Page 64 of Sweet Nightmare

Nausea swamps me, and I stumble backward several steps. Jude reaches out like he wants to help me, but I throw a hand out to stop him. Then I stagger over to the nearest trash can and vomit. A lot.

The only problem is that I’ve barely eaten all day, which means that all I’ve got to throw up is a bunch of stomach acid and whatever blood actually managed to make it down my throat.

Just the thought has me dry heaving some more, over and over again, until I’m convinced I’ve thrown up my stomach lining and maybe even my stomach itself.

I can’t even pretend to be sorry, not when the memory of biting that tentacle is forever emblazoned in my brain.

When I finally stand back up, stomach settled but the rest of me absolutely mortified that I just puked in front of a bunch of my classmates and Jude, Eva is standing next to me with a bottle of water while Luis rubs my back. I rinse out my mouth several times, then use the rest of it to wash the blood from my face and hands before finally turning around to look at the others.

All of them, except for Eva, Luis, and Jude, are very conspicuously not looking at me. I’ve never seen so many paranormals so interested in a pile of plywood in my life…

I look around for Izzy and find her leaning against one of the trees, a bottle of water in her hand as well. The only difference between the two of us is she looks hale and healthy and almost completely back to normal because apparently vampires heal a lot faster than manticores, even with their powers locked down. Not that that seems fair right now, considering she’s the one who went into that enclosure to begin with.

Still, I’m glad she’s all right. I’m in more than enough pain for both of us.

“You okay?” Eva asks, her brown eyes wide and worried as she looks me over from head to toe. “This looks a lot worse than your usual chrickler-related injuries.”

It feels a lot worse, too. But there’s nothing I can do about that right now. Time is ticking, and we still have to finish up with the menagerie.

The thought makes me nauseous all over again. The last thing I want to do right now is go back in that building.

Still, it has to be done. Jude may be able to handle the other monsters—and I will get an answer as to how that’s possible—but the chricklers still need to be taken care of. And I, by far, have the most experience with that.

But when I say as much to Eva, all the people who have been pretending not to pay attention to me puking spring into action.

“The only place you’re going is back to the dorms,” Luis tells me, looking completely annoyed. “Responsibility is one thing. Self-sabotage is something else entirely.”

“I’m okay,” I answer.

“I wouldn’t exactly say that, cher,” Remy tells me. And though his voice is relaxed, his eyes are watchful as they slide between Izzy and me. “You look like you’re one stiff breeze away from falling headfirst into that trash can.”

Considering I feel like I’m barely one tiny gust of wind away from having that happen, I’ll count that as a win. I start to say as much, but the looks on everyone’s faces convince me that doing so definitely won’t help my cause.

“I’ve got this,” Jude tells me.

“But the—”

“We’ve got this,” Mozart repeats just as firmly, her ponytail swaying with each word. “Besides, you wouldn’t deprive me of seeing the inside of the chrickler enclosure, would you? It’s been a lifelong dream of mine.”

“Mine, too,” Remy agrees instantly.

I make a face at him. “Tell me what a chrickler is and maybe I’ll believe you.”

He grins. “Isn’t that more reason for me to go find out?”

Even Izzy gets in on the action when she pulls two more knives out of seemingly nowhere, one of which looks like an actual saber.

When I give her a what-the-hell look, she just shrugs. “If the chricklers don’t actively try to kill me, I can always use them to make a nice oneiroi kabob instead.”

Jude rolls his eyes, but everyone else laughs—including me. But doing so makes my head hurt. Not to mention my stomach. And my side. And my…everything.

Maybe they’re right. Maybe I really should bow out of this one. That is, if I can walk, which—at this point—I’m honestly not certain that I can.

To test it out, I take a few steps back under everyone’s watchful gaze…which isn’t embarrassing at all. I start to turn around to block them out and end up slamming straight into a ghost.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

ROCKED TO MY

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