Roscoe dropped back a step, guarding their backs.
"I'm not an invalid. I can walk on my own," Ghost protested.
"Shut up, warrior," Fiona barked, hurrying him forward.
"Caden." Eva's weak voice came from beside him.
Caden felt something inside him go still at her tone. The skin on the back of his neck crawled, instinct screaming at him that something was wrong.
On first glance, Eva looked normal. Nothing much was different. Those were her features. A little blank, her personality muted.
Her eyes were unfocused in the same way they sometimes were when she was listening to something the rest of them couldn't hear. It was the same look she got when the Kyren were speaking to her.
"Eva."
The emotion in Caden's voice made Jane step forward, alert to the fact something was wrong.
Fiona glanced back as she and Ghost paused.
Eva didn't answer, her eyes unseeing.
"What's wrong with her?" Reece asked.
Caden didn't get the chance to answer as Eva's limbs started shaking uncontrollably. Her chest heaved as she convulsed.
"Run," Caden roared.
Fiona partially carried, partially supported a weak Ghost, trusting Caden to handle the situation. Roscoe hesitated for a split second before following.
Reece raced after them.
Jane moved closer to Eva and Caden, her expression cautious. "What do we do? Can we move her, or will that hurt her?"
Caden shook his head. "I don't know."
The admission scraped at Caden's insides, leaving them raw and exposed. It was an acid in his throat. Corrosive and poisonous as he hovered at Eva's side, his muscles strung tight with the urge for action.
Violence coiled inside of him.
"We wait," Caden said a second later.
"They won't hurt her, will they? She's supposed to be special, right?" Jane asked.
"Not everyone appreciates special."
Sometimes they hated it. They saw that specialness as a threat and went to great lengths to stamp it out.
It was Caden's fear. One of many keeping him up at night. As long as Eva was the only person with her abilities, she was a target.
Eventually, there might be an enemy Caden couldn't protect her from. Some mythological or beast who decided humans shouldn't have such power and who'd try to eliminate her.
"You can go," Caden said, seeing Jane eye the swarm only a few feet away.
Jane snorted. "You know better."
Caden allowed himself a tiny smile. He did. That was why he offered.
Jane and Caden stilled as the small sounds coming from the swarm stopped. The sudden hush was a bell toll, telling them something was coming. Something bad.
