Page 79 of The Stone Initiation
“Cam?” Touron prompted. “Do you want to leave?”
“No. I don’t.”
He exhaled. “Then you should stay, and we can figure out what to do with whatever information Melanie brings us. Together.”
Together? My eyes heated. They’d help me too. Be here for me. I had no doubt.
“You can do this,” Sharniza said. “With Selas training you and us on your side…You can do this.”
Touron bumped her with his shoulder. “And you wanted to go it solo.”
She rolled her eyes. “What can I say, you two are like persistent fungus.”
The temperature dropped, and Melanie appeared by the dresser looking gray and spectral so the only part of her that stood out were her inky eyes.
I sat up straighter. “Did you find it?”
“Yes.” Her voice was a whisper. “I’m sorry, it says he died on a mission saving several humans from a cave-in. It was a large vampire nest in a network of caverns. The weight of the rock that crushed him caved his skull in. It says he died instantly.”
“No…” Hot tears blurred my vision. “That makes no sense. Why hide it then? Why put it in a closed file?”
“The mission is marked classified,” Melanie said. “It says that Romi went in despite orders not to.”
“That’s an eviction offense,” Sharniza said. “It would look bad for the Basque name for it to be common knowledge that he went against orders.”
“So they cover it up? They hide it?” I looked from Sharniza to Touron.
“It would seem so,” Touron said.
I shook my head. “It doesn’t feel right.”
“I know,” Touron said. “When my brother died, I didn’t want to believe he could have been taken down like that. I didn’t want to believe he could have been snuffed out in a way that made him seem so inconsequential.”
But it was true. Romi’s death had been an accident all along. “I need a minute.”
“Better yet, get some sleep,” Sharniza said. “You can make your decision about your future tomorrow.”
“We’ll stand by you, whatever you decide,” Touron said. He closed the window and drew the drapes. “I think we can all use some rest.”
I looked across at Melanie, who was fading away fast. “Thank you. For helping.”
She gave me a watery smile and vanished.
The others left my room and I collapsed onto the bed, rolled onto my side, and tucked my legs up to my chest. My mind warred with my heart on whether to stay or go.
“When I wake up, I’ll know what to do.” I repeated the phrase over and over then closed my eyes and left the decision to my smart subconscious to solve.
Whatever my gut feeling was in the morning would be my final decision.
CHAPTER35
The storm inside me had passed when I woke, and in its place was the calm, steady conviction that I’d be staying at the academy.
This was where I belonged. Where Romi had spent most of his life. He was gone, taken in the line of duty, and I hadn’t gotten to say goodbye. There’d been no funeral. No closure. I hadn’t allowed myself to grieve because I’d been so angry.
Angry that he’d been taken from me.
Angry that so much of his life had been kept from me.
