Page 75 of The Stone Secret
“Cameron! Cameron, wait! Let’s talk about thi—”
I slammed the outer door on his words and then broke into a sprint toward the dorms. I’d wait there until it was time for training. It was safe there. No Levi. No Serath. No stress.
I was so done with males right now.
CHAPTER30
DEREK
Cameron isn’t here. She didn’t come, and this golden-eyed man is ordering me to dispense our power. To waste it on an empty room.
This makes no sense to me. “There is no threat here. Cameron is safe.”
“I know,” he says. “But we need to exercise your ability so that you can harness your power better to protect her.”
“But she isn’t here.” I’m confused. “Why isn’t she here?”
“Cameron is training with the elites, and this isyourtraining.”
They want me to waste our power simply to show them that I can. I look to Sharniza. “I don’t want to waste our power.”
“Derek,” the golden-eyed man says. “Listen to me. The power isyoursto wield. Cameron gifted it to you when she created you. You can use it to protect her if you want, but you can also use it at will. I’m here to teach you how.”
“There is no need to use the power if Cameron is not in danger.”
“But what if she is and doesn’t realize it?”
“But how would she not know?” He makes no sense. “Cameronalwaysknows.”
The man looks annoyed with me. I don’t care about his feelings, though. I only care about Cameron’s and now Sharniza’s, a little. I can’t stop looking at her. She is so pretty and kind. She shines with goodness and—
“Derek, are you listening to me?” the man asks.
“No. I was thinking.”
“What were you thinking?”
My neck feels warmer as an unfamiliar emotion fills me. Wait…is this annoyance? Am I annoyed? Yes. Yes, I am. I can feel the heat coming out of my eyes when I look at him, and my voice also comes out deeper. “My thoughts are private.”
He takes a step back. I’ve scared him. I didn’t mean to, but if it stops him pushing me, then so be it.
“Derek, you’re a being in your own right,” he says. “You can protect Cameron, but you can also have control over the power you wield and use it whenever you feel necessary.”
“I use it to protect Cameron. We can train when she gets here.” I wish she was here. I miss her. The warm annoyance is replaced by the slightly hollow feeling that being away from Cameron spawns.
“Yarrow, can I have a word please?” Sharniza says.
“Of course,” the golden-eyed, bossy man says.
Yarrow, like Marrow, or Barrow. Hmmmm…
SHARNIZA
“You’re wrong, you know.”
“About what?” Yarrow asks.
“About Cam and Derek. She doesn’t stifle his growth. She never has. She makes him happy.” Yarrow looks over at Derek sitting on the bench with his head bowed, deep in thought. “Right now, Derek thinks Cameron doesn’t care about him. That he isn’t important enough for her to be here.”
