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It was Declan who answered, his wicked smile the only warning of what he might be about to say. “When it comes to you, Kaid here is always happy to—”

The rest of his words were cut off with an “Ooof!” when Kaiden elbowed him in the stomach before continuing to patch Alex up like there had been no interruption.

Biting back a laugh, Alex looked at Declan. “You were saying?”

Declan’s only reply was to rub his stomach and grunt out, “He’s always been good with first aid.”

At the sour look on Declan’s face, she couldn’t hold back her laughter anymore. A smile hinted at Kaiden’s lips too as he released her left hand and reached for her right.

He continued covering her cuts and scratches with the ointment, paying particular attention to the deeper wounds from where she’d hacked into her flesh while sawing through her bonds. The ointment also healed the raw skin around her wrists and ankles, and by the time Fletcher and Hunter arrived carrying the high-as-a-kite Bear, Alex was as good as new.

“How’s he doing?” she asked, jumping off the bed. Wobbling as a wave of exhaustion hit her, she accepted Kaiden’s offered hand to steady herself and made her way over to where the doctor and teacher carefully laid her friend.

“I had theweirdestdream,” Bear slurred out, his eyes glazed as he looked straight through Alex in his drug-induced haze. “There were all these angry little people and we were hiiiiiiigh up in the trees.”

He laughed, though at what, Alex wasn’t sure. But then his humour died and his already wide eyes widened further.

“Then there was this creek monster that nearly ate you, Alex! It dragged you underwater for so long—I thought you were dead!” He blinked a few times and relaxed. “Then Ghost was there and—oh, hey, look! Ghost ishere, too!”

Grinning dopily, Bear pointed at Hunter, before yawning and turning back to Alex to finish, “It wasn’t much fun.” He laughed again and shook his head. “Crazy, crazy dream.”

He then tipped his head back, closed his eyes and was instantly asleep.

Alex turned to Fletcher. “What the heck did you give him?” She only just managed to keep from adding, ‘And how can I get some of it?’

“Bear was in a lot of pain, Alex,” Fletcher told her, something she already knew. “Since I still have to re-set his bone, I thought it might be best for him to be unconscious during the process.”

Alex cringed at the alternate.

“As you can see, the pain reliever I gave him is extremely effective, resulting in what he currently believes is a dream state,” Fletcher continued. “But don’t worry—once the bone is back in place, the Regenevators will do the rest of the work and he’ll be up and about in no time, with all his memories of your… adventures… intact.”

The doctor peered closely at Alex, looking at her now-healed body before turning to Kaiden who was still holding the container of healing salve.

“It appears I left you in good hands while I was gone,” Fletcher said, his eyes twinkling. “Do you have anything more serious that I should look at, or can I take comfort in knowing you’ll live another day without further medical attention?”

Anotherwholeday was a bit of a gamble, since Alex didn’t know what she would face with the Shadow Walkers and Dayriders in the morning. She offered him as much honesty as she could when she answered, “I’m good for at least eight hours.”

With a longsuffering sigh, Fletcher reached for his MedTek and turned back to Bear.

When a holographic X-ray of the broken bone rose out of the Device, Alex’s lunch threatened to make a reappearance, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to watch what was coming next.

Offering a rushed farewell to those in the room, along with another quick but heartfelt “Thank you” to Hunter, she spun around and headed for the exit.

“Hold up there, Alex.” Kaiden grabbed her arm just before she could step outside. He gestured a hand up and down her body and said, “Winter. Snow. Cold. Remember?”

With the orangey medicine having reheated her body, Alexhadforgotten what she would face outdoors. And her expression must have shown as much.

“Here,” Declan said, unbuttoning his thick coat. “I’ll stay in case Fletch and Hunter need a hand. Kaid can walk you to the dorm and then bring this back for me.”

Relieved beyond words, Alex moved impatiently from foot to foot as he helped her into his coat. It was massive on her, enough that she was swimming in it. But it was also toasty warm and she knew that even with her legs bare she would still make it back to the dorm relatively unscathed.

“Thanks, Declan,” she told him once she was all bundled up. “Your grandfather might be a piece of work, but you go all right.”

Startled, Declan laughed. “You obviously don’t know him very well,” he said. “If you did, you’d be calling him more than a ‘piece of work’.”

Alex could only imagine. “I was trying to be generous.”

“Jaxon’s an ass, plain and simple,” Declan said, his tone oddly amused given his relation to the royal advisor. “But for better or worse, he’s family.” He paused, then corrected, “Nope, just for worse.”