"Come on gorgeous. Wake up."

Coming to, my gaze met whiskey-colored eyes, and I couldn't stop the disappointment that rushed through my battered my body. Guilt replaced disappointment as a relieved smile broke out across Kent's face. Unlike the last two times, I hadn't made it back to a bed; instead, my head was resting against his bare chest, and we were still on my bedroom floor, which meant I couldn't have been out very long.

"Where is he?" I asked, capable of only a whisper, as I sat up with Kent's help. I thought of the light I'd seen before passing out and realized there was a very good chance I'd vaporized my attacker.

"Not he. She. It was Instructor Hodges."

Elaine laid in a heap near my feet. The rise and fall of her chest assured me she was alive, but smoke curled from her clothes and the stench of charred flesh filled the small room. The light I'd seen had been from Kent's pyrokinesis and not my own energy.

"How long was I out?"

"Only a few minutes. I called for help and no one-"

He was cut off as Calum, Fleur, and Percy burst into my room. Through swollen eyes, I made out a tuft of pink hair behind them and realized Anna had come as well. I resisted Kent's attempts to help me up and struggled to my feet, only remembering after I was standing that the nightshirt was the only article of clothing I was wearing. And Kent was shirtless. Fabulous.

"What the hell happened?" Percy hollered, seemingly unconcerned with the state of our undress.

"Elaine attacked me," I wheezed, agony assaulting me with each vibration of my vocal cords. The room tilted a bit, and the decision to remain standing was no longer optional.

Before I could hit the floor, Calum was at my side, scooping me up and tucking me gently into my bed. How he beat Kent to it, I didn't know and didn't care. His clean, masculine scent soothed my frayed nerves and made me feel safe. His callused fingertips moved over my throat and rage radiated from every inch of his body as he studied what he found.

"Does she need me?" Fleur asked as she checked on the still unconscious Elaine.

"I'll be okay."

"Stop speaking," Calum demanded. "Fleur needs to see how much damage has been done."

I started to protest, but a sudden fit of coughing seized me. A metallic tang coated my tongue, and I turned my head to wipe my mouth. Calum grabbed my hand as soon as I tried to hide the glaring red stripe on my skin. "I'm fine."

"Fleur. Hurry up," Calum practically growled.

"Shit, why is it that ever since we brought her here, there's been nothing but trouble?" Percy fumed, taking in the disheveled state of my room. There was no denying a scuffle had taken place, and since it was clear Elaine came to me, I hoped they would believe my side of the story.

"Percy just stop. You and I both know that Elaine is a purist. She's been more vocal than you about her distaste for Camille." Anna punched the redhead as she pushed past him, eager to reach my side. Calum grunted in disapproval as she crawled onto my bed and took my hand in hers.

"Dr. Blanche? Is Elaine going to be okay? I was just trying to put her down, not kill her." Kent's voice wavered at the end, tugging at my heartstrings. He wasn't ready to have something like that on his conscience. Tough talk was all he was.

"She'll be fine. I've healed the most pressing injuries. She'll be taken to the infirmary and treated there. I've also given her body a suggestion to remain unconscious. She's quite capable even when she's injured. I figured we didn't need any extra complications. Percy, do you mind taking her?"

Fleur moved towards me but found her way blocked by the two burly men in my life. Kent scrambled out of the way with one well delivered raised eyebrow. Calum, however, was not so easily swayed. He moved until his back was against the wall between my bed and dresser, allowing just enough room for Fleur to check on me without being out of touching distance.

"You do know how to get into some scrapes, don't you?" Fleur shook her head as she placed her hands on my head.

A cooling sensation started at her fingertips and slid over my body. The swelling around my eyes lessened and the pain in my throat became no more than a minor irritation, like I'd had a severe case of draining sinuses. She pulled back, pushing her dark frames up her thin nose. The glare on her glasses kept me from seeing the look in her eyes, but her body language was tense.

"Kent, you stopped Elaine just in time. If Camille hadn't died from strangulation, she would've died from her internal injuries. I've left the bruising on your neck, and your ribcage will still be tender. The more healing your body can do on its own, the better. It'll make you take things slow over the next few days."

"What happened?" Anna asked, much more kindly than Percy.

Unlike my last interrogation with this crew, I was eager to supply answers. "Chloe left to go grab dinner while I jumped in the shower. I guess maybe twenty to twenty to twenty-five minutes passed before I got out. When I went into my room to get dressed, I noticed the lights were out, so I hesitated. Next thing I know I hit the wall. I managed to pin her at one point, but I don't really understand what happened next. I thought she created shields, but it felt like a wall attacked me."

"Elaine can build and manipulate force fields," Fleur explained.

"A force field strangled me? That's not embarrassing." My tone was light, but just thinking of my throat collapsing beneath the invisible force was enough to make lightheaded again. Calum must have sensed my distress and decided it was time to move back to my side. "There's something else. Earlier today, Elaine and I had an argument."

Fleur's gaze sharpened. "About?"

"She was on the phone with someone, and they were arguing. She needed to get something, but Calum was going to be guarding it. When she asked how much I heard, I lied and acted like I knew she what she was up to. She just pissed me off. She's treated me like crap since day one."

Fleur sighed and ran her hand through her bob. The look she shared with Calum was dark. "I have no doubt Elaine would've acted on her hatred of you eventually, but you definitely set her over the edge. We'll ask her about the call tomorrow. Kent, who all knows that you were here?"

Sheepishly, he ran a hand through his golden hair. Refusing to meet anyone's eyes, he explained, "No one. I just wanted to stop by and check on Camille after the day she had."

If I could have summoned the strength to zap him in that moment, I would have lit him up like a Christmas tree. If the idea that we might have been together when I was attacked hadn't crossed their minds yet, it certainly had now. He looked like they had caught him cheating on a test.

"Ah, cause I often check on my friends while shirtless," Anna whispered in my ear, nudging me with a wink.

"I think it goes without saying that you don't need to broadcast this to anyone. Please return to your dorm room."

The young man nodded and braved Calum's glare to place a soft kiss on my forehead. With one last longing look, he left the room. I didn't dare glance at Anna, certain the show of affection delighted her.

"I'm going to go check on Elaine. Camille, you are not to move from this bed until I have a chance to check on you in the morning."

"She won't be moving. I'll be making certain of that."

"You really think that's necessary?" Some of the raspiness was returning to my voice, and my eyelids were so heavy I wondered if Fleur hadn't given my body the suggestion to sleep. If Calum responded, I didn't hear it.

                                                   ******************************************

The next time I opened my eyes, my room was empty but softly lit by the lamp on my dresser. All the aches and pains from training and the attack felt like they'd doubled, but I was more concerned about my screaming bladder. Flipping my covers back, I placed my feet on the floor, curling my toes in the carpet as I stretched. Fleur couldn't have been serious about not moving from my bed. Nature called, after all.

Moving slower than a woman three times my age, I pushed off the bed. Satisfied when the room stayed still, I took a small step, and immediately tripped over the body lying on my floor.

"What the hell?" I moaned before remembering I was wearing a t-shirt and no underwear. Flailing, I tried to push myself up, my fingers digging into a set of abnormally firm stomach muscles.

"Calm down, woman." Calloused fingers wrapped around my wrist, stilling my thrashing. With a quick tug, he pulled me off his chest and tucked me against his side, where I stared into dark eyes still heavy with sleep.

"Why are you sleeping on my floor?" I demanded, my heart stuttering as he draped a heavy arm across my body.

"There was no room in that bed."

I swallowed hard, thinking of Calum snuggled against me in my twin bed. "Really? Why are you in my room?"

"You have a habit of being stubborn and disregarding orders. And, look, here you are, already disregarding Fleur's orders."

Fanning the flames of indignation was difficult to do when the closeness of his body was fanning other fires, but I managed to snap, "Seeing as how Fleur neglected to tell my body to ignore my bladder, I was going to have to get up, eventually. Speaking of said bladder, would you please let me go so I can make my way to the bathroom?"

His nose nuzzled into my hair, and his arms briefly tightened around me, completely eliminating the small space between our forms."You smell really good."

"Calum," I hissed after a few seconds passed and he didn't seem to be any closer to letting me go.

"Fine, but immediately back to bed."

I hurried to my small bathroom, holding on to the ends of my t-shirt so it would remain at modest levels. Not that it really mattered anymore, I told myself as I relieved my most pressing needs. Calum had probably seen an eyeful of everything, and a small traitorous voice reminded me he'd seen far superior specimens in his centuries on the earth.

Spying the underwear and yoga pants I'd tossed on the floor the day before, I decided my desire for coverage outweighed the ick factor of my dirty clothes and tugged them on. The urge to fix my hair and brush my teeth was stilled by Calum's order to hurry up or else he'd hurry me up.

"Holy crap dude, calm yourself," I snarled, resisting the urge to stomp on the man who was still lying on my floor as I crawled back into my bed.

Heavy silence stretched between us, and after a few minutes, I braved the subject responsible for my current situation. "Calum?"

"You should be sleeping."

"What's so wrong with being part Fae?"

"I forget how much you don't know."

I flipped to my side and peered into the shadows. "Am I even one of the Children? What if I'm all Fae?"

"You're not, but even if you were, you've proved yourself to be a good person. That's what counts. Your actions."

"While I appreciate your kindness, and I believe you believe that, I want to understand why Elaine hates me so much."

He sat up and rested his arms on his knees. "The Fae predate mankind and are creatures of nature. Of death, and life, and magic. You've heard of some of their kind. Bean-Nighe, better known as banshees, harbingers of death. Bogarts, Greenies, and sprites. More races than I can recall."

"When the nine goddesses walked the earth, they tended to the Fae just as they did mankind. Morgan Le Fay was drawn to the beings more than others. Their magic was much like hers: wild and dark. But where she was forced to walk the line to keep the natural balance, they were impulsive and followed passions. When Morgan was banished from Avalon, she established herself as Queen of the Fae, and she fills her armies with them. Elaine, like many other Children, has watched loved ones killed by the Fae. They teach the Children that they are the enemy."

"But the beings you just described don't sound bad. They're being used by a bad woman. And surely not every single one has thrown their lot in with Morgan. Not every Child fights on our side."

"I know that. But you have to understand. When the Knights received the blessing of the Grail, they were told to keep themselves pure. Many took that as a missive to keep their bloodlines pure, and for a long time, taking a Fae lover could earn a death sentence. We were taught that they were nothing but spies filled with corrupt magic."

I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling, my cheeks burning.. The hope that had been growing in my heart since I'd come to this island was crushed. My peers would never fully accept me. They'd see my powers and see nothing but filth.

"Not everyone believes this attitude is right," Calum whispered, correctly interpreting my silence as despair.

"But most do. How could they not? Our entire purpose is to fight their queen."

"Camille, you aren't the first mixed breed amongst the Children. And I'm in charge of the Guardians. We don't tolerate that kind of prejudice in our ranks. We learn together, live together, and often die together. A bond is forged that's greater than blood."

"What about Percy? Elaine? They're your leaders, and they've made it very clear how they feel about me."

"Hate is not Percy's problem. He doesn't do well with things he can't fully understand, and you're a mystery to him. Your possible connection to the Fae worries him, because he's afraid you're a spy. If he knew your story, he wouldn't care. He's thinking like a soldier, and once you earn his trust, you'll find no greater friend. As for Elaine, I am sorry. We've been aware of her feelings, but they never caused a problem until now. If I had known just how strongly she felt, I would have reassigned her."

"After I escaped Anton, I was determined to protect myself from that kind of danger again. I was too trusting. I thought it was because before him, I had no memories of cruelty. But over the next few years, those carefully laid plans of protection became less important. Iggy just had a way of reaching people, and her husband loved me because Iggy loved me. For no other reason did they seek me out than to just enjoy my company."

"And then, in one night, all of that was gone. My life had returned to screwed up, but somehow it's even worse than before. Because I was stupid and really let myself think that because all the secrets were out in the open, I belonged here. And then I find out I'm the enemy."

"Camille," Calum urged. The kindness in his voice brought about a fresh wave of tears.

"Please, leave me alone."

"You aren't going to push me away," he insisted.

"I don't have to," I replied. "You'll walk away on your own."

He rose from the floor like an angry giant. Clutching his pillow in front of him, he growled, "Dammit Camille, I'm sorry. I can't be what you want, but I can be here to help protect you. Look what happens when I'm not around."

"Ah, yes, because I thought to myself it's been a few weeks since my last near death experience. Can't let that happen, so I decided I'd ask Elaine to come by and strangle me. I really get off on that kind of thing."

"You jest, but I really wonder," Calum replied. "Especially seeing how you seem to be a glutton for punishment."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"Didn't I tell you the football player wasn't worth your time? I thought you were done with boys who used women."

"So that's what this protecting Camille bullshit is about? You're sleeping on my floor to prevent Kent from sneaking back into my room," I shouted, thankful for the direction this conversation had taken. Calum was giving me the tools to protect myself, and for a moment, I could pretend I was just a girl with boy problems and not a monster.

"You know that isn't true. I take responsibility for coming into your life and ruining what you thought was a good thing. But you have to know that it would've fallen apart, eventually. But I don't apologize for it. We wouldn't have met otherwise, and regardless of what you think, I care about you. And that means I worry."

"Look," I said, ignoring his words, "You made yourself pretty clear about where we stand the other night, which means you don't get to have an opinion on what I do and who I do it with."

"Not even as your friend?"

Trembling, I summoned the courage to utter the next words, "If I thought you were speaking as a friend, it might be a different story."

The pillow hit the paisley bedspread with a thunk as the man before me staggered as if someone had landed a hard blow. Even in the dim light of the room, I could see the color drain from his tan skin. Without another word, he walked out of my room. I waited only for the soft click of the door shutting before I let the tears fall.