Chapter 9

Chapter

Nine

I don't get to work in the first week. In fact, none of us do anything but read books on Nexus history in our rooms whilst Annie's dad issued a lockdown on the entire city while the rangers searched for the security breach. Annie had a few phone calls from her dad, who sounded stressed because the Vian haven't breached the walls in years. The last time was when only one sneaked in, but he never killed anyone. They killed five people in that attack, two more barely survived, and they haven't been caught. Onyx killed seven of them before he got to me and is being hailed a hero of Starlight by Annie's dad, but he was injured, and he needed to recover too. He went straight to a healer after dropping me off at the academy, and Finnegan silently escorted me to my room.

Then left five silent rangers outside the doors to watch me.

Annie yawns, knocking me out of my thoughts. "Finally, we're allowed to go back to normal lessons. I was getting a little stir crazy, and it didn't help that I can't leave the academy to see my mate," she huffs. "Phone calls are not enough."

"We both might regret wanting to leave this room when we go to Aleksander's lesson first." I wince. Something about him bothers me more than the others. Hollis is angry, Onyx is trying too hard to be my friend, and Rhodes is sweet, which is just going to get his own heart broken. Finnegan is the only one I cannot figure out, and I would prefer to just avoid him.

It's been fun to be roommates with Annie and be trapped with her for a week while we did homework given to us. I wrote fifty pages on a star in the sky I found, and now I'm a pro at the boring history of the first known war of the Nexus. Outside of studying, we had fun sharing our favourite music with each other, including belting out a hit that our twelve-year-old selves fangirled over.

The only time I wanted to jump out of the window was when I had to listen to her FaceTime her mate and be so in love. It's unfair that love like that is real. He calls her non-stop to check how she is. Apparently, he was locked down in his house, and he wasn't allowed to attend his sports university where he plays for a big team. Other than their phone calls, it was normal, just hanging out. Something I really didn't get on the run, and I kind of enjoyed myself.

But reality is outside the door, and I can't pretend it isn't anymore. Annie hands me my boot I lost, and I tug it on before doing up the laces. "Smile, you look like you're walking to your grave. He is your Nexus mate bond. He can't kill you even if he wanted to."

"Hollis proved killing me would be too easy. That embarrassing me is more fun," I remind her. "And he pales in comparison to how scary Aleksander is." I don't think I can take another lesson like Hollis's, even though I'm well aware that I'm pretty much going to have no choice for the rest of the week.

"Well, at least tomorrow we have Tutor Rhodes," she reminds me. "You said Rhodes was nicer, right?"

"Yeah, he is," I admit. "I haven't seen him since he said he'd go shopping with me and then bailed out for a work emergency."

She shrugs. "He runs the emergency and foster animal shelter that his mum opened before she passed away. My dad is a friend of the animal shelter's owner. Rhodes goes to a lot of the higher up functions with the owner to raise money for the shelter or encourage people to adopt animals."

"Animals don't like my Nexus, so working there isn't going to end well," I mutter, even if I'm a little impressed and want to see this shelter.

She frowns my way. "Oh, my Nexus loves them. She has a weird complex of liking animals that worship her." She chuckles. "My mum has a tiny dachshund, and my bear loves to make me shift to show the barking dachshund who is boss. It's weird."

"Who wins, the dachshund or your Nexus bear?"

"The dachshund every time. My Nexus is a teddy bear at heart," she admits with a grin. That doesn't surprise me. "Let's get to this lesson."

It's easy enough to follow the map in Annie's phone to the back of the castle. The older rangers flood the academy, and the crowds are hard to get through, but everyone just seems happy to be finally outside their rooms. Aleksander's lesson is held in the gymnasium. It has a wall of glass that overlooks the cliff side and the stormy sea below. The other wall is all steel, layered with different weapons clipped to every inch of it. Every kind of weapon that I've ever seen. Axes, bows, swords, daggers. None of them call to me, but I find Annie staring a bit too hard at the swords.

Alek is waiting in the middle of the room in full Nexus armour, all black, and his dark arms are crossed as he surveys everyone that comes in. The second the door slams shut behind us, I let myself really look at him. He looks Hispanic or Mexican in this light, his skin a lovely shade that reminds me of honey. Alek's dark hair looks soft, but not a single inch of the rest of him does. He's tall, striking, and holds himself in a way that tells me he knows how he looks and doesn't care about other people's opinions. Trained, beautiful and deadly. He is absolutely stunning.

His eyes briefly drift over me before looking away like we are strangers. The disinterest has my Nexus spitting fire in my chest. Not just the disinterest, but somewhere on him is my Nex weapon. I can sense her.

Aleksander clicks his fingers, and the wall of glass has shutters that drop, pitching the room into near enough darkness. Aleksander's voice breezes through the room like a dark omen. "Welcome. It's been an unusual week with the attack in the city, as I'm sure you're all aware, but now we are back to normal. I will remind everyone of you of the new curfews in place. After nine at night, no one's allowed out of their houses or in the city unless it is an emergency or you have special permission. This is important. We keep to the rules, as none of you would like to find out what happens when you break them." His heavy footsteps echo in the darkness. "What do you know about Nex weapons?"

No one says anything until the darkness feels like it's a silent killer. I clear my throat before speaking first, refusing to be frightened of the dark. There was a time where I was locked in the dark, alone, for six months, and I learnt there was nothing frightening in it. Only what your mind makes up could be there. If you can pretend the darkness is a friend, I found it soon became a comfort. "Every Nexus has one weapon that is bound to their Nexus souls. They choose it, and they can call on it. You can't lose it. It will always find its way to you, unless it's being held by another Nexus who is stronger."

"Correct," Aleksander answers, and I just know he is smirking. "Your Nex weapon is important. I have an unusual gift for my Nexus power." A soft purple glow fills the room. Aleksander is a few feet away from me, and he is holding his hand out as a Nex sword appears. Literally, it appears in his hand. He holds his other hand out, and a glowing purple bow appears before morphing into a dagger.

I stare at the dagger, feeling like I've seen it before. "I can create endless Nex weapons." His power is weapon creation. I have never heard of that before, and I'm slightly impressed. "You will have one important Nex weapon in your life, and you will pick today. There's a wall behind you of weapons. Choose one, make sure it's something that calls to you. That you feel that you need. That you can't walk away from." The shutters open and his weapons disappear from his hands. Effortless. He barely uses his Nexus to access his magic. "After making your choice, you will need to go to the back of the room to be tested and make the bond. The test is designed by the priests to see your soul and bind your Nex weapon to it. Some people do not survive the test, and it would be a shame to have a trainee killed on the first day."

He really doesn't sound like he cares at all. A nervous tension ripples through the group, and I lean into Annie. "Trust yourself and choose whatever you feel is easier to kill with. It's how I did it."

Annie's eyes widen, and she nods once. Aleksander is still talking but looks at me with annoyance. "Why are you not choosing your weapons? Move, for fuck's sake!"

The crowd spins and all but runs to the back of the room. I take two steps before Aleksander shouts. "Gwen, not you."

Annie looks over her shoulder at me, pale and worried, and I nod to her before I dare to turn around. I find him standing right in front of me. The last time I saw Alek, he was standing in the line of tutors and looking like he wanted to ruin every bit of me.

That expression hasn't changed a bit. "Tell me when and how you got your Nex weapon."

I cross my arms. "No, but give it back."

"I'm not asking because of our personal situation. I'm asking as your tutor. I need to know how long you've been bound to the weapon in case I send you into training you're not prepared for," he reasons, and I don't find any dishonesty in his eyes. He might be a fine liar for all I know, but telling him this doesn't cost me anything.

I clear my throat. "Fine. I got my Nex weapon when I was sixteen, so four years ago. I did the correct test, and it was blessed by a priest. All above board."

He frowns like he is trying to figure out which priest would dare to help me and hide me. "Good, but I want proof. I know you're a liar and I can't take your word. Come with me. Our training will be different from the rest of the class. They are new with their Nex weapons, and the obstacle courses I'll put them through are to connect them with their weapons for the first six weeks. You can join the class after that. Until then, you'll train personally with me and Finnegan, who teaches year two."

I blow out a breath, but he is already walking away. I glance back at the class, a few of them watching their tutor just leave. "Aren't you their tutor and meant to stay with them?"

"I'm not their babysitter. I've told them what to do. None of them are fucking stupid enough not to pick a weapon and follow my instructions. If one of them dies, I'll come back to help with the body," he emotionlessly answers. Having no choice or a response to that, I follow him out the door, through another next to it, and into a smaller training room with no windows. The ceiling is covered in spotlights, giving the room a clean white light. He walks to the centre of the marked-out gym. "I want you to call your dagger. If you're not lying, I will feel your attempt."

Cocky bastard thinks I can't get past his power and take my own Nex dagger back. He smirks at the defiance in my eyes. "You'll need to get past my Nexus to do it. Just a reminder."

I grit my teeth, knowing that he's implying that my Nexus will need to greet him to bypass his power. His strength. He is powerful, but he just doesn't understand what I am. I hold my hand out, and almost effortlessly, I connect to my Nex dagger. I feel his Nexus wrapped around it, almost like a purple shadow. Inviting, taunting, but it's nothing to me. I don't even need to call my Nexus out to rip through him, grab the dagger, and send it flying through the air straight back into my waiting hand.

His eyes widen in surprise and, fuck, it makes me happy to see him shocked. His lips twitch. "Oh, you're a good little liar, aren't you? Bullshit that you can do that in four years. You didn't even need to tap into that beautiful Nexus of yours. Are you scared of letting me see her?" He tilts his head to the side. "Maybe she wasn't okay with the rejection? Does she want to be fucked, Sun? Would she beg for me?"

So, we are playing this game? Fine. "She doesn't have a say and she would never beg anyone. Let alone you."

I swear pain flickers across his eyes for a second before he hides it. "Come on, then, show me what else you learnt out there. What you pretended you didn't know in that pathetic fight with Hollis?"

I bite down on my inner cheek. "I don't know what you're talking about, but stalking me is creepy."

He laughs, deep and sexy. "Stalking. Watching. Fuck, I don't care. Stop lying and come to play, Sun. Show me what you know, or I'll come to make you."

I take a step forward, but then I notice him, making me stop in my tracks. Finnegan steps into the room from another door at the back, a gust of cold air following him. "She already has private lessons, Alek? Careful, you might be accused of having favourites."

He slams the door behind him and leans against it, crossing his leg over the other, and his haunting eyes watch me from the shadows.

"Join us," Aleksander says.

"No." His answer is clipped. "Is she as weak as she looks?"

Aleksander glances at me, and his eyes are full of distance. "No, someone's trained her to fight, and I bet they did a good job. She moves too quickly and silently to be untrained." I hate that he reads me too easily. "Did your father train you?"

I huff. "What part of ‘I'm not telling you anything' do you not get? Keep asking the same questions. You're not going to get any different answers from me. In fact, I'm not interested."

I head to the door, but his shout makes me freeze. "I've told you not to leave. I am your tutor and you do not have?—"

"And this is personal, right? Are you going to make me stay to torment me? Are you going to hurt me? My father said that you probably would. That powerful men like you wouldn't take no for an answer when they would want to fuck me to make my Nexus bend to their will. So, yes, he trained me to make sure that you wouldn't be able to do that to me. To make sure none of you could take me without a nasty fight."

His eyes darken, and both of them freeze like I've gone for them. "I do not hurt women, nor do any of the people I call brothers. We never would have forced you, and it's shitty you believe that of us without even meeting us." My parents told me enough to make sure I don't believe him. "Keep playing weak and innocent while calling us the villains if you want. You ran, you rejected the bond, and now you look like we have hurt you. Fuck you, Gwen."

Silence drops into the room, and I itch to just run away. I'm too stubborn to do that, though. Finnegan cocks his head to the side. "We need to talk, Alek, before you go out there." He looks at me. "Alone."

"Talk in front of her. She doesn't trust us, and she'll hear it either way," Alek commands.

"Doreshire was attacked early this morning."

Please say some of them got out. Alek has no mercy in his tone. "How many?"

There is no emotion in Finnegan's answer. "All of them."

Alek almost stumbles. "What?"

I can taste his grief, like salt in the ocean water. Alek storms out the door, and I turn, almost wanting to chase after him. "Doreshire was a settlement of three hundred Nexus in Cornwall. The last of Aleksander's family lived there. His aunt and uncle."

"I'm sorry." I still haven't taken my eyes off the door where Aleksander left. Should I go after him?

"No, you shouldn't." I jump, turning to find Finnegan at my side. Did I say that out loud? I couldn't have done. "He hates you like I do. Why don't you do all of us a favour and just run away again?"

I hold my wrist up. "Take it off and I'm gone."

He grabs my wrist, bringing it to his mouth, and he bites me right over the rune. He marks me with his teeth. I scream, yanking my arm away, and he grins at me with a mouth of blood. "Now the other one."

"No, you fucking psychopath!" I snarl.

He shrugs, wiping my blood off his mouth, and I look at the bite mark on my wrist. He actually bit me. Finnegan moves into my space and grabs my neck, tightening his grip to the point he almost hurts me. "I fucking hate everything you are. Die, leave, but don't mess with my brothers' hearts."

"I hate you right back," I bare my teeth, slamming his wrist away from my neck and jumping on him. He doesn't expect it, and I lash out with my dagger, pressing it to his neck on one side, right before I bite his neck on the other side. I dig my teeth in as his hands grab my waist, and he groans.

Not in pain.

I pull my teeth away, tasting his blood in my mouth, and look up at him. He tilts his head to the side with a sneer, but his eyes are darkened. The blue now is like the depths of the sea, and I swear he is turned on. He liked the pain. "You're feral," he tells me.

"Then stay the fuck away from me. You. Do. Not. Scare. Me." I make sure he sees into my soul for a second.

He drops me and I back away, looking at the blood on his neck as it drips onto his shirt. He shifts quickly, morphing into a furry brown bear that is the same size as my own wolf. It growls at me, deep and loud. I run away this time, knowing letting my Nexus accept the challenge from Finnegan is a bad idea. I don't know how I get into the main room at the bottom of the stairs until I bump into Rochelle. She smells like Hollis.

I fucking hate her.

My Nexus slips out, catching me off guard. Rochelle screams, scrambling up the stairs and running from me. I barely get my Nexus under control by the time I get back to my room and burst into tears. I don't know how long I cry before my door is knocked twice, and I wipe my face, pulling the door open to Rhodes.

He takes one look at me and pulls me into his arms, locking me in tightly before I can refuse. "I'm going to fucking kill them for doing this to you."

"I bit him back," I mutter into Rhodes's chest. I like him holding me and I shouldn't. I really shouldn't. Rhodes bursts into laughter and I can't help laughing with him until he takes my hand and links our fingers. It feels too natural, and I don't know if I'm in shock from Finnegan, but I let him lead me down the stairs… He takes me underneath the stairs and opens the door to one of the tutors' rooms. "I always keep good snacks in my desk. Sugar first for the shock, and then you can tell me what happened."

I sigh. The way to my heart is definitely wrapped in sugar, and I don't protest as Rhodes leads me in, kicking the door shut. He keeps his office relatively simple. There's not much in here that even suggests he uses this office other than a few glass displays holding footballs on a cabinet. They're all signed too. I'm staring at them all as Rhodes hands me chocolate buttons, mini pretzels and brownies. "When you don't have class to get back to, I have better brownies we can try."

"I didn't have you down as the bad influence tutor," I mutter before scoffing the buttons first and glancing at the display boxes again. "It's a Nexus football. Who signed it?"

"My dad. He is the old captain," Rhodes explains, which is a bigger deal than he is making out. Nexus football is a big thing from what I remember. They have championships every year, and teams from all over the world come together to play in Starlight. Starlight City has the best team, and Harry told me they won last year, like the four years before. "I play for Starlight with Onyx. I'm captain now. You should come and watch us if you like sport."

He wants me to support him, and he is looking at me with big puppy-like eyes. Dammit. "I'd like that. If you can get me tickets and a pass out of here. Kids in my class used to talk about it sometimes, but my parents never took me to see a match." I don't blame them for that. There were too many people in those places for me when I was younger and didn't have the control I have now.

Rhodes smiles brightly. "You'll love it. Your roommate has open tickets. Maybe if you went with her, you'd be more comfortable than alone?" He steps closer and, to my surprise, he runs his thumb against my bottom lip to wipe away some chocolate before dipping it in my mouth for me to lick it off. Every bit of my body clenches as fire burns through me as I softly run my tongue across the tip of his thumb before he takes it out. He doesn't step away, but his eyes fixate on my lips. I stare at him too. "It could be a date, instead. The offer is always open for you."

"I can't," I whisper. "Friends. Nothing more. Ever, Rhodes."

He gently tucks my hair behind my ear, and my body aches to lean into him. "Then I'll wait until the day you want more."

We will both be waiting for our graves, then. I turn away from him and go through the door, not daring to look back. "Thanks for the snacks and for cheering me up. I have studying to do."

"Gwen, you didn't tell me what happened?—"

I run again, and each time I run away from my mates, it cracks my heart just a bit more.