Chapter 208

Vanessa paused mid-step, one shoe still in her hand, and looked up, surprised. "Xander? Weren't you in the army for training? Why are you back now?" Xander's stare was sharp, almost dangerous. "Vanessa, why didn't you tell me what happened to you on base? You were almost hurt! Aren't we siblings? Don't you get you're the closest person I've got in this world?" He was practically fuming. Every time something bad happened to her, he wasn't there. That helpless, useless feeling crept up again-like he was just some extra baggage in her life. "I didn't want to distract you from training," Vanessa tried to explain. "Besides, it's all taken care of-" "Taken care of?" Xander cut in, voice rising. "Do you even realize how serious it was? Our instructor told us those guys had grenades. Even the soldiers chasing after them got injured. You were surrounded by those maniacs! And you call that ‘handled'?" "I'm fine, aren't I?" Vanessa spun around after slipping into her slippers, doing a twirl in fr