Chapter 2
B rown envelopes waited for each of us on the table by the exit.
“New timetables!” Palia said, way too excited about the fact.
Ginia smiled indulgently. “You are such a nerd.”
Palia ignored her, too busy poring over the classes. “The new class is Supernatural Defense.”
“I thought Arcana did that.” Ginia looked confused.
“Aren’t you going to open yours?” Shar asked. “We might still have some classes together.”
“I doubt that. They’ll probably have me in physical training every day.” Basque wanted me fast-tracked to elite, and with the elite test happening in less than six weeks, I probably wasn’t going to have much time for anything else. But I drew out the neat sheet of paper and studied the grid.
“You have Arcana and Supernatural Defense with us,” Palia said, peering over my shoulder. “Herbology?” She made a what-the-fuck face.
“I asked Willowman to teach me how to make tinctures and stuff.” The rest of my sessions were blocked out in red and blue.
Blue for initiate training ground and red for instructor Halle.
There was a lot of instructor Halle on the sheet, but then I was training to take the elite trial.
A trial unique to the five bloodlines. My stomach fluttered at the thought of the epic gargoyle.
We’d be alone…touching, because you had to touch to practice hand-to-hand.
Fuck, what was I thinking? Nothing could matter but passing the test. I needed to be focused if I was going to learn anything, which meant that the mate bond between Serath and me couldn’t be a distraction.
“We have extra training too,” Touron said.
“Cadet exams are in three weeks,” Sharniza said. “They’ll be amping up the physicals.”
“Then we’ll join you in initiate training,” Touron nudged, his forest-green eyes twinkling.
“You better.” I swept my gaze over them all. “All of you need to make it.” I wouldn’t be taking the cadet exam. They’d skipped me over it and placed me with the initiates. My friends would join me soon, once they’d passed the cadet exams.
A solemn silence fell over us because we all knew that there was a strong possibility that not everyone would pass and make it to initiate training. “Does anyone know what it entails? The exam?”
“No,” Palia said. “And believe me, I’ve tried to find out, but the cadets who make it through are sworn to secrecy.”
And I’d be on the same training ground as those cadets. Cadets who’d survived. Who’d earned their place. Could I really be prepared for elite if I didn’t earn it?
“Cam?” Touron nudged me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” But now that the thought was in my head, I couldn’t shake it. I needed to speak to Serath.
“You should speak to Curi,” Sharniza said.
“Huh?”
“About playing your lover. We could bump into Levi at any moment.”
“I need to speak to Serath first and let him know what I’ve planned.”
“The elites will probably still be asleep,” Palia pointed out. “Your initiate training is at five p.m., isn’t it?”
She had a point. Levi was a halfblood like me and a new cadet. He might not be housed in this dorm, but he could be in the same class as us… “You’re right. I’ll speak to Curi now.”
“We have class in an hour,” Palia said. “Supernatural Defense, so be quick.”
Speaking to Serath would have to wait. I had a blue-haired gargoyle to charm.
* * *
Curi yanked open his door on my third knock and then glared down his nose at me. “When someone doesn’t answer their door, it usually means they don’t want company,” he growled.
“Well, you answered the door so…” I ducked under his arm and into the room.
A fresh linen scent hit me, clean and pleasing.
“What are you doing?” He sounded genuinely perplexed.
Wow, his room was neat as a pin.
“Walker!”
I spun to face him. “I need your help.”
“No.”
“No? You haven’t even heard what I want.”
“I don’t need to.” He crossed his arms and shook his head slightly. “I guess this is my own fault. I bail you out twice and you think we’re friends.”
“Ouch.”
His eyes narrowed. “We are not friends, Walker. You’re a liability. Likely to get yourself fucked, killed, or both. You don’t belong here, and the sooner you take Mistress Carter up on her offer to bail, the better.”
I guessed the news of my promotion to Basque heir hadn’t gotten out yet. Perfect. I could use it to my advantage.
“Get out, Walker.” He stepped away from the door and glared at me pointedly.
“Basque.”
“What?”
“My name’s not Walker, it’s Basque.” Was it wrong to enjoy the look of shock on his face? But in the next moment, his eyes narrowed to slits of disbelief.
“Bullshit.”
“Nope. It’ll be all over campus soon enough. I’m Lionel Basque’s dirty little secret, and I’ll be taking the elite trial in a few weeks.”
He absorbed this information in silence. Then he closed the door. “You came here to find out about your brother, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. I did.”
“What did you find out?”
Curi wasn’t in the circle of trust. “Nothing that wasn’t already common knowledge, but my sire found out I was here. They need a Basque to complete the elite team, and I’m the only adult Basque they have.”
“Well, that sucks for you. You won’t survive to initiate, never mind elite.”
No need to tell him that they planned to fast-track me because I planned to change that. “Maybe not, but I’m going to try. But that isn’t what I came here to discuss. I need your help with something…unrelated.”
He lifted his chin. “I’m listening.”
Smart. I was a Basque, and even if I might only be one for a short time, he knew better than to burn his bridges. “My ex is here. I broke up with him before I came, but he’s followed me, and I need him to understand that we’re over.”
His eyes narrowed. “Go on.”
“I need a fake boyfriend.” It sounded just as bad out loud as in my head.
His brows flicked up. “You want me to play your fake lover?”
Why did everyone keep saying lover? “ Boyfriend. My fake boyfriend . Just for a week or so.”
Curi dropped his arms and strolled toward me, stopping a mere foot away. “And what’s in it for me?”
I tensed at his proximity.
He let out a rough laugh. “Look at you. All wound tight. How do you expect your ex to believe we fuck on a regular basis if you can’t relax around me?”
“I didn’t realize this was a test.” I forced my muscles to ease up and lifted my chin to look up at him. “I’m not afraid of you, Curi. I’m just particular about who I allow into my personal space. But I can make an exception for you…for a while.”
He slow-blinked. “Fine. I’ll do it. On one condition.”
“What?”
“When it’s time, I get to break up with you .”
I bit back a smile. “Sure.”
His lips curved in a wicked smile. “And when I do it, I want you to cry and beg me not to.”
I grit my teeth. “Seriously?”
He shrugged a powerful shoulder. “Do you want me as your fake lover or not?”
Urgh. “Fine. I’ll put on the waterworks.”
He grinned down at me. “When do we start?”
“We have class in”—I glanced at my watch—“thirty minutes. You can walk me.”
“Do I have to hold your hand?” He looked down at my hand as if it was a bear trap.
“It might help.”
“Fine. I’ll meet you in the foyer in ten minutes.” He started pulling clothes out of his drawers. “Or you can stay and get comfortable with your lover’s assets.”
I was out the door in a flash with the sound of his low chuckle ringing in my ears.
Halfway down the stairs, my stomach sank.
I was about to hurt the man I’d been in love with.
It was the last thing I wanted to do, but Shar was right.
We needed to know how he would react to know whether he could be trusted with the truth about Serath and me.
I needed him in the circle of trust because I cared about him.
Hurting him was going to hurt me too.