Page 32 of The Stone Initiation
“You have a ghost?” The wavy-haired twin said. “Why haven’t you extinguished her?”
“She’s not a tulpa, or a demonic force, Miss Lambert. She’s the soul of a deceased person who chooses to remain earthbound. Yes, it’s a nuisance, but there is little we can do about it.”
“She was human.” I looked up at the window.
“Yes, Miss Walker, she was.”
It was impressive how she knew all our names. “What was she doing here?”
“Working. We have human staff here. They’re perfectly safe. A guardian can’t harm a human, it’s against our genetic code to do so.”
“Then how did she die?” the wavy-haired twin asked.
“Ginia!” Her sister nudged her, widening her eyes in warning.
“What?” Ginia retorted. “We have a right to know.”
“Yes of course you do,” Travani said. “And it’s good to ask questions. She killed herself.” She clipped toward the doors. That was it? That was all we were going to get? “Now, in you go. Get rested. Tonight, we tested your bodies, but tomorrow you’ll have a chance to orient yourself with the grounds using the maps provided, and you’ll have your induction class where you’ll get a rundown of what will be expected of you here—classes, behavioral policies etc.—and believe me when I tell you, that your minds will be tested.”
The double doors to the dorm opened, and a gargoyle male in human form greeted us.
“Over to you Mr. Raffi.” Travani drifted off and vanished into the mist.
Raffi harrumphed. “Get inside. I’m dorm master. Come to me with questions after the induction tomorrow not before. For now, collect your welcome packets from the table by the door. Room numbers and keys are inside. There’s a fully stocked kitchen down the hall to the right if you need food.”
“We have to cook?” Curi asked.
Raffi fixed a cool gaze on him. “Guardians are self-sufficient. If you want to eat, you cook. You have an injury, you treat it. If it’s bad, then we have a medic, or you work with your assigned team to fix it.”
“Team?” Sharniza looked confused. “We’ll be put into teams?”
Sharniza frowned probably realizing hereach to their owntheory was put into question.
“Eventually, yes,” Raffi said. “Teamwork is essential to the success of the guardian operation. Units of five is how we operate. Those that qualify will be matched. That’s all for now.” He turned and limped away. My gaze dropped to his foot, to where it was twisted at an odd angle.
Gargoyles were hard to hurt, and if you managed it, they healed super-fast, so an injury that would last, that would disable a gargoyle, wasn’t something to take lightly. There was no doubt in my mind that Mr. Raffi’s guardian status had been taken from him because of this injury, and now he was stuck taking care of every generation to come.
How many more Gargoyles like him would I find here? And how many might know the truth of what had happened to my brother?
Touron passed me a large brown envelope. “Miss Walker.”
I tore it open and poked around inside to find my keys. “Room 420.”
“419,” Touron said peering at mine. “Right next door.”
“418.” Sharniza groaned.
“What are the odds?” Touron said. “This alliance was meant to be.”
As we headed for the stairs, it was difficult not to wonder if the powers that be had put me with these two gargoyles for a reason, because if I was going to survive this place long enough to find the information that I needed, I’d need all the help I could get.
* * *
The dorm was madeof wide corridors and high ceilings to accommodate a gargoyle in both human and natural form. The staircases were also much wider than any I’d ever seen, and almost every window backed onto a landing ledge.
The architect had thought of everything.
We climbed the stairs to the fourth floor, losing gargoyles the higher we went, until it was just Sharniza, Touron, Curi and me.
