Chapter 4
L evi talked, but the rush of blood in my head made it impossible to focus on what he was saying. He stood in front of the class, looking like he belonged there. Like he had wisdom and skill to impart.
He cut a powerful and beautiful figure, and my heart ached for the pain I’d put into the lines of his face. He didn’t look at me as he spoke, and after a few moments, the buzzing in my head subsided.
“You could have told me your ex was the new instructor,” Curi said under his breath.
My head reeled. “I didn’t know.”
“Hunters come in two kinds,” Levi said. “Those that are born into it and those that choose to take up the mantle.” He tapped the tattoo on his neck. “This is my Hunters mark. A sign of the grove I was born into.”
“What are groves?” Saffe asked.
Levi’s gaze flicked my way, and my heart climbed up into my mouth because this was stuff we’d never talked about. Stuff he hadn’t told me.
“A grove is a group of druids. There are several, all descended from a different druid bloodline. All with their own mark. We help to protect the natural order of things by eliminating anything that threatens it.”
“Like graynites?”
His mouth slanted down. “Hunters, in general, don’t have the ability to harm a graynite. We work on keeping the other threats in control to allow the gargoyles to focus on the graynite threat.”
“You’re a halfblood, though, aren’t you?” Dayn said. “Are you saying you’re part druid?”
“Yes. My mother is the leader of our grove.” He looked at me. “But I left that life to fly solo a long time ago. I wanted to hunt on my own terms not be bound by heritage.”
But he’d come back to it. To this place. Into the thick of it. For me. I hated that I was doing this to him.
“I can’t teach you how to bring down a graynite,” Levi continued, “but you won’t always be fighting graynites.
There will be other threats. Mutts, fangs, and lesser-known malevolent creatures that lurk in the shadows.
I’ll teach you about their weaknesses, and along with Master Yarrow, I’ll show you how to shield yourself against the negative energy they exude while harnessing the positive energy of nature that’s all around us.
My technique will also help you learn to activate and reinforce your shields, should you come across a graynite. ”
Yarrow stepped forward. “This is very exciting. The arrival of Master Halle means we can hone your shields in practical tests against real threats in a controlled environment.”
“What do you mean?” Waxen asked.
Yarrow smiled, thin and wicked. “It means that in a couple of weeks, you’ll be testing your shields against a real threat.”
Murmurs broke out among the cadets. I tried to catch Levi’s eye, but he had his gaze fixed studiously on Yarrow.
“Master Halle will teach you how to feel for and call to the power of nature to assist you.” He looked at Levi, handing the floor back to him.
“Pureblood druids can manipulate the elements of nature. Druid hunters use nature to fight against threats; however, as a halfblood, I don’t have such a direct line.
To compensate, I’ve learned how to coax my goyle shields to merge with the elemental power around me so they are enhanced. I can teach you.”
“With Master Halle on board, we will make this class the strongest defense,” Yarrow said, his golden eyes bright with excitement.
Levi was druid born. He was a Halle, one of the big five gargoyle families just like me, but the biggest thing, the thing that twisted my stomach into knots was that being a Halle meant he was related to Serath.
* * *
The class passed quickly with a Q&A mainly centered around Levi’s past, things that I didn’t know about the man I’d been in love with. Things that made me see him in a different light. Not as an equal, but as someone who was above me—a mentor, a warrior.
My attraction to him made sense now. My gargoyle nature had recognized his and been drawn to his strength. We were kindred in so many ways but not an ultimate match, according to the cosmos. Serath was my match. My mate. And now, with Levi’s association to him, it would be even harder to hide it.
“I need to tell him the truth.”
Shar looked torn but then nodded.
“Okay,” Levi said from the front of the class. “If there are no more questions…”
“I have one,” Dayn said. “What branch of Halle do you come from?”
“Mr. Lowther, that is hardly relevant,” Yarrow snapped.
“No.” Levi’s throat bobbed. “It’ll come out eventually, and I have nothing to hide.” His neck tensed as if he was stopping himself from turning his head to look my way. “My sire is Ulrickson Halle.”
The room fell into pin-drop silence.
What the fuck? Was that bad? Shar’s face had drained of color.
“If that’s all, then class dismissed,” Yarrow said.
Yarrow led Levi to the back of the room while everyone began gathering their things to leave.
I had to talk to him. To tell him how sorry I was and apologize. To tell him the truth. I made to get out of my seat, but Shar grabbed my hand, her eyes wide with panic.
“Don’t,” she said.
“Shar, he’s related to Serath. It’ll be nearly impossible to keep him in the dark about us so—”
“His father is Ulrickson Halle.” She said it as if it should mean something to me, but the blank look on my face must have reminded her how little I knew about this world. “Ulrickson is no ordinary Goyle. He’s head councilman.”
I shook my head. “Okay…so?”
“Dammit, Cam. When it comes to Stone law, he is the law.”
Needles of ice pricked my skin. “Levi wouldn’t tell him.”
“Can you be certain of that?” Shar asked.
I wanted to say yes, that of course I knew Levi, but the last thirty minutes had taught me how little I knew about the man I’d shared a bed with.
“Miss Basque,” Levi said. “A word, please.”
Fuck.
There was warning in Shar’s eyes as she let go of me.
Curi stood with me, playing the dutiful boyfriend.
Levi gave him a cool smile. “You can wait for her outside the room, Mr. Mason. I won’t keep her long.”
Curi looked to me. “You okay, babe?”
I bit back a wince. “Of course. I’ll meet you in the foyer downstairs.”
He shrugged and followed the others out of the room.
Silence settled around us.
The door closed.
We were alone.
It hurt to look at him. Familiar. Comfortable. Mine. But not any longer. That thrum, that connection that had existed between us was gone. At least for me, and it left a hollowness inside me.
“You moved on fast,” Levi said finally.
The words I’m sorry sprang to my lips, but if I was going to do this, then I needed to be confident in my decisions. “Curi is a good match for me.”
Bitterness turned his smile upside down. “And I wasn’t?” He shook his head. “I don’t believe that, just like I didn’t believe you when you told me you didn’t love me.”
“I don’t love you.”
His eyes narrowed. “No. What we had. What I felt. What we felt was… is real.”
“You’re wrong, and if you came here based on that, then you made a mistake.”
He flinched. “You’re lying. You’re hiding something. I know you, Cam.”
“I wish I could say the same about you.”
He exhaled. “I was going to tell you everything that night, but you left. You didn’t answer my calls, and I knew…I knew you’d gone.”
“So you decided not to take no for an answer.” I forced my lips into a wry smile. “Typical arrogant male behavior.”
“Dammit, Cam, this isn’t you. What’s going on here? I find out you’re a Basque, that you’ve been fast-tracked to take your brother’s place as an elite? Do you even know what the elite trial entails?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m doing it either way.” He didn’t know about Romi being alive and how this was the only way to save him, and I couldn’t trust him enough to tell him. His father might be head councilman, but I had no clue if Ulrickson knew about guardian activity and Romi’s predicament.
“Listen, I get it. The next Basque is still a child. They need an adult Basque and they’re probably pressuring you into this. I can help. I can speak to my father and fix this.”
His father. Not his sire. My heart sank. “You two are close?”
Levi shrugged a shoulder. “He’s always been there for me.”
“I thought…I thought you said he kept you a secret. Provided for you but kept you a secret.”
“Yes, he did, but only because my mother wanted it that way. She didn’t want her indiscretion getting out. The fact that she lay with a gargoyle…”
“I don’t understand.”
“Gargoyles are outside of nature because they’re not from this world. It’s heavily frowned upon for a druid to have relations with such creatures. My father would have been proud to claim me, halfblood or not.”
“So what changed? How come he went back on his word to your mother?”
“I didn’t give him a choice. Look, Cam, up until now, I didn’t care either way, but when you left…” His throat bobbed. “I knew I had to be a part of this world. That I had to be with you.” His voice cracked with emotion, and guilt crushed my lungs.
He’d come here for me. He’d left his life behind and convinced his sire to get him a position here so he could be with me. The Levi I knew prized his independence, his freedom. He reveled in the hunt, in getting his hands dirty, but…but he’d given it up for me. He loved me…truly loved me, and I…
I hated myself.
My eyes heated with the threat of tears, but I blinked them back, pushing out the words that needed to be said. “Levi, I’m sorry, but it’s over. You and I are over. I’m with Curi now. I’m happy. You should…You should go back to your life.”
He studied me for several beats, his sea-green gaze intense and probing. “This is my life now, Cam. I’m not going anywhere, and if you’re determined to take this elite trial, then I’m going to make sure you have the strongest shields imaginable.”
My throat pinched because fuck him for being so amazing. Maybe I could trust him. Maybe—
“But I still think you need to reconsider. I can speak to my father and—”
“No. If you do that, I’ll never speak to you again.”
He blinked sharply. “I’m trying to help you.”
“And you can do that in your classes. Other than that, I’m fine. I’ve made friends and found my place here.”
“You mean you found Curi.”
There it was—the bitter edge of jealousy. “Yes. I have. Now if you’ll excuse me, I don’t want to keep him waiting any longer.”
I headed for the door.
“I’m not a fool, Cam,” Levi said to my back. “Like I said, I know you. I know when you’re hiding something.”
“Yet you didn’t know I was hiding what I was.”
“No, but I knew you were hiding something.”
I hurried out of the door and down the corridor, his words ringing in my ears because yes, he’d suspected I was hiding something. He’d probed for information enough times.
Hiding my connection to Serath from him was going to be harder than expected.
All I could do was hope it didn’t prove impossible.