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Silas always appreciated North’s frankness with him, laying out the ideas in one fell swoop, but this one took a moment to sink in. Mostly because he was trying to imagine Sang in a similar situation. “You’re shitting me.”
“Not kidding. It seems the way to keep a bird on the team, at least the best way, is in the rare circumstance that everyone...well we’ve all got to be on the same page.”
Silas moved his lips together hard. “No.”
“I know you,” North said. “You’ll need time with this. I’m just throwing it out there. Just understand what’s happening. You’re with Sang. I love her. There’s others on our team starting to really love her, too. You know Nathan’s got issues with this. He’s not willing to share, but he doesn’t want to lose us fighting over her, and he’s starting to realize she really does care about everyone in a similar way, even if she doesn’t know it yet.”
“It’s not...” Silas said, unable to find the English word for it because his brain was going a mile a minute. Like a biology question, like a plumbing problem, like any Academy issue that cropped up, he liked looking at the issue, figuring out the answer, and then getting to work. Here, he was barely even beginning to understand the problem, and he didn’t like what North was telling him.
Sharing Sang. She wasn’t a possession. He knew North didn’t mean it like that. He’d never expect Sang to be shared like that.
“Mr. Blackbourne was going to bring it up with you last time you were talking with him,” North said. “But he thought I should lay down exactly what he meant. He said we needed to all get along with her and get her to trust us. Well, it’s a step beyond that now. If you single her out for yourself, you’re hurting everyone else on the team, including her.”
That wasn’t what Silas was expecting.
But maybe it did explain why Sang was always so hesitant around him. “She doesn’t know, does she?”
“I think she would guess,” North said, “But she doesn’t know exactly.”
“She seemed to want to put off getting close. Like she wanted to, but she was unsure, and then her eyes would...she did all those things a person does when you felt guilty.”
North nodded again. “Yeah. Because saying yes to one of us, it feels like she has to say no to the rest. Mr. Blackbourne tells her to go with the flow, do what she wants, but she waits for others to tell her what to do, because she wants everyone to get along.”
Silas grunted. “Because they’re all pulling at her to date each other.”
“We’re too far along now,” North said. He pointed to the door. “Give yourself some time to think about the consequences. I know you can work it out. Talk to me when you’re ready. Mr. Blackbourne will be waiting to hear from you, too. Let’s go.”
Silas followed him through the stairs and down into the elevator. He was quiet the whole way, his brain already working out what was going on. He’d suspected the others loved her. He thought Kota did.
Silas went out to his car, started it up, and sat in the lot for a moment while his mind continued to consider his options. What he needed was some good sleep, to think clearer.
He needed Sang, he knew. How far was he going to go to keep her?
And did he really have issues with the others? Wait.
Silas pulled out his phone and looked at her picture on his screen.
She had agreed to be his girlfriend. She kissed him. He knew about the other kisses, but she’d said yes to him.
Her pretty eyes stared back at him. She had a sweet smile.
He needed to talk to her. Before he came to a decision, he needed to know for sure that she cared about him.
That was his new goal now. All of the rest didn’t matter unless Sang really did care about him the way he felt he cared for her. He’d have to ask her somehow.
This whole plan North and Mr. Blackbourne had cooked up would depend on her answer.
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Books by C. L. Stone
The Academy Ghost Bird Series:
Introductions
First Days
Friends vs. Family
Forgiveness and Permission
Drop of Doubt
Push and Shove
House of Korba
The Other Side of Envy (April 2015) – Turn the page for a sneak peek!
The Academy Scarab Beetle Series
Thief
Liar
Fake (December 2014)
Other C. L. Stone Books:
Spice God
Smoking Gun
READ AN EXCERPT FROM THE NEXT BOOK IN THE ACADEMY GHOST BIRD SERIES
The Academy
The Ghost Bird Series
The Other Side
of
Envy
?
Book Eight
?
Written by C. L. Stone
Published by
Arcato Publishing
A Peek Inside
the Academy
I was spending the night at Silas’s house when he got a call that there was a job, and they wanted me to go along. As we got in the car and drove, he filled me in on some of the details. “But I need you to promise if you’re coming with me, you’re not to ask any questions. Just listen and watch.
“Okay,” I said. I yawned, and stretched. After homecoming and Halloween, the boys and I had been on a slower schedule: school work and the diner only. We also had Gabriel’s birthday coming up, and while I had wanted to go with Victor and Luke to the store to pick something out for him, a job cropped up this morning and we had to go. “But where are we going?”
He pursed his lips and then changed lanes to get onto the highway, heading toward downtown Charleston. “We’re meeting Kota, Victor and Nathan. I think there might be more, but I’m not sure.”
“Where are they?”
“There’s a run-down building where a bunch of kids are hiding out. They think they’re runaways but it’s hard to tell.”
“Why do they need you?”
“Because they’re Mexican,” he said. “I sort of look the part.”
“Oh,” I said quietly. I sank back, looking out the window. “Mr. Blackbourne wants me to go along?”
“He thinks since you look nice they may be more responsive to you if they won’t talk to me.”
I wasn’t sure how to take the compliment. I was shy and wasn’t sure what help I could be with a group of runaways. “Was this the job you were called back for?”
“Yeah.”
“Is this what you do?” I asked. “I mean, what you’ve done when you’ve gone out on missions? Talk to runaway kids?”
“No. I do other things, too.”
I stared at him for a while as he focused on driving. I wasn’t sure if he was allowed to say what it was, so I left it alone. “It’s hard sometimes,” I said. “I mean, I know I can’t ask too much...”
“I’d tell you more,” he said glancing at me before returning his eyes to the road, “but to be honest, I’m not sure how much I can say.”
