saw the clock and jumped out of bed. I hopped in the shower and got dressed in a hurry, before realizing that I had no idea where Shaylee was. I picked up the book I’d been reading all night and sat down on the futon. I was tired of reading, but I needed to kill time until dinner.
When the time for dinner finally arrived, I was starving. I massaged my neck as I walked down to the Dining Hall. I’d mostly finished the book, if I was going to stay up all night again, I needed to find a different book to read.
I sat down at our table; surprised to see they weren’t already there. I watched them walk in. They were both laughing. With jealousy, I thought about how much fun they must have had without me.
“Glad to see you’re finally awake,” Shaylee said when she sat down at the table.
“Yeah. One night without sleep really did a number on me,” I replied. “Did you guys have a fun day?”
“We went to town. Mostly we spent time in that old bookshop browsing for hidden gems. It’s really too bad it’s such a small town. We would have more luck in a city I think,” she said, obviously having enjoyed her day.
“That sounds like it was a lot of fun,” I told her, trying to push aside my lingering jealousy. “If you guys want to hang out own your own after dinner, I can just go back to the room.”
“I was actually thinking we could all watch a movie,” Shaylee said.
Her cheeks were a little flushed and she avoided meeting my gaze. It was obvious that she felt guilty about all the time she’d been spending with Aaron while I was asleep. Although, I was feeling left out, I knew I shouldn’t blame her for wanting to spend time with people other than me.
My discomfort about Aaron was separate issue. I still couldn’t understand why he was interested in Shaylee at all. I doubted I’d feel any easier about it until I got to the bottom of why he was even at our school.
“A movie sounds good to me,” Aaron chimed in, drawing me out of my inner thoughts.
“Yeah, okay,” I added.
“Excellent,” Shaylee said, happily.
We finished our meals and headed back to the dorms. After only about forty-five minutes, Shaylee was deeply asleep, her head resting on Aaron’s shoulder; the slow pace of the film not being enough to keep her awake.
“I know it’s been hard for you, but I do appreciate you trusting me,” Aaron said, quietly.
“It’s not like I really have a choice,” I replied.
“Of course, you have a choice. If you really wanted to get rid of me all you’d have to do is call the Council and report me.”
I stared at him, shocked.
“I think I have a little more sense than to call the Council on you…even if I don’t understand your interest in me or your relationship with Shaylee,” I scoffed. “Besides, like I said before, you haven’t given me a reason not to trust you.”
“Things are about to get very dangerous,” Aaron said. “They’re already dangerous. You’re the last descendant of the Anders family. That makes you the most powerful Warrior within a hundred miles and you happen to care about the reason I’m here.”
“Wow. That explains everything,” I said, sarcastically. “The time for riddles is over. Why are you here? What do you want with me? What’s your interest in Shaylee?”
“You aren’t going to let this go are you?” he asked, clearly already knowing the answer.
“No, I’m not.”
He nodded once and carefully stood. He picked up Shaylee with ease and carried her to her bed. He placed her on top and meticulously pulled the covers over her. It took a lot of effort for me to hold in a gasp of surprise when he bent down and kissed her forehead.
“Follow me,” he whispered and walked out the door.
I expected him to take me to his room, but instead he led me across the campus to the Faculty apartment building. Andrew let us into his apartment without so much as a curious glance. I sat down on the sofa and waited for the truth.
Chapter 10
Shaylee
I sat up. I knew I was in bed and that the hands on me were Jaden’s, but the room swirled around me as I fought to regain reality. I shook uncontrollably and I could feel the sweat covering my body. Flashes of my dream still clung, but were fading as I tried to catch my
