Page 14 of The Stone Secret
“But what?” Serath asked softly.
“He’s not a cadet, Serath. He’s the new instructor.”
“We have a new instructor?” Selas looked surprised.
“Yes.” I peered up at Serath. “And his father is Ulrickson Halle.”
CHAPTER6
SERATH
The sound of Ulrickson’s name on her lips spawns lava in my gut as long-buried emotions threaten to rise, but I bury them expertly. I’ve had years of practice.
Ulrickson has a halfblood son and yet kept him a secret. On the one hand, I’m not surprised. Ulrickson is all about appearances, but on the other hand, goyles love to boast about their virility, and there are many halfbloods outside of our world who carry their sire’s name proudly, working on the outskirts in admin positions.
But this goyle, Levi, is here as an instructor. What makes him so special? “What is this Levi teaching the cadets?”
“Supernatural defense. His mother is a druid, and he’s a hunter.”
She sounds proud of that fact, and my beast doesn’t like it. “You can’t trust him. If he’s anything like his father, then you must keep your guard up.”
“What do you mean?”
“Serath…” Selas nods at me. “Tell her. She should know.”
Most everyone knows my story, but only my team know of my suspicions, and the fact that Selas is encouraging me to share them with Cameron shows that she already sees her as part of our team.
A gentle warmth fills my chest, and I shoot her a smile.
She nods, milky eyes soft with encouragement.
“Ulrickson is my father’s older brother, and I’m certain he orchestrated my parents’ death.”
Cam stares at me in stunned silence. “Serath…what the…How?”
Memories of that time rise, bringing the very emotions I’ve suppressed for so long with them. This time, I allow them to wash over me, letting them breathe before pushing them back down.
“My father was an elite, and my mother was a medic.” I can see them in my mind’s eye, smiling at one another or holding hands and kissing. There was so much love in my life back then. So much hope. “My father was an alpha, and my mother chose him as her only mate even though as an omega she could have taken several. But then, my mother was always headstrong. She even joined an alpha team as a medic. They used to argue good-naturedly about it all the time, how an omega’s place wasn’t on the front lines, but my mother had a gift for healing, and she wouldn’t be denied. They were so close. The love they shared…Sometimes it was as if I wasn’t there.” Fuck. I’m oversharing. “Anyway, elite teams are allowed time off every six months even though they’re still on call. While on leave, my father got a call that an outer rim settlement was under attack. My parents left late in the night but never returned. I found out later that the call never went out to the other elites or the alpha team. My parents walked into danger alone. Their bodies were never recovered among the charred remains of that settlement, but they found my mother’s medic bag and my father’s broken watch.”
“Oh, Serath…” Cam’s eyes are wide with horror and compassion, and my throat pinches. “How old were you?”
“Ten years.”
Shadows dance in her eyes. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
The sincerity in her words acts like a balm on wounds that will likely never heal. “Thank you.”
“What happened to you once they were…gone? Did Ulrickson take you in?”
A bitter smile tugs at my lips. “Ulrickson didn’t even come to see me. Not once. I was taken to a group home for orphaned goyles.” My jaw tightens at the memory of that place. The hunger, the constant need to be vigilant. “Farnell took me in a few years later. He caught me pummeling one of the other goyles in the yard. Told me there were better outlets for my aggression. He was shocked to find out I was a Halle. Apparently, that information had been left off my records.”
“Ulrickson was trying to hide you?”
I love how her mind makes connections. Love how smart she is. “I think so. Together, Farnell and I found out that Ulrickson had made the dispatch calls the night of the attack. There’d been an inquiry where he claimed something must have gone wrong with the comms units. The reports confirm a technical issue, but I know…I know he created that issue.”
“But why? Why kill his brother?”
I’ve wondered this very thing for so many years. “Ulrickson wasn’t always head councilman. He failed the academy and was forced into admin while my father passed and became an elite. Ulrickson was responsible for dispatch for years, but after my father died, he clawed his way up to councilman and now…Now he’s one of the most powerful gargoyles in Arcadia, and I know…I just know the death of my parents paved his way. I simply don’t know how.”
