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Kaiden sent her a probing look. “Back from where?”

Oh. Oops.

“Uh, I was kind of lost in the forest,” she said. Until she’d found her bearings, that was definitely true.

“Why were you out there if you weren’t applying for SAS?” Kaiden pressed.

“That’s an excellent question,” Alex said. She then closed her mouth and turned her head to look in the opposite direction, having no intention of answering. The last thing she needed was for Kaiden to learn about the murderous Meyarin hell-bent on using her for his own nefarious purposes. Uh-uh, no way.

She heard him exhale in frustration and she felt a little guilty. But come on. She hardly knew the guy. She didn’t owe him an explanation.

“All right, how about this one?” he said, moving around to the other side of the bed so she could see him again. “How do you know the colour of the Hyroa’s blood?”

Alex blanched at the new line of interrogation. She absolutely couldn’t answer, not without talking about Aven.

Upon seeing her startled reaction, Kaiden leaned in further. He didn’t say anything but continued looking at her, waiting for her answer.

“I—I—Uh—” she stuttered.

Fletcher chose that moment to apply some kind of paste to her back, and she couldn’t supress the whimper that escaped her lips.

“Perhaps it’s best if you leave, Kaiden,” the doctor said gently but firmly. “It sounds like Alex has been through quite an ordeal and she could do with some rest.”

Alex saw Kaiden hesitate and she braced herself for his response, but he then he relaxed and nodded at Fletcher.

“Thank you for reporting back to me,” Fletcher told him. “And for everything else you’ve done to help as well.”

“No problem,” Kaiden said, stepping back. He caught Alex’s gaze once more, his eyes telling her so much more than any words could express. He was asking her to trust him.

But she couldn’t. Too much was at stake. She closed her eyes and turned her head away.

A quiet sigh reached her ears, and then he whispered, “Feel better, Alex.”

For some reason, his kind words made her feel worse.

“And then what happened?”

It was the next afternoon and Alex was sitting with her friends under her favourite tree by the lake, telling them aboutthe events that had transpired over the past twenty-four hours. Fletcher had made her stay in the Medical Ward overnight and well into the morning, ignoring her protests that ‘it was just a scratch’. He’d been worried about infection after seeing the depth of the claw wounds, and because of that he hadn’t been willing to seal her injury closed until he was certain his Regenevators had run their full course of healing from the inside out—which had taken all night.

The only visitor she’d been allowed was the headmaster, who had come after Alex had mentioned to Fletcher that there was more to the story, and that Darrius needed to hear it. Both of them had listened intently when she’d detailed what happened to the Hyroa, but neither had known why Aven wanted its blood. Like her, they were relieved that the Meyarin hadn’t known she was so close.

Darrius had again reminded her to be on her guard, but he hadn’t pressed her further about visiting Meya. He was giving her time to think, just like she’d asked, and she was grateful for his patience.

Fletcher had released Alex before lunch and she’d met up with her friends. They’d stopped by the Medical Ward the previous night, but apparently Alex had been fast asleep. That was hardly surprising, considering how drugged up she’d been on pain meds.

But now the four of them sat and swapped stories. Alex had started first and she was just wrapping up, wanting to hurry it along so she could hear about their SAS trials.

“That was it,” she answered Jordan. “Fletcher patched me up, Kaiden asked some probing questions, Darrius reminded me to be careful and then I fell asleep.”

“A Hyroa!” Bear whistled. “I can’t believe it. Those things areinsane.”

“Do you have a wicked scar?” Jordan asked. “I’ll bet you do. Claw marks—that’s so cool!”

Alex didn’t bother to tell him that it was most definitelynotcool. Painful? Undeniably. Cool? Absolutely not. Rather than arguing the point, she reminded him about Fletcher’s amazing medicines and lifted the hem of her shirt to show that there was no scarring on her back.

Jordan had the nerve to look disappointed—at least until he caught her glare and smiled sheepishly at her.

“Let me see the necklace again,” D.C. asked, reaching out to admire the jewellery that was fastened around Alex’s neck.