Page 48 of Faerie Gift

Okay, my internal sarcasm meter still worked, at least.

I sniffed the air, unable to penetrate the wall of snot stopping up my nostrils.

“You better get a move on, Tavi. Unless you want to lie in bed all day. Again. That top spot of yours will go to someone who actually deserves it,” Persephone said to me with a snide grin.

I didn’t need to look to know it was there. I couldhearit.

“Go away,” I tried to tell her. No sound came out. My throat burned regardless.

It was a wonder I hadn’t punched the girl right in the face before now. It took every ounce of willpower I possessed to throw a blanket over my shoulders and climb down to the floor. Nora had been right. Time to go to the nurse. I’d done what I could and this called for professional help.

Still clad in my pajamas, I hurried—as much as I was able to hurry—toward Nurse Julie’s office. Still in my pajamas and without shoes, with Persephone’s laughter playing on repeat in my head.

Julie found me before I had a chance to knock, and from her expression I knew Persephone hadn’t been kidding when she likened my appearance to dog throw-up.

“If this is how the zombie apocalypse starts, then I am not prepared for it,” Julie offered, standing in the doorway. “My goodness, come inside before you scare everyone away with your cough, and the color of your skin, oh my! I’m not one to talk, I know, but fish-gill green isn’t a good tone for anyone. Honey, what’s the matter? Why didn’t you come to me sooner?”

“I took two vials,” I told her, every word killing my throat as I shuffled forward. “Neither of them worked.” Then I used the last of my energy to hold up my arm and show her the lack of glamour spell.

Julie ushered me onto the cot in her office—mint-green walls and hardwood floor in a weird contrast to the rest of the castle—and pushed the blanket down to see my face. There were two of her according to my blurry vision, and both of them looked concerned for my wellbeing.

“We’ll see what the problem is soon enough,” she said. Her hand went to my forehead and her mouth rounded at my temperature. “Give me a moment to get my stethoscope and blood pressure cuff. We’ll get you settled the human way.”

“No magic?”

“Magic can’t fight what you’ve got. This is a physical ailment.”

Nurse Julie took me through a series of tests, probing at the lymph nodes under my jaw line before sighing and removing the ear buds, letting the stethoscope rest against her collarbone.

“Good news, Tavi. You have a good old-fashioned case of the flu. It’s normal for the glamour to not work when you body is out of whack.”

The flu? “Are you sure I’m not dying?” I managed to ask her.

She chuckled and turned away from me. “I’m very sure. But thank you for wanting to clarify. You need to stay here for a while, so I can keep you warm and medicated while you rest. We have an on-site hospital ward for this kind of thing. Magic is a wonderful gift and most Fae do not get sick, but your shifter side has enough human to be susceptible to viruses and bacterial strains. And I do not want you going back to the dorm. Get it?”

I tried to shake my head. Really, I tried, but the rest of me trembled so badly from the fever and chill I might have just been sitting still. “I have a test today.Hoarfrost. I can’t miss it or else points will be taken away.”

Nurse Julie scoffed, her wings flickering at her back. “Honey, you’re not going anywhere. I’ll let the Headmaster know to alert your teachers and tell them you are too sick to come to class. Don’t worry, you won’t be docked any points. It’s rare for a half fae to get sick like this but it does happen, especially since you’re supposed to be half human too. Always seems to be worse for us when it does happen. Like the super bugs find us and try to take us down. The teachers will understand.” Julie clucked her tongue. “Spring allergies aside, it is strange for you to get sick this time of year. How odd.”

Yup, me. Absolutely strange. And odd. In every single way.

I was alone in the school’s hospital ward, thankfully, because I didn’t need anyone seeing me without the shield of my potion. My shifter side wasn’t doing much, mind you, but having it visible from the surface was an unnecessary risk. So maybe being weird, in this case, worked to my benefit.

Every breath I took was like swallowing over broken glass. My eyelids were heavy, making it impossible to stay awake. I spent most of the day drifting in and out of sleep, with Nurse Julie coming in periodically to check on me, adjusting the white linen sheets or pressing her hand to my forehead to judge my fever.

I didn’t see her as much as felt her, recognized her reassuring presence accompanied by the snick of a door closing. She left the lights off in the room with the shades drawn, and under the cover of darkness, I tried to recover.

Trybeing the word of the day. Nothing I did helped me in this case. There were no magic spells to dissolve this stupid flu laying me low.

It was after dark by the time I woke up from the fever dreams, covered in sweat. Sitting up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I checked in with my body to see how I felt. Only moderately better than when I’d woken up that morning. Not much of an improvement but Nurse Julie must have worked her special mojo on me. Although my nose had a bit of mucus to deal with, I could finally breathe better despite the pressure in my sinuses.

Still had the sore throat. Still had the cough.

Drawing in a shallow breath, I held the air in my lungs until the pressure built. And felt every cell in my body go on high alert.

Uh oh.

I pushed myself up to a full seated position and waited a moment for my head to stop spinning.Stupid dizziness. I sensed something. Somethingshifter. And not myself. I didn’t have a glamour to hide the truth.

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