Page 40 of Ares' Shield
“Don’t move your head, Beth,” Jayden says and squeezes my hand.
“Another student?” the healer asks and I shrug.
Maybe I should let her get kicked out of school and sent to the real world where monsters will hunt her. She’s never going to learn that Jayden never belonged to her.
“Mia,” Jayden growls and I cover his mouth with my fingers.
“She will get in trouble.” I eye the healer who is listening intently.
“We need to all stop attacking each other and remember what we are actually fighting for,” Jayden says with a growl.
“She won’t stop until she has you,” I slur my words.
Wait, why did I say that? I was trying to stop her from getting expelled. That did not come out right.
“My head is so fuzzy,” I groan, curling in on myself and clapping my hands over my ears.
“Shhh, you’ll be okay. The healer is going to help.” Jayden runs his fingers through my damp hair soothingly.
The door flies open and Rebecca charges through with a stern glare. “You can’t save Mia this time, Beth. She crossed a line at breakfast in front of the entire academy.”
“Don’t,” I say with pleading eyes. “She’ll be eaten alive by monsters.”
“She must be punished for thinking that she can attack you in a way that is so against our rules.” Rebecca shakes her head. “Why would you stand up for someone when you’re bleeding on the marble floor?”
“Hermes says I have too much compassion,” I whisper.
Jayden shakes his head. “He didn’t say too much; he said more than any demigod he’s seen.”
“Same thing. I don’t want anyone out there until we figure out who’s bringing the monsters back.”
“Fine.” Rebecca sighs. “No one will be expelled, but Mia will be severely punished, and I’ll have a counselor talk to her about her obsession.” Rebecca scrubs a hand over her face.
The healer clears his throat and eyes us all with a disapproving frown. “Can I heal you before you keel over on the gurney?”
Jayden takes a step back, but I grip his hand hard. He can’t leave me here. My lids close but the tingle of healing magic washes through my skull and I scream as the pain increases and the skin, tissue, and bone knit back together.
“It’s okay, baby. It will be over in a minute.” Jayden kisses my hand softly as he squeezes it reassuringly.
“Hurts,” I moan, but I can’t bury my face in his chest the way I want to because the healer has my head in his hands.
I squeeze my eyes closed against the light that suddenly feels too blinding.
“Just a second more, Beth. I’m almost done,” the healer says.
Jayden kisses my hand and holds it to his chest as the last of the pain subsides. I breathe a sigh of relief as the healer moves his hands.
“At least this time you don’t need the elixir,” the healer says with a relieved smile.
“Thank you,” I say as the fog and dizziness finally clear. “I hate that elixir. I don’t want it to hurt me from taking too much.”
“I just wish you didn’t need healing so often,” the healer says, shaking his head and heading away.
“How are you?” Jayden asks he stops me from getting up off the cot.
I narrow my eyes at him. “I’m fine. I just need a shower to wash off all the blood.”
Rebecca glares. “That is going to have to wait.”
