Page 2 of The Stone Secret
“You look feral.” He gave me half a smile. “On second thoughts, leave it. It’s kinda adorable.” He ruffled my already ruffled hair.
“Adorable?” I shuddered. “Hell no.”
Compared to my frazzled state, Touron looked put together—fresh from the shower, sandy hair still damp, jaw clean-shaven. “You’re up early, aren’t you?”
He snorted softly. “You’re not the only early riser in this dorm.”
I usually was. My halfblood nature meant that I needed more sleep, so I usually went to bed earlier but woke before the other goyles. They didn’t go to sleep until well after dawn and, even though they needed less sleep, weren’t usually active till well after midday.
He patted my messy hair and headed for the door. “I’ll put the coffee on.”
“If you see a big guy with neck tats, tell him…tell him I need to speak to him.”
“Neck tattoos?” His brows shot up. “Nice.”
He closed the door softly behind him, and I grabbed a hairbrush and headed for the bathroom.
I’d broken up with Levi before coming to the academy, not because I’d wanted to but because I’d needed to let him go. I’d hoped to find him again, though, to rekindle things once my mission of finding out what happened to Romi was complete, and he’d probably realized that. He wouldn’t be here otherwise.
But everything was different now. My wants, my goals…me.
Levi deserved the truth.
He deserved for me to let him go properly.
* * *
This early inthe day the kitchen was free, allowing me and my friends to convene in private. I was on my second cup of coffee and all talked out. Sharniza, Palia, and Ginia were now also up to speed on Levi’s arrival.
“I thought cadet intake was over,” Sharniza said. “How did he get in?”
“Maybe his sire pulled some strings,” Touron said. “Allowed him to take the entrance test late?”
“For a halfblood?” Palia looked skeptical. “His sire would have to have some serious clout to do that.”
“Whatdidhe tell you about his sire?” Shar asked me.
I cast my mind back to the last time Levi and I had been together in the outside world. I’d told him the truth about what I was, and he’d been relieved because he was just like me. “He told me he was undeclared and in hiding, that his sire provided for him until he was eighteen, but that’s all I know.”
I’d walked out on him. Told him I didn’t love him.
I guess my acting skills needed work.
Shar tapped the table with her blunt fingernails. Nails that would sprout talons when she shifted into her gargoyle form. “So we know his sire has enough money and reach to hide his halfblood spawn.” Like Basque had done for me. “Still, to get him into the academy…that takes the ability to pull some seriously powerful strings.”
“Cadets have a high turnover,” Touron said. “Only eighty percent survive cadet exams and make it to initiate or general training. We need all the goyles we can get, even halfblood ones.”
“And now he’s here…” Palia sounded speculative.
“Wow,” Ginia said. “I can’t believe he followed you. Took the entrance test just to be here with you.” She covered her heart with her hand. “Swoon.”
“You don’tsayswoon,” Palia said. “You just do the action.”
Ginia rolled her eyes. “Well, I say swoon. He’s definitely in love with you.” Palia elbowed her. “Ouch, what…” Her eyes went round. “Ah, yes, that’s bad because you have Serath.”
My stomach sank. “I don’thavehim. I can’t have him.” Having him would kill me and drive him insane. He was a sigma, and they were forbidden from consummating with a fated mate.
“It’s so unfair,” Ginia said. “On the one hand, you have Levi, who can be with you and who loves you, but you’re off-limits because you’re fated to Serath, who you can’t have because…” She made a slitting throat motion with her finger.
