She hung up before I could say anything else.
I rolled my eyes. She could literally burn any spider to a crisp, yet she’s terrified of them.
I put the phone down and glanced over at Ragnar, who had finally conquered his grape.
Lake Bloodwyne was wrong about one thing. I didn’t have my father in me like a flaw. I had him within my DNA like code. His likeness was buried deep within me.
He and Sabine wanted me to watch myself around Rune.
Fine.
I would.
But I’d watch her, too.
rune
. . .
Months of training,mission drills, case studies, and falling into the adaptive routine made time blur by way too fast. Outside of our bubble was a stream of some kind of affliction spreading on campus. Surprisingly, the first years had been mostly unaffected. Thankfully, our squad had been untouched…until now.
Lorian knocked on Eleanor’s door. “Hey, Elle, you okay?”
Ragged breathing came from the other side of the door before it cracked open, revealing Eleanor with her light brown hair with white spots scattered throughout in disarray.
“Eleanor?”I gasped.
Her brown doe-eyes were glassy as she stared at us, and her button nose was red and dripping green snot. I swore I felt heat coming off her in waves as she stood there trembling. “I—” she covered her mouth and launched into a coughing fit.
Everyone but Lorian instinctively stepped back.
“Eleanor, hey, look at me.” Lorian moved forward, cupping her face and tilting her head up so she could look at him once her coughs subsided.
She did, barely. “Don’t—tell—Jarvins—” she sucked in a sharp breath, stumbling into Lorian’s broad chest. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine,” Lorian stated, a frown creasing his brows. “You’re sick.”
“Sick? Supernaturals don’t get sick,” Hawk scoffed.
“Shifters can, but it’s so rare it’s almost unheard of,” Lorian mumbled. “Elle, are you doing okay?”
“So tired,” she croaked.
The zipper of her academy-issued suit had only been half-way pulled up in the back. She was so exhausted she couldn’t even properly dress herself.
Lorian carefully zipped it the rest of the way for her.
Koa moved through the doorway, his chest gently moving past my back as his blue flames of healing magic licked up his hands. “Let me try to heal whatever this is.” He smoothed his fingers along her temple.
Her breathing evened ever so slightly, and her eyes cleared enough to find Lorian’s.
“See, I’m fine,” she whispered, but she flinched as another tremor wracked through her.
“My healing bought her time,” Koa said, his jaw tightening. “I don’t know what that is, honestly. But she needs to go to the infirmary.”
“Others have been sick, too,” Raze mentioned, rubbing his jaw from the living area because he wasn’t getting too close. “The infirmary’s been full for the past month from what I’ve heard. So many students have missed assignments and were sent home because of it.”
“Poison,” I muttered as Mom’s earlier warnings spiked through my thoughts. “There’s a human-made poison going around. It tracks that this illness could be because of poisoning.”
