I spun and stalked from the office. Getting this sardding academy off the ground be proving more fraught with difficulties than even I had foreseen. That Darius seemed untouchable be not just a frustration—this could unbind the entire venture.
I strode to the stairs and bolted up them. On the dorm level, I found Matt leaning against the wall outside Anna’s door.
Matt looked exhausted. He straightened when his eyes fell upon me.
“You should be in your quarters,” I stated. “Your energy be significantly diminished.”
“I’m buggered. But I’ll be right as rain once I eat and rest.”
I interpreted the energy behind the comments, rather than the strange phrasing. “Well, go and do that now. The kitchen won’t be open for a few hours, but there be vending machines.”
He swayed on his feet. “I want to know how Anna’s doing.”
“Bess will heal her. There be nothing you can contribute. Go sleep, or eat, or both.”
A muscle jumped in his jaw.
“That’s an order,” I insisted.
Surprisingly, he stood his ground, eyeing me. “You’ll make sure she’s good?”
This Dire had backbone. I nodded. “Aye.”
His mouth twisted, and then he gave one brisk drop of his chin before he walked across the hall. Or tried to—as he reached for the door, he actually staggered sideways.
“Maybe Bess should take a look at you too,” I suggested. The Aussie Dire shifter’s energy wavered into the red zone.
“Nah. It’s nothing food and sleep won’t fix.” He shot me a quick, lopsided grin, and disappeared.
I stared after him for a moment, then I turned and knocked softly on Anna’s door.
Bess opened it before I’d done more than tap. She stepped through into the hall and closed the door behind her.
“You sent him to bed?” she asked.
“Aye. Had to order him.”
She sighed. “I think Anna just needs to sleep now. I gave her as much energy as I dared.”
We walked along the hall. “Be it the healing that knocked her out?”
Bess’s lips pulled straight. “I’m not sure. She wasn’t easy to read. But she was depleted, and when I pumped the energy into her, she woke up. Just long enough to ask if Matt was okay.”
My gut twisted. “There be something between them?”
She raised a brow at me. “I think there might be. Cara’s better with these things than me. Do you sense anything?”
I shrugged, not willing to be drawn into a confession on that topic. “Maybe.” I refocused on the real issue. “She be using life energy to heal.”
Bess regarded me for a moment before answering. “You are sure of that?”
I hesitated, but it might be important to the bigger picture. “I gave her some of mine.”
Now the second brow climbed, too. “Well, that confirms it—doesn’t it?”
I thought back to the experience, to the sensation of her drawing my life essence from me. I’d offered it, but it still disturbed me. Especially as it had been so difficult to pull away from her. “I suppose. I be not certain at the time.”
Bess rubbed her temples. “If she is manipulating life energy—where did she get that talent?”
