Page 62 of Fatality on the Field

I snort. “He will be until the ‘history making’ docs arrive. Trust me, he’s super into that shit.”

Kaspar’s mouth twitches at the corner, and he uncrosses his arms. “If you want to go in, the nurses said it’s fine. They’ll do another round of tests before they call the parents to come to the hospital.”

“It’s okay. I have other duties I need to attend to, and you guys are doing well here.” I let myself look at the students for a second and feel the tightness in my chest ease a little. Then I turn to Liam, who’s been silent this whole time, his attention split between the room and my face.

“We don’t have much longer if they’re going to contact relatives,” I tell him. “We should finish up with the medical folks so we can do that.”

Liam doesn’t hesitate. “Agreed. It’s smarter to get back to campus before that’s too swarmed to slip in and out as well.”

“After we talk to the rock star docs, we’ll get Iggy to agree to come home for a while. He’s going to need some decompression time and truth be told, I’ll feel safer with you all at my place where I know you’re safe.”

The prince’s eyes crinkle at the edges, and he says, “The docs are just as likely to become Lucas’s new best friends as they are to give us useful information, you know. After his buddy cop act with the lion in Hell, I really believe the kid has some sort of friend-making enchantment on him. He’s like a magnet, love.”

I roll my eyes, but there’s affection in it. “Let the bear have his heroes and his new friends, babe. I don’t care if he makes posters for their fan club to hang them in our backyard lair if it makes him happy. And since your best bud over there, Iggy, and I aren’t exactly the welcoming committee for allies, I’m afraid you and Slade are stuck with Lucas in that effort. It’s good that he's drawing in the people we’ll need.”

“Just wait until he drags us south to their little town,” Liam says, and I give him a look that is a wee bit terrified. He grins as he continues, “I know you’re not a small town girl, but I think it will be good for us, and we may garner more wide-scope intel.”

“If you say so,” I grumble as Li takes my hand to lead me away from the window and toward the other end of the hall where we go to find the medical team. “But I’m not going anywhere until after the stupid Bowl. I’m behind on it and Channing is juggling way more than she should with this incident added. We have to get everything settled, even before a weekend trip.”

He smiles, holding the door open for me to go in, and I walk into what I guess is a lobby for the laboratory work of the contagion team. “I promise; no trips until this is over.”

I have no idea if anything else will happen before that, but at least I’m going to have time to work on the load of bullshit that’s already landed.

* You are not qualified to be a leader of our next generation, Dean LeCiel. I will lobby for your removal!

* Listen to me, Mr. Commandant. I don't know who you are or how you are connected to the college, but no one talks to me that way. The last man who did is buried in two separate graves in case they find his fucking head, do you understand?

thirty-eight

LUCAS

My phone is vibrating so hard in my pocket it’s gonna leave an imprint of the hospital badge logo on my thigh. If you’d told me a couple of months ago I’d be sitting bedside with three grad students who survived a bioweapon, I’d have said you were nuts. I mean, I’m related to Nana, who is far too rich and powerful for people to screw with very often anymore.

However, since I found my mates, this just feels like another day in my crazy life.

I’m glad that the sick people look way better than they did before the docs did their big boom. One girl has the remote to flip through TV channels now, and the other is propped up in bed brushing her hair. The guy with an epic bedhead and a patchwork of IVs, grins at me every time I walk by like we’re both in on a big secret. I enjoyed getting them all back to a semi-normal state of mind while the dragon watched, even if it looked dumb on the outside.

That mini-bonding sesh is why it feels wrong to just walk out now because I want to meet the super dudes. There’s probably a staff member or two who’d be happier if I left, but I just know how it is to be sick and alone with everyone who cares for you far away or unable to get to you quickly. It happened to me once and even though Nana got home as fast as possible, I was a kid surrounded only by people who were paid to be there. It sucked ass and I’ve been careful to avoid that flu-shit every year since.

I turn to look at the students, smiling broadly. “Well, guys, I hate to say it, but I have to get going. Your relatives should be here as quickly as possible, I’m sure, and⁠—”

The TV girl snorts and waves at me. “Go follow the hot Fae dude and the Dean. We get it.”

Ducking my head, I chuckle. “I’m not responding to that, but thanks.”

Their laughter follows me as I head out of the room into the bleached linoleum and bad lighting of the hall. I pass a nurse pushing a gurney stacked with gauze, a guy in a suit who stares at me like I’m walking around naked, and a janitor muttering something that sounds like an exorcism. The sign for the lab warns me, but not as much as the chemical smell that kicks me right in the face.

Yuck. I cannot imagine being any type of shifter and working in this shit. I’d want to die.

The door is open a crack, so I hear voices inside. As I enter, Morgana is at a counter with her hands braced against the stainless steel. I see Des curled tight against her jaw, but she’s not angry. Li has his polite listening face on, which is probably because a lab rat-type in a coat is now saying something in a monotone that they’re all paying attention to.

The professor is leaning against a cabinet in the corner, his arms crossed so tight that the veins in his hands look like they’re about to pop. He looks more tired than I’ve seen him since the dragon battle, but he’s holding it together. On the far side of the room, Kimmi is doing something with specimen jars, popping lids and sealing them again as the boring guy talks. She’s got gloves on, but is still moving like she’s afraid to drop anything. Which, to be fair, is probably the right call in this situation.

My gaze finally lands on the two bad ass doctors from out of town, and holy hell are they something. The one I know as the people doc is carefully dusting something off his sleeve as he listens intently. The other is pushing his hair out his eyes and looking around the lab with a careful eye, like something terrible is going to eke out of a crack and come for him. I’d guess he’s a bit of a neat freak and with the rush put on finding something to help the kids, I doubt the usual protocols for the lab have been getting followed.

That means they’re not superheroes, just really powerful normal guys, but I’m okay with that.

The lecture the lab guy is giving is exactly what I’d expect in a dystopian flick during the aftermath of a bio-magical mass-casualty event—words like antidote, counteragent, and containment protocol. It would be a lot cooler if we weren’t smack in the middle of it and it didn’t almost kill more people at my damn college. That’s what makes it shitty as hell, much like the other incidents, and I’m really fucking tired of some petty dicks hurting innocent people on my turf.