Page 63 of The Stone Curse
“I wanted to apologize for earlier, at the tower,” Levi said. “I was an ass. Pushy and jealous. I had no right to be. I was selfish, focusing on my insecurities instead of supporting you.”
Well. I hadn’t expected that. “It’s okay. I understand. If roles had been reversed, I probably would have reacted the same.”
“No, Cam, you wouldn’t have. Because that isn’t who you are. You don’t have a selfish bone in your body.”
“I beg to differ. Recently, everything I do feels selfish, and my mind walk confirms it.”
His brow crinkled. “Your fears and doubts aren’t always real, Cameron. They aren’t always valid. It’s up to you to weed out what is true and what is false and find the balance that will allow you to be the best version of yourself. Our past experiences don’t have to define us.” He smiled wryly. “We can take away from them what serves to make us better people and leave the chaff behind.”
I wanted so desperately to believe that, but… “And what if we can’t? What ifIcan’t?”
His smile fell. “Then you’ll fail. It’s as simple as that.”
Another round of mind walking,another failure, and two hours of physical training later, we were free to get on with the rest of our day. My limbs had that satisfying ache that came from a good workout, and my head felt a little fuzzy, the kind of sensation that said I’d done a ton of mental acrobatics too. All in all, I’d have been happy to head back to the tower, climb into bed, and dream my way to Serath. But if I was going to save him, then dreams would have to wait. There was work to be done.
Shar dabbed at her brow. “Are you going to see Mirrowind?”
“Yeah. I’m going to shower and change first.” I lifted my armpit and sniffed. “Definitely.”
“We’ll come with you,” Derek said.
I slid a glance Curi’s way, waiting, hoping that he’d offer to come with, but he wasn’t on his mat; he was already at the door, then gone.
“You should talk to him,” Shar said softly.
“Why should she?” Levi said from the bench press across the room. “He’s acting like a child.”
“You don’t know what he feels,” Derek said.
He was right. We didn’t. Everyone had said their piece. Everyone except Curi. “I’ll meet you guys at the tower.”
I hurried outside and spotted Curi walking toward the tower. “Curi! Wait!” I jogged to catch up, and he slowed his pace to let me. “Can we talk?”
“We don’t have to do this, Cam. We’re good. Everything is good.”
“If everything was good, you wouldn’t be avoiding me.”
“I’m not. I…Look, I just, I need a little space, okay?”
The yawning pit inside me grew wider. “Oh…Of course. I…I’m sorry. Of course you do. After what I asked you to do—” I was an idiot. Of course, he was upset.
“This isn’t about that.” He came to halt and turned to face me. “The mind walk today was…difficult, and it centered on you. I just need…I need a little space today. Okay?”
I’d been in his mind walk? “Did I hurt you? Did I hurt you in the mind walk?”
“No, Cameron. I hurt myself.”
Because of me…He hurt because of me. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. It isn’t real.”
“But it feels real.”
“Yeah.” He reached out to touch my cheek but thought better of it and pulled back his hand. “Caramel lattes tomorrow morning and you can fill me in on whatever Mirrowind says today.”
I nodded, unable to speak past the stupid lump in my throat.
He broke away and jogged toward the tower, beautiful blue hair gleaming in the red rays of the setting sun, and even though I was headed there too, I waited for a couple of minutes before following.
