Chapter 81

Rowena

“Did you see the look on Liam’s face when you beat his high score on that zombie shooter game? He was so flustered!”

Emma rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Yeah, well, that’s what he gets when he assumes that girls don’t know how to play video games.” She paused for a moment before shooting me a sly grin. “You and Eric seemed to be having a pretty good time too, by the way.”

I felt my cheeks flush slightly at her implication, and quickly looked away to hide it. Last night, Emma, Eric, Liam, and I had gone out to a local arcade; we had spent the night playing games, eating pizza, and… well, just acting like normal people for a change.

It had been nice. But there was nothing more to it.

“Yeah,” I finally managed, rubbing my hand along the back of my neck. “It was nice to spend some time with him.”

“Mhm.” Emma drew out the sound, shooting me a coy look. “If you say so. But you two would make a pretty cute couple if, you know, you weren’t related.”

My heart stuttered in my chest at her words, and I quickly averted my gaze once again. If only she knew the truth—the fact that my DNA test kit had arrived and I had sent my sample back just over a week ago.

The thought of receiving my results made my stomach flip in more ways than one. On one hand, a part of me did secretly wonder what it would be like if we weren’t related after all. But another part of me knew how painful it would be to find out that we were, and there was no changing that.

If we weren’t related, though…

Did that mean that we could finally explore whatever was between us? Did it mean that maybe, just maybe… we could be together?

“Rowena? Hey, are you okay?” Emma’s voice snapped me out of my daze, and I startled slightly.

“What? Oh—yeah, I’m fine,” I replied distractedly, gnawing on my bottom lip. Clearing my throat, I readjusted the strap of my bag on my shoulder and checked my phone for the time. “Shit, I’ve gotta go. I have to be there for some training assessments this morning.”

Emma furrowed her brow slightly, but thankfully didn’t press the issue. “Okay, if you’re sure you’re alright…”

“I’m sure,” I insisted with what I hoped was a reassuring smile as I began backpedaling toward the gymnasium. “I’ll see you later?”

Emma nodded. “See you later.”

…

The familiar scent of sweat hung thick in the air as I entered the arena, and I felt myself relax slightly. Combat manager duties were my happy place—a time where I could simply allow my mind to fully concentrate on observing the warriors’ techniques, taking meticulous notes to help analyze their form and progress.

I busied myself with setting up at the monitoring station, arranging my pens and clipboard before glancing over at the roster. A small smirk tugged at the corners of my lips when I noticed a certain name was conspicuously absent.

Heather, of course, hadn’t been to camp since everything had gone down with Dr. Reynolds. From what I saw on social media, she was sick with a ‘stomach bug’; but I knew, not only from my own deductions, but also from Emma, that that couldn’t have been further from the truth.

In reality, Heather was sulking in her room at home. She hadn’t left her bedroom since that night in the cafeteria, not that her parents would let her leave the house anyway.

According to Emma, their parents were downright embarrassed by Heather’s little act—and rightfully so. They had grounded her, taken away her phone, and forbade any sort of contact with friends outside of necessity.

Good. It was peaceful around here without her meddling in everything.

Although, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to the day she would return.

Suddenly, the sound of a whistle piercing the air drew my attention back to the center of the arena where the first pair of warriors had taken their positions for their sparring assessment. I watched with a critical eye as they began to spar, circling each other with their hands up and their stances low.

For the most part, the assessments carried on pretty standard—I dutifully jotted down notes on stances that needed correcting and areas where certain warriors excelled or struggled. It was during the second-to-last assessment, however, that a slight frown began tugging at the corners of my lips.

Something seemed... off about this particular warrior’s movements. His strikes were growing increasingly sloppy, almost frantic, and there was a wild look in his eyes that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.]

“Hey,” I murmured to the head combat manager, not taking my eyes off the two warriors. “That warrior in the blue shirt. Does he seem... I don’t know, erratic to you?”

The head combat manager leaned forward slightly, squinting as he looked a little more closely. “Hm,” he muttered, scratching his head. “His movements seem a bit jerky.”

“Do you think he’s on something?” I asked.

The head combat manager shrugged. “I’m not sure. Go stop the spar, would you? Check his pupillary response. If his pupils seem unnaturally dilated, he could be on performance boosters or something.”

I nodded, a concerned crease forming between my eyebrows as I set down my clipboard. I strode over to the mats, clearing my throat loudly.

“Time out!” I called out loudly, holding up my hands to stop them. “Warrior in the blue, can you please come over here?”

The two warriors pulled apart immediately, the one in blue panting heavily with sweat dripping down his forehead.

“Why?” he practically barked. “We were both within the rules.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong. I just need to run a quick assessment,” I assured him evenly as I pulled my pen light out of my pocket. “I just need to check your eyes, okay?”

The warrior in blue regarded me warily, but gave a short nod of assent. Careful to keep my movements slow and controlled just in case he was on something and potentially agitated, I gently gripped his chin and tilted his head until I could shine the light into his eyes.

As I shined the light into his eyes, I felt my heart sink like a stone in my chest. His pupils were wide… too wide.

And they were completely unresponsive to the light.

Wolf’s Fury.

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to remain calm as I took a step back and lowered the penlight.

“Have you... have you been experiencing any strange symptoms lately?” I asked quietly, my voice strained. “Irritability, loss of control, increased aggression...?”

The moment the words left my lips, I knew I had made a mistake. The warrior’s eyes seemed to glaze over, his body going utterly still save for the rapid rise and fall of his chest. A muscle ticked in his jaw, and then—

“Get back!”

The strangled shout came from behind me, causing me to whip around. A blur of blond hair and blue eyes streaked past, leaping into the air—and colliding with the warrior who, unbeknownst to me, had just lunged for me.

Eric and the warrior slammed into each other mid-air, careening across the floor in a tangle of limbs and teeth.