‘Where should we go?’ Jayden asked when they wandered into the entryway.
‘Fresh air,’ Alec suggested
‘The grounds it is.’ Aaron led the way outside where the four of them settled under a blue opal tree.
Hailey flicked away the grey clouds lingering in the sky. ‘Where did she get it from?’ They spent most of their time quarantined in the palace, so she didn’t understand where Demi and the other students could have picked the virus up.
‘Anywhere.’ Alec leaned back on his hands. ‘Microorganisms can stay dormant in someone for a while. All it takes is one person to catch it and then, if it’s contagious, it spreads.’ He turned to Aaron. ‘What will your dad do?’
Aaron shrugged, smoothing his finger over a fallen opal. ‘Something military-esque.’
As if on cue, Scar stormed towards them from the palace and glowered down at Alec. ‘You broke my leg when you kicked me,’ he growled. ‘I ought to throw you to the sea-monsters.’
‘Someone already did that,’ Aaron pointed out. ‘Did you not get updated on that little fact?’
Scar’s glower deepened. ‘You think you’re safe just because your daddy is in charge? Well you’re not. Now tell me where the necklaces are?’
Aaron rolled his eyes. ‘Seriously? If being shoved in a dungeon and then nearly killed doesn’t make us talk, nothing will. So stop wasting your time.’
Scar’s hand snaked out, his fingers clawing through Hailey’s hair. She cried out in surprise and pain as he yanked her up, a few strands of her hair ripping from her scalp. He pinned her hands behind her back with his other hand.
‘Let her go!’ Aaron sprang up with Jayden and Alec.
Scar’s grip tightened on Hailey’s hair, and she had to clench her teeth to keep from crying out. What is it with these soldiers and pulling hair? ‘I’ll let her go when you tell me where the necklaces are.’
‘Don’t,’ Hailey gasped out. Nothing was worth giving up the necklaces for. She could handle the pain of a little hair pulling.
‘If you don’t let her go, I’ll take you down,’ Aaron threatened, voice steady.
Scar laughed. ‘You’ve got a big head on you.’
‘Actually, if you don’t let her go, Alec will break your other leg,’ Aaron corrected.
‘I will?’
‘Yes,’ Aaron said.
‘Yeah, I will… And Madam Mendem won’t be able to heal it this time.’ Alec attempted to sound confident, but the shake in his voice gave away his bluff.
Scar ignored him. ‘Necklaces. Now. Or I toss her in the sea.’
‘I’m sorry, Hailey.’ Jayden swiped his hand.
She frowned, not understanding why he was apologising. And then a wave of cold water slammed her and Scar to the ground, surprising the soldier enough that he let her go.
Hailey scrambled away as Aaron stepped up to Scar, who was climbing to his feet, water dripping from his black clothes. His face was red with fury, and Hailey thought his head might actually explode. He hit a glowing white button on the gun strapped over his shoulder and aimed it at Aaron. ‘Tell me where the necklaces are, or I’ll blast you full of electricity.’
‘Never. Gonna. Happen.’
Scar’s finger moved to the trigger.
24
Quarantine
‘All PET members report to headquarters immediately,’ Jake’s voice commanded from Scar’s watch.
‘Saved by Daddy.’ Scar lowered his gun. ‘We’ll finish this conversation later.’ He marched towards the palace.
Aaron turned to Hailey. ‘Are you okay?’
She wrung out her dripping hair. ‘Thanks to Jayden.’
‘Sorry I couldn’t avoid hitting you too,’ Jayden said.
‘And this is why I don’t like using my powers on other people.’ Alec said. ‘Because they get angry and come for vengeance. He’s probably going to kill me.’
Aaron patted him on the back. ‘I won’t let him hurt you.’
‘You should tell your dad,’ Alec suggested. ‘I think that soldier was acting on his own orders.’
‘I’m never speaking to my dad again.’ Aaron crossed his arms. ‘Unless he apologises for everything he’s done to me, which is as likely as a hungry hydra befriending a human.’
Hailey settled back on the ground, keeping clear of the giant puddle of water. She basked in the sun’s warmth, which banished the cold from her bones and slowly dried her clothes. ‘What do you suppose they got called about?’
‘Amathia probably told my dad about the sickness,’ Aaron said, joining her on the ground with Jayden and Alec.
‘Good, maybe it’ll scare them off.’ Jayden swiped his hand at the puddle left by the wave, sending the water streaming back into the sea. ‘I’m sure your dad doesn’t want to risk infecting his team.’
‘I don’t know.’ Aaron rubbed the back of his neck. ‘He’s pretty adamant about completing his mission.’
‘What will he do?’ Hailey asked. Could PET have a cure? Maybe in their search of artefacts they’d uncovered a healing device created by Asclepius that was more powerful than any Asclepius since him.
‘I doubt it will be good,’ Aaron said.
About twenty minutes passed before a soldier entered the grounds. He raised a conch shell to his lips and blew it three times before disappearing back inside.
‘We’ve been summoned.’ Jayden stood up.
The four of them made their way to the main hall with the other students from the grounds. They sat at a table in the middle of the hall, which Hope soon joined them at, and waited for the rest of the school to trickle in.
Jake loomed before the teachers’ table with Amathia beside him. ‘Silence,’ he called once the tables were full. ‘I’ve ordered you here because of a situation. It seems several students have presented to the healing wing with an illness your school nurse has been unable to heal.’ Jake ignored the gasps. ‘At this stage, it’s highly likely the illness is contagious.’
‘Oh no,’ Alec gasped, touching his throat. A look from Aaron silenced him.
‘The symptoms are flu-like, so if you’ve been experiencing coughing or fevers, report to the healing wing ASAP. For those who have been in close contact with someone already diagnosed with the illness, you will need to report to the front of the hall once I’ve finished speaking so that you can be quarantined. Everyone should know that we are taking measures to develop a cure, but for now it’s important no one panics.’
Panic is exactly what everyone did. Students’ chairs scraped against the ground in a hurried effort to get away from their friends. Some even ran for the door, soldiers quickly barring their escape.
‘Quarantine!’ Alec’s exclamation brought Hailey’s focus back to their table. ‘They only quarantine people when it’s a deadly contagious disease.’ His skin paled. ‘We might all die.’
Aaron leaned over the table and shook Alec by his shirt. ‘Stop it. Stop freaking out. We’re not going to die. Okay?’
Alec nodded numbly.
‘What’s quarantine?’ Hope asked, hugging her arms.
‘When they separate you from everyone else to monitor whether you show symptoms or not,’ Jayden explained. ‘It’ll be fine,’ he assured her. ‘We’ll be together.’
‘But we won’t be able to see Demi.’ Guilt throbbed in Hailey’s veins at the thought of abandoning her sick friend, who was probably beyond terrified.
‘I don’t think we’d be allowed to see her even if PET wasn’t throwing us into quarantine,’ Aaron told her. ‘My dad will have soldiers posted in front of the healing wing by now.’
‘But—’ Hailey began.
‘SIT DOWN!’ Jake roared
A blanket of silence descended over the hall. Jake looked furious, and Hailey guessed he’d been trying to get control for a while but no one had been listening. Obediently, students returned to their chairs.
‘I said don’t panic,’ Jake repeated, voice hard. ‘The situation is being handled. Now, as I in
structed before, those of you feeling sick report to the healing wing, and those who’ve been exposed to the illness come to the front. Everyone else can return to their common rooms.’
Murmurs spread through the hall, but the students were smart enough to follow Jake’s orders, slowly standing up and reporting to where Jake had instructed.
‘Guess we should submit ourselves to quarantine.’ Jayden pushed away from the table.
Hailey didn’t move. ‘What if we don’t want to?’ She didn’t feel sick, and she didn’t want to get locked up somewhere. She wanted to stay at her friend’s side and help somehow.
‘Then they’ll force you to,’ Aaron said. ‘Trust me, Hails, it’s not worth it. We should play by their rules... for now.’
‘Fine,’ Haile gave in, standing up. She didn’t want to get arrested, again. Although the worst PET could do now was lock her in a room, opposed to a dungeon. But with her luck, it would probably be in the nereids’ room.
‘Jayden, wait.’ Cady fought through the crowd of students, running up to Jayden. ‘I don’t want you to go.’
‘I have to,’ he said. ‘Don’t worry, everything will be fine. I’m not sick. It’s just a precaution.’
She spared a terrified glance around. ‘But they’ll be no one to protect me from Venus.’ She said Venus’s name in a whisper, as if speaking it too loud would summon her.
‘There are soldiers everywhere. She won’t be able to do anything to you. You’ll be safe. I promise.’
Cady wrapped her arms around him.
Hailey was glad Demi wasn’t around to see it. ‘What’s with you two?’ she asked after Cady reluctantly let Jayden go.
‘We’re friends,’ Jayden replied as they made their way to the front of the hall.
‘Seems like more than that,’ Aaron remarked. ‘Or at least she wants it to be more.’
‘We’re friends,’ Jayden repeated, more sternly.
‘Oh no, look how many people there are,’ Alec said when they joined the growing group at the front.
Hailey didn’t know what he was so worried about; there were only about thirty students, which wasn’t many considering about five hundred went to Poseidon’s Academy.
‘Guess I’ll be joining you.’ Tahlia appeared at Hailey’s side.
‘Sorry about that,’ Hailey apologised.
Tahlia shrugged. ‘Demi’s my friend too. I was happy to help. How is she?’
Hailey’s stomach twisted. ‘Not good. Where’s Kora?’
‘Since Asclepiuses are immune from sickness, she’s been excluded from quarantine.’
‘Hopefully that’s everyone,’ Jake said, still at his spot in front of the teachers’ table. ‘My team has converted the second floor into a quarantine zone. All classes have been cancelled until we contain this epidemic.’
‘You can’t cancel classes.’ Hailey peered through the crowd and spotted Madam Grayson.
‘Well I am cancelling classes. Until we understand how this illness works, I’m not risking contamination.’
‘These students need their education. This is a school after all. Although maybe you forgot that since you’ve turned it into your army headquarters.’ Madam Grayson’s voice was furious.
‘Now is not the time, Guinevere. We can discuss this later. Everyone follow Captain Slater to the second floor.’ He pointed to someone at the back of the crowd.
Hailey looked to see who Slater was; she gulped. It was Scar.
‘Don’t worry,’ Jayden said, sensing her thoughts. ‘He can’t hurt us when we’re in a large group, especially when Madam Grayson is in that group too.’
‘Easy for you not to worry, I’m the one who broke his leg.’ Alec hugged his arms. ‘He might strangle me while everyone’s asleep.’
‘I won’t let him,’ Aaron promised.
The glower Slater shot the four of them said otherwise. ‘Follow me,’ he growled and led them from the hall.
‘Hey, Hailey.’
Riley and Charlie flanked her. ‘Oh, hey. What are you doing here?’
Ava poked her head out from beside Riley. ‘Clarissa has the plague and she sneezed on us during one of her get-out-of-my-school speeches.’
‘Gross,’ Hailey said as they ascended the stairs.
‘Next time we see her, we’ll cough in her face.’ The twins’ lips curved into conniving smirks.
‘Oh, there’s Amber.’ Riley veered towards a girl with extra-long legs.
‘Later, Hailey.’ Charlie waved goodbye and joined his twin.
Ava shook her head. ‘I better go watch those two. See you in quarantine.’
They reached the second floor and trudged down two hallways of classrooms before reaching the gym. ‘Welcome to quarantine.’
Hailey held back a sigh of disappointment when she entered. The gym looked exactly the same: a giant empty space with a sea-sponge floor. There wasn’t a single bed or even any activities to keep them distracted.
‘Do you expect us to sleep on the floor?’ a girl with a South African accent asked.
‘Yes. It’s soft enough, and pillows and blankets are on the way.’
As if on cue, a horde of soldiers appeared balancing pillows and sea-silk blankets. They dumped them on the ground and left without a word.
‘Everyone grab a pillow and blanket,’ Slater barked.
‘And food?’ the same girl asked, crossing her arms.
Slater ground his teeth. ‘Is coming too. Grab a pillow everyone. Now.’
‘Wow, this guy is a real charmer,’ Tahlia remarked before dashing forward to grab a pillow.
Hailey took a step forward to follow, only for Slater to block her. ‘No pillows for you or your friends.’
‘You can’t do that,’ Aaron said.
‘Your daddy put me in charge of quarantine. I can do whatever I want.’ He pointed a finger at Hope, who shrank back. ‘You can have a pillow.’
Hope didn’t move, cowering beside Hailey. ‘It’s okay,’ Hailey told her. ‘Join Tahlia.’ She nudged her forward.
‘I’m pretty sure this goes against basic human rights,’ Jayden said.
Slater tapped a finger against his gun. ‘I’ll give you each a pillow and blanket if you tell me where the necklaces are.’
‘Never.’ Hailey shoved past him and joined Tahlia and Hope in a corner, sitting down on the soft ground.
‘That guy is a real jerk,’ Jayden said, coming over with a terrified-looking Alec, and a furious-looking Aaron.
‘He’s going to strangle me in my sleep, I just know it.’
Jayden tossed an arm across Alec’s shoulders. ‘No, he won’t. Besides, he won’t be on duty the entire time. They’ll be shift changes.’
A clatter shot their attention back to the doors, where three soldiers had dropped a pile of gold plates, chalices, and cutlery. ‘Food,’ Slater barked and left the gym with the other soldiers.
‘See, he’s not even staying in here,’ Jayden said to Alec.
Alec perked up a little.
‘Good news everyone,’ Madam Grayson said, strolling into the gym. ‘Colonel Wynton has agreed to let classes continue. Soldiers will bring art supplies and textbooks soon. I’ll teach all of your classes until quarantine is over. It will be a bit of a challenge, since everyone is from different years, but I’ll find a way to make it work.’
Most students sighed in disappointment, but a few—including Alec—cheered. Hailey thought school work was better than sitting around all day. And it would offer a temporary distraction from worrying about Demi.
***
Hailey lay on the sea-sponge floor, resting her head on her hands. Most students were settling down for sleep now, or already asleep, like Hope and Tahlia. The giant orb of light floating beneath the ceiling had dimmed, but it was still bright enough for Hailey to see everyone around her.
Alec sneezed. ‘Oh no,’ he gasped. ‘Oh no, I’ve got it. I told you I was sick.’
‘You don’t have it,’ Aaron said, and Hailey could almost hear
him rolling his eyes. ‘You have allergies.’
‘Yeah, you don’t even look sick,’ Jayden agreed.
‘But—’
The gym doors creaked open and a soldier slipped inside. She spoke to Madam Grayson, who was sitting in a chair beside the doors and pointed towards Hailey and her friends. The soldier glanced at them and Hailey recognised her as Hart—the one they’d shoved the neutralising bracelet on. Uh oh.
‘Um, that soldier we put the neutralising bracelet on is heading over.’ Hailey shifted into a sitting position. She reassured herself that Hart couldn’t hurt her while Madam Grayson was around.
Jayden, Alec, and Aaron sat up too.
‘Do you think Slater sent her?’ Alec’s voice shook a little.
‘I guess we’re about to find out,’ Jayden said as Hart stopped in front of them.
Hart dropped a bunch of blankets and pillows next to them. ‘Thought you might need these.’ She crouched down, saving them from craning their necks. ‘Captain Slater is a good guy, but he shouldn’t be depriving you of basic comfort. He doesn’t know I grabbed these for you, so he won’t take them off you.’
‘Thank you.’ Alec hugged a pillow.
‘Do you need anything else? I could get you more blankets if you wanted.’
Hailey cocked an eyebrow. Hart was being way too nice, especially since they’d taken away her powers. The question was why. Realisation dawned on her. She and Slater were playing good cop, bad cop. Wow. People really do that?
Hailey couldn’t help but smile smugly at working out what Hart was up to. ‘We’re fine.’
‘I also wanted to ask you about the necklaces. I know you don’t want to give them up because you’re afraid of the school getting shut down, and I commend you for that. You’re very brave kids to keep that information hidden. And good hiders,’ she added. ‘But since this illness has broken out things have changed. Our goal now is to find a cure, and to do that we need to leave the palace and bring back Asclepiuses more skilled than your Madam Mendem. If you don’t want to give up the necklaces, you can at least remove this bracelet.’ She held her arm out, the gold neutralising bracelet gleaming in the dim light. ‘You want to help your friend get better, don’t you?’
Poseidon's Academy Box Set Page 52