The Vanishing

Chapter 17

"She says she found Owen, but he's not the same. He's not our Owen." She said.

"Morghan, what does she mean he's not our Owen?" I asked.

She looked to her left, at Evie, for a moment before responding. "She says he's human now."

"What?" Wyatt asked.

"How is that possible?" Patrick asked at the same time.

"Artemis." Nina said under her breath.

I looked at her then. She looked ashen and was swaying slightly.

I was about to call out to her when she fell to the floor.

-

Nina slept for hours after she got back from the infirmary. I looked up from my book I had started reading to keep busy and saw that she was still asleep. I wrote a little note on a post-it and left it on my pillow.

Text me when you wake up. Went for a walk.

I started to walk towards the stables but turned on my heel and headed for the boys' dorms down the hall instead. My feet propelled me forward until I reached their door. Wyatt opened it as I raised my hand to knock and I stood there, stunned. He rolled his eyes with a smile and opened the door wider so I could enter.

"Vampire hearing? Honestly, Weasley, you really should crack a book sometime." He shoved my shoulder playfully.

His nickname for me made me smile. I'd always loved the Harry Potter books and movies, but I'd never dreamt I'd live in one.

"Maybe you should give me a crash course." I responded. It was meant to be light-hearted, but it actually would be a very good idea.

There was a beat of awkward silence before I asked, "Where's Patrick?"

"Off doing yoga, probably." Wyatt mumbled, picking at an invisible spot on his plaid comforter.

"Yoga? I cannot imagine Patrick doing yoga." I laughed incredulously.

"Don't knock it til you try it. Patrick doesn't normally shift every full moon, he's learned how to control when he shifts. However, he's been really stressed lately with everything going on, so he is hoping yoga will do the trick to mellow him out." Wyatt shrugged.

"Mellowing out seems like a good idea right now." I said, clasping my hands together at the back of my neck and slumping my shoulders.

Wyatt looked up at me and narrowed his eyes. "You're welcome to sit and wait for Patrick, but I don't know how long he'll be. You might want to come back later."

Sitting on the bean bag chair by the desk, I said "I came to talk to both of you, actually. I can always talk to Patrick later." I tossed my hand forward slightly as if to say that it was no big deal.

That seemed to park him up. "Well, as always, I am at your service."

I smiled warmly at him, but my smile broke when I thought about what I had to say. "I want to stop training. I know you both want me to be prepared, but throwing me into training like we did in the tunnels is stressing me out. I know how to use my magic now, and it hasn't been out of control since I've been here." I said.

"I have never seen someone as powerful as you. We want to keep you safe, and we should have spoken to you about it instead of throwing you into it. When you flew, it was the most incredible thing I've ever seen. I believe that you're ready for whatever comes next for us. I mean that." He said with earnest eyes.

I smiled at him through triumphant but teary eyes.

"However, if you ever want to train or let out steam we're pretty sturdy." He said with a smile and puffed out his chest.