Page 33 of The Stone Curse
“I feel tingling,” Derek said. “But no pain.”
Levi hadn’t been very communicative since leaving the academy. I climbed into the passenger seat.
“You okay?”
“Not really.”
“What’s wrong?”
His jaw tightened in that way I recognized when he was deliberating his words. “I’m not sure my father was telling the truth. I think he knew about the deep dive.”
“Why didn’t you confront him?”
“If heislying to me, if he’s…hiding things, then I don’t want him to know that I’m on to him. I need to play the trusting son.”
“But you don’t trust him now?”
“I haven’t spent much time with him. Not face-to-face. Not until recently, and now that I have…Cameron, I have warning bells going off inside me.”
Finally. He was seeing his sire for what he was: the person who’d orchestrated his brother’s and sister-in-law’s deaths and abandoned his nephew. It was time that Levi knew the truth. “He didn’t look for Serath, you know? He sent him away. Put him in an orphanage and made sure that his records went missing. Farnell found Serath by accident. He took him in.”
A muscle in Levi’s jaw jumped. “A few days ago, I wouldn’t have believed you, but now…”
“There’s more. Serath believed that your father had something to do with his parents’ deaths.”
He threw a sharp glance my way before focusing on the road again. “I may not trust what my father said back in Carter’s office, but I can’t allow myself to believe he could be a murderer. Not his own brother.”
But the tension around his eyes told me differently, which was good because I hadn’t believed a word that came out of Ulrickson’s mouth.
“We’re here,” Levi said. “That must be it.”
Curi hung over the back of my seat, his cheek close to my head. “Mistlegate population 550/450. Clever.”
“Step on the gas, Levi,” Orix said. “I need to breathe.”
We accelerated over the town line and into Mistlegate proper.
Crossingthe halfway point of the town was surreal. Going from a winter scape to summer in a roll of a tire was enough to make my head spin. But the itch under my skin abated, and the band around my chest eased, allowing me to take a full, satisfying breath.
“Fuck, that’s better,” Curi growled.
“No more tingles,” Derek said.
“I don’t think I like being mundane,” Palia said.
“Me either,” Ginia replied.
“Which way?” Levi asked Orix.
“I’m not sure. Park and I’ll go get directions.”
Levi brought the van to a halt against the curb, and Orix climbed out and stretched. The others followed, eager to be outof the tin can. Derek looked torn, glancing from Willowman to the freedom of the street.
I smiled down at him. “Go stretch your legs. I’ll keep an eye on him.”
“You sure, my Cameron?”
“Positive.”
