House of Korba

  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.

  Thank you!

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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.”

  “Because you have to keep it a secret,” I said. “I understand.”

  “I don’t really know where you are with us,” he said. He turned his face to me, looking at my eyes. “Mr. Blackbourne wants you in. Kota wants you out. Not out of the family, but you know. Kota’s protective. It’s because he’s the male with two women he looks after. He wants to keep them out of danger. He’s reluctant to put you in the same danger he puts himself in.”

  “Shouldn’t I make the decision?”

  “Yes, but we’d have to vouch for you.
If we’re divided on it, we’ll...” He pursed his lips and shook his head. “See, I can’t say it.”

  There were some complicated rules. “So Kota has to agree before I’m allowed in?”

  “We all do,” he said. “Your home team, I guess you’d call it. We’d be responsible, so we all have to be in agreement. Kota’s not the only one to think we shouldn’t let you in, either. I think Nathan’s hesitant on it, too. Maybe North. It’s hard to tell with him. One day he says it’d be okay and the next he’s saying it’s not a good idea.”

  “So I have to convince all of them I could?”

  Silas focused on the road and remained quiet for a long time. “You don’t have to,” he said in a deeper tone. “You don’t need us all to agree to be accepted into the Academy, just that we think you’d be good material, which you are. I’d prefer, though, if you waited. If you’d wait for all of us to agree fully that you should be included.”

  I understood there must be something more to the rules, something I wasn’t seeing, to get into the Academy. However, I agreed with him about wanting the others to be okay with it.

  “If you want in,” he said.

  “I think I want to.”

  “You should be sure.”

  “It’s hard for me to tell if I want in because you’re in there or because I want to be part of it, but I’m pretty sure it’s both. I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to say it was partially because of you all.”

  “It can be both,” he said. “Did they tell you the first rule of the Academy?”

  “Family first?”

  He nodded. “What’s a better reason than if you feel connected to us, and share our causes? The whole group is centered around family. Why not join for family?”

  I curled up tighter in the seat, looking out the window. Silence fell between us. It was a lot to think about.

  And yet, it wasn’t. I knew. I felt it inside of me. Knowing about the Academy now, about the things they did, and how they felt so strongly about what they did was enough for me. I did want into the Academy.

  But that meant I had to convince the others to let me in. Kota, Nathan and North. Silas hadn’t mentioned the others. I thought Victor was on my side. What about Gabriel and Luke? What about Dr. Green? How did they feel?

  It meant I had to spend more time with each of them, to figure out which ones were happy with the idea, and if not, find a way to convince them I should join.

  Eventually Silas took an exit into North Charleston. He wound his way through a business district, where storefronts were either in severe disrepair or boarded up.

  He checked his phone and tapped at the map on the screen. He drove on for a little longer, until we were stopped in front of an old brick storefront, the faded signs said it used to be a hardware store. Cardboard and newspaper covered the front window. Part of it was painted over with graffiti.

  Silas continued on again and parked a couple of blocks away against the curb. He and I were unlatching our seatbelts when suddenly my door opened.

  Silas instantly grabbed my arm, tugging me toward him protectively.

  Dr. Green popped his head in on my side, looking at me and then smiled. “Good morning beautiful,” he said. He was wearing a light blue collared shirt, and tan slacks and looked like he had actually gotten some sleep, because his eyes were wide awake and playful.

  “You shouldn’t sneak up on us,” Silas said, slowly releasing me. “I almost punched you.”

  “You should look before you punch,” Dr. Green said. He winked at me and then held his hand out. “Come on, Sang. I only just heard you were coming along.”

  “I didn’t know you were here,” I said and took his hand, stepping out onto the sidewalk beside him.

  “If we can convince these kids to trust us, I should take them over to the hospital for physicals.” He closed the car door behind me and Silas joined us on the sidewalk. Dr. Green motioned to an alleyway. “Come on, we’re hiding over here. I just got here, too.”

  I walked beside them and around the corner, Kota, Victor and Nathan were waiting. They were crouched on top of some old crates, and Victor looked stylish but out of place in his Armani shirt and black slacks. He had his laptop on a crate in front of him, and wore a headset. Nathan was in jeans and a tank shirt with a light jacket, and wore a headset, too. Kota was in jeans and a long sleeve T-shirt, and had his phone out in his hand.

  He looked up and I could tell from that one glance he wasn’t completely comfortable with me being there, but he changed his expression quickly to a pleasant smile. “Good morning,” he said.

  I nodded and said a quiet good morning. Was this task that dangerous that he didn’t like me to be involved?

  “They’re inside,” Victor said. He reached back, pulling up another crate. He positioned it beside him and then looked at me pointedly, tapping the top of the crate. I got the hint and sat beside him. He smiled and his fire eyes sparked. “Luke snuck in already. He’s done a head count. There’s seven.”

  “Are there any more around here?” Dr. Green asked.

  “He can’t tell,” Victor said. “He’s only seen the seven. They’re all in the back room. I think it’s the most secure, and there’s plenty of escape routes. Luke saw a few noisemaker traps near the doors. It’s like they’ve done this before: squatting in an abandoned place, knowing to run if they hear anything unusual.”

  “They’re just kids?” Dr. Green asked.

  “Looks like,” Kota said. He finished with his phone and then put it in his pocket. “We need to get Silas wired.”

  “He’s going in alone?” I asked.

  “He looks like them,” Kota said. “They might trust him.”

  I looked at Silas, who stood tall and broad shouldered. I remembered how the first time I met him, I had been a little intimidated. “Are you sure?” I asked.

  The boys shared glances with each other, and then everyone turned to Silas.

  Silas shifted on his feet, looking uncertain. “I don’t exactly look their age.”

  “You’re big, but you’re fine,” Kota said.

  “You’ve known him for too long,” Dr. Green said. “You have to look at him as if you’ve never met him before. Maybe he looks the same race, but he’s still a stranger and if he’s intimidating, they may run. If that happens, we don’t stand a chance to find them again.”

  “We’re still taking a risk,” Kota said. “He doesn’t speak Spanish, Nathan does, and he’s just as intimidating.”

  “Maybe I should go,” I said.

  “No,” Kota said.

  “Kota,” Dr. Green said, stepping closer. “We don’t have a lot of time, and Mr. Blackbourne thought it’d be useful if she were here.”

  “Not when we don’t know if they’ll attack any of us on sight.”

  “I think they’re more prone to running than fighting. And they’d be even less prone to fight if Silas is next to her.”

  “Luke’s in there already,” Victor said. “He can watch out for her.”

  “And I could follow in behind,” Nathan said.

  Kota’s eyes swept over his team, his green eyes dancing behind his glasses, calculating. He touched gently at the bridge. “There’s more at risk there than that, too. I don’t know if we can afford it.”

  I waited for more detail, hoping he was going to explain why we couldn’t afford it. Afford what? I checked with the others. They looked anxious, brows furrowed, lips pursed. They were starting to change their minds. “I don’t understand,” I said.

  “It’s complicated,” Victor said quietly. He swept back some of his wavy hair from his eyes.

  “If Mr. Blackbourne wants her here,” Dr. Green said, “then he thinks we can afford it. No matter what, the job will cover it.”

  “We need the favors,” Kota said. “We’re running low.”

  “What favor?” I asked. “We need favors?” This was different. It wasn’t just about Kota making sure I was safe. There were reasons beyond what I was seeing; Kota was l
ooking at all the angles.

  Their eyes turned to me. Kota made a face. “We need to stop talking about it.”

  “Maybe not talking about it with her is the problem,” Silas said.

  They turned to him. He was usually so quiet when we were all together, that hearing his voice now was surprising. I looked up at him, and he seemed so much taller since I was sitting on the crate.

  Silas met with Kota’s eyes, looking calm and composed. “I know this isn’t the place,” he said, “but the reason why she jumps in half of the time is because she doesn’t know what is expected and how this works. Mr. Blackbourne is right. She’s either in or out. We can’t have her in the middle. Not when she’s working with us like this.”

  “We need to talk about it later,” Dr. Green said before Kota or Victor could speak. “Right now, there are little lives in there and we need to go get them.”

  “Can I go in after Silas?” I asked. “Would that be better? If they respond to him, I don’t have to. I’ll only say something if they’re scared of him.”

  “She looks their age,” Dr. Green said. “Come on, Kota. You’ve got to see she can handle this. They are just kids in there.”

  “Scared kids,” Kota said.

  “Who want to run off, not fight,” Victor said.

  Kota frowned.

  “I can go, too,” Nathan said. “I can pull her out if they do start fighting.”

  Kota pressed a palm against his face. “Okay. Fine. But we need to cover the exits, and if we need to, we’ll guide them to a safer hiding spot before we can try again.”

  Victor tapped at his computer. “There’s an Academy district a few blocks to the south.”

  The Academy had a district? From the way Victor said it, it sounded like there was more than one. I pressed my lips together. Now wasn’t the time to ask.

  “Lived in?” Kota asked.

  “Being refitted,” he said. “We just reclaimed it. But it’s cleared right now, and there are monitors in the area.”

  “It’ll have to do. If they don’t want to go with us, we’ll have them go there.” He turned to Nathan. “Convince them that authorities are looking to tear down this place. They have to move, you know a safe location. I’ll have North go ahead and deposit items in one of the houses and open it up.”