She was still babbling to herself when he lunged for her and I lunged for him. My stake went through his skin where his hospital gown gaped open. I angled it away from his shoulder blade and then pushed with as much strength as I had, still shouting profanities. Because cursing was better than thinking about what I was doing.

Staking a friend.

He yelped, tried to spin around to grab at the stake. He managed half a spin, just enough to meet my eyes before he crumbled into ashes on the shiny linoleum floor. Theo was the first to reach me. His hands were on my shoulders.

“Did he bite you? Are you hurt? Hunter?”

I didn’t drop my stake, because I’d been taught never to drop my weapon, but my fingers felt weak, my palms sweaty. I thought I might throw up.

“Hunter, are you hurt?”

I shook my head, gagged.

“Hey!” Theo shook me. “You can’t go into shock right now.”

I blinked, vision going back to normal. The gray spots floated away. “I’m okay,” I answered hoarsely. “What the hell just happened?”

Jenna handed me a paper cup of water. “You just saved all our asses.”

I drank, mostly because I didn’t know what else to do with myself. “I didn’t save Will.”

“You saved Chloe,” she said quietly.

“And no one could have saved Will,” Theo added. He went to Spencer, who was leaning against the wall, eyes glassy and hair damp with sweat.

“He bit you,” I said flatly.

Spencer nodded weakly. “I’m okay.”

“I’ve already given him his first antibiotic injection,” Theo said, lifting Spencer’s eyelids to check his pupils.

“That didn’t help Will,” I said quietly, trying not feel the panic swelling inside me.

“Will’s bite was worse,” Theo said. Spencer winced when he applied more pressure on his wound. “He barely grazed him. Still, you’re all going to have to get out of here. He needs to be quarantined.”

“What? No!” Jenna exclaimed. “You just said he’d be fine.”

He hadn’t actually said that, but I didn’t point it out.

“Procedure,” Theo bit out tersely, swinging his shoulder under Spencer’s arm to help him to a cot. Chloe started to snore in her chair.

I was really glad Quinn had agreed to help me analyze that pill. Something clearly had to be done. And fast.

I crouched by Spencer, waiting until he looked at me. I made sure there wasn’t a single ounce of doubt or worry in my expression. “You are going to be fine.”

He nodded jerkily.

“I mean it, Spencer,” I insisted. “Don’t make me beat you up.”

“You can’t take me.” He tried to grin. “Even like this.” He dropped his voice to a whisper. “I never took any pill, Hunter. Not like Will.”

“I know.” I reached out to touch his dreads but Theo’s hand snapped around my wrist.

“No contact,” he said. “You know the rules.”

I did know the rules. And I had about two minutes before the infirmary was swarming with people and we were hauled bodily away.

“We’ll fix this,” I told Spencer confidently. Jenna hovered behind me looking grim, even though she tried to smile at Spencer. “I’ve already got us some help. We’ll know something soon.”

“You’ll beat this thing,” Jenna added fiercely just as the first response to the alarm barreled through the front door. We stepped back. If we were all quarantined we’d never get Spencer the help he needed.

There were two security guards and Ms. Dailey behind the first response team. She assessed the situation at a glance, taking in every detail, right down to the dust on my sneakers. She used her cell phone to call for another nurse and the head doctor for Spencer. She sent him and Theo and a guard into one of the back rooms. They’d probably tie him to the bed, like they had with Will. I tried not to think about it.

“What happened?” she asked us. “Hunter?”

“I staked Will,” I answered. My voice sounded weird, even to me.

Spencer cried out from the back room and I winced. The guard swore. There was the sound of a scuffle and Spencer moaning. “I’m fine. I’m not Hel-Blar. I’m not Hel-Blar.”

“Hold him down,” Theo snapped. “He needs another dose.”

Jenna and I swallowed miserably. My eyes burned.

“Hunter staked Will?” Ms. Dailey prodded.

“Will turned,” Jenna said dully. “Just like that. Theo was giving him his meds, checking his blood pressure while we tried to get Chloe to stop licking the tongue depressors like they were lollipop sticks and then he just … turned. Ripped the restraints right off the bed frame.”

“And he bit Spencer?”

“Kind of,” Jenna said. “It happened so fast, we all tried to stop him. I don’t know if it’s fang damage or the scalpel he grabbed off the counter.”

Ms. Dailey’s expression was hard but not judging. “And then what happened?”

“Will got free, went for Hunter, then Chloe. Hunter dusted him,” Jenna said. “She saved Chloe’s life. And whoever else Will might have come across if he’d gotten out of the infirmary.”

“I see.” Ms. Dailey looked at me for a long moment. “Hunter, you’re green. Why don’t you go on back to the dorm. We’ll look at the security camera footage and then discuss this further in the morning.”