Page 26 of The Stone Curse
Gone.
All gone.
The darkness surrounded me once more as I curled into a ball, wanting to stay here. Wanting to be alone because my heart was safer this way.
“We’ve got you, Cam,” Touron said.
“We love you,” Palia added.
“So much,” Ginia said.
“You can do this,” Shar added. “And we’re here to help you.”
“Get up, Basque,” Curi said. “We’re not quitting. We’re a fucking team.”
My eyes snapped open on a gasp.
I was back in the training room, but the memories lingered.
“Cam. You okay?” Shar asked from across the room.
I nodded. “Curi?”
“He stepped out for a moment. Levi went with him.”
“I won’t ask you what you saw,” Adaline said from the window. A strip of light slid across the room as she raised the blinds. “What you see is private. It is a part of you, and it is for you to speculate on and learn from.”
“What…what does it mean?” Shar asked.
Adaline shrugged. “It’s different for everyone. The mind walk herb takes us to memories forgotten or misconstrued. It’s a mirror to our psyche, and the rest…the rest is for you to decipher.”
“And how will this help us in the trial?”
Adaline smiled. “You’ll understand once you’re in the trial. Trust me.” She clipped past us toward the door. “Now I have a dinner date to get to, but I wish you all the luck in the trial ahead.” She paused at the door. “Embrace your true self, and you’ll be fine.”
She slipped out of the room.
“I won’t ask you what you saw,” Shar said.
“I won’t ask you either…”
“Dammit, now I want to know,” she said with a smile.
I exhaled on a laugh. “Mine was…It wasn’t so different from what I saw when Yarrow was testing our shields. I saw the police officer deliver the news of my mum’s death, the phone call that informed me that Romi was gone…Serath’s death.” I licked my lips. “Yeah…but there was one memory I’d forgotten. I had a mouse called Derek, and he died. I was so upset. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t keep him.”
“How old were you in that memory?”
“I think…maybe four.”
“Death is a difficult concept to grasp for a child.”
“Yeah. I think that was my first brush with it. I’m not sure why this mind walk showed me that memory, though.”
She stretched out her legs. “They all have death in common, and Derek…the name…I doubt it’s a coincidence you chose to call your shield that?”
“Yeah, me too.” I canted my head. “You want to share what you saw?”
She waved a dismissive hand. “Nothing forgotten, just suppressed.”
