H.U.M.A.N.S (The Veiled World Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

groaned, heading into the bathroom.
    “Doesn’t matter, suck it up and drink the damned thing. There’s no telling what kind of infection a Nocturna bite can cause.” Isis scolded me.
    “Absolutely nothing. Hunters are immune, remember?” I leaned back out of the door to remind her while tying my hair into a pony tail.
    “Then you should be feeling better by now. Let me see it.” Isis demanded, meeting me in the open doorway of the bathroom.
    I sighed and raised the side of my tank top slightly. Reluctantly, I looked down at it.
    Isis bent down and leaned forward to examine it closer. “Wow, that looks disgusting, almost to the point of infection.” She breathed and clucked her tongue.
    She was right. The four gashes where the Nocturna had clawed me were still deep purple and lined with both red and dark blue bruising. The fang marks were still puckered and swollen around the edges and blood red in color. Though it all appeared scabbed over, it still felt raw and exposed.
    “I’m not even gonna ask if it still hurts.” Isis consoled with worry.
    “It’ll be fine.”
    Isis straightened and pointed her index finger at me. “Not taking any chances. I’m gonna call Erian and I’ll send him up as soon as he gets here so he can take another look at it. In the meantime, you’d better drink the elixir.”
    I sighed and let my shirt back down. “As soon as I deaden my taste buds.” I humored her while I grabbed my toothbrush, added toothpaste, and began to brush my teeth.
    “Oh and to fill you in on what we managed to find on the search early this morning,” She began as if she suddenly remembered that part. “We lost track of both Nocturnas, even the one Cole put the tracking chip in. Both seemed to have vanished into thin air, so Cole, Jax, and the others are going to do another sweep further out to the other nearby islands tonight.”
    “That far out?”
    Isis nodded and leaned back against the wall.
    “We have to find out what route they’re taking.”
    “They’re not taking any routes. There’s a gateway on the island somewhere already or that mystery Nocturna knows how to cast and close them. I’m hard pressed to believe that the first one bypassed a mainland full of human blood just to sniff out elementals because he was starving.”
    “Yeah, that’s exactly what Cole and Clee said. I didn’t see any sign of one last night but then again I didn’t navigate the entire island either. I’ll bet anything that it’s camouflaged in plain sight and probably in the last ten percent of the island that we’re gonna finish covering tonight. Anyway, Ladd, Sage, and I are offering aerial assistance but you are staying put. Cole told me to make sure you understood that.”
    I shook my head, spit, and then rinsed. “No way. We need as many hunters on the ground as possible. Open gateways always spell trouble. It’s a one-sided mirror. Any being can see us from the other side before we’ll see them from here.” I said after drying my mouth on a towel.
    Isis placated my insistence with her hands raised and palms forward, “I know but it’s already been decided. Cole is not gonna let you go so you may as well be prepared to spend an evening at home relaxing and healing. Don’t worry, if I happen to see tall, dark, and gorgeous again, I’ll try and get a name and number.” She smiled and winked.
    “Don’t joke, Isis. All Nocturna are really good looking but he’s definitely proven that he’s not a regular Nocturna if he can just appear and disappear anywhere like that. You’d better be extremely careful because it worries me that he could have easily tracked us back here the same way we tried to track him. He knows this island exists now and that we’re all on it.”
    “That’s possible but I don’t think he will.”
    “How do you figure that?”
    She shrugged, picking up a honey roll and taking a bite.
    “He seemed reasonable and intelligent so I really don’t think he’d risk it. He has