Page 5 of Fallout

I suck in a sharp breath. “You think there could be more like her?”

He shrugs. “There has to be, right? She was dropped off at the hospital by somebody.”

Of course I know that. I just haven’t thought of all the logistics.

Dad clears his throat. “You know, there are legends about creatures that can do what Henley can.”

My head jerks up. “What do you mean? Do you know what Henley is?”

“Possibly.” He clears his throat. “There are myths about phoenixes.”

“Human myths,” I counter, shaking my head. “She’s not a phoenix. They aren’t real.”

Dad shrugs. “Human myths have some truth to them. There are myths about werewolves.”

I snort. “We’re nothing like the monsters portrayed in human fiction.”

“But we are men who turn into beasts.” He cocks an eyebrow. “And you have to admit, there are similarities between what Henley can do and the legend of phoenixes.”

I open my mouth to respond when I feel something strange in my gut. It’s… fear and pain, but it’s not my own.

Henley.

I jump into my Jeep, ignoring my dad as he questions what I’m doing. I take off toward school, where Henley is. It takes me a good thirty seconds before I remember that I can mind link with Will and see what’s wrong.

What is happening to Henley? Is she okay? I try to keep the panic out of my words, but I’m pretty sure I’m failing.

Blaine and I have her. We’re on our way. We’ll meet you at your house, Will responds.

My house.

They’re coming.

I’ll meet you halfway, I command, leaving no room for argument. He doesn’t bother responding, which makes me think he agrees with my decision to meet them. It’s then that I really begin to panic.

What happened at school after I left?

I press down on the gas pedal a little harder, wishing that I had Henley’s teleportation powers. I don’t want to wait another second to be with her.

It isn’t more than five minutes when I meet Blaine’s truck. I pull over on the side of the road and jump out, meeting Will halfway. In his arms, he carried Henley’s limp form.

“What happened?” I practically growl the words as I reach them. I take Henley from his arms. She doesn’t even stir at the movement, not even as my hand brushes her skin.

“She just passed out.” Will’s face is pale as he looks down at her limp form. “After you left, I could tell the voices were getting to her. Everybody saw the two of you kiss in the hallway and it was a lot. I tried to get her to leave, but she was stubborn.”

The kiss. Of course that would cause an uproar. Do human teenagers seriously not have anything better to talk about than romantic entanglements that clearly don’t involve them?

“After she got a nosebleed in the hallway, Blaine took off his shirt in the hallway, which didn’t help things.” Will grumbles.

I keep my eyes on Henley. “Why isn’t she waking? She should be snapping out of it by now.”

Will steps forward. “I don’t know. It was pretty bad. Maybe she just needs some time to wake up. She already getting some color back to her cheeks.”

He’s right—she is significantly less pale, but it does little to ease my anxiety.

“Can you drive me back to my house?” I ask Will, unwilling to put down Henley.

“Yeah, of course.” He runs to open the passenger side door for me.