Page 8 of Bizarre Bonds
“I guess it would be. Well, let’s see if we can find anything closer to your situation.”
A faint prickle spreads through my chest. I adjust my position, figuring it’s an effect of my frustration. “Definitely. Keep going.”
We read on through several more sites, none of which mention anything that sounds like what I’ve experienced.
“Did you have dreams about them before you met?” Fen asks in a tone that’s already skeptical.
“Not that either. I don’t dream much… When I do, it’s usually about food.” I grin despite the ache that’s now seeping down to my gut. “Does that mean I’m fated for delicious meals?”
Fen laughs. “Let’s hope so.” She moves on to the next site.
The prickling sensation keeps intensifying, seeping deeper through my torso and up to my throat. I find myself rubbing my sternum as if that will push the discomfort away.
What’s causing it? I don’t sense any unpleasant emotions emanating from my men. They all seem pretty calm at the moment, other than Raze with his apprehension about his hunt, but my impression of him has faded with distance.
All at once, pain spikes straight through my heart. I gasp, and my lungs clench up.
Fen jerks around. “Peri? What’s the matter?”
My voice comes out strained. “I… I don’t know… Something… It hurts…”
The pain expands as if I’m being ripped down the middle. My breath stalls in my throat; my vision blurs. I have the vague awareness of my body tipping over on the chair?—
And then nothing.
My mind swims upthrough the darkness. There’s a soft surface underneath me. Voices murmur nearby.
It takes longer than it probably should for me to realize that it’s dark because my eyes are closed. Gentle light glows through my eyelids.
Currents of anxious and stressed emotions whirl inside me like a noxious stew.
I blink and stare up at a white ceiling. When I take my next breath, filling my lungs with air, only a faint ache lingers from the pain that hit me before.
A female shadowkind with small horns on either side of her forehead appears over me. “How are you feeling, Periwinkle?”
“I— Better, I guess. What happened?”
“You fainted in the library. This is the infirmary, for students who are sick. Although I’m not sensing any illness or physical damage in you right now.”
“That’s probably because we’re here.”
That’s Jonah’s voice—flat and tense.
I gird myself and push tentatively into a sitting position.
I’m perched on a small bed in a bright room a little larger than the dorm bedrooms. It holds a few other beds along the wall, cabinets, and a sink.
Fen stands by the foot of my bed, her hands twisted together nervously. All four of the men I marked have clustered around the woman who I suppose is a being with healing powers.
I press my hand to my temple. “I don’t understand. Everything started to hurt—just a little and then a lot.”
Raze’s voice comes out ragged. “I felt it too. I was running across the wild terrain nearby for my hunt, moving away from the school. It came up on me so suddenly I didn’t realize— I raced back as fast as I could.”
I frown at him. “You think I’m allergic to you hunting?”
Jonah clears his throat. “We think it’s because of how far apart you and he were. I noticed the same thing briefly yesterday, when I went for a jog… This just confirms what I suspected. If we move more than a couple of miles away from you, it hurts both of us.”
“Just fucking wonderful,” Hail mutters under his breath, his gaze even darker than usual. “She’s got us on a leash.”
