Chapter 9
SELAS
S erath shadows me up the steps into the main building.
He’s managed to stay away from Cam all day, aside from the training, but I can sense his agitation.
It isn’t normal for fated mates to be apart for long periods of time.
I know of two such pairings and both goyles were relieved from active guardian duty because they needed to be close to their omegas.
It’s a physical and emotional need. A soul bond.
And my friend is fighting hard against it.
I can’t begin to imagine how hard this is for them, but for him in particular, because he’s full goyle, and his beast is stronger, able to exert more control, which heightens his primal instincts.
Still, staying away from Cam means he’s been stuck to me like glue all day. “You don’t need to come with me to speak to Carter. I can pass on the plan myself.”
“I know, but just in case Lionel pushes back…”
“Cam will get her wish to do the cadet exams, Serath. I’ll make sure of it.” But maybe this isn’t just about seeing Carter or staying clear of Cam. Maybe this is about bumping into Levi, the male that had Cameron’s heart before she came here.
“You could just go see him.”
“No.”
He knows exactly who I’m talking about. “He’s your cousin.”
“He’s nothing to me. Insignificant.”
Aside from the fact that he’s blood and was once the object of Cam’s affection. “That doesn’t change the facts. And he might be nothing like Ulrickson—heck, he can’t be, not if Cameron fell in love with him.”
He growls, a warning not to continue this line of thought.
“Fine, but I think you’re being ridiculous.”
“I don’t care.”
Damn, he’s a stubborn beast at times. “So if you bump into him, then you’ll speak to him?”
“I’ll be polite.”
I bite back my smile. “Of course you will.”
But the journey to Carter’s office is uneventful—the halls quiet because classes are done for the evening. Most goyles will be in the gym or in their dorm, and Levi will probably be in the instructors’ quarters.
We climb the stairs to the administration floor, taking them two at a time.
“Wait up!” Willowman calls out from behind us. “You headed to see Carter?”
“Yes, why?” Serath asks.
“I need to see her too.”
“About?”
“The attack. The orb that was switched.” His tone takes a slightly sibilant tone that tells me he’s clenching his jaw. “They’re trying to pin it on me. Say I messed up. I didn’t.”
“I know you didn’t,” Serath says. “I have your back.”
Willowman is too meticulous to fuck up. “Let’s go get this sorted, then.”
Someone deliberately gave the omega nest mother the wrong transportation orb, and it took her to the outer eastern settlement where they were attacked by grotesque.
Evelyn fought to protect her charges, but the grotesque and the new breed of graynite who calls himself Ignus weren’t after the omegas.
They wanted Cameron because she’s the last adult Basque. The council are aware of this.
“We need to look into what happened,” Willowman says. “A proper investigation needs to take place.”
Travani is coming out of Carter’s office when we get there, and I’m hit with a sense of the lethargy that follows sexual gratification. “Well, this is an entourage.” She goes back into the room, and we follow.
Carter is at her desk seemingly at work, but the air around her is tinged orange, the color of sexual energy.
I guess the rumors about these two are true. They’re lovers. But why hide it? It’s not like anyone here cares.
“What is this?” Carter asks.
“We need to speak to Lionel,” Serath says.
“Is this about Miss Basque?”
“Yes.”
“And I want to know what’s being done about the orb investigation,” Willowman adds.
“The mistake you made?” Travani says.
The air crackles with tension that comes from Willowman’s direction. “I didn’t make a mistake. Someone switched the orbs.”
“But you handed the return orb to Bodi, and he delivered it to Evelyn,” Travani says. “Are you insinuating that he switched them?”
Tension is tinged with exasperation now. “No, I trust him completely. But someone else must have made the switch.”
“Yes, so you keep saying, but you must understand, Mr. Willowman, for that to be the case, we are to believe that someone tampered not only with Bodi’s pack but also broke into your cottage—not once, but twice.
The first time to retrieve the orb to the outer eastern settlement and the second to return the correct orb, the one that was meant to bring the party home, into your special orb box. ”
“Yes. I understand that.” Willowman bites out the words. “There is a mole here at the academy, and we need to find him or her.”
“You’re unwilling to consider the possibility that you made an error?” She sounds irritated.
“Are you willing to consider the possibility that I didn’t?” He takes a frustrated breath. “Are you willing to take the risk and ignore the possibility that I’m right and that there’s danger within these walls?”
“Travani?” Carter sounds strained. “Maybe we should alert the council and—”
“I’ve filed a report,” Travani says. “It’s been lodged as a mistake.”
Silence falls heavy around me.
“Why would you do that without consulting with me first?” Carter asks.
“Retract it,” Serath says. “Willowman doesn’t make mistakes. Not of this magnitude.”
Travani sighs. “Look, if you’re right and if there is a mole here, then calling in the alchemists will only push them underground. We may never find them.”
Serath tenses beside me, and I can sense his panic because alchemists are known to have the ability to read minds or memories. If they came here…If they read our minds… “You’re right. We should conduct our own investigation.”
The mood in the room is immediately one of relief. I guess we all have secrets we wish to keep hidden.
Carter speaks, her voice filled with authority.
“We’ll begin by upping security on classified material and tighten our wards both in and out of the academy.
All exits and entrances, all correspondence, will be monitored.
They want Miss Basque, so we must protect her; however, putting a security detail on her will draw too much attention.
So instead, we move her to the elite residences. ”
Oh shit. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?” Travani asks.
Think, Selas, think. “The other cadets might call it favoritism.” It’s a lame excuse, and Travani blows it out of the water.
“She’s a Basque, our only Basque, and she’s bound for elite, so it makes sense.”
I look to Serath, expecting him to put forward an argument, but he simply nods.
“She’s safest with us,” he says. “But she should be allowed to keep her dorm rooms until after the cadet exams.”
“What have the cadet exams to do with this?” Carter asks.
“Because she wishes to take them, and I agree that it would be good for her to do so. Part of the success of any cadet is mental health. I believe the relationships she has formed in the dorm will be beneficial. Cutting her off from those so soon could prove detrimental.”
He’s minimizing the amount of time she might spend at observatory tower. Clever.
“And this is why you needed to speak to Lionel?” Carter asks.
I nod. “Yes.”
“I’ll speak to him for you,” she says. “Travani, please make sure Miss Basque gets a new timetable that includes full cadet exam training classes as well as her sessions with the elites. Prepare a room for her in the observatory and make sure she sleeps there even if she spends her days at the dorm with her cadet group. We want her protected from dawn to midday when we are the most vulnerable.”
The tension in the room ebbs, but my stomach is in knots because although I knew Cam would be coming to the observatory at some point, I thought we had time to prepare, to use the training sessions to acclimatize her to Serath’s scent and vice versa, but now…
I doubt any of us will be getting much sleep.