Page 35 of The Stone Initiation
My chair clatters to the ground as I leap to my feet, all resolution gone and a warning snarl on my lips.
“Fuck you, Serath. Seriously?” Orix says. “She’s a fucking halfblood, what do you thinks going to happen over the next few weeks?”
I want to hurt him. I want to tear the words from his mouth along with his tongue. But that’s the beast thinking. Not my gargoyle self but the other monster hidden deep inside me. A monster, unique to my bloodline.
Selas places a hand on my shoulder, and calm radiates through me. “Let it happen, Serath. It’ll be a blessing for you both if you do.”
She’s right, and yet the burning, gnawing in my gut screams otherwise.
I rake a hand through my hair and stand. “I need some air.”
Orix pushes off the wall. “I’ll come with you.”
The beast surfaces violently pivoting my frame to face my friend, and morphing my body into goyle form with a roar that vibrates the whole room.
Orix’s chest heaves as he battles with his own beast. I roar again and he raises his hands in submission—the alpha bowing to the sigma.
It shouldn’t be this way. We’re equal in status, the only difference being how we lead. How we function. I prefer solitude and my thoughts. I prefer to meet my expectations my way. Not stagnating. Not following the herd. Even though we both had a respect for authority, we do our duty in different ways.
Right now, my nature is trying to find a loophole. Some way to both follow the rules and break them, while Orix is determined to keep me grounded.
Shame grips my throat because he’s right to want to watch me. Right to think that a part of me, even now, wants to find her.
But I won’t. Because to do so would ruin us both.
I force a smile to my lips. “I’d be grateful for the company, friend.”
CHAPTER15
CAMERON
Iwoke to the smell of coffee, and sure enough, there was a steaming mug on my bedside table.
How had that gotten there?
And how had I gotten into bed?
I’d passed out on top of the sheet with my legs dangling off the mattress.
Someone must have been in here.
No. I’d locked the door.
But ghosts didn’t need keys to get into rooms, did they?
A chill swept up my spine as I gave the mug a wary look.
Had the ghost gotten me coffee? “Hello? Miss Parker? Are you there?”
Nothing.
Damn that coffee smelled good. Fuck it. I took a sip and sighed. It was just the right temperature and sweetness for a morning wake up. Good stuff. But now I needed the loo.
Thank goodness for ensuites.
I hadn’t had a chance to examine the bathroom last night, but the academy hadn’t skimped in here either. The shower stall was massive, all slate and tiled with one of those power showerheads. There was no bath though. Shame, because I loved a good soak.
Wait, was that my shampoo and shower gel on the shelf in the stall?
