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“Why not?”
Ben scratched his neck, the corners of his eyes creasing. “Nobody knows I have this power, not even my brother.”
“You haven’t told anyone?” Maybe me and Ben had more in common than I realised, hiding ourselves from even our families. “Why?”
“Why do you think?” Ben muttered. “The minute my mum realises I could give our family the advantage in this feud, she’d make me use it.”
Just like that, any animosity I had left toward him melted away. He had inadvertently protected both our families - but particularly mine - from total destruction all this time. Everhart or not, was there any act more noble in a war this intense?
“Besides, it doesn’t work like that,” he added. “I can’t give myself good or bad luck, just other people.”
“Why did you give it to me?” I asked.
“Because I wanted you to be safe. I…care about you.”
Did I imagine his use of the present tense?
I shuffled a little closer to him, our elbows touching. My jacket clinked, and realisation dawned on me. I still had the potions in my pocket.
Crap, I had brought literal poison into a hospital. Except, one of them wasn’t a poison.
I looked up at the officers, who had relaxed enough to be sure we would not run, and were looking around, keeping watch.
I dipped my fingers into my jacket pocket and peered into it to make sure I grabbed the right one.
“Here,” I whispered as I slipped Ben the vial.
Our touches lingered long after the vial was in his palm.
My heart skipped a beat as our eyes met.
“What is it?” he whispered.
I shrugged. “It could be a trick. Or it could be a smokescreen potion.”
Ben snorted and grinned.
Apparently, we were finally past believing we were always out to trick each other.
“Thank you.”
Warmth blossomed through my chest at the sound of his sincerity.
With no warning, Ben threw the vial at the feet of the officers. Smoke billowed into the air, and before I knew what was happening, Ben grabbed my arm and we snuck around where the officers had stood.
We ran past the smoky reception desk and down the corridor after Mallory.
“Are you sure she’ll be this way?” Ben asked, sidestepping a nurse bustling past.
We had zigzagged our way through half the hospital by now, but I was certain.
“Michaela has to be in the ICU if she’s that sick,” I said. “It’s this way.”
Sandra had worked here so long that even I knew this place like the back of my hand. The ICU here was small, but was more than large enough to accommodate the population. There were barely more than two or three people in there at a time, and those were at the busiest times of the year.
Ben pushed through the doors to the ICU department, and silence dawned. Only the distant beeping of machinery in the distance indicated that anyone was in the department at all.
“Is it always this quiet?” Ben asked.
