Page 5 of The Stone Secret
“Cam?” Touron nudged me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” But now that the thought was in my head, I couldn’t shake it. I needed to speak to Serath.
“You should speak to Curi,” Sharniza said.
“Huh?”
“About playing your lover. We could bump into Levi at any moment.”
“I need to speak to Serath first and let him know what I’ve planned.”
“The elites will probably still be asleep,” Palia pointed out. “Your initiate training is at five p.m., isn’t it?”
She had a point. Levi was a halfblood like me and a new cadet. He might not be housed in this dorm, but he could be in the same class as us… “You’re right. I’ll speak to Curi now.”
“We have class in an hour,” Palia said. “Supernatural Defense, so be quick.”
Speaking to Serath would have to wait. I had a blue-haired gargoyle to charm.
* * *
Curi yankedopen his door on my third knock and then glared down his nose at me. “When someone doesn’t answer their door, it usually means they don’t want company,” he growled.
“Well, you answered the door so…” I ducked under his arm and into the room.
A fresh linen scent hit me, clean and pleasing.
“What are you doing?” He sounded genuinely perplexed.
Wow, his room was neat as a pin.
“Walker!”
I spun to face him. “I need your help.”
“No.”
“No? You haven’t even heard what I want.”
“I don’t need to.” He crossed his arms and shook his head slightly. “I guess this is my own fault. I bail you out twice and you think we’re friends.”
“Ouch.”
His eyes narrowed. “We arenotfriends, Walker. You’re a liability. Likely to get yourself fucked, killed, or both. You don’t belong here, and the sooner you take Mistress Carter up on her offer to bail, the better.”
I guessed the news of my promotion to Basque heir hadn’t gotten out yet. Perfect. I could use it to my advantage.
“Get out, Walker.” He stepped away from the door and glared at me pointedly.
“Basque.”
“What?”
“My name’s not Walker, it’s Basque.” Was it wrong to enjoy the look of shock on his face? But in the next moment, his eyes narrowed to slits of disbelief.
“Bullshit.”
“Nope. It’ll be all over campus soon enough. I’m Lionel Basque’s dirty little secret, and I’ll be taking the elite trial in a few weeks.”
