Battle Wounds || Jasper Hale {2}

Chapter 18

"You wanted to speak with me?"

Ellie kept her eyes trained on the floating miniature solar system spinning in orbit around Dawson's office. This was one of the few rooms that she had never been in on the campus, and she had to say she hadn't expected it to hold so much magic. Dawson, while he held similarities to his younger brother, had always given Ellie the impression that he was simple. So to see the floating baubles and twinkling stars sporadically throughout the room was a gentle reminder that not everything was always as it seemed.

Dawson watched as Ellie's eyes twinkled with the miniature stars his coven leader had so generously placed in his office. A small smile stretched across his lips at the thought of the girl everyone feared, the girl who held so much on her shoulders, allowing herself to innocently gaze upon the stars. She was much more than any of them would ever realize, and his brother did not deserve even an inkling of the time he took from her. "Yes, I have a proposition for you."

Ellie glanced at him, careful to not let it last too long. The last time she was in a room alone with a Knight, she had been manipulated into nearly killing a whole town. She was intent on keeping herself guarded with this one. "Which would be?"

His smile dropped minutely at her suspicion. He didn't want her to fear him. He would never treat her as his brother had. "I want to offer you the opportunity to train under my tutelage."

Ellie raised an eyebrow and cocked her head to the side, "I'm already training with Guillermo and the others."

"Yes, I'm aware," he said, wetting his lips. "But there is no one on this earth, other than yourself, who knows my brother as well as I do."

His words resonated in her mind. They were the truth. Jesse never let anyone close to him, but what did that have to do with training? She crossed her arms over her chest, her full attention now on the dark haired emissary in front of her. "What can you offer me that I don't already know?"

Dawson's smile returned to his face as he reached into his desk before extricating a small leather bound book from its depths. "We found this hidden within the darkest depths of the Loch Ness, guarded by the beast herself." He held it out towards her.

"What is it?" she asked, wrapping her long fingers around the worn binding.

"It's his," he said, his frown reappearing, darkening his features. "A journal detailing his every thought during his time with you."

"How did you—"

"The freshwater mermaids of the lake owed Anastasia a debt," he shrugged, watching as she flipped the book open to the first page.

"Eleanor looks just like my dear Annie. It seems destiny pulls us together once again," she read aloud.

The words were haunting, and they confused her more than she cared to admit. The whole reason he had pursued her was because she looked like someone else. This left so many questions. If she hadn't looked so much like this Annie, would he have never put her in the situation he did? Would he have walked on by or tried to make a meal of her?

Ellie shook her head. There was nothing that could be done about it at this point. He had picked her to torment, and he wouldn't stop until he got his way. That's how he had always been. Whether it was here or elsewhere, he would always find her, but she would not let him win. No one else would die except for him. Lifting her eyes to Dawson, she asked, "When do we start?"

"It took you long enough in there," Harmon huffed as Ellie walked out of the office. "What did Sir Thinks-He's-In-Charge want?"

Ellie rolled her eyes, wishing that Harmon would just leave her alone. She already had enough to worry with without having to think of Harmon and his attitude. "It doesn't concern you."