“How is…” she begins and then hesitates. She isn’t calling about the greenhouse at all. It was a softener before she gets to the point, something Mira has never struggled with in the past. “How is the atmosphere there at Elderwood?”
My stomach clenches. What has she heard? Has someone told her about Sophie? Has Sophie somehow located my grandmother and told her about me? It’s irrational and highly unlikely, but now that I’ve thought of it, I can’t seem to un-think it.
“What do you mean?” I don’t manage to hide the tremor in my voice.
“Gideon Stockwell was on a radio talk show this morning. I’ve seen him on TV too. The man will talk to anyone who will listen, and it seems that plenty of people are willing to listen to his conspiracy theories.”
“Conspiracy theories?” I feel bad that I’ve become so consumed by the greenhouse, or more importantly, spending time with Calder and Tyler, that I’d forgotten all about Gideon Stockwell and the omegas who died.
“He is adamant that his sister didn’t die of natural causes.” Grandma doesn’t elaborate.
“I spoke to him shortly after I arrived. But I haven’t seen him since.”
“Have you had a health check yet?” she asks.
I don’t recall Grandma ever seeing a doctor, she prefers homeopathic remedies to regular medication, and the question lands like a pebble in a pond. “Not yet. But I will.”
“Elowen.” I can almost hear her reluctance to say what she’sabout to say next. “If you want to come home when—if—you go into heat, I’ll understand.”
I tilt my face towards the early October sunshine. “Thank you, Grandma. I’ll think about it.”
“Thank you.” A small smile reaches me through the cell phone. “That’s all I needed to hear. Now go, have fun, little one.”
I walk back to my room lost in mental images of Gideon in Elderwood Hollow, approaching omegas with his business card. While lectures have continued as usual, and I’ve immersed myself in the resurrection of the greenhouse, Gideon’s life has stagnated. He’s stuck in the timeline where his sister is dead, and he believes that her death and those of the other omegas were suspicious. And while people might be entertaining him on talk shows, no one is investigating his allegations.
I stop outside Lila’s door and hesitate. She was there when I spoke to Gideon. She has had a health check, a process prompted by Lydia Jones, the last omega to die before the summer break. And, like me, Lila hasn’t mentioned him since.
Before I can knock, her door opens and Seraphina Bloom appears. She’s obviously leaving. She smiles when she sees me, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes.
Seraphina sniffs the air. “You’re not close to your heat, are you?”
“No?” I glance at Lila half-hidden behind her. Her face is pale, and her scent doesn’t smell any stronger than normal. “Why? What’s happened?”
If I hadn’t just had the conversation with grandma, I’d have bypassed Lila’s door, gone into my own room, and laid downon my bed while I mentally replayed my day spent with Calder and Tyler in the greenhouse. But standing here now, I understand Mira’s question about the atmosphere in the college, and I’m disappointed with myself for not acknowledging it sooner.
I’d like to think that the greenhouse is a distraction. Which it is. But it isn’t the only reason I’ve been walking around campus in a rosy little bubble where nothing bad ever happens. That award must go to the two alphas with their rolled-up sleeves and their unavoidable scents and their dazzling smiles.
“Olivia Strachan is in the infirmary.” Seraphina raises her eyes; she isn’t smiling now. “Her heat finished a few days ago.”
I blink. “What’s wrong with her? Is she… going to be okay?”
Seraphina shrugs, purely because she doesn’t know the answer. “I saw her earlier. She’s been vomiting, and she seems lifeless, but Nurse Hollis said she had to administer a sedative because she was distressed last night.”
“She got a health check before her heat,” Lila adds.
“Do you think…?” I can’t voice it out loud. Reading about the omegas who died last year was a lot to think about, but to be here when it happens to someone we know, someone who attends the same biology seminars as me… It changes everything. Makes it more real.
“We should stay positive,” Seraphina says. “We all need to look out for each other.”
When she has gone, I look at Lila; even her energy is subdued. “We shouldn’t jump to conclusions,” she says. “Olivia might just have a virus, and it’s simply bad timing. Megan was in heat a couple of weeks ago, andshe’s fine.”
I nod, but I can’t help thinking about Gideon Stockwell. Three omega deaths from natural causes in one school year. Is it a coincidence or is he onto something? Something that’s being covered up by school administration.
“You’re right. Panicking over something that might not happen won’t help her.”
“No, but your chamomile tea might.” Lila grins. “Did you want something or were you loitering outside my door waiting for more brownies?”
I chuckle. “Do you have more brownies?”
