Adam’s composure was lost as he came back out into the garden. He leaned against the balcony’s balustrade and searched for Thalia. They couldn’t stay here a minute longer. He had disengaged from Henry as quickly and inoffensively as he could, wary of the pirate lord’s danger under his pleasant demeanor. As he exited he did his best to keep a low profile in contrast to the parading posture he had moments ago, now that he had a better idea of who was watching.

  His eye caught on Annabelle, watching him while she was engaged in conversation with an older girl. She gestured with her head. He followed it and saw Thalia standing beside Marcus, him entertaining a group of other youths with a story in a private seating area. Adam stepped down from his vantage, weaving through people quicker than was polite until he could position himself in Thalia’s line of sight. He waited for her to notice him. When she did, Adam made to look like he was scratching his brow, gesturing her over with a finger.

  Thalia extricated herself from Marcus’ arm and left the group. She was annoyed before she reached Adam.

  “I thought you weren’t going to be babysitting me tonight,” Thalia said.

  “We need to leave,” Adam said while keeping his head on a swivel. Glances stolen his way now felt much more insidious.

  Thalia wound up to argue. “Adam—”

  He didn’t let her build steam. “Thalia, I am sorry I can’t keep things straight between us for a solid week. I really am. There are things to talk about when we’re alone. But right now, our lives are in danger. There is a woman here who I think has good reason to want us both dead. This isn’t a cute date location; it’s a goddamn meeting of the world’s supervillains. We need to leave before something bad happens.”

  Starting with an apology seemed to surprise her, and she heard him out without trying to cut in. She dropped her guard, and underneath all the makeup and frills Adam saw his best friend again. She didn’t look so sure about being here. Adam could imagine Marcus’ abrasive personality was wearing on her in the time they had spent alone together. This wasn’t her scene, supervillains or not. He could see the disappointment in her eyes, and had to imagine she felt stupid for doing this. Adam wouldn’t be mocking her for it in the slightest. Thalia wanted to be wanted, and there was nothing wrong with that feeling. This is wasn’t the place to do it.

  Marcus suddenly appeared around her, his body on one side of Thalia while his hand firmly held her other bare upper arm. He brought her in close, possessive.

  “Adam.” Marcus’ second greeting was far less charitable, having a threatening chill of an undertone. “You seem to have trouble sticking to your own date tonight. I know Ms. Wild is enchanting, but surely you see her often enough at your school? She’s in my company tonight, and I’d like to make the most of that if you wouldn’t mind.”

  Adam’s smile was more of a grimace. He noticed Marcus had dropped most of his accent and uncertain grasp of English from the first time they had met. It had all been part of Cyrus’ play.

  “Actually, Thalia and I were just discussing leaving back to our school,” Adam said. He gave her a pointed look, asking her to trust him. Thalia looked like she was trying to swallow mud. She jostled slightly in Marcus’ grip.

  “Really?” Marcus asked. “Well, I think Thalia can decide when she would like to go home quite well on her own, and she can trust that I shall ferry her directly whenever she’s ready.”

  Thalia lifted her hand and took Marcus’ fingers off her, stepping away from his side.

  “Marcus, tonight has been lovely.” She spoke with a decent amount of sincerity. “Adam simply came to remind me of our shared curfew. I should go with him, I wouldn’t want to interrupt you and your friends having fun. You were a true gentleman to me, and I appreciate it.”

  Marcus did not have the grace to go along with her excuses. His expression melted into an ugly frown with hard eyes. His gang of what Adam could only assume were other New Lords watched from across the chest-high bushes like pack animals. Lilith was not among them, and Adam worried about her too. He wondered if she was off whispering in the ear of someone else powerful.

  “I’m sorry to see you go,” Marcus said, any affect gone from his voice including even a hint of accent. He stared at them, his back straight, more menacing in his sudden detachment. “I thought you were a smart girl. I thought I could win you over. I thought you could be tamed. But if you want to remain a wild animal, then so be it. Let the hunt begin.”

  Marcus continued to stare, unmoving. Adam braced for an outburst coming from him or the crowd. People continued moving and chatting around them.

  “Right,” Adam said. He swallowed down a hard lump in his throat. “Great way to get that second date. See you around, Dragovel.”

  He took Thalia by the elbow and steered her back towards the building’s interior. He didn’t need to look behind them to know Marcus was still staring.

  Annabelle attached to them on the balcony. Adam led the way through the crowd inside. One more pass underneath Tori, and they’d be to the limo. Hopefully she was too busy staring down Henry to bother notice them depart. Adam didn’t want to tempt things by looking up.

  They made it halfway across the floor. The front doors were in sight. Almost there…

  Ting ting ting.

  The crystalline chime somehow cut through the dozens of conversations, ending them immediately. Groups of guests all broke apart, spreading out to turn their attention upwards to the second floor. A wall of bodies seemed to appear from nowhere directly in front of Adam’s trio. Their quick steps came to a halt. They couldn’t squeeze past without rudely pushing through them. Even if they did, there were at least two more rows of sudden spectators past them. Adam saw security flank the exits, not blocking them but certainly ready to take note of anyone trying to leave. They couldn’t escape now without making a scene. The only thing they could do for now was blend in as best they could and look for an escape.

  Adam forced his easy public face to remain on and turned with everyone else to the source of the chime. The girls followed his lead.

  It seemed Tori Odrono wasn’t the host for tonight after all. Having taken stage at the center of the horseshoe above the back doors was Cynthia Null, Cyrus Null’s only publicly known heir and inheritor of all his business.

  Having seen them both, Adam could now recognize Cynthia was Dodds with everything extraneous removed, from her extra weight to her thin veneer of civility. The living Null looked down on her guests with condescension, though with an icy smile that might’ve helped them believe it was a look of familiarity.

  “Thank you all for being here,” Cynthia greeted. “My father would be absolutely touched to see all of his friends and partners gathered in his home. At a time when Pacific City needs guidance and fresh blood, it’s good to know where you each stand.”

  Looking around, Adam saw only content and agreeable faces. These elite were here to swear fealty. He risked a look upwards, seeing if Tori was still in her place. David was there at their perch, but the woman had moved. He tried not to whip his head around too quickly to find her in the crowd.

  “…with my partners and their significant resources, I think this city will come to enjoy prosperity and security the likes of which it hasn’t known for quite a while. I don’t just plan on seeing my father’s work through. I plan on going further than he ever did. And who knows? Perhaps you can all be along for our ambitious endeavors. At least, those of you willing to endure a bit of dirtiness. Opportunities abound for those with the will to seize them. I appreciate the assurances of your cooperation, even if things remain messy for the near future.” Cynthia raised her glass. “To the future being our domain!”

  The room joined her toast.

  Adam grabbed the girls’ elbows and readied them to make it to the doors.

  They turned and Adam nearly bumped into the chest of Tori Odrono. He had to look up to see her eyes. Her hands were on her hips, and she glared down at the three of them.

  “Hello Adam Atlas. Thalia Wild.” Her voice was a growl. “You have something that belongs to me.”

  . . .

  Redmaw was a juggernaut in the storm.

  Her legs each thicker than Lauren churned the surf as she came rushing in. A gray, aerodynamic blur. Lauren saw glimpses of white, serrated teeth lining her mouth under black eyes. Thick hands with webbed fingers helped her move. She cut through the water like it wasn’t there, while it grabbed at Lauren’s legs like setting concrete.

  Lauren held her scythed tendrils in front of her and braced. She lashed out at the last moment, hoping to arrest the giant shark woman’s speed. It hardly helped.

  Two clawed paws pushed on Lauren’s chest and brought her under the churning water. Her ribs were crushed, the air forced out. There must have been at least 600 pounds on her. She sliced recklessly with her own weapons. She felt bone blades connect.

  The pressure lifted from her chest, just for her to be stomped by a foot a second later. That one was almost worse. Still, Lauren didn’t black out. She forced her eyes to remain open in the stinging current. The shape of a swaying tail was above her. Redmaw was moving past her, assuming Lauren was well crushed. She’d be going for her team next. Unacceptable.

  She wrapped one tentacle nest around the tail above her. The rough limbs caught on the base of Redmaw’s flared tail fin. She forced the ends of her other tentacle-arms into the pavement. Still mostly underwater, she used her strength to pull the two together and hold. The shark beast’s movement stopped.

  Lauren rose from the water, expelling it from her lungs. Rain was falling in heavy sheets now, pressing down relentlessly. Lauren had gone numb to the cold of it awhile ago, now that she was fighting. In their worlds not too far away, whoever was conscious and on their feet were battling Jellyfish and Stormshaper. They weren’t Rosewell and New Lords right now, not against this common enemy.

  Flashes of electricity zapped. It looked like the raincoated woman had some sort of personal field around her, droplets hissing as they hit her bubble from which she could extend feelers of electric current. Outlines of others moved around her. That was about all Lauren could take in beyond her own fight.

  Redmaw had turned her head to leer at Lauren behind her. Her inhuman appearance struck Lauren with primal fear. She felt small against such a massive opponent, her body a diagram of muscle, old scrapes and nicks standing out on her flesh.

  She replaced the fear, letting the parasite into her mind. Fear became numb certainty. She herself become less human, inside rather than out. She could feel it in her nervous system, in her limbs, in her brain, controlling each of her functions more efficiently than she could ever hope to. Her tentacles receded. She looked down at them. They formed arms, but not Lauren’s own. These arms were dark, chitinous, with overlapping layers of organic segmented plating. Numbly she examined them. Each finger ended in a sharp, elegant tip. Perfect for killing.

  The shark moved. Redmaw was above her, mouth open to rip Lauren in half. Her savage maw came down, jaw snapping with force to crush concrete.

  Lauren had propelled backwards. Or rather, the other her did. She was getting quicker. As her opponent’s jaw snapped on empty air, she raked Redmaw’s left eye with her new, enhanced claws. Blood flew, being diluted quickly by the storm. The shark staggered. Lauren did not stop there.

  She became a whirl of assault with her fingertips. They carved shallow wounds into Redmaw’s face, arms, neck, and shoulders. Despite her size, the villain was caught on the backfoot. Lauren was more of an observer in her own mind. She knew well by know what giving into the parasite led to. Death and carnage. She had to hold it back from taking full control. Even now as it danced for her, it flicked the shark’s blood into her awaiting mouth. It was eating more, getting more of what it wanted. Invading her mind more, taking more of her body for itself. But she couldn’t see another way they were getting out of this.

  Redmaw soon had enough of her acrobatics. Her black eyes widened in rage, and she roared. The sound was bone rattling. An arm swept out and caught Lauren in its arc. She was carried into the side of a shipping container, her head slamming against it. A fist hit the side of her head before she could recover. She felt her jaw dislocate. Redmaw swung her hips, her tail coming around and slapping Lauren into the water.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  She was up again before something else could force her up. Stormshaper, the pirate with runes scrawled across his body was not too far. He held his hands to the sky and chanted, and the realization came to Lauren he was probably the one making these conditions so bad.

  A dozen meters away, Trophy Hunter was still on his feet, despite everything he’d been put through. He nocked an arrow in his bow and aimed unsteadily at Stormshaper. He was nearly back-to-back with Young Gun, who was firing at Jellyfish and a few armored mercenaries who had joined her.

  Despite being an enemy, Trophy Hunter had the right idea. Taking out the man might get rid of this water which was so draining for them to fight in, and would clear up GG’s rescue operation. It would also help Team B reach them for support. Stormshaper was a prime target.

  Lauren heard churning stomps behind her before she could engage him. She twisted and whipped her tentacles out in a broad lash. Their sharp bone tips slashed into Redmaw’s torso, tearing at her clothes and skin. Lauren tried to move backwards, fighting against the water, but Redmaw was much faster under the conditions. She grabbed a handful of the tentacles, heedless of their threat, and pulled Lauren towards her.

  Lauren let the parasite try something on instinct. Her other arm split apart, but the tendrils twisted together and formed one large wedge of bone at the end. It whipped down with force, the tip of it piercing deeply into Redmaw’s thick neck like a spearhead. Her throaty scream to the heavens matched a thundering rumble. Lauren pulled her spike from her enemy’s neck before she could grab it, making the gash wider in the process.

  Redmaw was a mess of lacerations, and her neck bled heavily. Still, she kept her feet underneath her, hardly looking fatigued. Her beady eyes looked feral. If anything, the scent of blood seemed to excite her the same way it did Lauren.

  A male voice sounded behind her. Lauren risked a glance back. Stormshaper was waist-high in the surf, an arrow in his bicep. Marionette was behind him. She released a string out and wrapped it around his neck, bringing it low to force him underwater. Lauren saw the strategy. Either he’d make the water recede, or he’d be its first victim.

  Most of the mercenaries hadn’t joined the fight, instead claiming the cases full of treasure out of the water and hauling themselves back up with belt-attached grapples. They worked naturally in the water. It was clear the valuables were all they were after. And if any of them went after the trafficked women, they’d have to contend with Miss Eclipse and Galaxy Girl.

  Redmaw was on Lauren again. She did her best to weave and stay mobile, but the shark would not be deterred. Her fists came down as clubs, shaking the earth with raw strength. Teeth gnashed inches from Lauren's face as she focused on a wheeling retreat. She struck out when she sensed she could, spikes flicking to punish the monster's greedy snout. The amount of her blood spilled didn't seem to matter to the villainess. She kept coming and coming, Lauren running out of space and energy.

  Despite her lashing, the monstrous villain pushed her way forward until she could lay a hand on Lauren. The hand did not force her down into the water. It instead brought her up, lifting her above the huge shark head.

  The point of the villain powering through the wounds she had been served became clear. Despite being scored with deep slashes, Redmaw could end the fight here and now by biting Lauren’s head off. Her many teeth and powerful jaw were certainly strong enough. She was a biological tank of muscle, and Lauren’s attacks weren’t enough to put her down definitively. She tried to struggle, but the grip on her was ironclad. Lauren’s head was lowered towards the gaping abyss surrounded by teeth. A wave of digested fish smell hit her strong and hard. She could think of nothing to do but cut her up from the inside and force her way back out.

  She suddenly felt a burning pain in her stomach. Lauren gasped. It was like the world’s worst heartburn. It was rising, quickly. Scorchingly hot bile filled her throat. She didn’t know why, but her instinct was to open her mouth.

  She vomited a glob directly down Redmaw’s gullet.

  Lauren was dropped. She hardly made a splash. The water was receding quickly. She looked up and saw Redmaw was now choking. Her hands gripped her throat as she thrashed. The massive woman banged into the side of a container, her bashing tail showing her clear agony that she couldn’t voice. She stumbled away, following the water back to the river.

  Other sounds of fighting ceased. The rain lessened. Like that, the scuffle was over. As quickly as the pirates had arrived, they were gone again. Lauren’s struggle with Redmaw was the last of it. The silence left behind was eerie.

  Lauren was in no condition to chase the massive predator back to her natural environment. It felt like waves were crashing around her skull. Her stomach and throat still burned, but the sensation was beginning to ebb. She rubbed her throat and her dislocated jaw. But her concern was for everyone else.

  Whatever lights lit the space before the storm hit were gone now, leaving the area draped in black. The storm clouds broke only slightly, allowing small slivers of moonlight through. Her body gave her enhanced night vision, giving her a bit of an advantage. Bodies moved on the ground, while others were still. She had to imagine everyone knocked out before the pirates’ ambush was now drowned. Except for maybe the Atlantean. The Typhoon soldiers had slipped away with their looted treasure.

  Looking around, Lauren couldn’t spot Jellyfish or Stormshaper in the wreckage. They must have also beat a retreat or been dragged away by goons. Trophy Hunter sat against a knocked-over forklift, looking exhausted.

  “You’re under arrest,” Lauren told him as she passed. At least that’s what she meant to say. Her jaw was in the process of cracking back in place.

  “Fuck you.” He made no move to escape. The rest of his team were scattered, limp.

  Lauren met up with Young Gun. Ike had Reagan slung over his shoulder. She was barely on her feet, black hair dripping over her face, wheezing wetly.

  “Where’s… Marionette?” Lauren asked him. She rolled her shoulder. Everything ached, and she was frozen down to her bones, now feeling the cold again.

  “I don’t know,” Ike said. “I just found Reagan so far. I think my earpiece is dead.”

  Lauren checked her ear. Hers had been lost. Team B was going to be moving to meet up with them through the maze, police and BASTION not far behind. They could take over the mess the night had turned out to be, while the students went home. They just had to find Marionette…

  A shrill scream echoed off metal around the corner. Lauren was running immediately. She slipped as she came around into another alley.

  The blonde girl with bird wings for arms was on top of Marionette. Her feet had morphed, becoming scaly feet with large talons. They scrabbled on Marionette, gripping her. Both girls looked up as Lauren appeared.

  “Help!” Mary cried.

  The blonde thrust downwards, her wings carrying her into the air. Lauren was sprinting for her. Her legs ate up the distance, but in two flaps the girl had carried Marionette twenty feet high. Lauren jumped and came up short. Mary reached one of her porcelain arms down to her, her eyes wide and pleading.

  Not again.

  Lauren’s arm became a singular ropey tendril. It shot into the air, extending further and further, making Lauren’s insides feel tight as it used her mass. It looked like it wouldn’t be long enough. She kept it going. Finally, it hooked on some part of the vanishing figures. Lauren was lifted off her feet.

  Wet wind whipped by. The docks were soon gone. Once she got momentum, the winged girl was a fast flyer. Strong too, to be carrying the both of them. Lauren twirled uselessly on the end of her self-made rope. She couldn’t get her bearings. All she knew was the other end of her extended arm was her friend. She focused, pushing down her dizziness to reel in herself in.

  It was slow going. Lauren couldn’t see her own progress. She only felt mass being added back to her body as foot by foot she recalled it. She snapped to and fro, legs dangling, it feeling like the bird girl was trying to shake her off. That wouldn’t be so easy. Lauren had her hooks in, and she wasn’t letting go.

  “Lauren!”

  She looked up. Mary was closer than she expected, just five feet above her. Bird girl looked down at them beyond her legs.

  “Get off!” The girl commanded. “This doll’s my loot!”

  “Over my dead body!” Lauren yelled at her. She finished shortening the length, gripping onto Mary. “Let her go!”

  The girl flashed an evil smile. “If that’s what you want.”

  She released Mary. Her and Lauren began falling together. They plummeted in a tangle through empty sky.

  Lauren twisted in the air to see how far they had to fall. She might’ve picked her words more carefully if she had looked first.

  It was thousands of feet down to the lights of the city, with no way to call for help.

  . . .

  “…What?” Adam asked.

  Tori blocked their path to the door, looking between him and Thalia. Annabelle gripped her boyfriend’s arm. The villain was even more intimidating up close, her mere presence giving Adam that coppery feeling in his throat like when a dog suddenly barked in one’s face.

  “You have something that belongs to me,” Tori Odrono repeated. Her teeth were pearl white, her incisors long. She spoke clearly and openly, causing others to look their way. She turned to Thalia. “You, specifically.”

  “I… don’t know what that would be,” Thalia said, trying to keep her composure.

  Adam searched for options. They had no allies here, and plenty of enemies. Annabelle had her superpowers, but she wasn’t the best fighter even with her rubbery physiology. They’d get shot to pieces if a fight broke out. Lilith watched with interest, now on the second floor.

  “What is it your idiotic family calls the most precious treasure of my homeland?” Tori asked. “The… Wildstone?”

  “Ah, that.”

  Thalia shifted her clutch around her hip, the movement not very subtle. So, she brought it then. She must have heeded Adam a small amount about the danger after all. That was something, at least. A rhino charge through the crowd wouldn’t be very elegant, but it might be what they needed.

  “Hand it to me, and you will survive tonight. One night is all I can promise,” Tori said. “There is much work to be done to bring back the glory of my family, after what yours wrought to it.” She spoke to both Adam and Thalia.

  Thalia bit her lip. The crowd was openly staring at the confrontation. Adam wanted to tell her not to give it up, but he didn’t know if he could. Even with both girls using their powers, it might not be enough. There was an unknown number of villains in the crowd. This could get messy.

  Adam closed his eyes and tried to summon a doorway, the same way Paradigm had taught him to. He tried to picture campus. He saw the edges of a door shimmering in the darkness, but it didn’t fully materialize. He couldn’t focus enough on his headspace, the situation too tense.

  Thalia lifted her bag. It tore her apart, but she was ready to surrender the stone.

  “Daddy!”

  The moment was shattered. Heads turned. Coming through the front entrance was a blonde girl in jean shorts and a tee, her feet bare. It looked like a few feathers were stuck to her tan arms. Her feet slapped the marble as she found Henry in the crowd. The pirate lord hugged the teen, kissing the top of her head.

  “Hi sweetheart,” Henry said. “How was your raid?”

  “Coulda been better,” the girl reported. “But we got most of it.”

  Tori’s focus was no longer on the three teens in front of her. She stalked towards Henry, people parting from between them well in advance.

  “What. Raid?” Tori asked.

  Henry was unbothered by the tall, ferocious woman in his face.

  “Ah, we heard some contraband was being moved through the docks tonight, thought we’d take care of it. Show we’re friends of the city, and want safety and prosperity and all that. Right?” he asked to the crowd at large.

  Adam was struck as dumb as everyone else watching his audacity, until Henry cast a sly wink his way. Adam took the cue.

  “Go, go,” he said, putting his hand on the girls’ backs and pushing them forward.

  Adam gave one look back as they climbed the steps to the door. Tori was snarling in Henry’s face. Henry’s daughter stood beside him. For some reason, Adam noticed the necklace she was wearing. It had a small bit of something tied to the string.

  Adam’s eye flashed when he saw it. It recognized whatever her necklace was. He felt the sensation course through his body, jolting him.

  She had another piece of a Primordial.

  He turned away from it and continued outside. That was something to worry about later.

  They finally made it back out of the front entrance without further interruption. It was another tense minute before Douglas pulled their limo up, the eyes of security burning their backs. Adam shepherded the girls inside and slammed the door.

  He didn’t dare exhale until they were out of the property gates.

  . . .

  Lauren and Mary had fallen a thousand feet, and Lauren still hadn’t thought of much of a plan. At least they both kept from screaming.

  From this angle, the spires of the city below looked dangerously like spikes rising up to impale them. She fought against lightheadedness setting in. Her eyes bulged in their sockets. She was deafened by passing wind. Everything inside her rattled, and she became queasily aware of being a mere bag of flesh and organs. A bag that was soon going to split open. Honestly, it was impressive how little she was freaking out. It must have been the cold logic of the parasite still fresh in her mind.

  There had to be something to do. She just couldn’t think of it. Mary grappling a building as they fell? That would likely only rip her arm off or shatter a window. Vivian swooping in to save them? Not much of a chance in the time they had left.

  Once Lauren hit ground, how long was recovery going to be this time? Two months? Six? Or less than last time? And what about poor Mary? She might have been a robot, but Lauren had to imagine a fall from this height would damage her beyond repair. This wasn’t going to be good for either of them. The best Lauren could think of was wrapping herself below Mary and trying to cushion her. Maybe then they’d both make it out of this. It wasn’t a great idea.

  Lauren’s body again contorted internally.

  Fucking really? Now?? was all she could think. Of course in her potential last moments, her parasite had to torment her one more time. That seemed about right for how her life had gone.

  They were past the tops of the tallest buildings, the ground a few seconds away. Lauren braced for the splat, hoping there would be an other side to it.

  The internal contortions came to something. That something ripped out of her back. Two things.

  Lauren rocked, nearly losing hold of Mary in her arms. They suddenly weren’t falling nearly as fast. She felt wind drag against her skin. Much more skin that previously. Her mind couldn't wrap around what she was now feeling. Then they rocked again, and they weren’t falling at all anymore. The ground remained the same distance away, ten stories below. The rocking became a beating rhythm as they started moving horizontally instead of vertically. Lauren looked to her sides, stunned.

  She had grown two massive, leathery wings.

  She said nothing as her wings coasted her and Mary until they landed safely on the street. Traffic slowed to a halt around them as Lauren automatically righted into a standing position, landing on her feet while carrying Mary. She looked again at the wings attached to her shoulder blades, both of them with taught, veiny skin stretched between bony digits. They fluttered before folding in on themselves.

  Mary stepped down from her arms. Lauren was still in shock. She collapsed against a taxi beside her. Pedestrians were staring and taking pictures.

  She pitched, grunting as the wings suddenly began the process of refolding back into her body. Bones and flesh melted into her skin, everything inside her reshuffling before it settled. She heaved for breath.

  Mary steadied her. “Are you alright? How long have you been able to do that?”

  Lauren held out her arm. Her hand was shaking. She thought about what had happened earlier in the night. How her body had gone translucent. She willed it to happen again.

  In front of her, her arm disappeared in a chameleonic blur.

  Wings and invisibility. Those were Benedict’s powers. And the spit she had launched into Redmaw’s mouth. It was caustic. Like Spitter’s had been.

  Lauren looked at her hovering classmate.

  “Mary… who all gave me blood while I was hurt?”