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  “SAS is restricted to fourth years and up,” Jordan explained. “Even then it’s very exclusive, since Hunter only picks a handful of students who he thinks will be worth his time.”

  That was good news for Alex. It was unlikely she would still be in Medora for the next school year, but even if she was, she couldn’t think of any reason why Hunter would consider her to be ‘worth his time’.

  “But how did he know we were there?”

  “Not much gets past Hunter,” Jordan said. “He probably heard us breathing or something.”

  “From across the room?” Alex asked in disbelief.

  “If there’s one thing you need to remember about Hunter,” Bear said, “it’s this: never underestimate him.”

  “Is that so, Barnold?” Alex couldn’t help it. Despite the seriousness of their conversation, teasing Bear about his name was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.

  “Uh, yeah, about that…” He pulled the collar of his shirt awkwardly. “I really do prefer Bear.”

  Jordan snorted. “So would anyone whose parents had named them Barnold.”

  Bear didn’t seem bothered by the ribbing. “At least I came with a ready-made nickname.”

  “What do you mean?” Alex asked.

  “My full name is Barnold Eustace Arthur Ronnigan,” he explained. “B-E-A-R.”

  Alex cocked her head to the side. “That works well.”

  “I don’t know about you guys,” Jordan interjected, “but I think we should take Hunter’s advice and get inside before Luranda comes back.”

  Alex and Bear agreed, knowing that with the professor at the meeting, the danger of being caught had lessened significantly. Well, caught again. Alex still wasn’t sure why Hunter hadn’t punished them when they had to have broken a heap of school rules.

  As she followed her friends up the now lit but still empty corridors, Alex was painfully reminded of her aching chest. During the adrenaline-filled Lockdown she’d managed to forget all about her near-drowning in the lake, but now her body was screaming in discomfort. She hadn’t exactly been taking it easy, what with falling out of a building and running all over the campus. If anything, she’d probably done more damage to herself.

  By the time they reached their lab room, Alex was taking shallow breaths and trying to resist the urge to cough. While she wanted to ease the pain, she knew coughing would only make it worse; especially now that her sore throat had also returned with a vengeance.

  “How do we get back in there?” she asked, wincing as her voice caught on the words.

  “It’s just like when we pulled you out of the illusion, but the opposite,” Bear said, retrieving three vials from his pocket and distributing them. “Drink this, and when you’re back in position, your illusion will fade away automatically.”

  It sounded easy enough, so Alex drank the liquid and gave him back the empty glass tube. It was lime-flavoured this time, and the tangy citrus stung her raw throat.

  “What is that stuff?” she asked as the tingling sensation began again.

  “Its most common name is Desert Oasis,” Bear said. “It’s named after the illusion people see when they’re lost and hallucinating. When they’re far away it looks real, but up close it’s not.”

  “But it’s not foolproof, is it?” Alex said. “I could tell you weren’t real before we left the class. Why didn’t Luranda notice?”

  “She was a bit preoccupied with the Lockdown,” Jordan said. “And it probably would have only caught her attention if our illusions did something unusual.”

  “Like studying?” Alex asked, smirking.

  “Yeah, well, we didn’t have a lot of planning time,” Jordan defended. “And besides, it worked. Luranda thought we were still in class. That’s all that matters.”

  Alex bit back her retort and took his offered hand. She felt his gift wash over her as he pulled her through the wall and back into their classroom.

  It was a simple enough matter to join with her illusion, just as Bear had said. All she had to do was sit back down and merge into the image of herself. The moment she was in place, Jordan released her hand and she felt herself become visible again. The illusion slowly shrank back into her skin, and when she couldn’t see any trace of her replica, the tingling sensation disappeared.

  Alex turned around to look at Bear and Jordan, who grinned back at her, indicating that their illusions were gone as well. She heaved a sigh of relief.

  They’d really done it.

  Alex could have laughed, but she decided against it. Not only would it aggravate her chest, but her classmates would probably think she was unstable. Instead, she leaned over to see what task Luranda had set in her absence.

  “I take it you’re back?” Connor whispered.

  Alex quickly nodded. She supposed it would have been weird if Connor hadn’t realised he’d been sitting next to an illusion for almost an hour.

  He smiled and handed over a sheet of paper which turned out to be a copy of his notes. “You owe me one,” he whispered. “And I expect to hear all about it later on.”

  Before Alex could reply, a Bubbledoor opened at the front of the room and Professor Luranda appeared in a swirl of colourful light that quickly faded like mist. Her face was alarmingly pale and pinched with anxiety.

  “Classes are cancelled for the afternoon,” the professor told them. “In an hour there will be an assembly in the food court where Administrator Jarvis will address today’s events. Attendance is mandatory, but you’re free to do as you please with the rest of the time.”

  Luranda walked over to her desk and placed the Communications Globe back onto its holder. When she turned around to discover them all still in their seats, she made a shooing gesture. “Go on then. Class dismissed.”

  Still no one moved.

  Alex fidgeted in her seat, feeling as uncertain as the rest of her classmates looked. The moment she shifted, a stab of pain spasmed in her chest, reminding her again of all the lake water she’d inhaled earlier that day—and just how hard Finn had thumped on her back to get it all out. She sucked in a sharp, burning breath and immediately felt as if a thousand fire ants were stinging the back of her throat while a herd of elephants played football with her lungs. All she wanted to do was get out of the classroom and find some relief for her pain, but like everyone else, she was hesitant to leave just yet.

  One of the girls in the front row—Kelly Gleeson—tentatively raised her hand. “Excuse me, Professor, but you haven’t set any homework.”

  Kelly had just verbalised what everyone else was thinking. Luranda never failed to set homework, and that was the reason why no one had moved.

  The professor snorted, and Alex thought it was perhaps the most undignified sound that she’d ever heard the strict woman make.

  “I’m sure you can manage for one night without it, Miss Gleeson,” Luranda said. “Now, off you all go before I change my mind.”

  Her words were enough to motivate them all to hurry out of the classroom.

  “How good is this!” Bear said, joining Alex and Connor in the corridor.

  “Yeah, not only did we skip class and not get busted for it, but we’ve got no homework! Plus we get the afternoon off!” Jordan said, doing a happy-jig that should have looked lame but he somehow managed to pull off.

  “Skip class?” Mel asked, having just joined the group.

  Alex knew that she, Jordan and Bear were in for a long explanation. Unfortunately, all she wanted to do was curl into a ball and hope that her body would stop its re-enactment of the First World War.

  “Let’s head back to the Rec Room and we’ll tell you guys there,” Bear said as he started to lead them away.

  Jordan tugged on Alex’s elbow to keep her from following. “Are you all right? You look like you’re about to throw up or something.”

  She grimaced. “I’m not feeling too good.”

  “I’m not surprised,” he said. “You’ve had kind of a rough day.”

  She chuc
kled at his understatement and winced at the pain it caused.

  “Why don’t you go and see Fletcher?” Jordan suggested, his concern evident. “Whatever’s wrong, he’ll be able to fix you.”

  Alex found herself nodding in agreement.

  “I’ll cover for you,” Jordan said. “Come meet us when you’re done and we’ll all go to Jarvis’s assembly together.”

  Alex thanked him and he hurried to catch up with the others while she headed down to visit the doctor.

  When she reached the Med Ward, Fletcher was nowhere to be seen, so Alex pulled herself up onto one of the hospital beds to wait for him. She closed her eyes, wondering if a quick nap would alleviate some of her discomfort.

  It was only when she started to drift off to sleep that she heard the voices.

  Alex cracked her eyes open and raised her head to look down the long stretch of the uninhabited Ward. On the far side of the room was a door labelled ‘Contagious Infections’ and it was slightly ajar.

  Alex lay back down and closed her eyes again, figuring that Fletcher was probably in there with a patient. She was ready to try and sleep once more, when an unfamiliar voice broke through the haze of her mind.

  “Who raised the alarm?”

  Alex snapped her eyes open and quietly slid off the bed, tiptoeing closer to the door.

  “It was automatically activated,” came Fletcher’s muffled response.

  “Automatically? How?” The unknown voice was deep and masculine, and sounded too old to belong to a student.

  “Jarvis told us that the headmaster placed stronger security wards around the academy before he left,” Fletcher said. “The only people who can visit while he’s gone are those who have been welcome here previously—students, faculty and alumni. Other people can visit only if they’re in the company of a current academy resident. Otherwise they won’t be able to enter the grounds.”

  “If no one unwelcome can enter the grounds, then why were we on Lockdown?”

  Fletcher hesitated before replying, “The Lockdown was activated because the wards were breached.”

  There was a pause after his words, as if the other man couldn’t believe what he’d heard.

  “The wards were breached? Marselle’s wards? How is that possible?”

  Fletcher sighed. “I don’t know, Varin. I really don’t know.”

  They were silent for a moment.

  “Is Jarvis sure it was him?” the other man asked so quietly that Alex had to lean closer to the door to hear.

  “Yes.” Fletcher sounded weary. “He’s sure.”

  The man cursed, and Alex wished they would reveal more. Who was this person that everyone seemed so worried about? And what was he after?

  “Fletch, you’ve got to get me out of here soon,” the man pleaded. “I’m no good to anyone like this. I need to be out there helping. Especially now.”

  “Just a bit longer, Varin,” Fletcher said. “You’ll be back to normal by the time classes resume in the New Year.”

  The other man groaned. “That’s almost a month!”

  Alex heard Fletcher murmur something soothing before the sound of a chair scraping across the floor caused her to back away from the door. She didn’t want to get caught eavesdropping so she quietly scrambled back to her bed. The moment she lay down and closed her eyes, she heard the door squeak as it was fully opened. She blinked and sat up, schooling her face into an expression of surprise.

  “Fletcher?” she asked, playing the innocent card. “I didn’t realise you were here.”

  He pulled the medical mask off his face. “How long have you been waiting, Alex?” he asked, glancing nervously towards the room he’d just left.

  “Not long,” she replied, telling the relative truth. “I hope you don’t mind, but when I realised you weren’t here, I decided to wait.” Also the truth. “I was going to try and have a nap.” Again, the truth. She’d just left out some other details.

  What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

  Fletcher relaxed at her words and excused himself for a moment. He left the room—presumably to wash his hands, or so Alex hoped—and returned with her file.

  “Now, what can I help you with?”

  “I—uh—” She felt foolish now, knowing that she really should have come earlier. “You mentioned at lunch that Finn told you what happened this morning?” He nodded and she continued, “Well, I was just wondering if you might have something to help me—um—feel a bit better?”

  His gaze softened. “Why don’t you tell me how you’re feeling, and I’ll tell you if I have something that will help, hmm?”

  She swallowed, and then winced again at the pain.

  “Sore throat?” Fletcher asked, watching her reaction.

  She nodded. “Really sore. And my chest hurts.”

  “Hurts how?” he asked, scribbling on his chart.

  “Like it’s burning,” she responded.

  “All the time?”

  “Only when I breathe,” she said dryly.

  Fletcher chuckled. “Well, we’ll want to fix that then, won’t we?”

  “That would be nice,” she agreed.

  “Lie down on your stomach for me,” he said, all professional again. At her questioning look, he explained, “Finn mentioned that he gave your back quite a thumping in order to expel the water from your lungs. I just want to make sure he didn’t crack a rib. He can be rather… enthusiastic.”

  Enthusiastic? Alex could think of better descriptions, none of them anywhere near as complimentary. But Finn had practically saved her life, so maybe she should cut him some slack.

  Fletcher whistled through his teeth when he got his first look at her back and Alex remembered why she had such negative descriptions for her PE teacher.

  “Is it bad?” she asked, her voice muffled by the pillow.

  Fletcher pressed on a few tender spots before letting her sit up again. “It looks worse than it is,” he told her. “Nothing appears to be broken. You just have some impressive bruises.”

  He bustled over to his medicine cabinet and returned with two vials. Alex scrunched her face up at the unappealing brown colours.

  “Don’t give me that look,” he said. “It wouldn’t have been so bad if you’d come in earlier.”

  She looked at the ground. “I know. I’m sorry.”

  He patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, Alex. But in the future, try to remember that prevention is often better than a cure.”

  She nodded in agreement and took the vials from him. Holding her nose, she raised the first one to her mouth and swallowed as quickly as she could. Her eyes widened when she recognised the taste. “Chocolate!”

  “What did you expect?” Fletcher laughed. “It’s like you’re disillusioned to believe medicine is disgusting.”

  “Before I met you, medicine was disgusting,” she murmured, raising the other vial to her lips. It tasted faintly of cinnamon.

  Within seconds Alex was feeling immensely better. Her throat no longer scratched and her lungs had stopped burning. She took a deep breath, relieved when she felt no pain, and she smiled at the doctor. “Fletcher, you’re brilliant!”

  He waved away her praise and handed her another two vials. “You might not be saying that tomorrow morning if you wake up in pain, so make sure you take these before bed tonight,” he said. “You should be fine after that, but if you experience any further discomfort, please come and see me straight away.”

  “I promise,” she said, meaning it.

  “Good,” he replied. “Now, off you trot. You’re due to be in the food court soon for Jarvis’s meeting.”

  “You’re not coming?”

  “No. He’s already spoken with the faculty members. The assembly is just for the students’ peace of mind.”

  Fletcher seemed surprised when Alex didn’t ask him any questions, but she honestly couldn’t think of anything to ask that wouldn’t give away what she’d already heard. Instead, she jumped off the bed and str
aightened her rumpled clothes.

  “Thanks again, Fletcher,” she said, motioning to the two vials she held.

  “Any time,” he replied, escorting her to the door.

  She smiled and waved goodbye as she left the Med Ward and slipped outside into the chilly air.

  Thirteen

  As Alex walked away from Gen-Sec she wondered about the conversation she’d overheard between Fletcher and the mysterious Varin, but her thoughts were interrupted by an unexpected voice.

  “Hello, Alexandra.”

  She spun around to find a man standing directly behind her, a man she recognised from the day she’d first arrived in Medora.

  “Aven,” Alex gasped, stumbling backwards in an attempt to put some space between them.

  “I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, looking amused.

  “You didn’t,” she lied.

  If anything, he seemed even more amused.

  Alex was conscious of the fact that not so long ago there had been an intruder upon the academy grounds. She glanced to her right and left and was dismayed to realise that there was no one else around. She’d been in the Med Ward for a while—most of her classmates were probably already at the food court, getting ready for the assembly.

  Her heart picked up speed as she turned back to Aven. For all his startling beauty—and he looked even better than she remembered—she would never forget how strange he’d acted during their forest meeting. He was not someone she wanted to be left alone with.

  “What are you doing here?” Alex asked.

  “Why, Alexandra, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re not pleased to see me.”

  “What makes you think you know better?” she asked, crossing her arms defiantly. “You kind of weirded me out the last time we met. I’m not looking forward to a repeat performance.”

  Aven chuckled and the sound was so charmingly pleasant that Alex felt herself subconsciously relaxing.

  “You have nothing to worry about,” he said, still smiling indulgently. “I’m no threat to you.”

  “And yet, you still haven’t told me why you’re here,” she pointed out.

  He shrugged, and the normally careless motion was carried out with more grace than she thought possible. “It’s been a while since I last visited the academy. I sought to reacquaint myself with memories long buried.”