Page 108 of Stone Seduction
Tom came over to comfort his friend, resting his chin on Luke’s shoulder. “Shall we go get a pizza?”
Luke nodded, reaching up to touch Tom’s face. “I’d love to. Wait. There’s nowhere open.”
Tom frowned. “Shite. I might have something in my freezer.”
Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping!
“What’s this?” the cupcake-making human wondered, pulling out his phone. “Oh. My. Goodness.”
A miracle. That royal decree had kicked in, big time.
After every single resident received the information by some form of electronic update, shit got crazy in the good way. Takeaway places sent out alerts of their reopening, along with some pubs and bars. And the pings on Tom’s phone kept on coming. No one wanted to wait for tomorrow to get Brinecrest moving again.
Why should they? Bring on the fun after days of melancholy.
Luke rubbed his eyes in disbelief. “Wow.”
“Pizza it is!” Tom cried, his fist punching the air.
Brinecrest bustled,the night alive with activity. What a difference an hour made.
A fresh set of ugly gargoyle statues sat atop the buildings, a shit load of them also in the streets. This town was properly fortified, what with the constant patrols zooming by above.
Gods bless the king.
“This is amazing,” Tom crooned, skipping along, Dane keeping pace.
“Look at those two,” Luke whispered. “Adorable.”
We walked together with our arms linked, enjoying the town’s rebirth.
But I still wasn’t sure about Luke being alright with me. A kernel the size of canon ball sat in my chest, reminding me of my betrayal. Shaking it off wasn’t gonna be easy, no matter what he said.
I’m no better than Seth…
Green magic pulsed in the night sky. Emerald moonlight filtered into the town, humans amazed by the shift in color. They chatted about it as they waited outside shops deciding to open for a few hours, laughed about other things as they queued for the pubs, the chip shops, all the good stuff.
A monster with a fish head and fox’s body darted into the street. Before any of us reacted, a statue blasted it with green lasers from its eyes. The monster exploded, normality restored.
“Erm…” Luke said. “Okay.”
“The system works,” I added.
“What about this place?” Tom stopped outside a pizza restaurant. “We haven’t tried it yet.”
Luke yawned. “Actually, can we leave it tonight? I’m so tired. It’s been…I just need to rest. I’m sorry.” He shook his head.
Tom scurried over. “Hey, hey, hey. We’ll do it another time. Don’t worry.” He took Luke’s hands. “Friendship time can wait. But you owe meMario Kartand some Boys’ Love sessions.”
Luke laughed. “Promise.”
“Good.” Tom summoned a cupcake, strawberry creams embedded in the pink icing. “Here you go.”
“You didn’t?” Luke took it. “Wow.”
My sister loomed over Tom. “This is beyond belief.”
The human beamed with pride. “You enjoy, my friend. How about breakfast before your training?”
