Page 13 of Saved By a Knight

Fuck.

Unfiltered rage instantly courses through my veins as I read those words. And here I am, thinking she was sending a message for a repeat of the fun we had last night.

I grab my jacket, strewn over two chairs in front of my desk, and storm toward the door. She sent the message a few minutes ago. Maybe I’m in luck and there’s been a resolution to her fears.

But that’s a risk I refuse to take. Until I’ve seen Lora’s safe with my own two eyes, I can’t risk that she isn’t.

“I’ve gotta head out,” I say while barreling past Talon.

“Everything all right?” He follows me down the hallway.

Members of my crew part like the Red Sea as I make my way through them. All good men, looking at me with the same concern that’s no doubt splashed across Talon’s face.

“Someone needs help, and I’m gonna give it.” I slide my arms through my leather jacket as I step through the front door and into the desolate parking lot.

“Need backup?”

“Not tonight.” I’m not one to decline a helping hand, but this is personal. “But stick close to the phone. I’ll give you a call if I need a hand.”

With a two-finger salute to send me off, Talon heads back inside, while I turn to the roads at ridiculous speeds to get to Lora’s pinned location.

8

LORA

Trapped in the back of a convenience store with a deranged lunatic is not how I expected to spend my night.

“Professor…” I pause to gather my thoughts. I spent an hour in his lecture hall earlier this afternoon, and he seemed fine. Normal even. Like Knight’s message actually came across, and he understood that I was off limits.

So, I can’t for the life of me understand what’s gotten into him. If I weren’t shaking to the bone, I could’ve put my studies into practice. Use everything I’ve learned in my degree and figure out a reason behind the lunacy.

But my gut tells me that even if I managed to find the words to say, they’d fall on deaf ears. As if the moon rearing up in the sky transformed him from a man into a beast, like in some fairytale fiction.

“We can’t be doing this.” I finally find enough of my backbone to say it straight.

“Can’t be doing this?” He chuckles, as if I just told a bad joke. “Doing what, exactly?”

“You can’t keep approaching me. I’m not interested.” If it weren’t for Knight’s claim in the bedroom, I might not have had the strength to speak out at all. Too afraid to go against him, out of fear for what it would mean for my safety and my studies.

But with my Knight Rider in command, I don’t need to cower to someone like Professor Callahan. He only has as much control as I give him, and I’m not going to give any more than he deserves.

“You haven’t even given me a chance.” His lackluster chortle comes to a stop, and his eyes narrow in fury.

“And I’m not going to,” I utter with as much confidence as my quickly slipping bravado will allow.

“You aren’t, huh?” The professor takes a step forward, making me recoil deeper into the corner. Between him, the fridges, and the dog food, I’m walled off in a triangle of despair. My heart starts thumping in my throat as he leans in closer, almost close enough for me to feel his breath against my cheeks. “Well, that puts me in a bit of a strange predicament, doesn’t it?”

I gulp down. This is slipping out of my control. He’s pushed me so far out of my comfort zone that my mind goes blank, and the sound of my pounding heart in my eardrums is all I can focus on.

“Wh—” I can’t even form a word, let alone the rest of that question.

“You want something, I want something. It’s quid pro quo,” Professor Callahan says, leading me down a road I hoped he’d never stoop to. “It wouldn’t be the first time one of the brightest students at Winchester University had a sudden fall from grace.”

Screaming for help is the smart thing to do, but my lungs won’t allow it. The air is trapped inside. Choked down by his looming presence. Shallow breaths aren’t helping me find the courage, either. They’re making me lightheaded, on the verge of collapse, and I’m doing everything in my power to stop myself from falling into his arms.

“You can’t?—”

“I can, and I will,” he cuts me off. “No sweat off my brow.”

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