Page 43

Nadia

Things fall into a pattern in the days following.

Breakfast is cheerful with our little group of human nurses and wolf guards.

It’s not always consistent – we each have rotating schedules – but somehow, almost too conveniently, I find that Cole’s day matches up with mine.

But I ignore that, instead allowing myself to just…

enjoy the friendship that I feel building between us all.

Cole and Tommy continue to sleep in the nursing barracks with us, even though the military reinforcements have arrived.

The rigor of Cole’s supervision has eased up elsewhere – we can go to the bathroom alone – but they’ve even got beds now, squeezing them into the corridor at our little corner of the tent, which makes things very tight.

But the rest of the nurses refuse to complain, especially as our new wolf guards frequently walk around with their shirts off. Which causes…a very annoying sort of frenzy amongst my peers. Just once, I breeched the topic of kicking Tommy and Cole out and was met with a resounding shout of “no!”

But honestly, I don’t hate it. As much as it pains me to admit it, Cole and Tommy are good company.

In between sleeping and eating, work keeps us busy, though we see fewer and fewer patients every day.

Still, we focus on the ones we have, and we prep, and Dr. Arbroth gives us a great deal of reading to fill the time.

I find myself deeply engaged by the lessons on field medicine, how to work quickly in a crisis, and how to engage with a people and a species who are averse to your existence.

And while the work is interesting, I find my stupid, irritating brain always turning back to…

“Boys,” Shayne says, flopping herself down on the patient bed on which I’m sitting, studying my book. “Ugh, what am I going to do with all of my boys .”

“Shayne,” I say on a sigh, looking down at her and lifting my elbow as her bright red head presses against it, trying to settle in my lap. “How can you complain? This is your dream.”

“I know,” she says, terribly dramatic, flopping one arm out to the side and using the other to cover her eyes. “But they say you should never live your dreams.”

“I think it’s that you should never meet your idols…”

“Whatever,” she sighs. But then she slips her arm down and grins at me, clearly faking it all. “I think I’m in love with Greg.”

“Greg?” I scoff at her, kind of appalled because –

Well! Because I’m rooting for Tommy! Tommy is so sweet!

But it’s true – in the past week and a half, Shayne has spent the entirety of her off time getting to know every eligible boy in camp. And again and again, I see her gravitating back toward the charming blonde.

“Yes!” Shay says, laughing, grinning at me. “He’s so hot. And he’s going to give me a pony.”

“Oh, no he’s not,” I mutter, turning back to my books.

“Yes, he is! He’s going to catch it with his teeth –”

I burst out laughing, shaking my head at her, pretending to pay attention to my work.

“And what about you?” Shay says, poking my arm with one long finger. “How are things going with –”

“You shut your mouth,” I mutter, whipping a hand up to smack her gently on the forehead. Shayne laughs. “There is nothing going on there.”

But a figure comes to the tent’s entrance, blocking the light, and we both turn our eyes towards the broad-shouldered, dark-haired Prince.

And the way my stomach just flips over and plummets down like a professional cliff diver…

“You’re lyyinggg,” Shayne says, all giggly and delighted.

“Oh, be quiet,” I say, closing my book. “He’s coming over here.”

But even Shayne’s laughter fades as Cole comes closer – because his expression is…

“Come on,” Cole says, nodding towards the door, all business. “Briefing. We’ve got to move.”

“Did something happen?” Shay asks, sitting up.

“Yeah,” Cole says, nodding. “Come on, quickly, please. General Amir’s prepping to brief us all right now. The sooner we get there, the sooner we know.”

I exhale, suddenly anxious, standing up by Cole’s side.

My breath starts to come fast as Shayne and I walk with Cole out of the nursing tent. He’s slowing his pace to keep up with us – I’ve seen how fast he can go when it’s just him, or when he’s with one of his wolf boys. But honestly, I feel nothing but grateful for it now.

I mean, I know that there’s nothing that’s going to hurt me right now . Still…it’s nice having him around when I’m feeling anxious.

A bunch of other nurses and counselors join us as we move in a large group toward the mess tent, where we have our meals and where we met the first day – the only place large enough to house all of us at once.

As we go, I glance back at the new nursing tent that was just built next to the one we’ve used since we got here.

It looks exactly the same as the first, except perhaps a little bit…

newer? Or, I don’t know. Maybe I’m imagining that since the old one is full of memories now.

Either way, its quick completion under my father’s watchful eye suggests that what the King told us before was right: things are ramping up.

We’re expecting more patients soon.

I glance up at Cole as we reach the tent and he holds the flap open for us.

He’s already looking down into my face and I smirk a little, thinking that he’s got better things to do than look at me , all worried, when we’re all being called together like this.

He smirks too, perhaps intuiting my thoughts.

He’s been…doing that lately.

It’s weird.

Shay loops her arm around mine as we step into the tent and look around for Grace. Grace waves to us from the front where she’s saved two seats, and Shay and I move quickly towards her, waving to Cole as he takes his spot by the door to stand guard.

He nods to us, all serious and uptight, which just makes me laugh.

Shay squeezes my arm and grins at me. I lift my chin and ignore her, heading for Grace, tucking my amusement away.

Shayne sits as we reach Grace, but I stop halfway down, my eyes catching on a flash of blonde hair across the tent. I go still, half crouched, my lips parting in surprise because…

What the hell is Rose doing back?

“I know,” Grace hisses, a bit awed, grabbing my arm and yanking me down into my chair. “Isn’t it nuts?”

It took a few days to put the pieces together, mostly because our schedules frequently put us at odds with the journalist, but about three days after I saw her run topless out of Cole’s tent, we cornered Cole and made him confirm it: Rose was gone.

He hadn’t been happy about discussing it, clearly just wanting it to go away and assuming – stupidly – that I hadn’t told Grace and Shay what happened in the tent that night. But eventually, we got it out of him that he had requested that she be replaced because of her inappropriate behavior.

We had been told that a new journalist would be coming, but one never arrived. And now this?

“What the hell?” Shayne whispers, looking in the direction of my gaze, and finally getting on the same page as me and Grace. “What, is there like one journalist in the entire Capital?”

I shrug as both my friends turn their eyes to me, but there’s no room for further consideration as my dad moves to the front of the room, Captain Stanzor standing behind him and glancing at his watch.

“Thank you,” dad calls out, his way of getting everyone to quiet.

We all settle down, eager to hear what’s going on.

“We’ve called you all today for several reasons.

But the first is to let you know that what scanty cell connections you’ve been able to get over the past few weeks will be cut to nothing today. ”

A few whispers go through the room, but I just keep my eyes on dad.

This news makes no difference to me, though I know at least three of the nurses have been climbing up the cliffsides in an attempt to get a signal and stay in touch with loved ones.

Everyone I love is here, except for my mom and sister, whom I talk to on dad’s satellite phone.

“It’s a necessary step,” dad says, “to keep what I’m about to disclose to you in utter secrecy.”

The tent falls silent.

“As you’re aware,” dad continues, “our patient numbers have been down lately. That will change tonight. I need absolutely everyone on their toes this evening, so no…foolery. No distractions. No contraband .”

He says this last word with particular care, letting us know that he’s well aware that some amongst us have indeed been indulging a little in these quiet times.

I swear his eyes linger for a moment on Shayne, but not enough to truly signal her out.

But Shayne just straightens her shoulders, and I smile, proud of her.

Shayne likes to have fun, but she’s one hell of a worker when she needs to be.

“Captain Stanzor will tell you what he can about the reasons for this,” dad continues, his face grave. “There will be no questions, but you should be very grateful for his time.”

Dad steps aside, and Stanzor steps forward, nodding to us.

“Tonight there will be an important assault on the Children of Solace,” he says, words fast and clipped.

“You don’t need to know the details, except that it is well planned and that our military expects necessary casualties on both sides.

The position of the assault is such that this camp will be our first point of medical care for both our military and wounded members of the Children of Solace.

They will be seen in separate tents, though both must be fully manned at all times. ”

Silence runs through the room, and my heart beats fast. I exhale slowly, trying to calm the dread that crawls through my body.

“You’re going to have a sleepless night – perhaps many of them,” Stanzor says, looking around at all of us. “But your service is appreciated. Thank you.”

Stanzor turns sharply to my dad and nods. Dad nods back, and Stanzor strides around all of us, heading briskly for the door of the tent as if he can’t spare a single moment. All of our gazes follow him in silence until dad clears his throat.

We turn back to him.

“We need Counselors – especially wolf-born – present majorly in the Children of Solace tent,” he says, even and calm as he always is.

“Everyone will remember that though these two groups are fighting each other, every single person you treat is a citizen of Clythera. We owe them all our service. Now, if you’ll –”

“Are we going to get more nurses? Maybe some wolf nurses?”

Dad slowly turns his gaze in the direction of the voice, and I grimace when I see dad swallow.

“This is not a meeting that is going to devolve into a bunch of shouted questions,” dad snaps, his tone withering.

My shoulders hunch in sympathy for the nurse who asked – because dad, when he talks like that, means business.

“However, this once, I will oblige you with an answer. No. No more nurses will be coming into this camp so that we can keep our presence here as secret as we can.”

I shake my head, wondering when that began. Do the Children of Solace already know where we are?

“You will be briefed further on your individual tasks. Do your best and keep your heads about you tonight. This will…not be easy.”

Dad pauses, looking around at all of us, his expression a mixture of pride and worry. One that’s actually very familiar to me. I can’t help but smile.

“All right,” he says, lifting his chin towards the tent. “Your names and duties have been listed on the facility to which you have been assigned. If you have any questions, address them to your Chief Nursing Officer, who will answer or relay them to me. Good luck.”

Dad turns away, and we all move as one, eager to discover our names and roles.

“Oh geeze,” Shay says, looking between Grace and me. “I hope we’re all together.”

“That doesn’t matter , Shay,“ Grace says, frowning at our friend as she ties her hair up in a bun. “It’s not a sorority. We’re all going to be put in the roles in which we can best help.”

Shay pouts a little. “I can best help when I’m with you.” We turn together and head towards the door. “Also,” Shay whispers, true anxiety in her words now. “I hope that I’m in the human medical tent. I don’t…I didn’t like treating the Children of Solace wolves.”

I glance at her as we reach the door, nodding, hoping the same. They really made it hell for her, with all the red hair stuff.

Cole turns with us at the door, stepping out into the sunshine. I glance up at him. “Are you assigned to follow us around like a little lost kitten?”

“Yes,” he says, dry, glancing down at me.

I laugh a little, but then…kind of wonder if that’s true. Honestly, in times like this, I wouldn’t be surprised if Cole found some way to assign himself as my personal bodyguard. His instincts and personality run toward the overprotective.

But I put the thought from my mind, my eyes focusing on the job sheet posted on the wall of the new tent. It takes us a moment to get to the front, all the other nurses looking first, but we wait patiently and in silence for our turn.

Shayne steps up and stands on her toes, running her finger down the sheet, looking for our names.

But she doesn’t get far before her finger stops on mine.