Page 30 of The Stone Initiation
“Powerful ones,” the mageri said. He looked impressed but not smug. Which meant…
“Not your work?”
He looked sharply my way. “No.”
He didn’t elaborate.
“Are there more mageri here?”
He snorted. “Hardly.”
Movement on the other side of the gates called my attention, and a woman appeared out of the mist. How had her boots not made a sound on the gravel path?
“Good evening, new recruits.” She surveyed us from the other side of the arch with dark, fathomless eyes set in a face created for the silver screen. Her hair was a deep burgundy, parted in the middle and falling in carefully styled waves to just above her shoulders. She looked to be in her mid-thirties, dressed in an odd ensemble of skinny jeans, ankle boots, and a waistcoat thing with a cream shirt underneath. One look at her told me she was no gargoyle, but she wasn’t human either, and it wasn’t just the fact that she didn’t seem to feel the cold that gave it away. There was a preternatural stillness about her that screamed supernatural. But what kind?
“Remi, you were supposed to wait for me.” Another woman appeared from the mist. She looked around the same age as the first. Her cheeks were flushed, eyes bright behind round spectacles and a chunky coat covered her from neck to mid-calf.
Human. No doubt.
“Remi. You promised to…Oh, hello there. Ha, aha, new recruits. How lovely.” She clasped her gloved hands together. “Miss Travani, the gates if you will.”
Remi rolled her eyes a slight smile tipping the corner of her mouth. “Yes of course Mistress Carter.”
She pointed her hand at the gates, and they slid back into the stone wall.
“In you come,” she drawled lazily.
We trooped through the gates onto the gravel path.
“Thank you, Mr. Willowman.” She inclined her head in the mageri’s direction.
He gave her a jaunty salute and vanished.
The gates closed and we huddled together, waiting.
“Congratulations.” Mistress Carter beamed. “You passed the first test, and you are all now officially enrolled at Stonehaven. My name is Regina Carter, headmistress of Stonehaven and—”
“Headmistress?” Curi growled, incredulously. “A human?”
“Very observant, Mr. Mason.” There wasn’t a hint of sarcasm in her tone, although I couldn’t help but feel her commentwassarcastic.
Curi’s eyes narrowed. Yeah, he felt it too.
“You’re wondering why a human would be running an academy that trains Gargoyle guardians?”
“Something like that,” Curi said warily.
“Yes, well the answer is simple. Gargoyles have better things to do than cover the administration of Stonehaven. If you’re here, then I’m sure you’re aware that there’s a war raging. One that shows no signs of ending, and every able-bodied guardian must be free to fight against the dark power that threatens our world.” Her gaze skimmed over us, settling on me for a moment before moving on. “A threat larger than the tulpas, the blood rats, or the rogue shifters that roam the rim.”
“Graynites,” Touron said softly. “Graynites and grotesques.”
The headmistress looked at him and nodded. “That’s right Mr. Lomax.” She smiled sadly. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
Touron swallowed hard. “Thank you.”
“The Graynites are our most formidable adversary yet, and inside these walls you will be taught everything we have learned about them. Things like the fact they cannot procreate with humans or other supernaturals, which has helped in our fight against them as their numbers remain all but the same. You will be taught how to vanquish them and how theycouldvanquish you.” She lifted her chin. “I am your headmistress because I’m a symbol of the species that you must protect, and I am also damn good at my job.”
Mistress Travani bit back a smile before speaking. “Thank you, Mistress Carter.” She focused her attention on us. “You’ll come with me. I’ll show you to the cadet’s dorm. You’ll be housed there for the next few weeks while you train for the practical exam that will determine whether you progress to initiate training, general forces, or fail and enter an administration post, here or in the Rim.
