Free A Man of Honor (A Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (The Honor Trilogy) by J.P. Grider

scientifically gifted as Honor’s great-grandfather. Lord, help us if he figures this out.

Chapter Fifteen
     
    She’s here. In the cafeteria. I don’t know how I missed her in the halls this morning, but when I walk into the cafeteria for lunch, she’s sitting at her table. She couldn’t even give herself time off to recuperate?
    My stomach flips a little when I approach her. “Honor?”
    She turns around. “Oh. Hi.” Her eyes drop down, avoiding mine.
    “What are you doing here?” I straddle the seat beside her. “Aren’t you supposed to be resting?”
    Honor turns back to the table and fiddles with her food. “I guess,” she mumbles.
    My hand instinctively goes to her thigh. “Honor. Your heart is weak. You should be home in bed.”
    This stirs a chuckle from her, causing her to finally look at me. “I’m seventeen, Storm, not some old bed-ridden lady.”
    The corners of my mouth tug, even though I’m serious about her resting. My heart swells at the sight of her, but I keep from smiling. Moving my hand to her forearm, I tell her, “I know you’re young, princess, but your heart is not. It has to have aged quite a bit after saving your mother and me. And then Shelby and the girl in the bathroom and whoever else you’ve been trying to help.”
    A tiny grunt escapes her throat. “Stop. I’m fine.” She turns her head and looks away, but doesn’t pull her arm from my light grasp.
    “I just worry about you,” I whisper, averting her eyes as well. There’s a makeshift Band-Aid on the inside of her elbow. I see a bruise forming around it. “What’s this?”
    Honor looks at her arm and shrugs. “Oh, Mr. Moore had us testing blood-types today.”
    “From your elbow? That’s illegal. He’s not a nurse or something. What the…” I stop myself from swearing, though it’s hard. “He can’t do that, Honor. He did this to everyone?”
    “Well, no. We all pricked our own fingers, but he wasn’t getting a reading on mine. He said we probably needed to take it from another spot.”
    “So he pricked your arm?”
    “Well, no, not exactly,” she says, pulling her arm away now. When I look up, I see why. Ethan is walking toward the table. He just nods, and so do I.
    Turning my attention back toward Honor, I ask, “Not exactly…meaning what?”
    “He used one of those needle things with the vial thingy.”
    My chest starts to burn. My temper is rising. “Vial thingy, Honor? You’re smarter than that. A teacher is not allowed to do that.”
    “What’s going on, Hon?” Ethan asks.
    She shakes her head. “Nothing. Just…we took blood-type samples in chemistry today.”
    Ethan looks to me for explanation.
    “Moore took Honor’s with a needle and vial, not just a finger prick like everyone else got.”
    “What!?” Ethan’s floored.
    “He couldn’t get a reading on mine,” Honor explains. “He said he probably needed to get a little more.”
    “A little more?” I say again, extremely angered this time. “Honor , come on. Did you bump your head in that bathroom, because it certainly seems like you must have.”
    “Hey. That was uncalled for,” Ethan scowls.
    Honor sits up straight. “Oh thank God,” she says to Tamlin, who sits next to Ethan, across from us. “Tell them we were just doing blood types in chem – nothing sinister.” Honor forces a giggle.
    “Did Moore take a vial of blood from you, Tam?” I ask.
    She shakes her head. “No. I did find that odd though. Why would he need three vials just to get her blood type?”
    “Three!?” Ethan and I both gasp. We look at each other, suspicion as evident in his eyes as it is in mine.
    The lunch trays bounce when I slam my hands on the table and stand, racing out the door to find Moore.

Chapter Sixteen
     
    “Who the hell are you?”
    My question is met with wide eyes and a dropped jaw, but quickly he presses his lips tight, narrows his gaze, and stands from his desk.
    “Mr. Sutherland. Now what?” Moore composes himself