Page 4 of The Stone Secret
“If he takes it with grace, then you can tell him the truth,” Ginia said. “You’ll know that he won’t go and spill your secret in a fit of jealous rage.”
It looked like the team had made up their minds, and I had to agree that there was nothing wrong with caution. Telling Levi that I wasn’t in love with him wouldn’t be enough. Telling him I was with someone else might be, and yes, I was curious to see how he’d take it. Curious to know if I could bring him into the circle of trust that had organically formed around me.
But our plan hinged on an angry blue-haired goyle’s cooperation. “And what about Curi? You think he’s going to just roll over and agree to play fake boyfriend?”
“I have a sneaky suspicion that Curi is more of a gentleman than he likes people to know,” Shar said. “I think if you tell him you need help getting rid of Levi, then he’ll do it.”
“And Serath?”
The room went silent. Yeah, that shut them all up. My fated mate would not take kindly to any male playing happy families with me.
“If it keeps you safe…” Touron said. “You can tell Serath the plan. Get him on board.”
I exhaled and dropped my head onto the table. “Fine. We’ll do it your way. Test how Levi reacts andonlytell him the truth if he doesn’t go all psycho.”
Shar patted my back. “Good girl.”
Serath and I would be spending a lot of time together soon, seeing as my sire, Lionel Basque, had put him in charge of training me for the elite trial. My stomach trembled. Yeah, while my friends prepared for the initiation tests, I’d be training hard for the elite one, bypassing the initiation all together. Ihadto pass because without me the elite team wouldn’t be able to get to Romi. Without me, there was no way to take down the graynite alpha.
I couldn’t fail.
I wouldn’t.
CHAPTER2
Brown envelopes waited for each of us on the table by the exit.
“New timetables!” Palia said, way too excited about the fact.
Ginia smiled indulgently. “You are such a nerd.”
Palia ignored her, too busy poring over the classes. “The new class is Supernatural Defense.”
“I thought Arcana did that.” Ginia looked confused.
“Aren’t you going to open yours?” Shar asked. “We might still have some classes together.”
“I doubt that. They’ll probably have me in physical training every day.” Basque wanted me fast-tracked to elite, and with the elite test happening in less than six weeks, I probably wasn’t going to have much time for anything else. But I drew out the neat sheet of paper and studied the grid.
“You have Arcana and Supernatural Defense with us,” Palia said, peering over my shoulder. “Herbology?” She made a what-the-fuck face.
“I asked Willowman to teach me how to make tinctures and stuff.” The rest of my sessions were blocked out in red and blue. Blue for initiate training ground and red for instructor Halle. There was a lot of instructor Halle on the sheet, but then I was training to take the elite trial. A trial unique to the five bloodlines. My stomach fluttered at the thought of the epic gargoyle. We’d be alone…touching, because you had to touch to practice hand-to-hand.
Fuck, what was I thinking? Nothing could matter but passing the test. I needed to be focused if I was going to learn anything, which meant that the mate bond between Serath and me couldn’t be a distraction.
“We have extra training too,” Touron said.
“Cadet exams are in three weeks,” Sharniza said. “They’ll be amping up the physicals.”
“Then we’ll join you in initiate training,” Touron nudged, his forest-green eyes twinkling.
“You better.” I swept my gaze over them all. “All of you need to make it.” I wouldn’t be taking the cadet exam. They’d skipped me over it and placed me with the initiates. My friends would join me soon, once they’d passed the cadet exams.
A solemn silence fell over us because we all knew that there was a strong possibility that not everyone would pass and make it to initiate training. “Does anyone know what it entails? The exam?”
“No,” Palia said. “And believe me, I’ve tried to find out, but the cadets who make it through are sworn to secrecy.”
And I’d be on the same training ground as those cadets. Cadets who’d survived. Who’d earned their place. Could I really be prepared for elite if I didn’t earn it?
