Mates of Shadow and Light(Breeder#4)

Chapter 4 : I Did You a Favor

*Lena*

Xander was standing near the fountain, mingling with a group of students. He had a wide grin on his face as he chatted with the young woman standing next to him. She was beaming up at him as if she was chatting with a celebrity. I could see her eyes shining from where I stood. I, on the other hand, was trying not to burst into tears over the fact that I was, one, being punished for Slate's disgusting behavior, and two, I wasn't going to be packing up my bags to head to Red Lakes anytime soon.

I cleared my throat and wiped the tears from my eyes as I started forward. I'd have to walk right by him to stay on the brick pathway that led through campus and into the small town of Morhan. My apartment was only three blocks away from campus, situated on top of a corner grocery store, and I was determined to get there and sob my heart out without any interference.

But Xander saw me and followed me with his gaze as I sped past his group. I knew that if I glanced over my shoulder, he would be watching me. I should probably have told him it wouldn't be necessary for him to walk me to class anymore though, eventually.

“Hey, what's the matter?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin as Xander fell in step with me.

“How'd you catch up to me so fast?" I huffed, sniffing indignantly. I did not want to talk about this at all. I would cry if I did, and I sure as hell wasn't going to start crying in front of Xander.

“I have longer legs than you," he shrugged, glancing over at me, but I refused to meet his eye. “Seriously though, have you been crying? Was it… was it Slate again? Did he touch you–"

“No!" I exclaimed, rounding on him.

We'd made it to the edge of campus and were standing under the rows of chestnut trees that lined the pathway into town. It was early evening, and most of the students were in the commons for dinner, so by some miracle, we were alone.

“Then what happened?"

Xander looked me up and down as if he didn't believe that Slate hadn't been messing with me again.

“I nearly got expelled!"

“Well… nearly is good, right? You're not actually expelled, are you?"

“No, but I...." I swallowed back the immense grief that was tying my stomach into a knot. I glanced up at him, seeing his face lined with nothing but concern. Why the hell did he care? “Slate went to the administration and said I was the one pursuing him… that I had been going to his house every night, and waiting for him to get out of class–"

“Are you serious?"

“Yeah, and I just lost my spot in the Red Lakes research camp because of it." My lower lip trembled, and I bit down on it, squeezing my eyes shut so they wouldn't spill over with tears.

“Where is he now?" Xander asked, his voice low and deathly serious.

“I have no idea!"

“I'll handle this, Lena, don't worry–"

A wave of fury washed over me, temporarily blinding me from what I was really mad at. I opened my eyes, narrowing them at Xander and looking right at him through my tears. “No, you won't! Your handling of Slate got me into this mess in the first place. If you hadn't involved yourself–"

“Involved myself?" he growled, taking a step toward me. He glared down at me, his eyes dark slits as he continued to slowly close the distance between us, like a predator. “He had his hands on you, Lena!"

“I'm not some damsel in distress!" I cried. “I had the situation under control!"

“That's not what it looked like to me–"

“If you hadn't butted in and choked him, he wouldn't have gone to the Dean about it, Xander."

“And he would've continued to harass you!"

Xander and I were nearly nose to nose now, and despite the heaviness of our words, our voices were low. If anyone passed, it was likely they would only hear heated whispers, some lovers quarrel.

“Well, it doesn't matter now, does it? I lost my spot at Red Lakes. I'm being sent to some farm out west. I w–worked so hard for three and a half years for… for this… and now–" I sniffled, clearing my throat and trying to get a hold of myself. Xander's glare had abruptly changed to a look of marked concern as my tears began to flow again, and I quickly changed my countenance, giving him a death glare. “You won't need to walk me to class anymore, Xander."

“I–" he began, but I interrupted.

“And don't follow me anywhere, okay? You've done enough damage–"

“Follow you? What? You think I'd follow you home, like Slate? Goddess, Lena, who do you think I am?"

“I don't know you at all!" I hissed. “Three hours ago, we were strangers. And now, you've completely upended my life!"

“Blame this on me all you want, Lena. I wasn't the one who went to the dean. I wasn't the one who was stalking and harassing you. I did you a favor. I offered to protect you from him."

“You also asked my friend Heather about me," I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

He narrowed his eyes at me, running his tongue along his lower lip. “I did," he replied. “I was curious about you."

“So you took it upon yourself to swoop in and save me when I didn't need saving? It was really heroic of you–"

“That's enough," he growled, straightening up to his full height. He towered over me, and I had to tilt my chin to maintain eye contact. “You don't know me, Lena. If you're about to say I took what happened between you and that disgusting creep as an opportunity to make myself look some type of way to you, save your breath. I saw a man taking advantage of a student, and I stepped in. I'm sorry you lost your place at Red Lakes. And, Lena, if I see Slate again, I'll knock his teeth out, regardless of how you feel about it."

“Then you'll lose your field study placement too," I argued.

He shrugged. “I haven't put in for a field study yet. It doesn't matter to me."

“Well, it mattered to me," I breathed, my breath catching in my throat. “You don't understand."

“I do understand. Your friend Heather laughed at me when I asked about you. Did you know that? She said you wouldn't even look my way because you have your nose so far in your textbooks that you didn't have a single second to spare for anything else–"

“That isn't true–"

“Then tell me," he interrupted, “what exactly do you care about outside of your studies? You didn't seem to care that Slate, a professor at this school, was harassing you to the point of showing up at your apartment in the middle of the night and laying his hands on you in public. You were more than willing to continue to let that happen if it meant you'd get a place in the field study you wanted–"

“I've been doing what people tell me to do my entire life!" I cried, pushing him away. “This was all I ever wanted!"

“And you're blaming me for it not happening?"

“I need to go," I stammered, gripping my backpack as I walked past him. He didn't follow me, but I could feel his gaze on my back as I hurried down the pathway toward town.

***

“You're joking, right?" Heather said as she set her textbook down on the coffee table. Viviene was sitting in the chair to Heather's left, looking shocked. Abigail was pacing back and forth behind the couch, tapping her lip.

“I'm going to kill him," Abigail said, throwing her hands in the air.

“Which one? Slate, or Xander?" Viv sighed, crossing her legs as she slouched back into the chair.

I'd come home to an empty apartment. I stood in the center of our living room for several minutes, having to lean on the kitchen island to steady myself as I went over every minute of the day I had just had. I'd glanced up at the pieces of art my roommates and I had collected from the flea market over the years, decorating our shabby two-bedroom apartment with a mismatch of things, including plants and odd furniture that suited all our tastes at once.

I'd felt better about packing up the last three years of my life when I thought I was going to Red Lakes. Now, leaving the sanctuary of our apartment, with its exposed brick walls and kitchen we had painted a vivid teal blue, seemed impossible.

When my friends had returned from dinner on campus, they found me wrapped in a blanket on the couch, staring off into space.

And now, I was getting grilled.

“It wasn't Xander's fault," I admitted, a pang of guilt rippling through my chest as I adjusted my weight on the couch.

Heather clicked her tongue, shaking her head. “I don't agree. What are the odds he was asking me about you, and then saving you from Slate over the course of an hour?"

“I can't believe the assistant dean didn't help you, Lena," Viviene said with a sniff, reaching up to wipe a single tear from her eye. “And now they're sending you to Goddess knows where, for Goddess knows how long!"

“Crimson Creek," I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment.

“Crimson Creek? You've got to be kidding me." Abigail crossed the room, pulling on a jacket with a fur-trimmed hood.

“Where are you going?" Heather asked, her eyes narrowing in Abigail's direction.

“I'm not good for much," Abigail grunted as she pulled on her boots. “But I do have connections with a few people in town that may know a thing or two about making someone… disappear."

“Take your shoes off, Abi. I don't need anyone getting in trouble on my account." I ran my hands over my face. My skin felt raw from the tears, and I was exhausted, both mentally and physically.

I still didn't know whether I was taking my final tomorrow, or the next day, but I knew for a fact I had lost my interest in studying for it. What did it matter now, anyway? The Red Lakes research camp was off the table, and I'd be elbow-deep in soil in some far-flung town by next week.

“Maybe you should go to bed, Lena," Heather coaxed, patting my ankle. “Tomorrow could be better. You never know, the administration could… change their minds."

Viviene nodded her agreement, but Abigail scoffed as she pulled a hat over her red curls.

“Seriously, Heather? Viviene? Do none of you remember Carly Maddox from like, two years ago?"

“Who?" Heather asked, looking skeptical.

Abigail rolled her eyes and walked over to the couch, her high-heeled boots clicking on the wood floors. “Carly Maddox. She was a third-year climate studies student. She got assigned to Crimson Creek–"

“But, the assistant dean said the farm was a new study location?" I said, sitting up against the couch cushions.

“The farm, maybe. But Crimson Creek has been a field study location for, like, decades. It's one of the oldest settlements in the west. It's downright medieval. Carly Maddox was there with a large group of students the year she disappeared. They say one night she just shifted and walked out of town, right into the barren hills."

“Barren hills?" Heather asked, intrigued.

Abigail rolled her eyes again, grunting in annoyance as she reached for the case file sitting on the coffee table. She pulled out the picture of the farm and pointed to the background.

“See? Nothing grows there. The hills go on and on and on for miles, maybe hundreds of miles. There's not a tree or a bush in sight. Weird, right?"

“So someone went missing–" Viviene said, trying to follow along.

“Not just anyone, Viv. Carly Maddox was linked to Dean Weatherford's son. I guess he slighted her in some way, and she complained to the administration...."