Page 51 of The Stone Initiation
This minor case is perfect for us. And the fact it’s not too far east means we’re cleared to take it on as a quad.
Orix rolls his neck on his shoulders with a sigh. “Fine. Sex or a rumble, either will do. I’ll suit up.”
My nape prickles, and I turn to the window pushing out my sonar.
Serath blooms to life in the air and a weight settles on my chest.
He’s back, and a rumble is exactly what he needs.
CHAPTER22
CAMERON
“You’ll be okay,” Palia said. “You can do this.”
I sat on the floor, back against my bed with my head in my hands. My senses were still in overload. My heart twisted and broken over a male I didn’t even know.
“This is insane. No one needs to feel this way.” Urgh, I tugged at the ends of my hair. “I want it to stop.” I wanted the storm that leaving Levi had brewed inside me, not this raging tornado that being away from Serath spawned.
“As long as you keep your distance from Serath, you’ll be okay,” Sharniza said from her spot in my dresser chair. “Look. It’s shitty. But you came here to be a guardian. Focus on that.”
But I hadn’t come here to become a guardian, I’d come here to find out about Romi, and Serath had been my way into the elites, but now…The truth was on the tip of my tongue, but I bit it back.
“We have two hours of training tomorrow,” Touron said. “Focus on that. Focus on your goal.”
My goal was fucked, but I smiled. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“You can trust us,” Palia said. “No one will find out about this.”
I believed her. I believed them all, and even though I’d only known them for a couple of days, I trusted them. But after this fated mate secret, telling them about Romi would be putting another weight onto their shoulders. Another secret. It wasn’t fair to drag them into it.
I’d need to figure this out for myself. Ask around and make it look casual. I was sure Yarrow knew something but wasn’t telling, and I had no doubt there were others like him here. What I needed was for someone to slip up, but supernaturals were a wily bunch and…Wait a second…Not everyone in a position of power here was supernatural. The headmistress was human.Andshe’d given me an open invite.
The weight on my chest lifted.
“Um…Cam?” Touron said. “Why are you smiling like that.”
I dropped the smile that had crept onto my lips unawares. “What? I’m not.”
“You were,” Ginia said. “And it was kinda creepy.”
“Sorry, I was thinking about Derek.” It was the first lie that popped into my head.
“Derek?” Touron asked. “I thought your boyfriend’s name was Levi?”
“It is. Derek is the boogeyman that lives in my closet.” Silence greeted my declaration. “Never mind.”
“Hell, no,” Touron said. “You can’t say something like that then ask us to forget it.”
“Fine. I created Derek when I was a child. I used to have these awful nightmares. There was this voice...” A shudder passed through me. “Anyway, I created Derek to protect me. To make me feel safe, and he did. He’s wonderful.” Guilt gnawed because I’d left him behind to come here. I’d left him alone when he’d always been there for me. “I left him behind.” I exhaled. “He’s all alone.” Shit.
Levi and Derek.
I’d left them both.
“Cam, it’s all right.” Touron lowered his frame onto the floor next to me and nudged me with his shoulder. “It’s okay. I’m sure he’s okay.”
I needed that to be true. I needed him to be okay. “I wish I could have brought him with me.”
