Page 55 of The Stone Curse
Yarrow held it up to the light, and the sheen on its surface flattened out and went matte, almost as if it was absorbing the light. “We found this beneath your bed. This particular crystal absorbs energy and vibrations. I believe it was negating the effects of the crystals we gave you and hastening Melanie’s unraveling.”
“You think someone planted it, don’t you?” Touron said.
But who? “Who has access to my room and to this kind of crystal?”
“I could speculate,” Yarrow said crisply, “but I would rather prove my theory. And we will do so, once Mirrowind returns tomorrow.”
“She can help,” Flora continued. “She has an artifact that can transport certain types of energy. If she can move Melanie here, then we can put her in the room that we housed Derek in. It’s a revitalizing and healing space, and it should help her to recover.”
I looked from Flora to Yarrow. “So it’s not too late?”
“No,” Yarrow said. “Not too late. But you need to keep this plan between us. Someone found out what we were doing with Melanie and tried to thwart our plan, and that same someone is likely responsible for the attack on Flora and Melanie. If we want to discover their identity, then we need to keep this plan a secret. The less people that know, the better.”
Whoever it was could have been working with Prasan and the graynites, and we were one step closer to catching them.
CHAPTER 23
The moon was partially hidden behind a cloud when we left the main building with Taz in tow. The feline hadn’t been too eager to leave the cozy confines of Yarrow’s quarters and had waited until we were out the door to shoot after us.
He trailed behind us now, vanishing into the underbrush only to pop out ahead of us, then wait for us to catch up before trailing us once more…or stalking…Maybe he was stalking. Either way, it seemed to be a game to him, and it was kind of sweet.
“I don’t like keeping this Melanie thing from the others,” Touron said as we approached the elite tower.
“I know, it feels as if we don’t trust them. But it’s better this way. The more people that know, the more likely that the information will spread, even inadvertently. We can tell them once Melanie’s recovered enough to speak to us.”
He unlocked the door and held it open for me, but Taz dashed in first and vanished up the stairs. “You need to make sure you speak to Mirrowind about your sidhe moon problem too.”
Wait, had I told him about that? No…I’d told Shar and Derek. “You see, this is what I mean about information being spread.”
He shrugged. “It’s hardly the same. We all care about you and want to help you. I just can’t…” He looked down at my crotch. “Do that for you.”
I hid my smile behind a frown. “Dothat?”
Twin spots of color bloomed high on his cheeks. “You know what I mean.”
I leaned closer and stage-whispered, “Sex?”
“Urgh.” He shuddered. “Stop.”
A giggle climbed up my throat. “I love you, Tor.”
He slung an arm around my shoulder. “I love you too, Cam. In a totally platonic, brotherly, non-sexy way.”
The twins,Shar, and Derek were deep into a movie where a couple danced on screen, twirling, bodies indecently close. There was no sign of Levi, Curi, or Orix.
Shar spotted us and grabbed the remote to pause the movie, leaving the characters mid hip grind.
“How’d it go with Yarrow?” Shar asked.
“He wasn’t there,” Touron lied for us both.
“But you managed to pick up Taz?” Shar asked, glancing at the door behind us where the feline now sat watching us with his intelligent peridot eyes.
“Oh, yeah, Flora let us in,” Tor said quickly with a light chuckle that sounded fake.
Shar frowned. “You’re lying. Why are you lying?”
Touron’s eyes flew wide. “How dare you suggest such a thing. I’ll have you know I am no liar.”
