Page 53 of The Stone Curse
“I think you have the right to hope.”
Hope, that fickle yet insidious bitch, flared to life in my chest. There was no body, and the dream…the dream had felt so real, not to mention the red bench. How could I have known about it even subconsciously without ever having seen it?
“Next time you dream of him, don’t fight it,” Touron said, eyes bright. “Ask him where he is. Ask him…ask him if he’s alive.”
My heart leapt, and Serath’s voice filled my mind, a memory from the dream, forgotten up until now.Look at me, I’m here?—
Oh god. Could it be true? Was Serath alive?
CHAPTER 21
SERATH
Asoft beep and click breaks the silence of my prison, then light spills into the room. I close my eyes. They can’t know that I’m conscious. Not yet.
I need time.
Time to reach her. Time to convince her.
“How is he doing?” a cultured male voice asks.
“Wounds were bad, but he’s healed nicely,” another male voice, this one sounding younger, says.
“Strong enough to begin the procedure?”
“I believe so. We can start tomorrow.”
“Good. The sooner we complete the conversion, the better. The powers that be are beginning to get antsy.”
“Do they want another incident like the Basque boy?” There’s a bite to the young male’s voice.
Romi? They’re talking about Romi…
“I raised this precise point. The only reason they’ve been agreeable to taking it slow with this one. How is Basque doing?”
“He’s viable…if contained. We’re working on compliance.”
“Good, good,” the older male says. “Give this one another day, then start the procedure. Take it slow and increase the pain. We need to ensure that?—”
“I know how to do my job.”
“So you’ve extracted the female’s pheromones from the items provided?”
“Of course I have.”
“Good, that should make the process smoother.”
The door clangs shut, and my heart squeezes painfully in my chest because I’m running out of time.
CHAPTER 22
CAMERON
Ihadn’t intended to lead with my new conviction that Serath was alive, but as soon as Yarrow let me into the tutor’s quarters, that’s exactly what I did. I relayed my dream and what Serath had said and explained the whole red bench theory because that bench was the most grounding factor.
Yarrow listened without interruption, his face giving nothing away.
I finished and waited for his verdict. When it didn’t come immediately, I couldn’t help but prompt, “So he could be alive, right?”
