Diana and I had left the party before ten. I’d had two shots and drank water when I got back to my room. I’d felt good then, too, tired and lightly buzzed, but not drunk . . .
My eyes popped open wide.Did the vampires rufie that drink?
Taking care to stand, I left my room to find Diana. When she opened her door, the sweat that glistened on her face told me I wasn’t the only one feeling ill.
“Is your stomach killing you?”
Diana nodded.
“Those bastards.” I clenched my fists. “I think the vamps drugged us.”
Diana’s blue eyes grew as large as saucers. “Oh my God. I think you’re right. I thought Simone waswaytoo happy when the fae took another shot.”
My jaw tightened. “All I know is that neither of us should feel this sick with how little we drank. And I chugged some water before I went to bed. I’m sure you did, too . . . right?” Diana seemed to be the type who would avoid dehydration, which could cost her the edge in . . . whatever she was doing.
“Absolutely. Hydration is key for any physical competition,” she said, confirming my beliefs. “And since we’re going up against vamps, I figure that a physical challenge is the most likely scenario.”
I groaned. She was right, and at the moment any sort of physical activity sounded horrible. Then a terrible thought struck me, sinking my aching gut.
“We need to wake up Sam and Andre,” I said. “They stayed behind. What if they—”
As if he knew I was talking about him, Andre’s door opened, and he stuck his head out to vomit on the hallway runner.
“Shit!” Diana screamed as Andre continued to cough and sputter.
“I’m gonna go check on Sam!” My fury at the vampire champions somehow dulled my pain, and I raced to Sam’s room.
I knocked, and when she didn’t answer, I knocked again. The minutes ticked by and still nothing, so I threw courtesy to the wind and opened the door.
My eyes just about bugged out of my head when I saw Sam lying facedown with a pillow over her head, still in the clothes she’d worn last night.
“Sam! We have to debrief. The Games start soon!”
A muffled groan came from beneath the pillow.
I bit my lip. “You feel like shit, don’t you?”
Another groan, this one even more pathetic, met my ears.
Crap, crap, crap!We so did not have time for this. I needed to do all that I could to get my team feeling better fast. I pulled the pillow off Sam and flipped her over. Her face was red and swollen, and there were huge bags under her eyes, but at least she hadn’t been laying in a pool of her own vomit.
“Get up.” I rushed to the adjoining bathroom and filled a glass with water. “Drink this.”
Sam brought her hand to her mouth, her gaze tentative.
“You have to flush whatever poison the vampires gave us out of your system. Water will help.”
With trembling hands, Sam took the glass and sipped. I gave her an encouraging nod, and she sipped again.
As Sam drank, I was filled with hope that she could turn her condition around. I encouraged her, and she managed to finish half the glass.
My tension had just started to dissipate when suddenly, she lurched forward and threw up, barely missing my sock-clad feet.
I swore under my breath and fetched another glass of water.
Miraculously, Diana and I patched up our teammates well enough that they could walk to breakfast on their own. The only thing they could stomach was water, and they occasionally broke out in sweat from just looking at the food, but I told myself that was good. It meant they were sweating out the toxins.
I was thankful that the vampire champions were notably absent, and that Headmistress Wake sat at a table with the other heads of school. It gave us time to regroup in peace. When, at the end of the meal, the headmistress approached us and motioned for us to join her in the hall, we put on our bravest faces and followed.
