Jacob tosses a plastic bag at me. “Get changed.”
* * *
By the next morning when we arrive at the college campus the guys picked out, all of us look suitably student-ish, at least in attire. I’ve pulled on a black tee, a pair of dark gray cargo pants with a wonderfully excessive number of pockets, and a navy hoodie that I’m using to cover my silvery hair.
The guys have picked out a range of clothes from Zian’s super casual sports tank and sweats to Jacob’s dressier fitted button-up and slacks. Only Dominic has left on what he was already wearing.
I suspect he’s not going to take off that trench coat in front of me any time soon. Maybe he never takes it off in front ofanyone.
But from what I know from my limited and admittedly mostly fictional experience with college life, he’ll still fit in well enough as some kind of alternative punk type.
We cruise down a street lined with narrow three-story townhouses attached in sets of two. Zian went ahead of the rest of us earlier and used his penetrating sight to find one building no one’s occupied.
Since it’s a couple of weeks into the typical semester now, we’re hoping no one with more claim is going to try to move in while we’re squatting there.
Jacob parks the SUV out front, and we clamber out. Zian hangs back by the door so he can walk over to the townhouse behind me, as if I need that much of an escort.
Uneasiness jitters through my body as I scan our surroundings. Students are ambling around or hanging out on their front landings all up and down the street.
I haven’t been surrounded by this many people since my last cage match. I haven’t been surrounded by this manynormalpeople—who expect me to be normal too—in more than four years.
It doesn’t help that the twinges of nausea I felt yesterday have expanded overnight into a ball of queasiness that fills my stomach. I only managed to swallow a few bites of the fast-food breakfast we nabbed at a drive-through—and then regretted even that for the rest of the drive.
Sweat trickles down the back of my neck, adding to the clammy sensation creeping over my skin. I have to tense the muscles in my legs to make sure I’m keeping my steps steady.
But I will not complain. I won’t give Jacob one more opportunity to accuse me of trying to weasel out of his security measures.
By design, Jacob reaches the door first. He lifts a fake key toward the knob, but we all know he’s going to use his powers to actually open the lock.
A couple of girls are hanging out on the landing across from ours. One of the girls, a statuesque redhead with freckles scattered across her high cheekbones, glances across the lane at us and smiles. “Hey! New neighbors?”
“Yep,” Andreas says in a carefully warm voice—friendly but not too encouraging. “We turned up a little late, but what can you do?”
“These places are great. So much better than the regular dorms. I’m Brooke, by the way. Let me know if you need any help figuring stuff out.”
“Will do.”
Jacob offers a brisk nod. Our neighbor’s gaze travels over the bunch of us, locking with mine just for a second before moving on. Her brow furrows.
Do we look strange after all? Maybe she thinks it’s odd for a girl to be living with four guys? Or are we giving off a vibe that says we don’t actually belong here?
Before I can worry much about that, Zian is nudging me to follow the others inside.
The townhouses come pre-furnished with basic birch furniture and a sofa covered in a denim-like fabric. We find ourselves in a living room that’s merged with a small dining room, an open-concept kitchen off to the side.
“There should be four bedrooms,” Andreas says. “Two on the second floor and two on the third. I can take the sofa.”
I’m getting my own space, then? Lucky me.
I take a step toward the stairs, wanting to find whatever bed will be mine and crash onto it. But I’m not concentrating enough, and weakness flares in my calves.
I stumble, knocking my hip against a side table when I catch myself. As I push myself upright again, my legs tremble under me. The ball of nausea swells into a boulder.
I might need the bathroom before I get to that bed.
The guys have gone silent, watching me. Jacob flicks his hand toward Dominic.
“I think she needs your first dose of healing. Don’t patch her uptoowell.”