Page 127 of The Stone Secret
“He introduced you to her?” Curi looks like he wants to punch a wall.
Cameron shakes her head. “No, it was an unfortunate coincidence. I don’t want to talk about it.”
But someone needs to. “Where is he now?”
“I don’t know. I came back with the other elite. They took me to Asteria.” Her smile is watery. “It was fun until…until it wasn’t.” She wipes her nose with her sleeve and looks around the kitchen. “Wow, jealousy is not a good look on me.”
I hate how this fated bond has reduced my fierce friend to this red-eyed teary mess. “We’ll help you clean up.”
She looks like she’s about to protest, but then her shoulders droop in defeat. “Thanks.”
“Then we’ll watch a movie,” Curi says.
“Something with blood and guts?” Cameron asks.
“My favorite.” Curi grins down at her, and she beams up at him.
Why couldn’t fate have bound her to someone like him?
Someone, anyone, free to love her would be better than the sigma elite.
It makes no sense in the grand scheme of things that Serath and Cameron can’t be together.
None at all.
CHAPTER51
SELAS
The sun’s rays slowly light up the sky as a dark silhouette makes its way across campus and slips into one of the dorms. The figure glows against my monochromatic vision, a soft amber, the color of sexual satisfaction.
“I’m not going to ask where you’ve been,” Orix says, handing me a cup of coffee. “But you should get some sleep soon.”
I wrap my hands around its warmth. “Do you think Serath is doing the right thing pushing Cameron away like this?”
“I can respect his decision,” Orix says. “But I hated seeing her so upset the other night. Him not coming home made it worse.”
“She thought he was with Jana.”
“It’s what he wanted her to believe. I’m glad she had some quality time with her friends today.”
“I don’t think he has to rub it in her face. She already believes that he spent two weeks with Jana. She doesn’t know he spent them doing the rounds of other outposts.”
“He’s protecting Cameron.”
“Then he shouldn’t have taken her on a date in Asteria.”
Orix joins me at the window. “It’s not always easy to give up the things that we want.”
The gentle heat of his gaze kisses the side of my face, then drops to my mouth. If I turn toward him now, he’ll step closer and touch me. Will I let him? No. Not any longer. There is another male under my skin now. At least until he too is taken from me.
Orix releases me from his probing gaze. “Cam will be fine. She has a strong support network. She’ll help us get Romi back, and then she’ll leave. If she thinks Serath is seeing Jana, she’ll steer clear of him. Heck, she probably hates him a little now. He just needs to keep up the charade for three more weeks.”
But what if we don’t get Romi back? Or what if we get him back and he’s wrong like Varsa? No. I can’t think about that. I must keep a positive mindset.
I look up into the night sky. “It would be better if Serath could stay gone until after the cadet exams.”
“I know. But Lionel will expect him to be present.”
