They arrived at the hospital and found Clemecia’s room quickly. She was on the third floor, in the children’s ward, and the entire place was decorated with bright colors and pictures of cartoon animals.

The nurse was adamant that they needed to wash their hands before going into the room. Once she was satisfied with Wrath and Serenity’s personal hygiene, she handed them each a disposable mask to wear while they were in the room.

“Don’t cough on her.” The elderly woman glared especially at Wrath, and Serenity bit back a laugh. Wrath made a face that said, What? I’m innocent!

That just made Serenity giggle harder.

Clemecia was in the Mouse room. There was a little mouse on the door, and when Wrath and Serenity gently knocked, they heard a quiet voice call out, “Come in!”

They pushed open the door and stepped inside. The first thing to his Serenity was the smell. It smelled like a hospital in here. It smelled like disease and sickness and pain. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that this wasn’t about her.

The last time she’d been in a hospital was when Oliver died.

The last time she’d been in a hospital, she went there with him and left alone.

The last time she’d been in a hospital, she promised herself it was the very last time she would let herself feel pain that deep.

And then Wrath had happened.

She’d given him something precious, something valuable. She’d given him the ability to save her heart or crush it, and she wasn’t sure which he was going to do. One thing was for certain, and that was no matter what happened, Wrath was worth loving.

He was worth fighting for.

“Miss Serenity?” Clemecia sounded surprised when she saw who her visitors were. “And Wrath? Ya’ll came to see me? How’d you know I was here?”

“Your mother called me,” Serenity said, walking over to the little girl in the much-too-big bed. She looked weak, and frail, but she still had a little smile on her face.

“That was nice of her.”

“Where’s your mother now? Did she go home?”

“Nah. She went to find some food. There’s a cafeteria. The foot down there isn’t too bad.” Clemecia lowered her voice. “Mama said she’ll sneak some food back to me.” She looked pointedly at the gelatin on her hospital tray. “Don’t tell my nurse.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Wrath picked up the gelatin and began to eat it.

“Wrath!” Serenity’s eyes widened. “She’s sick!”

“Don’t worry about it.” Wrath winked at Clemecia. “This way, you can tell the nurse you ate it. No harm, no foul.”

Clemecia giggled brightly.

“We missed you in class,” Serenity told her student. “I brought you some art supplies in case you want to draw while you’re here.” She pulled out a blank drawing pad and some colored pencils and set them on Clemecia’s bed tray.

“Thanks!” Clemecia reached for them and immediately started to draw. “I’ve been wanting to draw, but we left so quickly, I didn’t have time to pack a bag.”

“If there’s anything else you need from home, just let us know and we can go get it for you, okay? I know your mama probably doesn’t want to leave the hospital.”

“She has to go to work again in two days. Hopefully they’ll let me outta here before that.”

“I’m gonna go find your mom and talk to her, okay? See if she needs any help getting lunch. Wrath will stay with you, all right?”

“Don’t worry,” Wrath said. “I’ll help Clemecia make this the best purple dinosaur she’s ever drawn.”

“I don’t want to draw a purple dinosaur,” Clemecia protested lightly. “I want to draw green fairies and sunsets.”

“Well, we’d better get started.” Wrath pulled up a seat next to Clemecia and started drawing, and Serenity slipped quietly out the door. She pulled off her mask as soon as she was out of the room and took a deep breath.

Although she’d only been wearing the mask for a few minutes, it felt restrictive, and the whole world felt like it was shrinking.

“Excuse me,” Serenity asked the nurse. “Which way to the cafeteria?”

“First floor,” the nurse pointed to the elevators. “But your best bet is to take the stairs. It’s lunchtime, so the elevators are gonna be crowded, and it’s only two flights down.”

“Thanks,” Serenity said. Taking the nurse’s advice, she headed down the opposite hallway and found the door marked STAIRS. She pushed the heavy door open and began to descend. Finding Clemecia’s mother wouldn’t be too tricky. The problem wasn’t that the hospital was difficult to navigate, but that Serenity still felt so uncomfortable in places like this.

She shook her head.

It was nothing.

She was just feeling uncomfortable because of Oliver. Not because of anything else. She was off her game because the magic user she’d met yesterday made her feel weak and intimidated. It was a stupid feeling: one she didn’t have time for. She pushed the thought out of her head and kept walking.

She went down the first flight of stairs and then the second. When she reached the first floor, she pushed open the door and was overwhelmed by the crowd of people walking through. The nurse hadn’t been kidding when she said there was going to be a rush for lunch.

Serenity began walking toward the cafeteria, but as she moved, she couldn’t help but feel like she was being watched.

Followed.

She looked over her shoulder, but no one seemed to be paying any attention to her. She saw Clemecia’s mother, Anna, up ahead through the crowd. She was walking away from Serenity, so she hurried to catch up. Maybe she could catch her before she went into the cafeteria.

Serenity walked faster, pushing her way through the hallway, when she saw Anna turn into a room just off the main walkway. Serenity hurried, carefully avoiding doctors, nurses, patients, and family members. She tried to ignore the way the doctors looked so tired. She tried not to think about the way the family members seemed so worried.

She reached the door where Anna had gone and pushed it open, walking inside.

Immediately, Serenity’s gut clenched.

It was the chapel.

Anna had come to pray.

She was in the first pew, eyes closed, focused on her prayers. Serenity could see her, but Anna didn’t look up or appear to notice Serenity. A wave of fear rushed over Serenity as she looked around, but she didn’t see anyone else in the room.

Good.

Maybe she was overreacting.

Just because there were extra magic users in the city didn’t mean they were going to get her. It didn’t mean they were going to attack her or try to steal her blood. She was just anxious and nervous, and she was being silly.

Still, Serenity turned to slip out of the chapel. She could talk to Anna when the poor woman was done praying for her daughter’s speedy recovery. As soon as Serenity was back in the brightly lit hallway, she breathed a sigh of relief.

She shouldn’t have.

It was only when she leaned against the wall beside the door and let out a breath that she noticed the crowd of people nearing her.

She looked up, and one of the women grabbed her, covering her mouth.

“Not a word,” the woman said. “Or I’ll slit your throat right here.”