Page 105 of The Stone Initiation
“No. Get rid of them.”
I head for the stairs. The bell on each floor flashes, telling me that whoever is outside isn’t going away anytime soon.
Fuck.
I hit the ground floor, annoyance a coiled serpent in my belly, and yank open the door, ready to shout down whoever dares to come over uninvited.
“Selas, thank fuck.” Cameron says. “There’s something wrong with Serath.” She sucks in a sharp breath. “But you know that, don’t you?” She pushes past me before I can gather my wits and block her entry. “Where is he? Is he hurt? How bad is it?”
“Cameron, you can’t be here. You have to go.”
Her glare is a hot brand on my face. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me my mate is okay.”
“He’s hurt, Cameron. He’s not going to make it.”
She flinches as if I’ve slapped her and her aura of anxiety ebbs and cools, like a blanket of calm has been dropped over it. “Take me to him.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Yes. You can. You can take me to him. I need to see him.” Her pain is a sharp pressure in my head.
“You can’t go to him. He’s in a restricted zone. I’m sorry. There’s nothing anyone can do for him now.”
“Yes, there is,” Prasan says from the balcony above us.
My head whips up, gaze locking onto his blurry form. “You found a solution?”
“Yes,” Prasan says. “And then she came right to our door.”
* * *
CAMERON
The room they put me in smelled of Serath. There was a large bed, with rumpled sheets where the pillow cradled the indent of his head. I held it to my nose breathing him in where he lingered on the cotton fabric, and the knots in my belly eased a little.
A worn bedside table with a pile of well-thumbed paperbacks sat on the left side of his bed. Did he sleep on this side, or did he sprawl out across the whole bed?
I picked up one of the books,Bram Stoker’s Dracula, an old, battered leather bound copy, andMary Shelly’s Frankenstein. Books about monsters looking for love or acceptance. Creatures who would be considered outsiders.
I’d read these too and they were among my favorites.
I was tempted to open the drawer, to see what more I could discern about my mate but stopped, hand on the handle. This was his private space. His domain, and he hadn’t shared this with me willingly. I’d been put in here to wait for his return so that I could help heal him.
I wandered over to the window which looked out onto the campus. Stone Comfort and the training grounds were clearly visible far below. How long before he was back here? How long did it take to create a warp and transport a dying male?
My gut twisted. I couldn’t lose him. And yes, that was crazy, because he wasn’t mine, not officially, not primally, and he couldneverbe, but still…the thought of him being gone, of no longer existing, was a claw raking my insides raw.
My feelings for Levi had grown slowly, creeping up on me and spreading through me like warm honey, but what I felt for Serath was an eruption of emotions and sensations. It was mystical and undeniable, and it was tearing me up not knowing if he’d survive his wounds.
Graynite venom, they said. And that’s about all they said, aside from letting me know that my presence, my proximity to him would help him fight it off until they brewed up the antivenom.
And now I had to wait until they brought him—
The door burst open behind me and Orix entered carrying Serath.
My mate was limp in his arms. Pale and unconscious.
“Serath!”
