But I force myself to rein in my reaction and turn on the charm. "Shit," I say, doing my best impression of vapid obliviousness. My weakened state is making it hard to concentrate, but I'm still riding the high from Hunter's blood, and the words seem to roll effortlessly off my tongue. "I keep forgetting about all these new rules. They're changing things faster than I can keep up, I swear."
I glance at Landon for backup, and he nods and holds up his hands. "Idiot freshmen! But hey, now we know, right?"
Isaiah frowns. "I'm supposed to report you guys for this."
My eyes go wide. The last thing we need is for someone to take our names down— or worse, send us to the office. "Is that really necessary?" I ask, taking a step towards Isaiah. "If we promise not to do it again?"
"Look, it's not up to me," Isaiah replies.
But there's a hint of doubt in his voice, and I seize on it. An idea comes to me, and I slink closer to Isaiah, sweeping my hair out of my face with one hand while putting on what I hope is a sultry smile. "What Hawthorne doesn't know won't hurt him, will it?" I ask in a husky voice. "Can't you make an exception? We—I—would be incredibly grateful."
Isaiah's eyes sweep over my figure, and I can see more cracks appearing in his armour. Is the vampire blood enhancing my sex appeal, or am I just better at this than I thought? "I mean, I… I don't know if…"
I put my hand on his arm, looking into his eyes. "I'd owe you a favour," I tell him quietly.
And that finally does it. "All right," Isaiah says with a nod. "Go ahead. Just… make sure you stick to the dress code from now on."
"Absolutely." I turn to Landon, and the two of us hurry on our way.
"Can I get your number or something?" I hear Isaiah call from behind us.
"Don't worry, I'll find you," I call back, and before he can respond, we're disappearing into the crowd.
I can feel Landon eyeing me slyly as we head for the admin building. "What?" I ask, blushing a little.
"Not bad, Boots," Landon remarks. "If I we re the jealous type, I'd be pretty pissed off right now."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," I reply, pulling him close so I can kiss him on the cheek. "I know where my priorities are."
Landon only laughs. "Thank god for that."
Although we aren't stopped again on our way into the admin building, I'm now painfully aware of the fact that Landon and I stick out like sore thumbs. We do get our fair share of raised eyebrows as we pick through the crowd in the direction of the infirmary; we probably look either brave or stupid, considering how severely the humans have clamped down on the rules, and I'm actually a little surprised that none of the teachers do more than give us a strange look or two. Then again, they're shifters too, and Josie can't be the only one dissatisfied with the way things are going.
The infirmary is blessedly empty when we creep inside. Not even the school nurse is around, and I wonder if our luck is finally turning. Behind the rows of beds partitioned by curtains is a supply cabinet, which Landon and I make a beeline for. "What do we need?" I ask.
"We need to prepare for the worst," Landon replies. "If we can't find Josie, we'll need an elixir, or a healing potion. Bandages, too, and antibiotics."
"Got it," I say, and tug on the door. It doesn't budge. "Fuck, it's locked. I should've figured it wouldn't be this easy."
I bunch my sleeve around my fist and swing back, ready to break the glass by hand, but Landon reaches out and seizes my wrist. "Hold it," he says. "It might be enchanted."
"What do we do?" I ask.
The siren shifter frowns for a moment. "I might have an idea," he says finally. "If I can just manipulate the tumblers without tripping whatever spell is on here…" I move back to give him room as he lets out a targeted gust of soundwaves. It's a narrow stream, and I can see the vibrations in the air as he directs it towards the keyhole. The concentration is written on his face, and I can tell he's having a difficult time maintaining precision with the makeshift lockpick. Almost instinctively, I find myself getting ready to shift so I can help, only to discover that I'm completely empty of magic. To his credit, if Landon sees my obvious distress, he doesn't make an issue of it.
A few tense moments pass before the lock gives a satisfying click and the door pops open. We open the doors wider and together we stuff our pockets with supplies. Most of them I don't even recognise; enchanted balms and poultices, talismans, boxes of herbs, and even a few human remedies, so I don't discriminate as I cram them all into Landon's backpack.
We're just shutting the cabinet and preparing to make a break for it when the sound of footsteps makes us both jump. I whirl around, expecting to see the school medic ready to sound the alarm, but what I see instead makes me breathe a sigh of relief.
Standing in the doorway is Hunter, and next to him is someone I wasn't sure I would ever see again: Josie, the witch shifter. Before I even realise what I'm doing, I'm running across the room and throwing my arms around her. "You're alive!"
"Easy, easy," she says, wincing, and I pull back to see how gaunt she's become.
"What happened?" I ask. "What did they do to you?"
"Let's just say the administration wasn't too happy that I helped you guys escape in Boston," she replies with a pained smile. "The Board won't approve of disposing me without a full inquest, so Hawthorne settled on confining me to my room. They've been trying to get me to tell them where you guys went, and their methods have gotten… extreme."
"Josie, I'm so sorry," I tell her. "This is my fault."
"Don't worry about it," she replies. "I'm just glad you're safe. Your friend Hunter here pulled rank down in the registrar's office. This is the first time I've been out of my room in two weeks." In spite of her obvious trauma, she still has a determined look on her face. "So," she says as we head out of the infirmary, "what can I do for you guys?"
Back in the woods where we left the others, I watch as Josie works her healing magic on Shade as I explain what Hawthorne's scientist did to me. The fact that we can save the supplies we stole is an added bonus. "He's going to sleep for some time yet," she says, standing up, "but he's stable. Give him some more rest and he'll be okay." Relief washes over me, but it's short-lived. "As far as your powers," she continues, "that's going to be a little more complicated."
"How much more complicated?" Silas asks.
"The good news is that if they had drained you completely, you would be dead," Josie explains. "Remember what happened to that other student, Brody?" I nod, thinking back to the poor boy we found in the basement all those weeks ago. A little later and the same thing would have happened to Silas. "The issue is that, whereas Silas still had some control over his powers after being kidnapped, you can't access them at all," the witch shifter goes on. "That means they got farther in the process with you. The core of your magical energy is still there, but until it's reactivated, you won't be able to transform again."