p class="p1"span class="s1"Either I hadn't truly thought the mist would work, or I'd been so dead tired that the thought of sitting down on the bed before spraying a vapor designed to make prae lose consciousness hadn't occurred to me. I quickly remedied the throb at the back of my head where I'd knocked it against something when I collapsed. After all the years I spent with my power siphoned into protection it must have become muscle memory, because I didn't have to revert from speed now that I was conscious./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"Before opening my eyes, I tensed, picking up an unfamiliar scent. The motel room hadn't smelt this…clean./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"I opened my eyes with caution, half expecting to be back in that basement. I was tucked in on my side, and from my immediate view it looked like another hotel room./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"My mind worked to clear out the grogginess of sleep and figure out what might have happened. I lifted my head just enough to look over my shoulder to the other side of the room./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1""SHE'S AWAKE!" Letta screeched, having noticed my movement just before I saw her./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"She tossed her tablet and headphones on the desk before taking a little step-hop-leap onto the bed. Her perfect nose was just inches from mine as she leaned over me and peered into my class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"I gave her a tired smile before five other sets of eyes were on me. They filed at varying speeds into the room. Lincoln was pulling Letta back almost as soon as she appeared in my face, Victoria jogged in—pulling a curious Grant in behind her. Lorraina strut in with Ryke to her left, her hand was curled around the back of his neck, her nails clearly digging into his skin just a little too much for him be class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"Ryke's ever expressive face regarded her with a feline presence of his own, as if he was anticipating her next move without any outright defense./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"The comforter puffed and settled as Victoria plopped herself down on the end. "Hey," she greeted with an ever-adolescent smile./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"I offered a tired, pleasant expression while trying to maneuver into a sitting position. Anything not to feel like a horizontal bed-ridden hospital patient, avoiding the sympathetic stares of visitors. I hated hospitals./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1""Adelaine." Grant's eyes met mine. "Do you happen to remember anything—a scent or sensation, perhaps?" He got right to the point. Victoria reached over and slapped his arm, his eyes darted to hers in question./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1""No," a head shake. "But Ryke complained about his throat."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"Grant nodded, already deep in thought when he turned on his heel into the adjoining room, tapping his fingers against his leg all the way./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"After pushing her brother away, Letta returned her attention to her tablet./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1""So," I started, "What now?"/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"Before opening my eyes, I tensed, picking up an unfamiliar scent. The motel room hadn't smelt this…clean./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"I opened my eyes with caution, half expecting to be back in that basement. I was tucked in on my side, and from my immediate view it looked like another hotel room./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"My mind worked to clear out the grogginess of sleep and figure out what might have happened. I lifted my head just enough to look over my shoulder to the other side of the room./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1""SHE'S AWAKE!" Letta screeched, having noticed my movement just before I saw her./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"She tossed her tablet and headphones on the desk before taking a little step-hop-leap onto the bed. Her perfect nose was just inches from mine as she leaned over me and peered into my class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"I gave her a tired smile before five other sets of eyes were on me. They filed at varying speeds into the room. Lincoln was pulling Letta back almost as soon as she appeared in my face, Victoria jogged in—pulling a curious Grant in behind her. Lorraina strut in with Ryke to her left, her hand was curled around the back of his neck, her nails clearly digging into his skin just a little too much for him be class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"Ryke's ever expressive face regarded her with a feline presence of his own, as if he was anticipating her next move without any outright defense./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"The comforter puffed and settled as Victoria plopped herself down on the end. "Hey," she greeted with an ever-adolescent smile./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"I offered a tired, pleasant expression while trying to maneuver into a sitting position. Anything not to feel like a horizontal bed-ridden hospital patient, avoiding the sympathetic stares of visitors. I hated hospitals./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1""Adelaine." Grant's eyes met mine. "Do you happen to remember anything—a scent or sensation, perhaps?" He got right to the point. Victoria reached over and slapped his arm, his eyes darted to hers in question./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1""No," a head shake. "But Ryke complained about his throat."/span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"Grant nodded, already deep in thought when he turned on his heel into the adjoining room, tapping his fingers against his leg all the way./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1"After pushing her brother away, Letta returned her attention to her tablet./span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"span class="s1""So," I started, "What now?"/span/p