Page 11 of Saved By a Knight

Tonight has me on a certain kind of edge. Probably because I know it’s the first time Knight hasn’t been watching me since we met. He told me who wouldn’t be around this morning when he dropped me off. Said he had business back at the club to tend to.

I thought I’d be fine and reassured him as such. Still floating on a cloud after our magical night we shared together to think straight. I knew I’d spend a few extra hours in the library, but I expected to be out before the sun set completely.

Now, staring down the long stretch of empty black apart from a few street lights overhead, I regret everything.

A sound from an alley to my right makes me jump as I pass it. With a lamp overhead providing light in my general vicinity, staring into the dark is a pointless endeavor. My night eyes have been burned away, and the longer I look into the shadows, the more my mind starts playing tricks on me. Swirling inky shadows drifting into the shapes of a person. Of people. Approaching me slowly at first, but quicker as I start to walk away again.

Fuck.

I grab my phone and text Knight.

Busy? Feeling scared and could use backup

Along with a dropped pin of my location.

As much as I don’t want to bother Knight, he makes me feel safe. And the picture in my head of his big, strong arms around my body while he carries me all the way home … God, it sounds like heaven.

To avoid a mishap of being caught outside alone, I head into a twenty-four-hour convenience store. I’ve used it a few times since I moved here, and built a bit of a relationship with the old man running the shop. He greets me as I enter, and to avoid alarming him that I might be in danger, I head down the aisles as if I’m looking for something.

But reaching the farthest end of the store, with a view of the entryway door through the aisle, I’ve made a terrible mistake. Because there he is, standing inside it, dressed in all black fromhead to toe, with gloves and all. The creature I saw hidden in the shadows, waiting for its time to strike.

Professor Callahan.

Come on, Lora. Relax. You’re acting crazy.

There’s as high a likelihood that Professor Callahan is here to buy something for dinner as he is following me around. In fact, the former is far more realistic than the latter. Before anything else, he’s my professor, and he won't risk his career and, knowing Knight, his life to have another shot at me.

Those thoughts are immediately dashed when he spots me down the row of canned goods and starts making his way over.

I draw in a few deep breaths, watching him near me. There’s still a chance he’ll break off, stop in the middle somewhere, and grab a few tomato cans. Or better still, maybe he’s coming over to offer me help instead of doing something creepy.

I’ll decline it immediately, of course, but I still shouldn’t expect the worst when nothing has?—

“There you are.” Those three words are enough to shatter any illusions that he’s here for anything other than something twisted.

Fear claws at my chest as soon as he opens his mouth, and I fight back my urges to scream. Had it been any other sentence, I might’ve mistaken it for something else.

But those words imply he’s been looking for me. Hunting me. And now he has me. Cornered in the farthest end of a long grocery store.

“Professor? Can I help you with something?” I do my best to appear strong, but my shaky voice betrays me. “You could’ve emailed if it was something urgent.”

Emailed, waited until tomorrow at uni, anything apart from trapping me in a grocery store.

“It couldn’t wait.” He doesn’t stop walking even as he nears me. Not until I’ve taken a few more steps and tucked myself anxiously into the corner between a refrigerator and a shelf full of pet food. “I had to see you, Lora, without James Knight getting in the way of things.”

“He won’t be happy when he hears about th?—”

“And that’s why he won’t be hearing about it,” Professor Callahan snarls as his face starts to twitch in anger. “I’m rather upset at his intrusion the other day. We were making good ground.”

“Professor, I don’t want to send you the wrong message, so I’ll say it clearly.” I gulp down, harvesting every ounce of strength I can muster. “I’m not interested in going out with you, and I would appreciate it if you respect my wishes.”

“And I’d appreciate it if you heard me out without jumping to conclusions,” he hisses in response.

He hasn’t tried to touch me yet, and for that I’m thankful. But with how hot he’s entered this conversation, I don’t see myself walking away from it unscathed. The best I can do is cry out for the shop owner’s assistance and hope he isn’t afraid of what the professor might do.

What pisses me off most about this whole situation is having to rely on a stranger’s aid when it comes to a man I should be ableto trust. Professor Callahan has taken on his role as teacher and guide to the students, and he’s betraying that trust without care or concern.

But the more I think about it, the more uncomfortable I become.

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