Page 87 of The Stone Initiation
And the five bloodlines together could stop him if he emerged. They could kill him and end all graynites but…But Romi was dead. “What happens now that Romi Basque is dead?”
I felt Touron’s gaze on me but ignored it, keeping my expression innocently curious.
“He’ll be replaced…Eventually,” Mirrowind said.
“Eventually? I don’t understand. I thought every alpha team had one of the five bloodlines in it? Can’t we promote another Basque.”
Her lips pressed in a thin line. “There is no other Basque. Romi was the last adult Basque in his prime. The next in line is just a child.”
My pulse kicked up and I dropped my gaze to hide my shock. My mind whirred. “What about Romi’s father? He’s an adult male. Can’t he take over?”
Mirrowind gave me an indulgent smile. “Can anyone answer that question for Miss Walker?”
“He’s passed his prime,” Palia said. “Gargoyles age slow, but we do age and there comes a point where we lose touch with our gargoyle beasts. It makes combat harder.”
“So we have no defense against the alpha?” Someone asked.
The air of tranquility was shattered.
“The alpha hasn’t been heard from or seen in a while,” Mirrowind said. “He knows how important he is, and it’s unlikely he’ll surface anytime soon,” she said casually. “The Stone Council has everything under control.” She clicked off the projector. “Now, on to the forming of the Stone Council.”
But my mind was still reeling with the news that Romi’s death left me as the next adult Basque in existence.
It didn’t matter.
It couldn’t.
My father would have said something if it did, and like Mirrowind said, the alpha wasn’t surfacing anytime soon. Plenty of time for the Basque child to grow up. Plenty of time for the Basque bloodline to produce more alpha and beta gargoyles. But my stomach continued to quiver long into the lesson, foreboding a cloud in the back of my mind, because wasn’t it sod’s law that shit hit the fan when you least expected it to?
I had to hope that the Stone Council had accounted for that, because if they hadn’t and the alpha did emerge, then we were all fucked.
CHAPTER38
There was just enough time after history class to change for training before heading to the outdoor pitch.
Farnell waited on the newly turfed ground, hands clasped behind his back, ice blue eyes watching us approach.
Up close and personal the pitch was massive, over a hundred yards at least.
“The crystals on the posts moderate the weather,” Palia pointed at a post on the other side of the pitch. “Meteorological magic. Willowman’s forte. I asked around.” She looked proud of herself.
The crystals crackled with blue energy as if preparing for a storm. “Farnell is going to make it rain, isn’t he?”
Palia sniffed the air. “It smells that way.”
“Gather round!” Farnell ordered from the edge of the pitch. “Today we’re going to play a team building exercise.”
He crossed his arms and glared down his nose at us. “You,” he pointed to Saffe, “and you.” He pointed at me. “Come over here.” He pulled two flags out of a bag on the floor by his feet. One green. One red. I got the red flag. “Sharniza, Curi, Palia and Bonet, you’ll be together.” Bonet, Curi’s ex-minion looked to Dayn who simply shrugged. “Dayn, Gina, Touron and Waxen, you’ll team up.” Farnell nodded at Sharniza. “Red flag is yours to protect.” Then to Dayn. “Green flag is yours.” He pointed to a post a few yards away. There were a couple of holes in the wooden structure. “The flag bearer must get the flag into that post. But you’ve got to tag the post across the pitch first.” Yep, there was another post far in the distance, so far it was barely visible in the growing mist. “The objective for the rest of you is to stop the opposing team’s flag bearer by taking their flag. You’ll play for thirty minutes, or until someone captures a flag. Only the flag bearer can carry the flag and youcannotcarry your flag bearer.” He glared at Sharniza. “Shifting and flight are permitted.” He raised a finger to the sky and shouted. “Pluvia.”
The sky roared, dark clouds blocked out what remained of the sun, and it began to rain.
For a moment everyone just stood around looking stunned, then Sharniza locked gazes with me and mouthed,run.
I turned and ran, away from Dayn and his team, across the grass that was growing rapidly mushy.
Wings unfurled and flapped behind me.
Oh shit.
