Liam Takes Manhattan (Elder Races #9.5)(6)

“First,” Hugh said, “feeling at a loss as to what to do with your life is something every young person goes through, Liam, so take heart. As unique as some of your challenges might be, you’re also going through something verra normal. Second—you can’t become a sentinel just because you don’t know what else to do with your life.”

He closed his eyes. “I know.”

“You’ve got a lot to think about.”

“Yeah. And somehow I’ve got to find the right kind of training. The training that you and the sentinels have given me has been great, but—it’s not enough. You guys love me. I need the kind of experience where somebody’s not going to give a shit if they knock my teeth in. I need to go through real life, live with real danger.”

Hugh pursed his lips. “That’s not going to be the easiest thing to come by. You also need space to think, and while you might not want to admit this, Liam, you still need some schooling. You’re so talented and book bright, and you have a lot of facts crammed into that extremely capacious head of yours, but you don’t have real-life application.”

“I know,” he muttered again. His shoulders slumped. The challenges he faced felt all but insurmountable. “I have no idea how to get any of that. I just . . .” He took a deep breath and forced himself to say what had haunted him all through the sleepless night. “I don’t think I can get any of that at home.”

The older man studied him in long silence. Then he leaned forward, bracing his elbows on the table, and said softly, “I’m going to tell you something that, well, nobody told me not to tell you. But at the same time, I dinna think your mom and dad would take too kindly that I do tell you, so I would appreciate it if you and I can keep this between ourselves. Can you do that?”

Liam’s attention sharpened. He replied, “Sure. Whatever you say stays between the two of us.”

“Okay.” Hugh rubbed his face with one large raw-boned hand. “Have you ever heard of Glenhaven?”

Liam frowned, searching his memory, and came up with a vague reference he had heard at some point. “Isn’t that a Scottish college?”

“Yes, it is. More accurately, Glenhaven is the college for the Elder Races. It’s not actually in Scotland, but in an Other land, with the crossover passageway located just outside of Edinburgh. While the college is run by the gargoyle clans, it’s not affiliated with any one demesne or race. When you were very small, yet still clearly showing what a prodigy you were, Dragos and Pia had a brief discussion about whether or not they should send you to Glenhaven.”

He frowned, the vague memory teasing him. Was that where he had heard the name? Had he overheard his mom and dad discussing it? “They never said anything about it to me.”

“That’s because they quickly ruled it out as an option. At the start of each term, Glenhaven closes the crossover passageway. Nobody gets in or out until the term is over. The school claims that blocking access to the outside allows them to maintain their impartiality and high academic standards. It’s also supposed to create an atmosphere where students develop their own relationships with each other, with a minimum of influence from outside politics. I think the real truth is that people take their political biases with them into the college, but that’s neither here nor there, I guess.”

As Liam listened, his mind began to race. “If the college is in an Other land, time doesn’t pass there like it does for us. What’s the time slippage like?”

Hugh shrugged. “I’ve heard time passes faster for the college than it does on Earth, but I don’t know any actual numbers.”

“If time passes faster there, I could possibly get more time to prepare,” Liam said, beginning to feel the first stirrings of excitement. “It would be pushing at the terms of Dad’s promise, but it’s worth considering.”

“I think it is,” Hugh replied, giving him a sidelong smile. “There are disadvantages too, though. It’s a long way away. If you went to Glenhaven, you would be completely cut off from everything and everyone you’ve known in your life. There’s no phone calls home. No email, no Internet, no microwave popcorn, cars or movies. No changing your mind, at least until the end of a term. For those reasons alone, I don’t think Pia and Dragos did more than discuss it once or twice and ask me a few questions about it. Also, you might squander a significant portion of your year on something that you find doesn’t meet all your needs the way you had hoped, or help you get ready to face the sentinel trial.”

Absorbing the information, he nodded. Going to Glenhaven would be a risk. But it might be his best shot to figure out what the hell he needed to do with his life.

Liam asked, “Have you been to Glenhaven before?”

The older man shook his head. “No, I haven’t. I’m not from any of the clans that run the college. I have seen drawings and paintings, though, and they look quite beautiful. They have some images posted on their website, if you want to take a look.”

“I do,” he said absently, as his mind raced through possibilities. Then he caught up with what Hugh had said, and laughed. “They’re based in an Other land, yet they have a website?”

The gargoyle chuckled. “Yeah, it’s not an extensive website like academic institutions here have, with web portals, online databases and class curriculums. But it does offer some general descriptions. Tuition fees are pretty astronomical, or so I’ve heard, but I think they also have scholarship programs for intellectually and magically gifted individuals. It’s not just the wealthy and privileged of the Elder Races that attend.”