Of Fae and Hate

And the fact that we all had black marks from whatever exploded out of Neryssa pointed to the fact that we may have been infected.

I don’t feel any different, besides this small little ache in my chest and a pull on my magic, but I definitely don’t feel like I’m turning evil or want to kill my peers anymore than I usually do.

The debate on what to do had gone on for almost an hour before Fox was the one to feel it. It wasn’t quite a heartbeat coming from inside of Neryssa, but it’d been something. An energy, a pulse. Whatever it was, it was alive.

Whatever that pulse is, it's been growing stronger everyday, and while her chest hasn’t pumped with a single breath, Brynsyn and Fox are convinced that she’s still alive in some capacity.

And while I know its fucked up to be basically hiding a corpse in my cabin, I agreed to see how this plays out before we come clean. If we do have to tell someone about this, as much as it sickens me to think, it can be covered up. My family has deeper and darker secrets than a possible dead girl, and no one has to see the black marks.

The cabin door slams open again and Fox steps inside. He’s still in Neryssa’s skin, but he lets it fall away as soon as the door is closed behind him. He lets out a long, exasperated breath, cursing about something as he turns to lock the door.

“Clemmsies?” Brynsyn asks, looking up at Fox.

Fox lets out a grunt that sounds something like yes.

He doesn’t say anything else, gliding past me and heading into the back hall where the guest rooms are. He opens the last door. I follow him inside, my gaze instantly flitting over to Neryssa.

Even dead, she’s beautfiul, and fuck if I don’t feel like a creep.

When I first saw Neryssa across the quad, I had been looking for Soskia, waiting for my spitball of a peach to get pissed and come at me. I hadn't expected the purple haired beauty. There’d been something about her that begged me not to look away and it’d been hard to actually do so. Her purple curls had kicked up in the light breeze and her bright eyes were watching me closely. Her curves called to my hands and I could see that she was right in the path of Soskia who’d been storming down the sidewalk.

I’d forced myself to look away from her, but I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her, even after I got into it with her during class.

I take a swallow as I look at her now.

She’s completely limp, but her body isn’t stiff, Brynsyn checks everyday. It’d been another check in his column that she isn’t dead. Her skin is still the same lovely shade of brown, another not dead check for Brynsyn.

Fox moves close to her and he presses a hand down into the middle of her chest. I know he’s feeling for that little energy. It’s even stronger today. In the beginning we could only really feel it if we were right up on her or if we touched her, but this morning, I could feel it from the living room when I woke up.

“Do you think she’ll be awake by Monday?” he asks, looking up at me.

I don’t know Cerus Fox well. All I’ve ever known is that I don’t really like the guy. Shifters and vampires don’t mix, and our families have been in a long silent battle for ages. My family has the title but his has the respect.

“I don’t know. We can only hope,” I say. I rub my chin.

“And Soskia?” he asks. No one likes my fiance, more often than not I don’t like her. Fox is also on that list, but he always makes a point to check on her everyday. It’s one of the reasons I have to reluctantly admit that he isn’t so bad, though I’d never say it out loud.

“She ate today.” Which is more progress than we’ve made in the past couple of days.

Soskia still isn’t herself, seeming to be in an entirely different place, but if I can get her to at least muster the ability to say a few words, I should be able to safely present her to Sprouse. I’ll have to ask that she extend her admittance from class for a little longer. I’d told her not to contact Soskia’s parents because they would only stress her out further. She doesn’t speak to them on a regular occasion so it’ll be a while before they find it weird that they haven’t been in contact with her.

“That’s good,” Fox mutters. He taps a finger along Neryssa’s arm before pulling away completely. “Clemmen has too many questions.”

I wince. Clemmentime is stubborn and she’s not going to let her suspicions fade to the back of her mind.

“She’ll be awake by Sunday.” I whirl to find Brysnyn standing behind me. He’s peering over my shoulder at Neryssa.

“You so sure of that?” I ask, raising a brow.

“Yes,” is the only response he gives before turning on his heels and moving down the hallway.

I’m not sure what to make of him after everything happened. When the abaron hit him, it hadn’t had nearly the same effect that it did on Neryssa and that’s enough to raise my suspicions. Hell, he’d nearly killed me for holding him down when he’d been trying to go after the abaron. And as soon as I’d gotten off of him to protect Soskia, he’d flown right at the monster.

And hadn’t died or been turned.

I don’t know what the hell is going on but as soon as the Soskia and Neryssa problem are out of the way, I’ll be trying to figure out the Brynsyn Challard problem.