Page 22 of The Stone Survival
Everyone stopped talking and stared.
Unabashedly.
Serath’s grip on my hand tightened, and even though he seemed outwardly unaffected, I could sense his disquiet.
“What you starin’ at, eh?” a voice boomed from across the room.
I tracked it and found Farnell seated in a dark corner, coffee cup in hand. He stood slowly, unfurling his stocky frame, and glared at the cadets. “Get back to your meals or get the fuck out.”
I bit back a smile as the cadets quickly looked anywhere but at us, and the hum of conversation filled the room once more. Farnell had the training master bark down to a fine art.
Serath’s grip on me relaxed as Farnell approached us. His stern face was a conflict of emotions as he took in his adopted son. “You good?”
“I’m good.” Serath’s voice cracked with emotion. He cleared his throat. “Glad to be back.”
Farnell nodded, his eyes bright with a sheen of moisture. “You come and see me. I’m off this afternoon.”
“I will,” Serath said.
He patted Serath on the shoulder, then looked at me. “Thank you for not giving up on him.” He patted Serath’s shoulder again, then walked out of the café.
No one looked our way as we crossed to the counter to order. We grabbed our drinks, some sandwiches and pastries, and took a table by the window.
This was something that I’d ached to do with him for the longest time, but today it felt all wrong. The vibe in the room was off, and I wasn’t sure what was worse, being deliberately ignored or openly stared at.
Serath moved his chair around the table so that he was closer to me. “Relax. It’s just you and me.” He nudged my chin up and kissed me, a soft, lingering kiss that melted the knots in my chest and left me breathless. “I’ve wanted to do this with you ever since we met. To not hide. To simply be us.”
The bond between us throbbed and warmed. “Me too.”
He tore off a bit of pastry and held it to my lips. “Try this.”
I allowed him to feed me, vision blurring again because this…this was bliss. His gaze softened, fingers brushing my jaw.
“I love you, Cameron. And everything is going to work out. I promise.”
It wasn’t a promise he should make, but his confidence boosted mine, bringing a smile to my face. “I believe you. And…I also believe that you should feed me the rest of that pastry and grab some more because it’s bloody delicious.”
The next hour was spent in a bubble of romance where no one and nothing else mattered but us. I wrung every iota of joy from it because it might be the only chance we got to just ‘be’ before the faction finally made their move.
CHAPTER 11
LEVI
Irealize two minutes into the run that my body is too tapped out for a decent pace and drop into a jog then to a walk.
Curi slows his pace, then stops to allow me to catch up. “You not feeling it?”
My bones ache as if to illustrate how much I’m not feeling it. “Honestly, I think I’m just tired. But you go ahead.”
He looks up at the canopy, face bathed in dashes of sunlight, then shakes his head.
“Nah. Not feeling it either, to be honest.”
I glance back down the trail that leads out of the forest, and the thought of going back to the tower, back to watching Cameron in her bubble with Serath makes my stomach hurt. “You want to walk for a bit?”
Curi contemplates, his expression echoing my thought of a moment ago. “Yeah, yeah, let’s walk.”
A deep silence swells between us, and I can feel him chewing over his thoughts. Bracken crunches beneath my boots, and crisp morning air stings my nostrils. This should be invigorating.Cleansing. But disquiet and conflict fill me. Cameron, Cameron, Cameron…She’s all I’ve thought about for the past few weeks. Wanting to see her smile. Wanting her to be truly happy, and now that she is, there’s a hollow pit in my belly.
