Page 134 of The Stone Secret
Orix leaves the room, but Selas goes over to the computer. “Serath, can you take a look?”
I have basic tech training, but the screen shows a game of solitaire. “I…I don’t understand.”
“What’s going on?” Farnell demands.
Orix comes back into the room. “He isn’t in the washroom. I can’t find him.”
The screens flick on suddenly, and Prasan looks back at us from each one.
“What is this?” Farnell mutters.
“I’m sorry,” Prasan says. “I genuinely like you all. You’ve been good friends. But there are larger forces at play here. Forces that I believe in and I must be loyal to. You won’t see me after today, but you deserve answers. A few months ago, I made the call to tell Cameron her brother was dead. I lured her here. But things haven’t gone to plan. She isn’t as easy to kill as I hoped, and you refuse to give in to your primal nature despite the tiny pushes I’ve given.”
“What is he talking about?” Farnell asks.
“Hush!” Orix snaps.
“But she has to die. It’s the only way. I’m sorry. I know how much she’s come to mean to you all, and admittedly, she’s grown on me too, so I’ll give you this final gift. I’ll permit you to watch her die.”
The screens go dark again before flicking to a view of a clearing.
Where is she?
Where’s Cameron?
The goyles come into the shot, running across the grass toward a couple of crouched figures. The moon glints off silver-blond hair.
Cameron!
There’s someone on the ground.
A man.
“Shit!” Orix points at a screen to the left—a close-up of Cameron and the man in her arms.
It’s Willowman.
“There’s incoming!” Orix says. “Oh fuck. Oh, fucking hell!”
I zero in on the shot of the sky, of the huge, gray-skinned monsters flying toward the cadets.
I can count on one hand how many times I’ve come face-to-face with one of these things. The last time I barely survived, so these cadets…
They have no chance against the graynites hurtling toward them.
* * *
CAM
“Willowman. Oh gods. What happened? What are you doing here?”
“Prasan,” he groaned. “Traitor.”
An icy fist formed in my stomach. “No…”
“Cameron, the tincture,” Palia urged. “Maybe it can help him.”
Yes. I rummaged in my pack for a vial, popped the cap, and pressed it to his lips.
