The Institute (Falling Ash Chronicles #1) Read Free

of chrome and glass. Anywhere potential patrons might see was impeccably decorated, from the domed ceilings to the expensive artwork to the state-of-the-art equipment their money funded.
    Only the dormitories offered a semblance of privacy. The dormitories took up one wing. The bottom floor was left mostly exposed, taken over by the cafeteria and courtyard. The second floor on that wing was reserved for the boys, while the third floor was for the girls. It was built more like a hospital than like a place people lived and studied. Homey comforts had no place here.
    I paused just outside the doors leading to the morgue, glancing down the empty hallway. My gaze was met by grey walls running in either direction. It was meant to have a calming effect, as though that would make up for the cameras mounted every few feet along the walls. It always smelled faintly of antiseptic. I straightened my shoulders and headed down the hall, refusing to let my steps falter. The last thing I wanted to do was give them any excuse to send me to the Infirmary.
    One elevator ride and three turns later I reached the frosted-glass doors, marked by a silver placard that read “Labs”. I tilted my chin challengingly as I pushed through the doors. Tammy jumped up from her computer desk and beamed at me. She had a pointy face and an abundance of red hair that she somewhat tamed back into a ponytail. She always wore bright floral scrubs that were meant to put people at ease. I thought it was to hide the fact that she was a demon, taking secret delight in poking me with needles or pressing cold metal to my spine just to see me jump.
    “Ells!” Tammy gushed, bouncing over to me to grasp my hands. I flinched automatically; relieved again that Erik had remembered to pull on my gloves. Most people never thought of what a simple, friendly touch could do. “Come in, come in, sit!” Tammy urged. The room was designed similarly to Erik’s, with chrome tabletops and warm toned woods, except it was four times the size. Her medical equipment was neatly arranged, providing a perfect space for Tammy to conduct her tests. I sat on the plastic covered exam table, the sanitary paper crunching beneath me.
    “I just need to take your vitals and draw some blood and we’ll get you on your way,” Tammy chirped. I hmmed my response. “How have you been feeling lately? Anything out of the ordinary? Headaches, nausea?” Tammy asked as she set to work. She took my temperature with a quick swipe of the device over my forehead, writing the results in her tiny handwriting on the paper I’d handed her. I gritted my teeth. Erik hadn’t wasted any time in making his report, I guessed.
    “Nope. Everything’s fine,” I said.
    “I’m glad to hear that. Erik said you had a bit of a rough transition today,” she said sympathetically.
    “It’s not easy seeing how someone died,” I pointed out. Tammy hmmed her understanding as she wrapped the blood pressure cuff around my arm and started pumping, the cold stethoscope pressed to the pulse at my elbow. Just when it got so tight I couldn’t feel my fingers, she released the tension.
    Next she needed blood samples. Tammy gestured me over to the chair with a single folding armrest. As soon as I sat down she lowered it.
    “No glove, sweetie. I can’t take your blood through the fabric,” Tammy said with a chuckle. She snapped on a pair of latex gloves, which I suspected was more for my benefit than hers, and seated herself next to me as I tugged off my glove and rolled up my sleeve before laying my arm out. She snapped a rubber band around my upper arm and knotted it. She poked at the tender side of my elbow with the pad of her finger, then jabbed my vein with her nail.
    “Hey, easy!” I bit out, jerking my arm back and away.
    “Oh, quit’cher whining. That was nothing,” she said breezily. I grumbled as she pulled my arm back over to her, quickly swabbing the area she’d marked with alcohol. I turned my head and