Page 69 of Sparks Flying

“She didn’t even knock.”

“I thought you were sick.”

“It comes and goes. A minor concussion from yesterday. This is more of a precaution than anything,” he said.

I could get on board with that explanation because really it wasn’t a lie.

“A concussion from yesterday? What’s that all about?” she demanded.

I could tell Dean was getting even more angry by the second. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut, but I couldn’t just stand there and say nothing.

“We were on a run yesterday down by the cliffs where I’d seen a few possible concerns on a satellite image of the area. It really wasn’t a vulnerability, after all. Nothing to worry about. Anyway, I was running; he was flying. He got a little disoriented and flew headfirst into a tree. That’s where the concussion came from. I carried him back to the clearing where I found Gracie, who got him the help he needed.”

His mother stared at me like I had two heads or something, but I stood my ground and did not let her intimidate me.

“Are you okay?” she asked him, finally calming down.

It was easy to see that her frustration over our situation was immediately replaced by concern for her son.

“I’ll be fine.”

“So that’s it?” his dad asked. “Doc is concerned because you got disoriented in the woods?”

“Yeah, something like that,” Dean muttered.

“And he’s running tests to find out why?”

“Yes.”

“Why does he suspect a virus?”

“Because Bailey was noted to be spacing out today, which isn’t like her. Patrick raised an alarm on that and Doc agreed with him. So here we are.”

“Just biding your time in quarantine. Making the most of things. Is that it?” his mother asked.

Her words felt like a slap in the face to me, but Dean and his father just ignored it.

“Why did Patrick raise an alarm?” his dad asked.

“Because the Collectors are exterminating entire dingo tribes in Australia and because of our abilities and issues in the past with them, he’s concerned that there’s a connection.”

“But the dingoes are half a world away.”

“And we don’t yet know how they are destroying so many so quickly,” I explained.

“So a virus is a possibility?” he asked me.

“We don’t know, but it is a working theory. And if they can take out a tribe of dingoes in a few days’ time, what do you think they could do to a Congress of ravens?” I pointed out.

Helena grabbed her mate’s arm.

“Edward?”

“I haven’t heard anything about this possibility.”

I hated worrying them needlessly. We weren’t sick with some virus. We were just facing the crazy reality of mating. Not that the virus theory wasn’t a valid concern, just that it wasn’t happening right now.

“We should go and leave you two alone. Your mother will ensure dinner trays are sent up soon,” his father said.

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