Page 137 of A Dusk Of Stars

Dread echoes through me, but only for that single moment before everything turns black.

Chapter 38

It’s a knock that stirs me from sleep, every muscle in my body tense and my head aching all over. I guess I’ve drifted off again. When I open my eyes, I find the situation in my hospital room just the way it was when I last closed them.

There’s the TV across from my bed, turned off so it doesn’t show any news of the death of a certain Professor of Divine Magic from the famous Grimm Academy.

There’s Alaric and Raven sitting at the table between my bed and the door, playing cards and waiting for every opportunity to bombard me with offers of another pillow or some other small comfort.

Then there’s the man whose warm, healed-up body I’m nestled against, whom I’ve found awake every time I stirred from sleep during the last forty eight hours and who just keeps holding me and looking at me in silence, seemingly waiting for me to finally get enough sleep and possibly even sensing all the confusion in me.

Right now, though, his entire body is tense and his eyes are fixed on the door.

It’s Alaric who gets up and checks who it is, craning his neck to say, “Professor MacArthur.”

Then he keeps standing there, raising his eyebrows at me.

I guess I should just get it over with.

First things first though. I turn to look at him, every fiber of my being recoiling at the very thought of losing contact with his body, but I can’t have him glued to me like this with Lorcan in the room. It’s confusing enough even when it’s just Raven and Alaric here with us.

He seems to understand what I want. He doesn’t like it, but he slips out from under me and gets off my bed to take a seat on the chair to my left.

Taking a deep breath, I turn to give Alaric a nod, already feeling the coldness seeping into my bones from not having him next to me. Gods, I know the bond is still newly forged, but this is just absurd.

“You’re awake,” Lorcan says as soon as my friend lets him in and goes back to sit at the table.

“I am,” I reply as I watch him come to a stop near the door. I’m surprised to see I’m not struggling with talking like I did yesterday. In fact, I seem to be all healed-up, only the headache and the tension lingering in my body.

For a second, Lorcan just looks at me. Then he walks over to my bed and comes to a stop in front of me, taking a deep breath before he grits out, “I’ve come to offer an apology, Miss Novak. If I didn’t act like such a brute that night in front of the Lycan Forest, maybe none of this would have happened.”

I observe him for a second, my eyes narrowing. “You mean, if you didn’t spend the whole of last year making a fool out of me?”

“I thought it was necessary,” he spits out. “Besides, it’s not like you Scions are known for your—”

“What, Lorcan?” I cut him off. “We’re not known forwhat? AndamI Scion, really?” I let out a laugh. “I respected you, you know? For quite a while after we first met. All I ever wanted from you was to give some of that respect back.”

I watch him hesitate. “Well, it’s all water under the bridge now.” He clears his throat and turns all official. “I know that the path of the Aurora is not for me to foresee, but I would just like to use this opportunity to offer the Order’s gratitude and tell you that if you ever need us, we will be there.”

It’s still with such condescension that he says it all, but it’s an apology nevertheless. “Thank you.”

He nods. Then he turns on his heel and walks away.

I shake my head, turning to Raven and Alaric. “That man… I don’t know how many times I’d need to save the world for him to stop hating me.”

“Yeah,” Alaric mutters as the both of them take their seats around my bed. “I don’t think he hates you. When he brought you two back to the Academy, he actually seemed quite upset, going on and on about you stubborn girls making his life miserable.”

Westubborn girls? That makes me frown, but I dismiss it. I let out a laugh. “Of course he was upset. I don’t think I ever said I thought the man was a monster. I just rub him the wrong way and there seems to be nothing I can do to change that.”

“Well,” Alaric says with a sigh as Raven and him get off my bed and go back to their table.

“You should eat,” I hear Jericho cut in, my heart skipping a beat as I turn to look at him. “Is there anything you’re in the mood for?”

“He’s right, Anna,” Alaric agrees, “you finally look like you won’t be drifting straight back to sleep. Maybe jump on the opportunity.”

Raven nods vigorously.

Still, eating is the last thing on my mind right now. “Thank you, but I’m not hungry,” I turn to tell Jericho.

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