Page 18 of The Stone Curse
I paused in my step and arched a brow at him. “Did you just make a joke about my loss?”
He winced. “Too soon?”
Maybe it was too soon. Maybe it was highly inappropriate, but the fact he was doing it made me feel…normal. No more kid gloves.
Just teammates preparing for the fight of our lives. “Thank you.”
He leaned in and dropped a kiss on my head. “So where are we headed?”
“To check on Melanie.”
He stifled another yawn. “You can buy me coffee on the way.”
“You know,caramel lattes aren’t half bad.” I took another sip. “Yep, I think I’m a convert now.”
“I told you, best beverage.” He took a long gulp of his and smacked his lips.
Stone Comfort had been empty so we’d been served quickly, but in a couple of hours the place would be teeming with goyles eager for breakfast. Although each dorm had a kitchen, cooking wasn’t something many of the cadets enjoyed doing. To be honest, if I hadn’t met Shar, Tour, and the twins, I probably wouldn’t be into it either. Not that I cooked that often. Touron took on most of the culinary roles, and now Curi too.
I was lucky to have them.
We entered our old dorm, and nostalgia washed over me. “I miss this place.”
“Elite tower has better mattresses,” Curi replied.
“You think?”
“Definitely.”
The dorm was quiet, the halls shrouded in gray light. Most of the goyles would still be asleep, so we made our way silently to my old room.
It was strange being back here. In the grand scheme of things, I’d hardly spent much time in this space, but it had been home for a while. There were memories here, even if the bedwas stripped bare and every surface lightly gathering dust. Even though it looked like a room fit for a ghost.
Curi closed the door behind us. “Now what?”
“Now we wait. See if she shows. Melanie?”
Several crystals dotted the room, an effort to provide Melanie with an energy source if she was struggling to manifest.
I ventured farther into the room. “Melanie, are you here? If you’re here, show me a sign.”
Silence was my only answer. I parked my ass on the edge of the mattress. “I usually wait a few minutes. Just in case.”
Curi joined me. “This really matters to you. Why?”
“You know she helped me…to get information about Romi from the secure files…” He nodded. “Yeah, well something happened to her. Something that messed her up.” I’d been so wrapped up in my grief that I’d put off helping her. “I spoke to Flora a couple of days ago about what happened. She can’t remember a thing, except…she said she has this image of golden eyes in her head. But not witch eyes, more…glowing.”
“And that’s all she recalls?”
“Yes. Not much to go on.”
“No. But if we can help Melanie, then maybe she can tell us more. This feels like too much of a loose end to leave dangling, especially after what happened with Prasan. This might be unrelated to everything, but then it may not. Either way, Melanie doesn’t deserve to be lost like this.” My breath misted in front of my face. “Temperature drop.”
“She’s here?”
“I think so. Melanie? Melanie, can you hear me? Can you manifest?” Goosebumps rippled up my arm. “That’s it. You’re doing great. Use the energy from the crystals. Channel from us if you need it. ”
Curi shivered. “Fuck, it’s freezing in here now.”
