Breed of Envy (The Breed Chronicles, #02) (28 page)

They reached me before I made it to the elevator. Rachel’s gaze went to my ribs. Her smile was slow, malicious. “Not feeling so great, Teacher’s Pet?”

“Feeling just fine,” I lied, reaching for the elevator button.

Rachel elbowed me in the ribs, which had me hissing out a breath and narrowing my eyes. My fists curled.

“Oops,” she said in a falsely sweet tone. “Guess those ribs aren’t feeling so good after all.” Her and her friends laughed.

“Back off, Rachel. I’m not in the mood for your shit.”

“What?” She faked a hurt look. “I just came to check on you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. You checked. Now you can go away.”

The elevator doors opened, but I didn’t move yet. If I got on, they’d all follow me and I’d be stuck inside with them with nowhere to go. I hadn’t wanted to take the stairs because I knew it’d be more painful than the elevator. Then again, I thought, shaking my head as I turned away, I’d take the extra pain over Rachel any day of the week.

But my escape wasn’t happening. Rachel and her friends circled around me. Each time I tried to move one direction, one of them would bump into my ribs. They tried shoving me into the elevator, but I braced my arms against it and then shoved the nearest girl—Leslie—away. She landed on her butt, looking embarrassed and furious at the same time. Some of the Prospects started to laugh, which only infuriated them all more.

“Next time it’ll be a punch to someone’s nose,” I muttered. I didn’t want to start any fights, really, really didn’t want to. But I hadn’t taken Felecia’s shit last Phase, and I wasn’t about to take her friends’ crap this one. They’d gotten a little more leeway because, despite the fact that it
had
been her own fault, I still felt slightly guilty about Felecia getting kicked out. If she had been anything like me, then she’d joined the CGE to find her own justice, right? So her friends, I thought, probably shared the same reasoning. We all wanted to hunt demons. To, likely, find the specific one or ones that had touched our lives.

Why would they risk the chance to lose that over a stupid grudge?

I almost asked them, but decided against it because I was sure they wouldn’t answer. I was sure it wouldn’t matter to them. Instead, I sighed. “I’m getting on the elevator. Alone. Anyone who tries to follow me is going to get a nice visit to the infirmary with a broken nose,” I said, and stepped into the elevator. I held the door open for a moment, waiting to see if anyone tried to follow. They didn’t, though all three stared at me like they were hoping to grow some weird, mutation on the spot and kill me with their brains or something.

I let the doors slide shut and punched the button for the second floor.

“What is everyone’s problem with me?” I wondered out loud. I was alone, so of course no one answered, and if I were being honest, I wouldn’t have expected one, anyway. Well, at least not one I would’ve liked.

The doors opened a few seconds later and I made my way to Doc’s office. I knocked and waited for her to answer.

She winced as soon as she saw me. “Ouch. What happened to your face?” Doc didn’t wait for an answer. She dragged me over to a chair, sat me down, and then stormed out. When she came back in a few minutes later, she had a pair of gloves, a bottle of peroxide, gauze, and I didn’t want to know what else. “Does it hurt?” she asked as she put on the gloves.

I shook my head. I’d forgotten all about getting my face slammed into the ground. “Not now. I forgot about it, to be honest.”

She made
tsk
and wince-y sounds as she cleaned my face. “Well, I’m glad it looks a lot worse than it feels.” She sat in front of me. “Your healing rate really is incredible.”

“Um, thanks?”

Doc laughed. “So, why weren’t you here with Linc earlier?”

I frowned. “Linc was here?”

“Yeah. His back was scraped up and he had a knot on the back of his head.” One of her eyebrows arched. “You aren’t my first victim of the day.”

“He’s okay? I haven’t really seen him since we got back.”

“He’s fine.” She tapped my knee and stood. “But it’s time to get you into the scanner and check those ribs.”

I didn’t bother to groan, mainly because I was sure it’d hurt.

Down the hall, she unlocked and opened the TT room door. Without being asked to, I went and changed into the hideous gown, and then stood in the middle of the tube when I was done. Doc came over, hooked me up quietly. When she was done, she stepped back, gave me a once over. “The director told me what happened. How bad do you really feel? You’re unusually quiet.”

“I’ve felt better,” I said with a miniscule shrug. “But I’ve felt worse, too.” Getting bitten by a vampire sucked—haha—and had been more painful than anything else I’d ever felt. Possibly cracked or broken ribs were nothing to complain about.

She walked over to the controls, turned on the hologram, then the tube. I watched the laser lights as they crossed over my body. As they reached rib level, I looked up in time to see Doc wince. She let out a low whistle when the scan was done. “You look like you were hit with a baseball bat, repeatedly.”

It wasn’t that far from the truth, so I just shrugged. “You going to unhook me?”

With her head down, she typed as she spoke. “In a few minutes. I want to give it five, then scan you again so I can see how fast you’re healing.” She looked up. “I can unhook you and do it again, but I figure if you just wait it’s one less step for you. But it’s your choice.”

“Okay, I’ll wait.”

“Are you really okay?” she asked, walking back over to me.

“Yeah. The pain isn’t that bad anymore.”
If I don’t move or, you know, breathe.

“I don’t mean just physically. You look tired and annoyed. You usually look annoyed when you’re around me, but you haven’t really argued with me at all or made any faces. It’s actually very unnerving and very much not like you. You still having trouble with Felecia’s old friends?”

“How did you know about that?”

“I overheard them talking about you a while back.” She shrugged. “I may not have classes with you, but I live here, too. I hear things.”

“Oh.” It shouldn’t have really surprised me but it kind of did. She was Doc. She liked to torture people. I had no idea she followed current events or anything. “Yeah. They’re still bothering me.” I bit my lip. “But don’t say anything to anyone. I can handle it.”

“Jade, you need to talk to Director Greene.”

“Why? So someone else can get kicked out and I can get the blame for it?” I shook my head. “Besides, it’s Greene. He knows everything anyway.”

An argument was there, but then she just sighed, like she saw my point.

It was Greene’s facility, and he’d said it and proved it time and time again that much didn’t happen here that he didn’t know about. The way I figured it, he knew and didn’t care, or he knew and figured I’d handle it on my own.

“I’m going to rescan now,” Doc said after five minutes, “then I’ll let you go.”

I just nodded and waited.

Instead of looking over the results immediately, like she usually did, she unhooked all the funny electrodes and motioned me to follow her. “Let’s see how long the damage will last,” she said, taking her seat and pressing buttons on the console. “This happened about three hours ago, right?”

“Yeah, give or take. Dale drove like a maniac on the way back.”

“Well, the ribs aren’t broken now, but I’m guessing they were.” She enlarged the hologram around my ribs, pointed to a section. “See these marks? They’re a little bit thicker than the rest. That’s bone remodeling. On most people, it’d probably be more prominent, but since you have accelerated healing, it’s less distinct.”

“They’re healing, so that’s good.”

“Yeah, it is. Unfortunately, ribs are used a lot. Well, not necessarily used, but they expand and retract as you breathe, move, turn. It’s going to be a painful healing.”

“I’ve noticed,” I said wryly. I already had the painful thing down. “How long do you think until they’re completely healed?”

“Probably in a few hours, to be honest. But I want you to take it easy the rest of the weekend, and come back tomorrow for another scan. I want to make sure they’re completely healed before you participate in any of your classes.” She eyed me. “I can wrap them for tonight if you want, but I’m afraid that’s about all I can do.”

I would have said no to the wrapping, but then I thought about Rachel and her lot. They knew I was hurt, so if they saw me, they’d probably try hitting my ribs. Again. “I’ll take the wrapping. Can you add some extra padding or something?”

Doc looked up in surprise. “Really? I was sure you’d argue.”

“Better safe than sorry, right?”

She knew there was more to it than that, but she didn’t ask or comment on it. “Sure. Do you want something for the pain? Even healing this fast, there’s still going to be some.”

I considered it for a second, but then I just shook my head. “No, but thanks.”

“Alright. But take some anti-inflammatories, at least. It might help a little.”

“I will.”

“Okay.” She smiled at me. “Let me go grab an ace bandage. I’ll be right back.”

I took a seat when she left and let out a long sigh as I studied the hologram of my body some more. Hopefully, the padding wouldn’t be needed. If it was, Rachel and her lot wouldn’t be safe, but they would be sorry. I’d make sure of it.

*~*~*

When I was done with Doc, I quickly and stealthy (read: ran) back to my room. I didn’t see Rachel or her friends again, but I found Linc waiting for me outside my door. I smiled as I spotted him and breathed a sigh of relief. “Hey, Flyboy.”

His head whipped around in my direction. “Hey.”

My smile faltered as I reached him. “What’s wrong? Did you get in trouble or something? If you did, I’ll go kick someone. Greene, or Peter—”

He shook his head. “I’m not in trouble.”

I unlocked my door and waited for Linc to go in. “Then why do you look so…I don’t know. Sad, or maybe angry.”

He let out a rough laugh as I shut the door. “You were almost killed.”

“I was not. You had my back.” Carefully, I walked to my bed and sat down. “You always do.”

“Well, having your back did you a lot of good.” He ran his hands over his scalp. “For crying out loud, Jade. You were hurt.”

“I’m okay.” I patted the space beside me. “Come sit down. Talk to me.”

He sat down, but he didn’t say anything, just stared at my wall.

“Linc. Look at me.” When he didn’t, or wouldn’t, I put my hands on his face and made him. “I’m fine. Nothing a few hours won’t cure.” His gaze went to my ribs, or maybe the arm that was holding them, so I dropped it to the side. “Really.”

Feather light, he ran his fingers down my side. He felt the ace bandage Doc had wrapped around them and his eyes flashed with guilt. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, looking away again.

“Don’t be. The padding is just because of Rachel. She and her friends saw me on my way to see Doc. They’re like hound dogs, I swear, sniffing out weaknesses. But forget about them.” I looked down at his right hand. His knuckles were busted and one big, bluish purple bruise. I took his hand carefully in both of mine. “How are you doing? You okay?”

He nodded. “The hand is fine.”

“I’m not asking about your hand.” Leaning my forehead against his, I said, “I’m asking about you. How
you
are doing.”

“I’m fine.” He backed away, and for a second, his gaze went back to my ribs. “I did what I had to. That’s all there is to it.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“You saved my life, you know,” I said softly. “Guess I owe you one.”

“I almost got you killed. You don’t owe me anything.”

I sighed, wishing I could think of the words to erase the guilt from his eyes. He hadn’t been responsible in the least. I’d wanted to go with him, even when I told him he didn’t have to take me. I’d still wanted to go, to be there for him. And even now, knowing how it’d all ended, I’d do it again, exactly the same way, without regrets.

It was too bad I didn’t think Linc could say the same.

C
HAPTER 15

Over the next week, things were kind of strained. Linc wouldn’t talk about the hunt anymore. I could still see the guilt in his eyes, but despite my best efforts, I couldn’t make him see that he wasn’t to blame. We weren’t fighting or anything, but he was unusually quiet and he’d barely kiss me, like he was afraid it’d hurt me.

I couldn’t exactly blame him for not talking to me about it when I’d been so quiet about my own drama. I just wished he wouldn’t look so guilty all the time.

I knew it probably bugged him, seeing me hurt, but no matter what I said to him, no matter how much I tried to reassure him, my words never seemed to sink in. He pretended they did, saying he knew or he believed me, but I could tell they didn’t.

It didn’t happen as often now since it’d been a week, but every once in a while, he would glance at me and his gaze would fall on my ribs. I could see it in the way his jaw snapped shut that he was picturing, or remembering, what had happened that day.

And that’s what he’d been doing for the last two hours as we studied in my room.