The Stone Initiation (Gargoyles of Stonehaven Book 1) by Debbie Cassidy

Author:Debbie Cassidy [Cassidy, Debbie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-10T16:00:00+00:00

The headmistress’s office was on the second floor. We passed several rooms with their doors open, occupied by human men and women doing administrative work. My guide turned down a second corridor lined with landscapes of pretty pastures and took me past a metal closed door with the words File Room printed on it. There was a palm scanner where the handle would be. Whatever was inside must be confidential and important. Next came a lounge with a kitchenette and finally a dark wood door with Headmistress printed on it.

The little man hadn’t spoken the whole way here, and when we got to the door, he simply glared at me before storming off as if I’d affronted him in some way.

O-kay. I knocked on the ajar door. “Hello?”

“Miss Walker do come in,” Miss Carter called.

I stepped from wood floors onto the plush carpeted interior of the office—a cluttered, cozy space filled with color. Squishy sofas, throws, patterned pillows, and books with bright spines piled haphazardly onto bookcases came together to create an appealing space. Miss Carter herself sat behind a desk scribbling furiously on a notepad. She waved me to the chair opposite her, never taking her eyes off her task.

I took the seat and waited.

“Okay. Done.” She looked up with a smile. “If I don’t jot things down, I forget half the time. Such a busy day today.” She paused and studied my face with a wince. “That looks painful.”

I resisted the urge to touch the bruise. “It’s fine. I’ll be fine.”

“Yes…about that. I heard what happened in training class. That blow could have killed you.”

Chlobe had said the same thing. “I’m only half human. I can handle it.”

“Maybe this blow, but what about the next. What about a nastier encounter.” She clasped her hands and rested them on the desk, leaning forward earnestly. “Miss Walker, I admire your tenacity in coming to the academy. Your quick thinking helped you pass the entrance test and saved your life, however, you know, as well as I, that you don’t belong here.”

Hearing her say it so blatantly made my stomach ache. “I knew what I was getting into when I applied.”

“Did you?” She gave me a stern, pointed look. The kind of look meant to root out lies. “The tests, the trials, the training, none of that is public knowledge so you won’t know that we lost four gargoyles in the last six months. Cadets, not guardians. Two during basic training and two during initiate. Pure blood gargoyles died in training.” She let that sit. “And you wish to continue?” There was an edge of exasperation to her tone but it barely registered because she’d just given me the opening I needed.

“You left out the elite who died.”

She blinked sharply. “Sorry?”

“The elite? Romi Basque was it? He died recently, didn’t he? Accident they said?” She looked away and my stomach dropped. I’d been right. It wasn’t an accident. “I was just confused as to what kind of accident could kill an elite.

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