“He better be,” Kallie replied. She slapped my shoulder lightly. “Charlie, it’s okay. It’s just us.”
I sighed. “Ava’s theory is right.”
“I can’t believe you got yourself shot!” Ava hissed, though she sounded slightly relieved.
“What are your side effects?” Marcus asked.
“Yeah, I’m super curious,” Kallie added as she leaned on the bed a little. “Marcus and I were shot when we tried to escape last semester, but the formula was diluted. What’s a full dose like?”
I drew a breath, wondering how to explain it to them. It was an odd sensation I couldn’t quite put into words. “You know when a furnace is running, and you don’t really notice it’s going until it turns off? And suddenly you realize the whole room was making noise?”
“Yeah,” Ava and Kallie said together.
Marcus was oblivious. “You guys notice that kind of thing?”
I ignored him and continued. “It’s kind of like that, but like the furnace is just malfunctioning, not totally turned off. I can still use my magic.”
“Show us,” Ava said, sounding intrigued.
I called upon my Air power, and a breeze swept through the room. “I think if I keep practicing, I can do better. Noxite won’t stop us.”
“This is good,” Ava said thoughtfully. “I don’t know how we’re going to use it yet, though.”
Marcus shifted, and his shirt brushed against my arm. “It’s worth keeping in our back pocket for when we need it.”
“Agreed,” Ava replied. “I’ll bet the Warden knows noxite doesn’t work on demigods. It’s probably why it’s all around the Institute in the first place. If he suspects any of us are immune, he’ll find a reason to send us to Cellblock 9. We have to be extra careful with this.”
Kallie scoffed. “I’d rather suck a dragon dick than get caught.”
Marcus stiffened beside me, and Ava snickered.
“We’ll be discreet,” I said. “I can swipe some noxite from the mines for us to practice pushing our powers with in private.”
“As long as we aren’t caught, then I’ll push whatever limits I have to,” Kallie said.
“Same,” Ava added.
Marcus hesitated a moment, then added, “Eh, it’s magic. What’s another challenge?”
We were all on board with testing our noxite limits. We talked a while longer, until we heard a nurse passing through the ward. I went back to pretending I was unconscious, while the nurse told the others they’d overstayed their welcome.
“Charlie and I are bonded,” Ava argued. “Elementai are permitted to have their Familiar with them in the infirmary. Seeing as Charlie and I share a Familiar, I believe it’s myrightto stay.”
The nurse sounded skeptical, but she let Ava stick around. Soon, the two of us were alone in the ward, with Oberi curled up at my feet.
Ava squeezed my hand. “I’m going to stay here all night.”
“I’m not hurt,” I assured her. “It’s all right.”
“It’s not,” she insisted. “Noxite or not, you got shot.”
Ava kept pushing it until I agreed. I didn’t think she was worried about the noxite. The fear pulsing through our bond was stronger than that. It was like she was afraid someone like Deuce or Mad Dog might show up and try to hurt me while I was vulnerable. It was nice of her to care, but I was the one who was supposed to be protecting her, not the other way around.
Ava and I talked for hours, mostly about music. She sang a song to me that she’d written in class earlier that day, and I helped her tweak the lyrics in the chorus that she was struggling with. We were working on another song when I realized the nurses hadn’t come to check on us in a while.
“What time is it?” I asked.
“Almost midnight,” she replied. “Why?”
