Page 17 of The Stone Curse
The two factions of graynites, Ignus’s agenda—neither would matter once the alpha who kept them all alive was dead.
And if I could strike the killing blow, then maybe I’d finally find inner peace. Maybe Serath’s soul, wherever it was, would find peace also.
CHAPTER 6
Iwoke in a cold sweat, heart pounding like I’d been sprinting.
The image of the moon filled my mind for a moment, bright, dazzling, and almost full, but the night was long gone. I’d watched it die. Watched the gray haze of dawn before falling into a deep slumber. But only four hours had passed, and I was wide awake, my body buzzing for action.
I’d dreamed of the moon, and that was bad. It had to be bad, right? Because the last sidhe moon had seen me sleepwalk into the forest, pheromones spiking to attract goyle males. It had left me hungry for Serath and only him. The next time the needing had hit me, I’d begged Curi to fuck me. Thank goodness he hadn’t taken me up on my demand, realizing that I wasn’t myself. But we still weren’t sure if that episode was related to the fated mate bond, my fae blood, or to something that Prasan may have done.
Willowman had found herbs in Prasan’s room, a tincture that might be able to loosen inhibitions, and since Prasan had cooked that night, then been so against me going out, maybe…maybe he’d wanted Serath and me to consummate. It would, after all, have resulted in my death and driven Serath mad.
Mission accomplished.
But nothing was certain. We’d know for sure in a few days as the sidhe moon grew closer. Willowman had promised to try to come up with a solution, some concoction to help temper my needing, and since Mirrowind was back in a couple of days, she might be able to help us. The woman was fae and might know what kind of fae I was descended from.
But if neither of them could help, then what?
What would I do to quell the hunger?
I couldn’t allow it to ruin my chances of passing the elite trial, which meant there was only one way to soothe it, and that was to give it what it wanted.
Satiation.
Serath had succeeded in calming it without consummation, but he’d been my mate. I wasn’t sure that the needing would accept the same methods from a goyle without that kind of connection to me.
Which meant…
No. I wouldn’t think about that. Instead, I’d put my energy into hoping that the needing was absent. That it had all been a trick of a tincture. That without Serath to fuel it, my desire would remain dead.
Yes, all I could do was hope.
Hope and ignore the prickling beneath my skin.
Gone werethe days of needing more sleep. If anything, I seemed to require less. I’d gotten used to retiring before the others, but now I walked the corridors like a ghost while the academy slept.
Speaking of ghosts, it was time to check on Melanie again.
The specter had been absent since before the cadet exams, but I was certain she was still around.
Maybe the crystals that Derek had gotten off Yarrow were helping. The crystals were supposed to exude energy vibrations that might help Melanie to manifest if she was struggling to do so. I considered waking Derek to come with me, but he was still developing, and his sleep was important.
I grabbed the key to my old dorm room and stepped out the door, smack bang into Curi’s solid chest.
He grabbed my arms to steady me. “Hey.” His voice was grumbly and gruff from sleep. “I thought I heard you moving about.”
His eyes were still puffy, telling me he needed more shuteye. “You don’t have to be up just because I am.”
He stretched and yawned. “Nope. I’m wide awake now. Where are we headed?”
He was too sweet to me. “You don’t need to hang with me all the time, Curi. I’m okay. I’m not going to fall apart.”
He gave me a wry smile and slung his arm around my shoulder, drawing me away from my room. “Maybe Ilikehanging with you.”
“I’ve hardly been fun to be around.”
“I’ve heard losing your fated mate can do that to a goyle,” he said lightly.
