Page 105 of Stone Seduction
Anita carried on. “You, Luke, are our savior. Only you can stop her. And Asher is the one to keep you safe in order for you to fulfill your destiny successfully.”
He tensed, slowly turning his head. “Destiny…”
I squeezed his hand, unable to formulate a response.
The chosen, for want of a better term? Seriously? Me? Why?
“I have heard of your unbreakable spirit, Asher,” Anita added. “Of your great fortitude. The stone gods have chosen you for these reasons.”
My hands were clammy, my tongue swelling under this new pressure.
I had to save a whole race.
What. The. Hell.
Carissa ended the next round of bemused silence. “How is this possible? What’s the story behind it?”
Yes. It would be nice to know.
“An investigation is underway into her exact location,” Anita answered. “Mr. Garland’s training is extremely important.” Another beat of silence passed, with so much hidden between the lines.
Why the secrecy? Why not tell us everything if we were resetting?
“One more thing,” Anita said. She paused, her cool façade wavering slightly.
I didn’t like it. Something bad was about to drop.
“Ember murdered Queen Alexandra.”
The collective gasp turned my blood cold.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Asher
So much for Queen Alexandra dying in an accident.
“Shit…” I breathed, reeling from the severe wallop of info already. But this came in with a mighty boom.
Ember killed our queen?
My sister linked her arms with me, resting her head on my shoulder. A blanket of melancholy smothered the room, this news unpalatable in the extreme.
How would anyone get close enough to the queen to murder her?
Unless the king’s possible affair opened the floodgates.
Shit.
I squeezed Luke’s hand, reveling in this sandwich of him and Eden.
“She killed her?” Carissa spoke for the room.
“Yes.”
“When? What happened?”
Our queen. Murdered.
