There was one person that seemed most likely to end up being her master. Jon came to mind. He had been teaching her since she started her training. The initiates that would join her time to time would all give her jealous stares.

According to Kyle, only two other people had ever been personally trained by Jon. Since he was the grandmaster of their area, it was often the goal of the initiates to be Jon's next student. Jay had achieved that goal without trying.

Upon learning that information, she felt a bit guilty that she had ended up being a special case. Violet brought Jay out of her thoughts when she suddenly snapped her fingers in front of her face.

Violet gave a playful pout. "Hey, girl, pay attention! I know you're into my father but we have things to prepare! The party isn't far away."

Jay's brain seemed to malfunction at her words. It took a moment for her to get her words out. "Hold on. Who said anything about me being into Jon?"

"Well, everyone," Violet said with a laugh.

"Wait, wait, wait! Everyone?" Jay echoed, hoping she heard wrong.

Violet nodded before passing the list she had been writing to one of the chefs. "Everyone," she repeated. "It's so obvious because of how you two always end up spending the day together."

Jay's mouth fell slightly open at the news. How had such a misunderstanding come from her training? "No! There is nothing between us! It's strictly training. Nothing more."

Violet gave her a disbelieving look. "How is there nothing going on? He only talks about you. You're special, sure, but he definitely has an obsession with you for a reason far deeper than that."

Jay shook her head. "You've got it all wrong!" By this point, her face was red. She couldn't wrap her head around what she had just learned. Even if there was something between her and Jon, it would be too awkward to be into her friend's dad.

Violet seemed to guess what was going through her mind and laughed. "You're older than me. It's totally fine if you hook up with my father. Don't feel like it's something to be ashamed about."

Jay covered her face. "No, you don't get it." She moved her hands. "There is no way that there is something between us. It's strictly teacher and student, I swear!"

"You sure you haven't thought about it?" Violet asked, still not believing her. "Father gives you the bedroom eyes and you don't notice at all?"

"Bedroom eyes?" It took a split second for Jay to realize what she meant and it made her feel like she wanted to die right then and there. There was no way that Jon had any sort of attraction towards her. Sure, he liked messing with her but that was simply because they were friends, right?

Violet kept teasing her before Jay finally gave up. She couldn't deny that she had thought about Jon in such a way a few times as they spent more and more time together. But she was hesitant to even take a step towards a romantic relationship.

Not after everything Jay had been through before coming to the estate. She knew that Jon could be trusted. Her instincts screamed it if she thought about it. Yet there was still that ingrained fear that kept a barrier around her heart.

It would be nice to get rid of that barrier and take that leap of faith but she was hesitant to do it. What if he didn't like her and left her? Jay knew not all relationships were built to last but she didn't want to face that pain. She was even scared of losing the friends she had made since coming to the estate.

It was a fear that plagued her at the back of her mind every day. Finally having tasted what a good relationship was like left Jay scared to lose it. She had grabbed onto the piece of happiness that had finally come into her life and she never wanted to let it go.

Violet placed her hand on Jay's shoulder. "How about this? I'll see if I can get Father to confess his feelings for you and if he does, I'll set up a date for you two!"

Jay quickly shook her head. "I can't," she stammered, her heart pounding in her chest. Her anxiety was starting to kick in at the thought. "Please don't."

Violet's smile vanished. "Okay. Take a deep breath. Maybe you two will happen naturally."

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Jay lay in bed that night. Her mind was bombarded by thoughts of Jon. Violet had triggered the bombardment and Jay was mad that she couldn't stop it. She closed her eyes and sighed before rolling onto her side.

She opened her eyes and gazed out the window. There was a full moon tonight. It lit up the world with its silvery light. An image of her and Jon taking a stroll in the garden went through her mind and she sighed again.

There is no way something could happen between us. There is just too much of a difference between us. There was this otherworldly aura that Jon had. It was like he was from a place too far for her to reach. The more she thought about him, the more it stood out to her.

Jay had never really put much thought towards that otherworldly aura till now. The more time they spent together, the more she noticed that he didn't seem to be part of this world. Especially how he could always show up when she tried to ask Kyle to finish his story.

Then there was how he would somehow bring out abilities she never knew were possible. Like how to sense everyone in the estate or how to tell if someone was lying. It was so bizarre and she questioned the reality of it all but nothing made sense so she simply decided to accept it. He had even taught her how to merge with the darkness to better kill her targets.

Jay knew her reality was slipping further into a supernatural one but she kept denying it. But tonight, she couldn't. She again blamed Violet as her thoughts returned to Jon. Jay let out a soft groan of frustration and got out of bed.

She paced the room, trying to get her mind to stop thinking about Jon. "There is no way we'll ever get together!" she muttered to herself. "We're worlds apart."

Jay woke up the next morning and screamed into her pillow. She had dreamed about Jon and it had been a very exciting one. She lifted her face from the soft pillow and heaved a big sigh. "Damn you, Violet."

Her night had been long and it took her forever to fall asleep. Jay didn't even have to look at the clock to know she had overslept and missed her alarm. The sunlight told her that information. She dragged herself out of bed and got ready for the day.

As much as Jay would love to sleep more, she had things to do. One of those things was facing Jon after oversleeping for the first time. She was late for her training though somehow she felt like he wouldn't actually care.

When she arrived in the training hall, dressed in her black training suit, she discovered her guess had been right. There were ten new initiates that were in the process of training in one corner. They were practicing with knives and how to properly assassinate with them.

Jon was watching them while another master trained them. As soon as Jay arrived, Jon switched his gaze to her. His piercing red eyes met her dark brown eyes and Jay's mind went blank immediately. Jon walked up to her, a smile on his handsome face.

Jay cursed Violet once again for the whirlpool of emotions and thoughts as she watched him. It didn't help that today Jon was shirtless and wearing tight black pants. They were part of the training outfit that everyone else wore.

She had the suspicion that Violet betrayed her and said something to him. Why does he have to be great eye candy? Jay screamed in her mind. She could feel her cheeks heating up to betray her emotions. Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Calm down, Jay! Her mind was in chaos.

Jay felt like she now had to watch herself around this man. He was dangerous in a way that she liked and she wasn't ready to go down that road. She felt like his gaze was consuming her as he reached her.

How did their relationship go from strictly teacher and student to this? She wasn't even sure where they stood now. There were more gazes landing on her but these were full of curiosity and jealousy. They came from the other initiates.

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