I wish it didn’t make my skin crawl.
The Morder
Elowen
"It feels amazing in here!"A flushed nurse gasps as she steps into our makeshift pharmacy.
I force a smile as Milo chirps, "Welcome to the coldest spot in the market."
And it is cold.
Three portable air conditioners hum along the white canvas walls, rattling faintly every few seconds like mechanical heartbeats. They keep the tent at a steady sixty-two degrees. It’s critical for the refrigerated units lined up behind me, their glass doors fogged at the edges, rows of vials and ampules glowing softly under the interior lights.
The shelves flanking both sides of the tent are packed tight with blister packs, gauze, bandages, sealed syringes, and tons of PPE.
Everything is organized and accounted for.
Outside our tent, generators groan throughout the forest. You can hear them from every corner of the Morder.Deep, diesel-throated sounds that bleed through the trees and hang in the humid air.
The market sits in a clearing carved out of dense woodland, miles from the nearest paved road. It’s only accessible if you have four-wheel drive and know which logging trail to take.
I have no idea how clients know how to find it, but they somehow manage.
And I can already hear them.
Dozens, if not hundreds of alpha voices overlap in the distance. I know we're safe in here. After all, there are at least a hundred concrete barriers, on top of armed guards that ring the entire perimeter in staggered rows. They form a wall between the omega quarter, where the medical tents, holding areas, and preparation stations are clustered, and the alpha side, where the bidding happens.
I've been told the barriers are more than enough to keep the alphas at bay, but my nerves still don't trust it.
"I need forty milligrams of Omevra-X and a course of doxycycline. Seven days." The nurse at the front of the line doesn't look up from her clipboard. She's already moving to the next item on her list.
"Of course." I turn to one of the fridges, pulling out the meds. "Milo, can you grab the doxy? Second shelf, left side, next to the nasal swabs."
“On it, Pérez.” Milo is already moving. He's fast and quiet and doesn't ask unnecessary questions, which is exactly what I need right now because if one more person asks me if I'm okay, I’m going to shatter into a thousand pieces.
Despite taking twice the recommended dosage of suppressants last night, I still feel like shit.
My lower back has been throbbing since before dawn.It’s a deep, rolling ache that sits right above my hips and pulses in time with my heartbeat. Every pulse makes my heartbeat jack up, and my palms sweat.
I’m terrified the meds didn’t work.
Please don’t go into heat out here. Please, please, please.
I had a feeling they weren’t that effective when I woke up a little achy this morning. I should have stayed home. But instead, I doused myself in scent-blockers then walked into an alpha-packed black market like a fucking idiot.
"Here you go." Milo places the doxy on the table in front of the nurse.
"Do you need anything else?" I ask, pushing the Omevra toward her.
"Yes. I’ve got another omega that’s presenting with severe abdominal cramping, muscle spasms, and her temperature keeps spiking." The nurse glances at her clipboard. “Dr. Plume wants her on Calmavex.”
"I’m pretty sure we don’t have that," Milo says, already scanning the shelf behind him. "Haven't had Calmavex in weeks."
"Okay." I press my knuckles into the counter, steadying myself as a dull ache rolls through my lower back. "We can give her eight hundred milligrams of ibuprofen for the cramping and inflammation." My fingers find the right box without looking.Thank god for routine."And we’ll pair it with ten milligrams of Flexoril for the spasms, and if her temperature doesn't come down in the next hour, start her on a low dose of Therapen. Fifteen milligrams, no more."
The nurse looks up from her clipboard, slightly surprised.
"It's not a replacement for Calmavex," I add, already pulling the bottles. "But it'll manage the symptoms until she can see a doctor who can get her on the right regimen. Sheneeds proper treatment as soon as possible. Tell Dr. Plume she can’t go into the auction. Not until she’s been tested."
