Page 32 of Vayn

Sure, I wanted them. But I was not a pushover. They couldn’t accuse me of something I didn’t do, just because they were mad. I was the one who should be mad. Which was why I ignored them during class and after the lecture as I rushed from the room, determined to escape them.

Though they kept pace with me easily, I tried to storm off to my apartment. It was hard to accomplish a good storming off when they matched my pace so easily. Irritated, I began to run, making myself look even crazier to the other students who were going in the same direction I was going.

To my dismay, those motherfucking shadows continued to walk and match my pace as I ran as fast as I could. Damn! Who were they, Jason Voorhees? Michael Myers? Candyman? I ran all the way to my apartment building. And there’s one thing you should know about me. Running is my nemesis, my archenemy, my kryptonite. So, when I fell, and the ground came rushing up to meet my face, I wasn’t even surprised.

Fuck my life!

Chapter Ten

Destiny

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It was Vayn who caught me before my face could slam into the ground. He carried me the rest of the way to my building, then set me on my feet and glared down at me as his shadows circled me, making me feel caged in.

“Did that run work off your anger?” Rage asked.

I opened my mouth and quickly closed it. I opened it again and closed it once more. I didn’t have the words to express how irritated I was. I paused to take a few deep breaths, then moved to enter my apartment, only to have Vayn appear before me out of nowhere.

“Going somewhere?” he asked.

“Inside,” I answered, not needing to say more.

“After that little stunt you just pulled?”

“Stunt?” I cocked my head to the side. “Listen...”

Vayn gripped my wrist before I could unleash a verbal ass-whooping. And then we were teleporting. That sinking feeling in my stomach and wave of dizziness I disliked washed over me as we disappeared and reappeared in my bedroom. Jerking my wrist away from Vayn, I glared up at him. “Listen,” I started again.

“You listen,” Vayn told me, voice deceptively calm as he stepped toward me.

Feeling slightly nervous, I stepped back, retreating from his approach, only to bump into a wall of muscle. My shadows. I attempted to turn around to glare at them. They forced me to keep looking forward.

“Seriously!” I yelled. “Are you all my guardians or my prison guards?”

“We’re your...” Vayn started, then paused, causing me to jerk my attention to him.

“My what? I asked, hating the hopeful feeling that crept over me.

He swallowed. “We’re your guardians.”

His shadows sighed, seeming just as frustrated as I was.

“It’s our duty to protect you,” Vayn told me.

“I agree,” I told him. “But protecting me is not the same as interfering in my life. I can talk to whoever I want to. I can flirt with whoever I want to.”

“Says who?” Vayn snarled.

“Says the grown-ass woman in front of you.” I lifted my chin and held his gaze, refusing to look away. I may not be as powerful as him, nor did I have fangs, claws, or magic, but I’d learned long ago not to fear standing up to those more powerful than me.

Vayn let out a sarcastic chuckle. “Okay, grown-ass woman. Since you’re so grown, I hope you’re ready to begin training with us. Every day, after class.”

“Huh?”

“With a two-and-a-half-mile jog in the morning before class.”

“Wait...”