Chapter 22
D erek was sat on the bed in my old room, his large shadowy form hunched over, head bowed. He looked up slowly as I entered.
“My Cam, I can’t fit.” He pointed at the wardrobe, which now looked tiny in comparison to his form. “I can’t…”—he patted his chest—“shrink.”
Sharniza entered the room, and Derek’s gleaming diamond eyes settled on her.
“Hello, Derek,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you. Again.”
He smiled tentatively, flashing the edge of fangs. “To meet you nice also.” He looked back at the wardrobe mournfully. “I sorry, Cam. I think I broken.”
My heart squeezed painfully in my chest with love.
“Hey.” I crossed the room to stand in front of him and block his view of that goddamn wooden prison he’d been confined to for all these years.
“You’re not broken. You’re perfect. You’re my best friend, and I’m sorry, so sorry for not understanding what… who you were.”
He peered at me quizzically. “What you mean?”
“Derek, you’re not a boogeyman.”
He blinked slowly. “I’m not?”
“No. You’re my shield. I somehow gave you form, and now you’re a person.” I cupped his cheek. His shadow skin was warm against my palm. “You didn’t want to hurt anyone or scare anyone because that isn’t who you are. You’re a protector.”
“Like you?”
“Yes. Like me. You and I are connected.”
“Best friends.”
I hadn’t been a good friend. In fact, I’d been a terrible friend to him all these years.
Guilt gnawed at me. “You’ve been an amazing friend, Derek, but I haven’t.
I grew up and neglected you. I thought I didn’t need you anymore.
But you were always there. Waiting. You deserve better. You deserve to be free.”
His eyes widened. “My Cam, you telling me to leave you?” His panic stained the air, palpable and real. “You want me to go?”
“No!” I clutched his huge hands. “No, Derek. I want you to have a life. Here. With me.” I looked over at Shar. “With us.”
“You don’t have to hide anymore,” Sharniza said.
“I don’t?”
“No.” I squeezed his hands. “We may be connected, but that doesn’t mean you have to live for me. You can have your own life.”
“But…you my Cam. I protect you.”
“Yes, I am, and I’d love you to protect me when I need it, but other than that, you can do what you want.”
“And also train,” Shar added quickly. “Mr. Yarrow can help you become even stronger.”
“So I protect my Cam?”
“Yes.”
I squeezed his fingers. “And you can stay here, in the dorm. This room can be yours now.”
He looked over his shoulder at the bed. “I sleep here?”
“Yep.”
“And train with Mr. Yarrow?”
“Right.”
“Will Cam be there?” He looked up at me hopefully.
“I’ll try, but I might have other lessons.”
“I’ll come with you if Cam can’t,” Shar said. “Consider me your orientation buddy for the next few weeks.”
Derek tensed, then leaned in toward me to whisper, “She too pretty.” Only problem was, his whisper was more a stage whisper, but when I looked over at Shar, I found her studiously looking out the window, the twin spots of color on her cheeks the only evidence that she’d heard.
I patted Derek’s shoulder. “Maybe, when you feel braver, you can tell her that. I’m sure she’ll be flattered.”
“We’ll need sheets for the bed,” Shar said quickly. “And do you eat?”
“I need no sustenance,” Derek said almost regretfully.
“Okay, but you can still come hang out at mealtimes with us.”
Derek looked to me for permission. I shrugged. “Your choice, Derek.”
“My choice…” He smiled. “I would like that.”
“How about I show you around the dorm house while Cam goes to training?” Shar said.
Once again, Derek looked to me for permission. I guessed it would take time for him to break away from needing my say-so and instruction. “Would you like that, Derek?”
He seemed to consider it for a moment. “Yes. Yes, I would.”
“Okay, so I’ll see you guys for supper.”
“You’re not eating with the elite tonight?” Shar asked.
“They eat late, so I can come and nibble with you guys first.”
“We’ll see you later, then,” Shar said.
I dropped a kiss on Derek’s shadowy head, then headed out, leaving him in Shar’s capable hands.
* * *
This time, when I walked into the gym, I was ready for Serath’s presence, but my mate wasn’t there. Instead, Selas and Orix stood chatting on the mats, but they broke off their conversation as soon as they noticed me.
I guessed they didn’t want me overhearing their business. Fine by me. I wasn’t officially elite yet. “Where’s Serath?”
“He’ll be along shortly,” Orix said. “But we should get started.”
I rolled my shoulders. “I am so ready. Let’s do this.”
Orix’s smile was undoubtedly wicked. “Don’t you want to know what we’ll be doing today?”
“Not when you say it like that, I don’t.”
Selas bit back a smile. “Just ask him already.”
I smiled sweetly at Orix. “Orix, what are we doing today?”
He rubbed his hands together. “Today we play cat and mouse.”
“I’m assuming I’m the mouse in this scenario?”
“You assume correctly,” he said. “Now go stand back behind the red line.”
Red line? Yep, there was indeed a red line that ran around the room. The mats and workout equipment were all on the other side of that line, leaving the center of the room clear.
I crossed the line, and Selas followed, aiming for a panel on the wall. “Stay put,” she warned me. “The ground is about to shift.”
“Huh?”
She pulled the lever on the panel, and a grinding noise filled the room.
The floor beyond the red line broke free and slid down so that I was looking into a whole new room which extended two levels below us.
The floor then split and flipped to reveal new equipment and thick metal poles pushed out of the walls.
Each pole had rope or rings fixed to it.
The lower level was a gloomy network of obstacles made up of ledges, stairs that went nowhere, and beams. The only way out or in seemed to be via one of the ladders that clung to the walls.
“This is what we call the chase,” Orix said.
Selas rolled her eyes. “It’s an evasive exercise. Sometimes it isn’t wise to stand your ground and fight. Sometimes you need to run away.”
“Or lead the enemy into a trap,” Orix added.
“Which means employing evasive maneuvers,” Selas continued. “You can’t shift, and you don’t have wings, so this exercise is all the more important for you.”
“You want me to play your decoy, your…bait.” Was that how useless I was?
“You have no idea how important this role can be.” Orix was all seriousness now. “A graynite will home in on the kill it views as the easiest. Your perceived weakness will be the team’s strength.”
I could live with that. “Okay. Let’s get started.”