Page 10 of The Stone Initiation
“Cameron,” Ralph grabbed my hand. “What are you going to do?”
My smile felt tight and controlled. “I’m going to find out what happened from the gargoyles closest to him.”
”But that means—”
“Yeah, I’m going to enroll at Stonehaven. I’m going to be a fucking guardian.”
CHAPTER5
Obviously enrolling at the prestigious gargoyle academy wasn’t as easy as just wandering up to the front desk and filling out some forms. There were…tests, and procedures before I’d be allowed through the hallowed arches of the gothic structure that housed our future protectors.
My gargoyle status had been kept off my birth certificate. My hybrid nature was a secret, which had been easy to keep because my abilities hadn’t manifested until puberty,afterRomi found me. How he’d found me was a mystery—one I’d probably never solve.
The first step in getting into Stonehaven involved signing up as a gargoyle at the nearest guardian registration offices in Denton, an hour’s train ride from Old Town. This was one of the few places where gargoyle births could be registered, including any hybrids. This was where my mothershouldhave brought me.
It was midday by the time I walked into the mundane red-brick building.
It looked like any other government office. Pin boards, formica chairs, and tacky black-and-white checked floors. Pretty sure the staff here were all human too. Gargoyles had better things to do than grunt work. Most slept during the day so they could hunt at night. The ones thatdidwork during the day, did so in human guise because sunlight prevented them shifting to their stone monolith forms.
There was a woman in the queue in front of me, a scarf pulled up over her head. Was she gargoyle? I’d never seen a gargoyle female before and didn’t know much about them. But this woman looked human. She was pushing a stroller. Could the baby be a halfblood like me?
From what Romi had told me, gargoyle babies looked human during the day and shifted at night. They also matured a lot faster than human babies, hitting puberty after five years and adulthood by ten. Romi had been twenty when he found me. Young for an elite.
But age worked differently for gargoyles, who lived for upwards of a century.
The woman handed in a form and left, but I didn’t get a good look at her face.
It was my turn at reception, and the woman behind the counter looked down at my empty hands and around me at the empty space. “You must bring the child with you to register it.”
I smiled thinly. “Oh, I have.”
She arched a brow, gaze dropping to my abdomen. “It has to be born.”
“It is.” I jerked a thumb at myself. “I’m the child.” I grinned at her. “Better late than never, right?”
* * *
If my motherhad been alive, she’d have been prosecuted for keeping my existence a secret. A hybrid was gargoyle property, able to be enlisted in any government role the guardians required. Once they’d taken blood and confirmed my nature, I was handed a batch of forms listing a number of roles I could serve in.
“We have vacancies here,” the woman said with a kind smile. “The pension is good.”
I flipped the page over to read the fine print. Then ticked the box I’d been planning to all along before handing it back to the woman.
She pressed her lips together when she saw what I’d chosen then glanced about before speaking. “If you enroll, you have to take the entrance test like all the purebloods.” She looked seriously concerned about that.
I didn’t know enough about the gargoyle world to know what she was talking about, but I’d do whatever it took to get to the elite guard, and I’d find them at Stonehaven.
“I understand. I want to do the test. When can I take it?”
“Listen, the test isn’t just something tha—”
“Is there a problem, Hattie?” A man appeared behind her.
Not a man, but a gargoyle male from the bulk and size of him.
Hattie straightened and smiled stiffly. “Not at all Laxal. Everything is fine.”
His gaze flicked to my application, then up to me. “A cadet huh?” He looked back at the application, eyes narrowing. “Ahalfbloodcadet?” His lip curled. “Halfbloods don’t get to be cadets. Sign her up for an administration position at one of the outposts.”
