Page 36 of The Stone Secret
“You’re shaking,” Touron said.
“Where’s Bax?” a male voice demanded.
Dayn…
Behind me, the port winked out.
“What did you do to him, you bitch?” Dayn demanded.
A tide of rage swept over me, pulling me from Touron’s arms and propelling me across the path toward the goyle responsible for Bax’s demise.
My fist connected with his jaw hard enough to jar, hard enough to draw blood, because the bastard didn’t see me as a threat, and his stone skin hadn’t activated.
Good.
I hit him again, but this time, bone met stone with a crunch.
I barely felt the pain through the fire of fury coursing through me.
“Enough!” Farnell dragged me away from Dayn. “Where is Bonet?”
My hot gaze remained on Dayn. “Dead. Because of you!” I jabbed a finger at him. “You told him to leave me behind. You blackmailed him, and he died because of it. Because he was so desperate to stop me crossing the bridge, and he…” My throat closed up, cutting off my words. I swallowed past the lump. “He fell. He fucking fell off the bridge.”
Dayn’s eyes flared, then his expression smoothed out. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You lying piece of shi—”
“Basque, stand down.” Serath’s voice wrapped around my rage, wrangling it into submission against my will.
He was here. Oh gods, he was here, and my body was torn between throwing itself at him and wailing or attacking Dayn again. But beating on the goyle wouldn’t bring Bax back. It wouldn’t reveal Dayn’s dark soul. All it would do was make me look like a hysterical female.
I exhaled through my nose and sucked in a deep breath, stepping away from Dayn. My back hit a solid chest, and Serath’s scent filled my head. He didn’t touch me. Didn’t need to. This contact, this was enough to ground me.
“Are you taking on insane elites now?” Dayn sneered. “She probably murdered Bax. Pushed him off this bridge she’s yelling about.”
Serath’s chest vibrated against my back, a warning to Dayn that the stupid goyle couldn’t hear. I pressed against him, letting him know I had this under control now.
A moment ago, I’d have happily launched myself at Dayn and clawed out his eyes, but now, with Serath here, my senses were clear and my emotions cold and calm.
I injected that ice into my tone now. “You’re a worm, Dayn—digging up information on your fellow cadets and using it to control them. Bax died to protect a secret you were threatening to spread. He died because he was protecting someone he loved, and that…that’s on you.” I allowed the corner of my mouth to turn up. “I hope you sleep well at night.”
I turned on my heel and strode away. No direction in mind, just away, because if I didn’t, I might lose my grip on this cold, calm façade and break his nose after all.
* * *
Sharand the others caught up with me by the dorms. My feet had taken me toward what my brain obviously considered home now, except…tonight I’d be sleeping in the observatory under the same roof as Serath. I wasn’t sure I had the emotional strength to fight my instincts tonight. The primal need to seek the comfort in his company would be too great.
We trooped into the kitchens together, taking our regular seats on autopilot. Curi joined us a moment later and put the coffee machine on. His dark eyes glittered with anger, and there was a tic in his jaw as he grabbed mugs off the shelf. He didn’t ask if we wanted a drink, just made them.
I slumped in my seat. “He fell into the chasm. He fell right in front of me. He fucking died because he was so focused on stopping me from getting back.”
“And he told you Dayn asked him to do that?” Palia asked.
“Yeah. He did. I told him it wouldn’t matter. Someone would come for me because of the elite thing, but he said he’d tell them I died.”
I filled them in on what happened at the river, the ledge, and then the bridge. “He didn’t need to die. We would have made it back together. He just kept shaking that bridge, wanting to throw me off it, and then when I made it to the other side, he lost focus and…” I shook my head. “He was a decent guy.”
“Dayn doesn’t deserve to be a guardian,” Ginia said. “He has no honor.”
