Page 1 of The Stone Survival
CHAPTER 1
CAMERON
Ivor Basque cut an intimidating figure against the backdrop of dark wooden bookshelves and leather-bound spines. And as his expectant scrutiny of me intensified, his words echoed in my head.
“My name is Ivor Basque, and I am your biological father.”
“Cameron?” His brow wrinkled in concern.
This conversation, my being here, everything was surreal. “I need a moment.”
He nodded curtly. “Of course. I’m glad that you’re taking this so well. It will make the rest easier. Have a seat. I’ll get you some water.”
I parked my ass on the edge of the nearest chair and took the bottle of water he produced as if out of nowhere. A few glugs cleared my head, and the full impact of his words hit.
His claim was impossible. He couldn’t be my father. Lionel was my father. What the heck was I doing even entertaining this shit?
My face must have reflected my thoughts because he pressed his lips together with a sigh. “Ah, I suppose that reaction is more realistic. I have a lot of explaining to do. Will you hear me out?”
“It’s not like I can make a run for it now, is it?”
He cracked a smile. “No. No it isn’t. I suppose one could say that you’re acaptiveaudience.”
Was he seriously making puns right now?
“I’m sorry. I…um…I make jokes when I’m uncomfortable.”
“Imakeyouuncomfortable? You’re the leader of a graynite army.”
“I’m also a father who’s properly meeting his daughter for the first time.”
He spoke with a sincere tone of vulnerability that brought me up short for a moment. Either he was an excellent actor, or he was telling the truth, as far as he believed it to be anyway. “The whole father-daughter thing is still up for debate. Explain it to me. Why would you think I’m related to you in any way?”
He drew up a chair and sat opposite me, leaning forward so his forearms rested on his thighs. “I know you’re my daughter, just as I know the tempo of my own heartbeat.”
My scalp prickled, sensing the conviction in his words, but I narrowed my eyes. “I’m going to need a little more than that. A paternity test should do.”
“That can be arranged, although it would take some time. In the meanwhile, allow me to convince you of the truth.”
“I’m listening…” His eyes were the same shade of gray as mine, and the arch of his brows…No, that didn’t mean a thing.
“I didn’t know you existed until almost sixteen years ago when I felt your presence. I tried to reach out to you. To connect with your mind, but you were a child, and you were afraid. You blocked me out.”
Wait… “I had nightmares…Youwere the nightmare man?”
He winced. “I frightened you. I should have been more careful. I’m sorry.”
There was no way he could have known about my nightmares. So if he did, then?—
“I tried again and again to reach you after that but to no avail. You’d hidden yourself from me somehow.”
“Derek.”
“Your shield. Of course, that would make sense.”
But Derek was missing right now. He’d vanished during the fight with the faction graynites. He’d shifted into chimera form to save me, and then…then he’d disappeared.
Adaline, Levi’s mother, warned us that the chimera form was unstable, and to use it would leave us unable to shift, but unlike the others, my chimera was linked to my shield, and using it had taken Derek away from me.
