Page 113 of The Hero Within
There.
The beginning of a rash blossomed on the middle of her chest. It was so faint she almost mistook it for stubble rash from Johnny's jaw, except for the fact she'd been staring at tiny red dots exactly like these for the past two weeks.
All the heat drained from her face.
Headaches. Muscular aches. Thirst. She'd put it down to a strenuous couple of days, but the truth stared her straight in the eye.
She had the plague.
Eden walkedout of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her hair and her skin pink from the shower.
Johnny glanced up from the map he was poring over with Lincoln. He was about to look back down when something about Eden's expression set off alarm bells.
"What is it?" he demanded.
"Promise me you're not going to freak out," Eden said, in the sort of voice that made his stomach drop.
Johnny considered her.You don't say something like that unless you’re fairly certain someone is going to lose their shit.
"No promises," he growled. "Why? What's wrong?"
Swallowing hard, she began unbuttoning her shirt. "I've been a bit headachy in the past couple of days, but I assumed it had to do with everything that was going on." Her fingers fumbled on a button.
"Eden?" His voice sounded hollow. Outside of him. He had the sudden sensation the world was dropping out from under him.
He knew, before she told him.
"I'm in phase one," she whispered, holding her shirt open just enough for him to see the faint hints of rash on her chest.
Cold shivered through him.
Johnny's heart squeezed into a tight little fist in his chest, and it was all he could do to stop himself from swaying.No. This couldn't be happening.
Eden cleared her throat, still not quite meeting anyone's eyes. Her lashes fluttered toward Lincoln, then she glanced down again. "I'm so sorry. It's likely I was infected with the plague when I stayed at Shadow Rock. Anyone who came into close peripheral contact with memighthave been infected, as it can be spread by airborne contamination as well as body fluids. Symptoms don't tend to show for around three to seven days after exposure. If I'd known...."
"It's all right, Eden," Lincoln said simply. "I've spent the past couple of days with you. You wouldn't have put them at risk if you'd suspected. You're not that type of person. And we’ll get our cure."
He couldn't believe how calmly she was taking it.
"So what do we do?" Johnny demanded, throwing his arms wide. "Hope and pray Bligh comes through?"
"We've got time."
"How much time?" he demanded, his voice rising. "We can't wait for Bligh and hope he gets your message. We can't rely on his good conscience. He might just lock us up and throw away the key."
Or worse.
He hadn't misunderstood what Mayhew was saying about burying any sign of this plague. If Blight discovered Eden was infected....
A hand clamped down on his shoulder. Lincoln. "Settle down," the other warg said.
The fucker wasfusinghim....
Johnny saw red. He broke the warg's hold on him, and Lincoln hit back, their arms locking. Johnny slammed him into the wall, and Lincoln's breath hissed out between his teeth.
"Calm the fuck down or I'll put you down." Lincoln snarled, capturing his wrist.
Rage enveloped him, his voice growing deeper as his vocal chords started shifting. "You think you can?"
