Page 6 of Gift from the Stone

“It’s not funny. Nothing about this is funny. I’m sorry,” I get out between fits of laughter. “You all are just so…”

“Animals. You’re all animals, and there’s technically only one shifter here.” Oakly finishes for me.

I would’ve put it better than that, probably, maybe, but she’s not wrong. The nature of their anger is absolutely on the animalistic side. Draken’s doubly bad.

“Okay, okay, you two. Quit your picking and let’s have a seat,” Gaster teasingly scolds us, but I can see the twitch on his lip. He may want the guys to think he’s defending them, but he’s more so amused with us.

Corentin passes me a cup of coffee and Draken pulls me into his lap as I call for everyone’s attention.

“Let’s just jump right in. There’s no point dragging the suspense out. I hate that. So you all know that my air element broke free on my twenty-sixth birthday. Earlier that day, I went to take a walk in the woods to visit my tree and that’s where I found my birthday present waiting for me. My Memoria stone was in a box with my name engraved on the lid, with a note telling me not to take the necklace off, that everything would make sense soon. I have no clue who it was from, nor has my stone told me.” I give a brief rundown, catching Oakly’s Nexus up. By the looks on their faces, they were unaware I own a Memoria stone.

Oops, probably should’ve asked the guys if I was supposed to keep that to myself.

“It’s fine. They know nothing leaves this house,” Tillman answers my thoughts immediately.

“When the stone touched my skin for the first time, I was suddenly assaulted by what I know now is all the elements. Water filled my lungs, my blood felt like it was boiling, my feet were stuck in the ground like I was fighting quicksand, and the air was blowing me around like I was stuck in a tornado. It was awful and so painful, but it lasted maybe ten seconds and then just stopped. I wasn’t hurt. My body was fine. I honestly thought I imagined it all.”

“Everything occurred at the same time or consecutively?” Gaster asks with a thoughtful look about him.

“It hit me all at the same time. Does that mean something?”

“I’m not sure yet. Carry on, please.” The gears in his mind begin turning, flipping through the pages of information stored in that brain of his.

I start with a brief rundown from the time I walked into Donald’s study and am making my way to the blood sacrifice when I can see the wheels in all their minds rolling, questions forming left and right. It’s no surprise when Corentin’s the first to break.

“Do you remember what your father said when he addressed the room?”

Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes, I sink into my mind to pull the words out from the depth of my tormented memory.

“For two hundred years, our society has forged a brotherhood that has put us above all others, with power and strength our founding fathers only dreamed of. Because of you and our fellow comrades, our legacies will never be forgotten. Please welcome my son-in-law to the fold with unity and open arms so we shall continue to grow and conquer.”

“What about the oath?” He follows up.

“With your blood, you seal your fate, unite with the rest of your brothers to serve this society, everything that is yours becomes theirs, and everything that is theirs will be shared with you. When Donald repeated it, that’s when my father carved an M into his chest.”

“An M, just like Jarod had? That’s what you were asking him about?” Caspian asks, putting two and two together first.

“Wait, what does ‘what is yours becomes theirs and theirs becomes yours mean?’ Were they going to share their blood?” Oakly’s face is horror-stricken like that’s the worst possible thing that could occur, and I wish I could say yes. That’d be better in my opinion than the alternative.

“Yes, the M just like Jarod had,” I answer Caspian first before turning to Oakly with a sad smile, hoping she can read between the lines. “No, Oak, not their blood.”

“Then what—” She gasps. Her hand flies up to cover her mouth, eyes immediately glossing over. “No. Oh, Willow.”

“It’s okay. It didn’t get to that point. My air broke free and saved me. Then Gaster showed up and brought me here.” I give her a reassuring smile.

I speed through the destruction I left behind, saving her from the gruesome details of Michael’s slit throat and his cold, empty eyes as he took his last breath.

“So their society is both in Elementra and the nonmagical realm. We need to figure out what that M stands for and go from there. I can start searching the archives, the library, and maybe…” Reaching across the table, I give Gaster’s hand a squeeze to calm him.

“Gaster, slow down. I know what the M stands for.”

“You know what the M stands for? You know the name of their society?” Caspian asks. His burning gaze on me is a mixture of bloodthirsty hope and also disbelief.

“Yes. The M stands for Mastery. Their society is called the Mastery,” I state, holding his stare as I watch his eyes alight with purpose. He smirks darkly at me like I just gave him a bag full of priceless blood jewels.

Everyone at the table says the name like it’s acid on their tongues. I can feel them all turn their attention to me, but I don’t pull my eyes from Caspian, waiting to see what he has to say.

“We’ve been searching for their name or some sort of information for over twenty years, Primary. And you just gave us our first real step in stopping them,” he says sinisterly, appreciatively. I know it’s more than just that.

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