I sat up, and pain ricocheted through my body. It took my breath away for a second. “God that fucking hurts,” I said when I could breathe again. “Anyone know what a broken rib feels like? Because I may have several. On top of the vampire bite—which by the way—is burning something fierce. It’s gray around the edges, too. Should I be worried about flesh rot? Because getting a rocking case of necrotizing fasciitis would round out my day in really fantastic way.”
Somewhere along my rant, everyone that wasn’t already frozen turned to look at me.
“Anyone have a name of a good dermatologist? Anyone?” I paused. “Anyone?” Still got nothing. “Bueller?” I sighed. Wolves really had no sense of humor.
Dastien turned to look at me while still pinning Imogene to the ground. “Are you feeling okay?”
Meredith, Chris, Adrian and Shannon came down the stairs, taking the focus off of me.
“Holy shit,” Chris said. “She totally nailed you.”
“Shut it,” I said. “Where’s Mr. Hoel?”
“Mr. D and Sebastian have him,” Adrian said. “They’re escorting him back to campus in one of the SUVs.”
“Perfect. So, cuz, how long does the freeze last?” I said.
Claudia leaned heavily against her twin. “Thirty seconds longer at best. I wish I could do more, but it’d be best if we left. Like now.”
Raphael muttered something to his sister, and she shook her head. They took two steps, but she lost her footing. He swept her up.
“Is she okay?” I said.
“Sí. She’ll be fine. Doing a spell this big takes a toll.”
Interesting. They turned to go, but I shouted out to them. “Hey. Thanks for those packs. They saved our lives.”
“De nada,” Raphael said. “Once you’re feeling better, come visit us. There are things you should know. Things you could learn.”
“You know. I might take you up on that.” I needed to learn to fight, and if I could get some of their awesome powers to help me, then maybe I’d stand a chance.
Claudia grinned. “We’ll leave you to it.” She glanced at Mr. Dawson. “If you need help from La Alquelarre, let us know.”
“Gracias. Vaya con Dios.”