The moment when I double over, wheezing, after walking from one end of the hallway to the other is the moment I stop asking, "When will everyone stop fussing over me?"
Staring at the sanded and polished wooden floor, I mumble, "I guess the spider venom really did a number on me, huh?"
Lowan holds my arm. "It did, mate."
He's never called me "mate" before, but I've come to realize that Lowan doesn't say something like that unless he means it. After everything we've been through together, he and I are friends now.
"I know that it takes days or even weeks to recover from a spider bite--"
Lowan is unexpectedly wise. "But you never thought it would happen to you. Welcome to my world. Just because we have wings and magic doesn't mean we're not exposed to a world of dangers that you don't have to deal with. Cats. Dogs. Rats. Snakes. Humans stepping in the wrong place at the wrong time."
