Chapter 17

That night, I finally told Addie and Sel about the attack, and they both freaked out. They instantly began fussing over me, asking if I was injured or needed anything as they apologized over and over for not being home for me last night.

Sel freaked out for a second time when I told her I’d stayed the night at Cassius’. She was practically bouncing on the sofa in her excitement as she expectantly stared at me. “Please tell me you slept with him.”

When I hesitated, she got even more excited and demanded details. As we ate, I answered Sel’s many, many questions. I even told them about the encounter with Ezra, although I left out the voices and the shrill sound.

The next day was relatively uneventful. I bumped into a few of Cassius’ friends at lunch, including Leon, and I quickly discovered two of them were also Cassius’ roommates. It was easy to figure out, what with them giving me shit for how loud I’d been. The one with auburn hair—I really needed to learn these fucker’s names—thought it was hilarious how I’d snuck out. He said he wished he’d been awake to see it and Cassius’ reaction. I was never going to live either of these things down.

It was a good thing I wasn’t the type to blush, otherwise my face would’ve been bright red.

As the day wore on and my mythology class neared, nervousness flooded my body. I kept going back and forth on whether I should go to class. If I was somehow right about him putting thoughts in my head, I didn’t want to give him another chance to scramble my brain. Then, there was the fact he was becoming more and more bold in approaching me. But if I didn’t go, he’d know he bothered me, and I was afraid of him, giving him more power over me.

In the end, my stubbornness in not showing fear won out, and I headed toward class. I barely got there in time, but to my relief, my new friends saved me a seat. As I got situated, I didn’t glance at the back corner where Ezra usually sat and instead focused on the teacher.

This class was different from all the others—not when it came to the random thoughts, I still had those—and it took me nearly half the class to realize it. I’d felt nervous and anxious all of class, but I didn’t feel the uncomfortable, prickling sensation of being watched.

As subtle as I could, I peeked behind me toward the back corner, looking for Ezra, but he wasn’t there.

Well, there went my theory about him having powers.

While a sense of relief filled my body at not having to worry about running into him, I still couldn’t relax.

Since he wasn’t here, when class ended, I didn’t immediately rush out, nor had I been paying attention as I crossed the front of the lecture hall. “Hello, Rhea. I’m glad we finally have the chance to talk—alone.”

Letting out a gasp mixed with a small scream, I jumped and clutched my chest. My heart hammered against my chest like it was trying to break free as I spun to face the seats at the front of the class. Ezra stood up from the seat at the end of the row, a smug smirk firmly in place. I could fucking kick myself right now. Why hadn’t I considered he might’ve switched spots? Who the hell did that shit? Did he only do so to lure me into a false sense of security?

Rather than engage with him and give him what he wanted, I picked up my pace and headed for the door. Maybe I could pretend to get a phone call. As I came up with possible escape routes, Ezra easily caught up to me and grabbed my arm, jerking me to a stop before I could leave.

My gaze darted around the lecture hall, but to my dismay, we were the only ones left.

I took a step back, trying to jerk my arm out of his hold, but his grip didn’t budge. “Let me go, you asshole.”

His smirk only grew as my stomach pitched. He’s so handsome when he smiles. Ezra will be able to treat me so much better than that other guy. I’d been pulled into a momentary daze as those thoughts overpowered all reason, but as soon as I had that last thought, I jerked out of the daze. That other guy? I would never think about Cass in that way, even on the days I convinced myself I hated him.

“Let go of me, or I’ll introduce my knee to your balls,” I gritted out as I continued trying to jerk myself out of his hold.

Dammit! If only I had my pepper spray out and ready.

“Don’t be like that, Rhea,” he murmured his voice practically a purr.

I hated it when he used my name and wished I never told him it.

“I told you to leave me the fuck alone. I don’t know how much more clear I can be. What will it take for you to take a hint?”

My outburst didn’t elicit the reaction I wanted: he looked more amused than anything. “Wow, your boyfriend has his hooks in deep. Controlling who you talk to is way past normal. Does he also have to give you permission to eat too?” The mocking edge to his voice grated me and made me want to smack him.

His words had my jaw dropping as I stared at him in complete shock, forgetting about trying to pull my arm free. Did he seriously delude himself into believing the only reason I didn’t want to talk to him was because of Cass?

I was too stunned to come up with a comeback, but I didn’t have to worry about responding when Leon came into the room. His typical carefree smile was absent, his expression darkening when he saw Ezra still holding my arm. “There you are; I was worried when you didn’t meet me outside.”

He didn’t need to tell me to go along with it, I was already on board. “I would’ve if a certain someone would give me back my arm,” I said, infusing a false sense of cheer into my voice, giving another tug on my arm. I would’ve used one of the maneuvers my dad taught me, but I figured it was best not to let him know that I knew basic self-defense.

Leon came to stand beside me, glaring down at where Ezra’s hand was holding my arm. With how tightly he held me and how much it hurt, I had little doubt there’d be a mark to match the one made only days ago.

“Her boyfriend won’t be too pleased when he finds out you were touching what’s his.”

Part of me chafed at belonging to Cass or being his as if I were an object or a personal belonging, but I kept my features blank. If this would help get it through Ezra’s head that I wasn’t interested, then I’d belong to Cass any day of the week. Especially if he kissed me the way he had last night and repeated what he’d done in bed.

“Then maybe he shouldn’t leave her alone,” Ezra said, unfazed by any of this.

“Okay, that’s it,” I muttered, done with this whole situation. I grabbed his hand, twisted his arm, and kneed him in the stomach. His reaction wasn’t as I expected. Yes, he released my arm and took a step back as he coughed, but as soon as the coughing stopped, he laughed. He was bent over laughing as his gaze made a slow sweep over my body, sending ice through my veins as it felt like spiders crawled over my body.

I wanted to kick him on principle, but I refrained.

“I’ll be seeing you around, Rhea.”

“No, you won’t.” Before he could say anything creepy, I spun on my heel and left with Leon following close behind me.

“It’s not a coincidence you’re here.”

Leon shot me a sidelong glance as we walked down the sidewalk. “You seriously believe Cass would let you walk alone at night after this weekend? Expect to find one of us waiting for you after this class.”

“You’re joking, right?” I knew he wasn’t based on his expression, but I was hoping I was wrong.

Don’t get me wrong: I wasn’t an idiot, I knew campus wasn’t completely safe—even before this. I vividly remembered being attacked and even having a nightmare about it last night, but this was an extreme reaction.

First off, walking alone at midnight during the weekend was vastly different from walking home in the dark on a weeknight with other students around. I tried telling Leon this, but he wasn’t hearing it, bringing up Ezra and the stunt he just pulled.

“He’s just a weirdo with zero social skills,” I said, but even I didn’t believe my words. It wasn’t like I was defending him; I was just trying to keep my rapidly shrinking independence. I seriously couldn’t believe Cassius was sending his friends to babysit me without even mentioning it to me first.

Annoyance at Cassius built up the more I thought about this. Who the fuck did he think he was?

My anger soon reached an all-time high, and I needed to unleash it upon someone. Even though Leon was a smart ass and loved to give me shit, I didn’t want to take it out on him. This hadn’t been his idea, and he’d helped me on multiple occasions. “Can I see your phone?” I held out my hand as I slowed to a stop a few hundred feet away from my building.

He followed suit, raising an eyebrow. “Why?” He asked hesitantly rather than make a joke.

“I don’t have your asshole friend’s number.” I wiggled my fingers impatiently, silently telling him to hand me his phone.

His lips twitched, fighting a grin as he pulled out his phone and tapped the screen a few times before handing it to me. He preemptively pulled up Cassius’ contact information for me. “I have more than enough of this to go around,” I said, pointing at Leon as he fought to hide his amusement.

He held up his hands in surrender, but the shit-eating grin said differently.

Cassius answered on the second ring, and I tried not to let my old bitterness choke me. “Is everything alright?”

“No, everything is not alright.”

Leon chuckled, which morphed into a fake cough when I gave him a warning look.

Cassius’ long sigh came through the phone, and I could just imagine him closing his eyes, maybe even running his fingers through his hair. “It’s for your own good. They still haven’t found the guy who attacked you.”

It wasn’t all too surprising, but it was disappointing. Ezra probably knew what he looked like or even what happened to him after they fought, but there was no way in hell I was willing to start a conversation with him.

“That was a one-off thing and completely different than walking across campus during the week with other students around,” I said, closing my eyes in an attempt to keep my temper under control as I shoved my hair from my face.

“Do I need to bring up the guy from your class?”

I huffed out a sigh as I stomped my foot, and Leon snorted, covering his mouth to hide his amusement. “That’s—”

“Don’t you dare say it’s nothing. It’s not nothing. You may not understand this now, but he’s dangerous.”

“I’m not an idiot, I saw firsthand how dangerous he can be, but this is ridiculous. I don’t need a babysitter. I have friends I can walk with to my dorm. All of this is unnecessary, and I’m sure your friends have better things to do.”

“They volunteered.”

Dammit.

“I’m not budging on this.”

If I were in my room, I would’ve grabbed the pillow on my bed and screamed into it. I’d forgotten how impossible Cassius could be when he made up his mind. “Neither am I. You can’t just come back into my life and start trying to control me. It doesn’t work like that.”

Another frustrated sigh came through the phone. “I’m not trying to control you. I’m trying to keep you safe.

“I can take care of myself.” Sort of, but he didn’t need to know that. Nor did I feel the need to tell him how relieved I was to see Leon yesterday and today. But none of that was the point. My main point was that Cassius made this decision without talking to me.

“Don’t test me. Otherwise, you’ll make me do something you won’t like,” Cassius warned.

“Oh wow, I’m so scared.” It was a bad idea to provoke him. Cassius was never one to bluff.

“Alright. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”