Chapter 11

The next couple of weeks passed by in a blur. The feeling of being watched had only gotten worse. I quickly noticed a pattern of when I felt the unseen eyes, and weirdly enough, it was only at night, especially when I was outside. When I was in my dorm, I never felt it. As a result, I made sure that I was outside at night as little as possible, and yes, I realized the irony that Cassius had warned me against the same thing. But he’d only done that as some sort of way to assert his dominance over me, not because he thought I was in danger.

Speaking of him, I only caught sight of him across campus—I told myself it was a good thing, but I couldn’t stop from feeling disappointed. While I might not have interacted with Cassius, the same couldn’t be said for his friends.

Now that I sort of met them, I saw them all the fucking time, and unlike when I saw them on campus before, they spoke to me. They weren’t long or detailed conversations, but they always made sure to say hi. The first few times, I rolled my eyes and wasn’t as polite as I should’ve been, but over time they grew on me.

One thing I noticed right away was they had stopped with the pet names for the most part. The auburn-haired friend still called me sweetheart, but it felt harmless. I didn’t get the impression any of them were flirting with me as they’d been at the diner, which was strange but a relief.

I was walking home on a Saturday night from the library. I hadn’t meant to stay out until midnight, but time had gotten away from me as I worked on my research paper, and the next thing I knew, the library was almost empty. So here I was, walking alone in the dark, holding my pepper spray in a death grip.

My entire body was tightly coiled, ready to jump at every shadow. It was probably my imagination, but it seemed like the lights lining the sidewalks were dimmer tonight, giving off an ominous air. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as my heart raced. My pace picked up to a half walk, half jog as I mentally kicked myself for being out so late. The library and my dorm were across campus from each other, which wasn’t helping my fears.

I swore I’d been paying close attention, but that must’ve not been the case since I hadn’t heard someone coming up behind me. They grabbed my arm in an outrageously tight hold that I knew would leave bruises and jerked me to a stop as they spun me around to face them. I slammed into a hard chest and looked up to find an unfamiliar man with pale skin and dark hair.

My head felt fuzzy as a nearly sickly sweet smell filled my senses, allowing him to pull me off the sidewalk and onto the grass. The darkness engulfed us and had my fight-or-flight instincts going wild. When he dipped his head to smell my neck, I finally jerked out of the haze I’d somehow entered and jerked my knee up to hit him in the junk. His eyes closed as he grunted, but his grip didn’t ease. What the hell was he, a terminator?

“I should’ve known you’d be feisty; your type usually are,” he whispered, his tone laced with sinister intentions.

My hand shook as I adjusted my hold on my pepper spray, closed my eyes, and held my breath, spraying him in the face.

His scream was blood-curdling as he released me and clutched his face. I could’ve sworn I heard sizzling, but I must’ve misheard. That wasn’t how pepper spray worked. “You fucking bitch. I’ll rip out your fucking throat.”

His threat sent shivers racing through my body. What the fuck? That wasn’t a usual threat men made to women.

As he screamed and swore at me, I continued backing away from him, terrified at the thought of putting my back to him. I was over ten feet away when someone plowed into him. I hadn’t heard anyone approaching, but then again, I’d been too focused on the man before me.

They were brutal in their attack from what I could faintly see and hear, laying into my attacker with a ferocity that terrified me.

Just because they were going after the man and not me, it didn’t make me feel safe with this new person in the mix. My internal alarm bells were blaring and screaming for me to get the hell out of here.

As I had that thought, their fight briefly moved into the light of a nearby lamp, and I caught sight of Ezra.

My steps had halted once he showed up, but once I saw his face and his furious expression, I took off. He may have pulled my attacker’s attention off of me, but he was no savior. Every instinct in my body screamed at me that he was more dangerous. I’d been terrified when that other man grabbed me—there was no denying it—but my fears had doubled the moment Ezra showed up, even before I saw his face. It was like my body recognized him before I could.

After I saw the brutality at which he fought and heard the almost inhuman sounds he made, I knew my instincts weren’t wrong this time. What if he decided to turn that rage onto me? I couldn’t trust him not to do that, which was why I needed to get the fuck away from him.

The sounds of their fight grew fainter as I sprinted away, but I didn’t slow down. I was halfway across campus, panting and glancing behind me, when I slammed into a hard chest. They caught my upper arms, stopping me from falling backward. I automatically raised my hand, ready to spray them in their eyes when I saw their face. It was Cassius’ friend, the one with shoulder-length blonde hair. My body sagged in relief as I dropped my shaking hand.

None of his usual humor could be found in his expression as he gave me a once-over. “Are you alright?”

I opened and closed my mouth, unable to lie and tell him I was okay. His dark eyes dropped to my upper arm just above my elbow, where a red mark in the shape of a handprint peeked from beneath my sleeve. His hold on me remained gentle, but I could feel the tension running through his body.

“Were you attacked?” I still couldn’t speak, so I nodded. “Are you hurt?”

I shook my head as I struggled to swallow. “No, I sprayed them before they could do anything.”

He took the pepper spray from me, giving my aching hand a break. I hadn’t realized how tightly I’d been holding it. “This is a good brand for you to have,” he said quietly as if he was talking to himself. I didn’t know how to take that comment, but before I could think about it for too long, he continued speaking. “Did he try following you afterward?” His focus flicked over my shoulder as if he was expecting my attacker to appear.

“No.” I paused to clear my throat as panic built in my chest at the thought of Ezra. “Someone else attacked him, and I ran.”

He wanted to ask more questions. His expression said it all, but he held them back, realizing I wasn’t in the state of mind to talk about this. “Come on, let’s get out of here, just in case he’s persistent.”

When he guided me down a sidewalk that didn’t lead to my dorm, I looked up at him. “Where are you taking me?”

He didn’t slow down as he continued guiding me down the path. All the while, he kept watching the surrounding shadows and darkness. “I’m taking you to the police station. You were just attacked, Rhea. This needs to be reported.”

That was the last thing I wanted. “It wasn’t that bad; all they did was scare me, nothing else. This is unnecessary.”

“Too fucking bad, we’re reporting it. Don’t worry, I have a friend in the department. He’ll make the process easy for you.” Based on his tone, I knew there was no changing his mind. So unless I wanted to turn around and walk alone—which was unappealing—my only other option was to follow him.

He led me to a black truck, one of the few vehicles in the parking lot, opening my door and giving me a boost so I could get into his tall-ass truck. I watched him through the windshield as he pulled out his phone and called someone. The call wasn’t too long, lasting under a minute, but my curiosity was still piqued nonetheless. “Who’d you call?” I asked once he was seated in the driver’s seat.

At first, I thought he wouldn’t answer as he buckled his seat belt and pulled out of the parking lot. “Cass,” he finally said almost a minute later. I jerked in my seat, both because he answered my question and because Cassius was the first person he called.

“Why?”

“Why were you walking around campus so late at night?” He asked, blatantly changing the subject.

“Are you seriously about to lecture me about walking alone?” I shifted in my seat to face him, preparing for him to tell me not to be walking around alone at night. Even though he’d be right to do so, I still chafed at the thought of being told what I could or couldn’t do.

His lips twitched as he kept his focus on the road. “It’s just a little late to be wandering around alone.”

“The same could be said for you,” I shot back, grasping for anything to avoid a lecture. I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow expectantly, even though he couldn’t see it. “Why were you wandering around so late?”

He let out a short chuckle, which I hadn’t been expecting. “I was leaving a girl’s room.”

I snorted, having not expected that, but it tracked from what I witnessed from him. He seemed like the player type.

“I told you mine; it’s only fair that you tell me yours.”

Dammit. He had me. In all honesty, I hadn’t expected an answer. I thought he’d blow me off or change the subject again. “I was coming from the library. I lost track of time working on a research paper.”

“I never would’ve had you pegged for the type to do homework on a Saturday night. Not after I saw you at that frat party,” he said with a chuckle that only grew when I groaned and dropped my face in my hands.

“Fucking jungle juice,” I muttered, my voice muffled by my hands. He laughed again, and I had the urge to smack him.

We lapsed into silence as he drove to the Sheriff’s station across town, and try as I might, I couldn’t stop myself from asking about Cassius. “How long have you guys been friends?” Even though I didn’t say Cassius’s name, he knew I was talking about him.

Traces of amusement lined his features. Shit. I gave away too much, didn’t I?

“We’ve been friends since we were teenagers.”

So after he moved and ghosted me, not that I said this. He probably didn’t even know that Cassius knew me from before.

As we neared the station, a thought came to me. “I just realized I’ve never learned your name.”

“Leon, but please, don’t ever call me Leo.”

I gave him a once over with his name in mind, noting how his blonde hair contrasted against his light brown skin, and I found that the name suited him. “I guess I don’t need to tell you my name since you already know it,” I muttered, not knowing what else to say to him.

His chuckle was light as he pulled into the parking lot. “Oh, I know all about you.”

Wait… “He told you about me?”

Leon put the car in park and turned to face me. “Yes. Years ago.”