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“I didn’t have time to heal it,” he says as he begins taking the stairs two at a time. “I need to get you out of here in case there’s more orcs. But I used a spell to mask the pain.” His breath is cool on my neck, his voice soothing and not at all winded.
Now that my pain is gone, the aftereffects of the orc and adrenaline dump hit me. I’m sinking fast into darkness.
“You have to stop doing this,” I mutter.
He’s quiet for a beat. “What?”
“Acting like you care about me at random times. You send me food. You give me expensive coats. You save my life. It’s confusing and you have to stop.”
Cold wind envelops me as he begins stalking across the lawn. As luck would have it, the campus is packed with Fae. I ignore the stares, the shocked faces and whispers that fill the night.
“Would you rather I left you to die down there?” he asks, sounding genuinely curious.
Closing my eyes, I relax my head, letting it fall gently against his chest. He smells of juniper and balsam and cedar. It’s intoxicating.
I nuzzle into his neck, inhale his scent deeper, and whisper, “I’d rather have never met you at all.”
27
I’m not sure if I’m awake or dreaming. I know I’m in bed because I can feel cold, starched sheets lightly fitted over my legs and waist. But it’s like I’m underwater, in a pocket of space between sleep and reality.
I can’t open my eyes, can’t speak or move.
The first voice I hear is Eclipsa’s. “Are you sure you didn’t heal her? Because a healing of that nature . . .”
“I think I would know if I did,” the male voice answers.
Oh, I know that voice. The confident, sultry tone practically runs through my head on repeat. The prince.
“You have to be careful,” Eclipsa warns. “If it takes hold—”
“It won’t. Believe me. She hates me.”
Who hates him? What are they talking about?
They continue speaking but it’s far away now, muffled voices from the end of a long tunnel. And then I plunge into a warm, velvety darkness.
“Why do I have to stay here even though I’m healed?” I ask, sitting up in bed. The healing center is on the main campus, a good-sized three-story white brick building with large windows and flowers in every room.
My nurse, a blue Fae girl with a huge nose and black eyes, glances at the clock and sighs. “Twenty more minutes and you’re released. Some humans have reactions to the healing magic.”
Right. I remember reading about that in class. Humans who have adverse reactions usually do so within twelve hours. Which means I’ve been stuck in this room for the entire morning.
“Pfft, she’s fine,” Ruby yells from where she sits on my headboard. “Look at her.”
The nurse shoots Ruby a dark look before handing me two herbal drinks to help with any residual pain; one reeks of swampy mud and is lumpy and gray, the other has a verbena and lavender scent.
Ick.
Ruby flits over and snatches the verbena tumbler. “You gonna drink this, kid?”
“All yours.” I throw the covers off, antsy to find a way back to the library and grab that book. Hopefully it’s still a crime scene, or whatever, and I can somehow slip by and find it.
Mack and Evelyn sit in the faded blue loveseat in the corner, pretending to read human magazines. They burst in here a few minutes ago when nurse killjoy decided I could have visitors.
The moment the nurse finishes with me and leaves the room, they rush to my side.
“We heard what happened,” Mack squeals. “A Cave Orc? Really, Summer?”
