Chapter 42 | Ravinica

Chapter 42

Ravinica

WHEN I AWOKE, MY BODY was on fire. A dull thud slammed behind my eyes, giving me an immediate migraine. Every inch of my body seemed inflamed, like I'd been run over by a tractor.

It took me a few seconds to remember anything—where I was, who I was. I blinked up at eerie phosphorescent lights colored green, making it look like I'd been transported to some kind of neon rave.

The walls around me were dark. I was reclining on a hard cot. A gurney. Shadows hovered over me, gathered at my left side.

With a start, my head whipped over, which brought a lightning bolt of pain across my spine. I winced, fluttered my blurry, woozy eyes, and the shapes came into focus.

Dagny and Randi stood closest. Fear and helplessness were on Dagny's features, her glasses foggy from tears. Randi looked ready to kill someone, even if that someone was me.

Behind them, Grim stood the tallest. He stared over the girls at me, arms crossed in a pensive expression, examining me with his blank face.

Magnus stood off to the side of the cot, near my feet, with a hand on the blanket over my toes.

Arne was closest to my head, bent over to study my face, with expressions of shock and anger battling each other on his pretty mug.

All my friends were here. It gave me comfort, even though I was clueless where here was. I asked, "Where am I?" My voice was grueling, choked from disuse. I had no idea how long I'd been unconscious.

"Eir Wing, babe," Randi said.

I groaned. The infirmary.

I peered around at the black walls, the green-yellow light overhead. "Why does the hospital look like a nightclub?"

The girls chuckled sadly. Even my guys cracked smiles. There was a lot of anger behind those smiles.

"The acolytes learned patients don't appreciate bright LED surgical lights when they wake up out of a coma, I guess," Arne said.

"Wait," I said, "I was in a coma?"

"Don't be ridiculous, iceshaper," Magnus spat. "You were knocked unconscious, not into a coma."

"How long was I out for?"

". . . Almost two days." He looked guilty.

My eyes widened. "Gods." That counted as a coma, in my mind. A short one.

Semantics aside, I was glad to see my people. For a moment, I forgot all about what I'd learned in Mimir Tomes. We were back the way we were supposed to be.

Except one important person was missing.

I flared my nostrils. "Where's my brother? Was Eirik too busy with his little gang to attend his sister waking up out of—"

"Peace, little sneak," Grim cut in from the back. He pushed to the front and rested his large hand on mine. "Eirik is speaking with academy officials, trying to get to the bottom of this. He's doing what he can."

Make it right ? I was beat to shit over jealousy, from a spiteful student! A peer!

My research came blaring back to me, full tilt. Murder and death rang in my head. I was filled with rage in an instant, and if my body hadn't been broken, I might have tried to act on it.

Instead, a deep exhaustion fell over me. I closed my eyes, breathing heavily, trying to calm myself.

"Can you tell us what happened, silvermoon?" Magnus asked.

I gulped over a dry throat. My memory came back in fragments. After a few minutes, the flood began. I thanked the gods my mind hadn't been rattled too hard.

"It was Astrid," I said, shaking my head on my pillow. "The bitch finally got one over on me. No idea how I ended up here though."

"Some drunk students found you," Magnus said.

"Probably on their way to fuck in the shadows," Arne explained, "given all the festivities after midterms. Imagine their surprise when they chanced upon you, lying in the road, little fox."

I cracked a painful smile. "Imagine, pretty boy."

He chuckled. "I'm so glad you're okay, Ravinica."

"We all are," Randi eked out, squeezing past Grim to get closer so she could wrap her dainty hands around mine. "You aren't going anywhere without us anymore. We're your bodyguards."

I loved her for it, for the spitfire attitude in her eyes. But I shook my head, saying, "Bullshit, Ran. I can't let that happen or live in fear at Vikingrune Academy. Astrid wins if I do that."

Her face sank. Slowly, she nodded, understanding.

"Give us more details, sneak," Grim said.

"A messenger raven dropped a letter off to Dagny." I nudged my chin toward Dag, saying, "That should have been my first hint, since Astrid is a raven shifter and all."

"What was the letter about?"

I opened my mouth, almost spilling secrets I knew about the Lepers Who Leapt. Then, knowing I couldn't trust anyone after what I'd learned in Mimir Tomes, I clamped my mouth shut.

After a pause, I said, "It said Arne was in trouble."

They didn't need to know more details.

"Who was it from?" Grim pressed.

I shrugged, hoping to hide the lie in my eyes. "Didn't say."

Grim grunted and looked away, thinking.

My eyes darted to Arne next to me, and his flashed wider. He couldn't read my mind, of course, though I hoped he got the hint that his sister had been used as a scapegoat. Which meant Astrid knew about the Lepers, and that didn't bode well for them. She was not only a total bitch—she was also the daughter of an authority figure here, Tomekeeper Dahlia.

A cloud of silence fell over the room as everyone looked down at me with pity and anger. I hated seeing them like this, torn up over what had happened to me—over my own damned mistake.

I had told myself I wouldn't get caught slipping again, yet I'd slipped on the mother of all banana peels. I guess I had lost sight of my safety here, or lack thereof, and had grown complacent. Maybe it was the men distracting me.

Vikingrune Academy would always be dangerous for a bog-blood like me, no matter how much I watched my back. All I could do was hope to have people in my corner to help watch it for me.

I desperately wanted to spill my guts, feeling vulnerable and lightheaded, probably from drugs coursing through my veins. I only noticed an IV stuck in my right arm after our talk was reaching its end.

I wished I could blab about everything I'd learned in the library and wash all this ick away. I wanted to purge myself of the overbearing burden weighing me down and return to how things were before my discovery.

Sadly, I couldn't bring myself to do it. Even in my disheveled, bedridden, mind-addled state. It was too difficult. I was too worried about losing everyone here if they learned I was a madwoman who had been sent to Vikingrune Academy on an assassination mission.

It sounded ridiculous to me, now.

A new shadow took form behind my friends in the doorway, and with a start Grim, Magnus, and Arne swung around.

Sven Torfen stepped into the room, up to the wall of man that was created by the three guys separating the wolf shifter from me.

Grim said, "The fuck do you want, Torfen?"

The gorgeous man stared past him, tilting his head as he looked at me on the bed. He nearly took my breath away, not just because of his attractiveness, but also because of his audacity for showing himself here.

"I came to pay my respects," Sven said through a clamped jaw. "And to tell the little menace I had nothing to do with this attack on her. I find it ugly, frankly. We do things differently as wolves."

Grim growled at him. "Is that so? Because it didn't seem much different during Lunar Night, when you ambushed us."

Sven crossed his arms over his chest. "I wasn't in my right mind then." His smoldering dark eyes landed on Grim's, saying more than his words. " None of us were."

Grim opened his mouth to continue arguing.

I lifted a hand and called out, "Grim, it's okay."

My giant protector looked over his shoulder at me, dismay written on his face.

"I believe you, Sven," I said, though I wasn't sure I even believed myself when I said it. "You've seen me. You've said your words." I ground my teeth together. "Now I'd get the hell out of here before my friends rip you to shreds."

Sven's perfect jaw line flexed as he gave me a firm nod. "Very well. Good luck in your recovery."

I could tell he wanted to say more—he hesitated to leave, opening his mouth. But with a sigh and headshake, he thought better of it and turned around, leaving.

The entire room let out a collective breath once the wolf pack leader was gone.

The hell was that about?

Magnus rounded to the right side of my hospital bed, where no one else had crowded. He bent over, kissed my forehead, and said, "Rest, love. We'll figure this out. Astrid won't get away with it."

Arne and Grim glanced at each other when Magnus called me "love."

There was definitely a love triangle of sorts going on here. Or maybe a love square. I didn't know how to explain it, and I was in no condition to try.

Truth was, I had fallen for each of them. I would tell them when the time felt right, and hope for the best—that they'd be able to get along for my sake. They were doing a good job of that so far, even if it was only because I was in poor shape.

"Magnus is right," Arne announced, standing straight. He cleared his throat, trying on a leadership role. "Ravinica needs her sleep. Let's give it to her."

Randi and Dagny nodded glumly. They told me they'd see me soon, and to get better.

Grim said, "I'm not leaving her alone in here, in case Astrid gets the bright idea of trying to finish the job."

"If Astrid wanted her dead, Rav wouldn't be here, big guy," Arne said. "She'd be in the academy graveyard."

"Or an unmarked grave," I muttered, "given who I am."

Grim's amber eyes flared, landing on Arne, as if daring the smaller man to try and stop him. "Doesn't matter. I'm standing guard outside."

Arne squared his shoulders in a comical expression, puffing out his chest to try and look as intimidating as Grim Kollbjorn, which was literally impossible.

"Fine," said the iceshaper, "then I am too."

"I have a better idea," I said, and the two men swung their gazes my way. "Why don't you find Astrid and bring her to me, instead of playing protector? I can handle myself."

Arne folded his lips, and Grim tilted his head. They didn't like it, and I suspected I couldn't handle myself in my current state.

Yet they obliged me anyway, looking back at each other with slow nods.

"We can do that," Arne said.

"Gladly," Grim added.

Magnus had already left the tent, escaping while Grim and Arne got into their little spat. I guess he didn't find the need to keep watch over me .

I wondered if Magnus had discovered something. Maybe he found the family tree tucked away in my shirt? Or maybe he was respecting me by giving me space and time to rest from my wounds.

I repositioned myself on the bed, and realized the folded notepad pages were gone from where I'd kept them near my heart. Probably because the doctors had had to get to my body to check out my wounds.

Panic swam through me. I inhaled a sharp breath, trying to play it off, and closed my eyes.

All hells. Things never get easier here, do they? That's just one more thing I have to worry about—the family tree getting found, and outing my discovery and gameplan.

I should have burned that fucking thing in the candle when I had the chance.

I woke to a gentle jostling of my shoulder. Opening my gummy eyes, I glanced over at Arne, who was crouched at my bedside. The rest of the room was empty. It was still nighttime.

"Arne? What's going on? Did you find her?" I croaked, clearing my throat of cobwebs.

He shook his head, fair blond hair fluttering on his shoulders. "Not yet, little fox."

"Where's Grim?"

A shrug. "Doing bear things. Sniffing around for the culprit, I suspect."

"And . . . what are you doing here?"

He fixed his face, frowning at me. "I saw the way you looked at me when talking about the letter you received."

I nodded. "It was allegedly from Frida. Obviously that was a lie, but if Astrid knows about the Lepers Who Leapt—"

"Then they're in trouble. Fuck." He furrowed his brow, twisting his pretty face. With a gentle headshake, he said, "I also talked with your girlfriends. They told me how listless you've been, how strange you've been acting lately."

A surge of defensiveness ripped through me, mingling with sheer panic. "So? What of it?"

"No one wants to see you like that. Neither do you, I think."

My frown matched his. He was giving me another pitying look, and I wanted to smack it off his face. No one could tell me how to feel, dammit—they didn't know what I knew. What secrets I had uncovered about my family and theirs.

Again, the words almost spilled out of me. "Your family comes from pirates, mutineers, and arms dealers, hellbent on destroying my family and any other half-breeds, along with the elves. How do you feel about that, Arne?"

It was almost like I wanted to demand reparations from these men, which I knew was ridiculous. I had no standing.

"Ravinica . . ." Arne trailed off. "I can't pretend to know what you're going through. How you feel. But I want to see you happy."

"Then kiss me," I blurted out—going in the complete opposite direction than the I-have-to-kill-you vibes. "Bring feeling back to my bones."

He firmed his face and bent forward. His kiss was gentle, light, and short. I knew he didn't want to pester me, or put too much on my plate when I was already reeling.

Still, I appreciated the soft touch of his lips against mine. He was a good kisser, knowing when to dart his tongue, when to recede, and when to let me take control.

I sighed when he pulled back. "Thank you."

"I have an idea, little fox." He paused for a moment, drumming his fingertips on the railing of my gurney. "I think I might be able to help you."

"How?"

"Well, you wanted to meet more Lepers Who Leapt, right? Maybe they can help with your, um, malaise—speaking with likeminded people who can't access their magic."

He was reading my thoughts wrong. I admired his kindness nonetheless. My inherent magic being dormant was the last thing on my mind right now.

I gave him a weak smile. "Who do you have in mind?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, she's not exactly a Leper, but she's treated like one. The Lepers revere her. People go to her for help. Also, I'm sure she can aid your healing process faster than the damned doctors at this place can. She's something of a shaman, you see. A witch."

Excitement ran through me for the first time in days. It sounded like another quest, with a person I was curious about. Another Leper? Or someone associated with them? I'm game.

"I can walk," I announced.

"Are you sure?"

I gave Arne a firm nod.

"The acolytes won't like it. We might need to sneak out of the academy rather than pass through the gates."

"You mean the underground tunnels?"

He flashed a customary Arne smirk. "What else?"

I grunted and lifted my head and body. Everything still hurt. My vision swam for a moment.

I was determined to make it.

"Sounds like we have a long trek ahead of us," I said. Then I put out an arm. "Help me up. Anything to get me out of this damned bed."