Page 44 of The Stone Secret
“You did well,” Prasan said.
I let out a rough chuckle. “That obvious?”
“The pheromones in here are thick,” Orix said. “Even Taz can’t stomach them.”
A tiny meow alerted me to the little feline hiding under the table. He popped his head out and peered up at me inquisitively.
“Hey, my name’s Cam. It’s nice to meet you, Taz.”
Taz bumped his head against my leg and purred loudly.
“Cats are great judges of character,” Orix said. “The fact he likes you means you’ll fit into the team just fine.”
“Are you glad you didn’t kill me now?”
Orix rolled his eyes. “Are you ever going to let that slide?”
“Probably not.”
“I’ll get dessert,” Selas said. “Cam, would you like to help?”
“Sure.”
I joined her in the kitchen, where she retrieved a large cheesecake from the fridge. “I’m sorry if I upset you earlier.”
“Don’t be. You’re a guardian. An elite. You have a job to do, and I get that. But I wasn’t born into this. I’m a hunter at heart. We kill the bad shit, but we also do our best to save the good.”
“But it’s more than that with this ghost, isn’t it? You’ve grown attached.”
“Impossible not to. She’s a sweetheart…at least she was. Besides, if we fix her, we can find out who messed with her in the first place.”
“You think that person might be our mole?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, but we can look into that once we have his or her identity.”
“I should have thought of that.” A small smile lifted her lips. “A little hard to focus with all the phero—”
“Please. Don’t.” I groaned. “I hate that word.”
She chuckled. “If anyone can fix Melanie, it’s Willowman.” She paused in her slicing. “He’s a great guy too. Attentive. Caring. Powerful. You’ll enjoy your time with him,andhe’snota tutor, so the official no fraternization rule doesn’t apply.”
Wait…was she… “Are you trying to set me up?”
She sighed and turned to face me. “You don’t have to be a nun just because you can’t act on your fated bond with Serath.”
“That’s not what you said the other day.”
“I know, but I was wrong. You could be stuck with us here for a long time.”
“But when Romi gets back, then…” The look on her face made my stomach hurt. “You don’t think we’ll get him back.”
“It’s not that, Cam. I’m more worried about what state he’ll be in when we do.”
She thought he’d be messed up like Varsa. Heck, I’d be lying if I said the thought hadn’t crossed my mind; I’d just buried it, though.
“We’re going to do everything in our power to save him,” Selas said. “But to do that, we need you and Serath to be focused.”
And she thought all ungratified sexual tension would cause a problem. Her logic was sound, but the thought of being intimate with any male other than Serath made me feel ill. “I don’t want anyone else.”
