Chapter 23

Ana took a cold shower to calm herself after the state Khai had left her in. She stood under the water for a long time, unable to forget his touches. Her fingers pruned and she felt a slight shiver when she finally decided to get out and get dressed for dinner.

She looked at herself in the mirror her gaze moving from her wet hair that was sticking to her face, to her thick eyebrows and small lips. Shivers ran through her as her hands moved to touch her neck and lightly trailed down to her collarbone, then her round breasts, brushing them lightly.

Suddenly her gaze went from that of wonder to remorse. Her hands lightly brushed over the scar tissue where her mother had healed her the day Sean broke her ribs. A tear slid down her cheek in anger at what happened to her. She quickly wrapped the towel back around herself and got dressed, coaching herself to be braver around Sean. Khai's words kept flashing in her mind. When she was scared, it was his face she would think of.

Ana wanted to catch up on Herbology class from that morning as she barely paid attention due to her drowsiness, so they brought dinner back to Meghan's room to eat while they studied. Meghan thoroughly walked Ana through her notes, answering all her questions patiently.

After that, they practiced with the mana stones they received that morning. Ana was able to make hers emit a bright glow almost immediately, so she helped Meghan try and channel her focus. Almost an hour later, Meghan sullenly gave up. She was only able to generate a faint light, that was barely visible, from her stone.

"You'll get the hang of it. It's only the first day Meg." Ana consoled her friend.

Meghan nodded, tiredness overcoming her. She yawned as she stretched her hands and looked at Ana with sleepy eyes. "I'm tired, let's stop now. Do you want to watch something?"

"I'm going to practice what Khai taught me back in my room." She said

Meghan gave her a soft smile. "It's okay to like him Ana. Let yourself feel it."

Ana snapped her head up to look at her, slightly surprised. "Is it that obvious?" She asked.

"With the way you look at each other, I'm surprised you aren't pregnant yet." Meghan giggled.

Ana threw a pillow at her friends face and burst into laughter herself. When they stopped, Ana's smile looked sad. "He can't see how broken I am, Meg."

"No! Ana! That's no way to think about yourself. You're not broken sweetie. You're strong, beautiful, kind and brave. You must know I look up to you." She held Ana in a tight embrace.

Ana wouldn't have survived what she did without Meghan and George. She hugged Meghan back, thankful for such great friends in her life.

*****

Khai looked like a demon from the pits of hell as he trained that evening. He cranked up the incline and speed of the treadmill, running like a mad man. He shot every target, moving or still, at bulls eye.

He reloaded his recurve bow and aimed the arrow at his target. The arrow shot past Phillip in a whiz, narrowly missing his eye as he bent down to pick up some scattered arrows. Phillip snapped up to meet Khai'a gaze in a fuming rage.

'Just what I need.' Khai thought as he cruelly smiled back at Philip, inviting him for a fight. But before anything could happen, he heard Gordon interject loudly.

"Drop the bow now Khai! You practice to fight in war, not on the training field." His voice was stern as he reprimanded Khai.

Khai continued to stare at Philip with a dangerous glint as he slowly lowered his weapon. By the end of training, he felt somewhat better. Wringing his t-shirt that was drenched in sweat, he walked out of the training gym with his friends. Austin walked with him, back to the men's dormitories while Elliot and George stayed back to shower in the locker rooms and get dinner.

"Is he always like this?" George asked Elliot.

"He usually gets worked up, but this is worse than I've seen in a while." Elliot intoned. "Must be because of class this morning."

George looked up at Elliot, questioning what he meant. Elliot was more than 6' 5", even towering over Khai, who was 6' 2".

"Khai's parents were killed in an ambush by the rouges when he was eight. Part of why he is so good is because of the unbearable anger he holds. He's been training relentlessly since then, waiting to kill on the battlefield."

George pursed his lips, feeling terrible for Khai's misfortune. After a short silence, he heard Elliot speak.

"Khai seems to really like Ana. I've never seen him care for someone as much as he does for her."

George heaved a happy sigh, before asking Elliot, "What about Natalie? I heard that she wants to get engaged to him."

"Not a chance. Mrs. Heathcliff was really close to Natalie's mother. It's the only reason Khai even tolerates Nat. But tell Ana to watch out for Nat. She's a snake that turns brutal to the girls that get close to Khai. If I were Ana, I'd avoid Nat as much as possible." He warned.

George nodded, a dark cloud passing over his face. Every time Ana had a chance at happiness, something terrible seemed to be waiting for her right around the corner.

*****

The rest of the week ended in a blur. The Wahren's couldn't catch a break between classes and continuous training, but only a few realized that Gordon was still going easy on them. The first week was always the toughest for most Wahren's. Unlike legacies, regular Wahren's didn't train before they entered Arcane. They still had the strength of a strong human at most. It took the whole two years for most Wahren's to realize their full potential.

A few, the weakest of the lot, dropped out mid way, unable to take the intensity of training. These Wahren's lost their fighting spirit. As a consequence, their mana dropped to that of a regular human and they lived on amongst them. They were frowned upon by their communities, so they typically laid low, but it was still their choice at the end of the day.

Khai ate lunch with Ana everyday. He also continued training her, teaching her various defensive and offensive techniques. However, he refrained from giving her anymore massages, out of fear that she might completely throw him out of her life if he lost control. Instead, he focused on showing her stretches to cool down after she trained.

Friday approached in a blink and the academy buzzed with excitement for the weekend. After training that day, Ana slipped back into her t-shirt and started to walk back to her room when Khai stopped her.

She looked up at him, her curiosity piqued. He asked her to sit and stretch her leg out. She turned apprehensive, wondering what he was going to do this time.

"Relax, Ana, I got you something." He said. He took off one of her shoes, then her socks before pulling out a small bracelet from his pocket.

Gently clasping it around her ankle, he tugged it lightly to make sure it was secure. Ana took her leg back and gaped at what he had given her. A silver rectangular charm, not bigger than half a centimeter hung from a dainty chain. It looked like an extremely tiny pen drive.

She examined it curiously. Khai took the charm into his hands and lightly pressed on a concealed button on it's side. A sharp knife, almost the size of her little finger shot out of the charm. Ana's eyes widened in surprise and her face brightened. Khai showed her how she could detach the tiny weapon from the chain if she needed to.

"My first weapon." She murmured in amusement.

"I'm praying that you never have to use this." Khai looked at her seriously. "It's not huge, but do you remember the pressure points I told you? Jab this into your attacker on any of those points if you get a chance to access it. The knife holds a special property that will electrocute the person when it comes in contact with their blood. That might immobilize them long enough for you to escape"

Her eyes went round in fear, before she slowly nodded in understanding. She stood up, wondering when that wretched day would come when she would have to use this weapon. When she saw that he was helping her put her shoes back on, she snapped out of her thoughts.

While tying her shoe lace, he continued with a steely expression. "This bracelet has a tracking device on it. Share the location with Meghan or George, so they know where you are if you're ever in trouble."

When he stood up, he couldn't read what he saw in Ana's eyes. He heard her mutter something, so he leaned in, to hear what she was saying clearly.

"I'll share the location with you. I feel safest with you." Her voice was barely a whisper, but her words pushed an intense sense of euphoria into every cell in Khai's body.

He straightened himself, gazing at her with burning eyes. "Just come here." He grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly.

Ana could hear his heart pounding like the hooves of a stallion. In his arms, she felt like that was where she always belonged. She felt herself sink deeper into his embrace as her hands slowly moved around his waist.

They held each other and stood there for a long time, unable to let go.