The Deck of Omens (The Devouring Gray #2) - Christine Lynn Herman Page 0,35
know what that kind of possession would do to a non-founder, but he was certain it wasn’t good.
“How much time does he have?” Violet asked, and Isaac realized that she was talking to Gabriel.
“It’s… strange.” Gabriel’s voice was solemn. “The disease seems to move in several stages. At first, there’s an initial assault that tries to get under the skin, literally. It infected him pretty deeply, to the point where Isaac would have to mutilate half his body to get the roots out. But when I touched him, I could sense that the spread had stopped. That’s why there’s been no change in his symptoms. The corruption’s goal, at least for now, is to keep its host alive.”
“Do you think it just wanted to possess him?” Violet asked.
“Maybe.” Gabriel’s brow furrowed. “He needs further observation by a professional before anything like that can be determined, though.”
“You’re being very technical about this,” Augusta said. “Were you pre-med?”
Gabriel looked at her, surprised. “I was, yeah. This is my gap year.”
“Then you’re the most qualified founder we have who can monitor the spread of this disease. How do you feel about heading up the clinic until we get this sorted out?”
Isaac tensed. But he’d brought Gabriel here. He’d known that would mean pulling him into the center of the action. This was an inevitable consequence.
“I’m not sure you’re giving me a choice, Ms. Hawthorne.”
“Sheriff Hawthorne,” Augusta said briskly. “And no, I’m not.”
Gabriel shrugged. “I mean… If it’ll help, I’m in.”
“All right, then.” Augusta’s voice was a dangerous kind of calm. “We need precautionary measures now. A warning to stay out of the woods at all times?—a permanent curfew except for those patrolling. This cannot be allowed to spread any further while we search for a cure.”
“What about Henrik’s family?” Justin asked.
“They’ll be briefed on the situation, of course,” Juniper said, casting Augusta a warning glance. “If you want us to work with you, you’ll need to do this without your powers. I need that promise from you.”
Augusta bristled, but nodded in acquiescence. “Fine. But none of this information leaves this room?—understood?”
“Understood.” Their voices were soft but obedient, and Isaac stumbled out of the clinic, fleeing from the smell of death and from the brother he still somehow wanted to save.
CHAPTER NINE
Henrik Dougan was the first to fall ill, but two more cases were reported over the next few days?—people with roots burrowing beneath their skin, turning their bodies gray and iridescent. Their minds taken over by a monster.
News broke like a tidal wave across the town, sweeping every founder into its wake. Violet knew firsthand how possession by the Beast felt, and she expected nothing but hostility from the town once word of it got around. But that wasn’t what happened. She noticed it for the first time when Alina Storey stopped her in the hallway the day after Henrik was admitted to the clinic, her voice low. Violet technically knew who the girl was?—she was the mayor’s daughter?—but they’d barely spoken.
“Hey,” Alina said, a little breathlessly. “Is it true that the Sullivans are putting their blood feud behind them to try and help the people getting sick?”
Violet shrugged uncomfortably. Four Paths High School was so ordinary; it felt utterly surreal to get this kind of question here. It was pretty brazen, curious where she’d been expecting fear or even hatred. “Why don’t you ask Isaac yourself?”
“As if he’d talk about it to us,” Alina said, waving a dismissive hand in the air. “Everybody knows all of you are super secretive.”
“Then why ask me?”
“Because you’re new.”
“That doesn’t mean I’ll talk,” Violet said firmly, and she headed off. But it was far from the last question she got over the next few days. Her classmates wanted to know if Harper had her powers back. If she’d really helped defeat that “insurgency group” that Violet quickly realized was how Augusta had explained away the Church. And even when her classmates gave up on her answering them, they still watched her?—not with mistrust, but with something closer to excitement.
Somehow, some way, the town expected her to protect them. Violet didn’t know how to tell them that it was only through her foolishness that they were in danger at all.
Nearly a week after Henrik had fallen ill, she stood in the clearing where she and Isaac had opened the Gray and stared hopelessly at the corrupted trees in front of her.
“It’s getting worse,” she said grimly to her patrol partners?—Harper and May.