Page 17 of Stone Seduction
Hotter, hotter, hotter, the walls around it coming down. Almost free, almost mine again.
The sound of beating wings came from behind me, along with the voice of my bodyguard. His presence threw me off, dimming the flames.
Fuck it. How dare he screw this up.
Wasn’t that a good thing, though? Wasn’t slamming the brakes on this for the best? I mean, I was taking that potion for a reason. To stop behavior like this.
“Luke?” he hovered before me.
I faced him, confused, everything murky like the grimmest of soups. Gray and lumpy, bordering on gruel.
Ugh.
I shouldn’t be up here…
The gargoyle flew closer. “Come here, Luke.”
What if I hurt the wrong people by unleashing my fire? Where would that leave me? Worse than the monsters, worse than those gas mask creeps.
I’m not this person…
Here I went again, teary eyed and weak. I steeled myself against another emotional collapse, casting my gaze on the town below. The people down there were sleeping away the storm, tucked up in their beds, warm and safe, getting through this Friday night, the weather forecast brighter for the town’s reopening tomorrow—everything closed due to a lockdown following the chimera attack.
“Luke?”
I saw myself having fun, smiling and laughing as I made my friends some cocktails, fully in my happy place.
That’s who I am.
That’s me.
That. Is. Me.
“Luke?”
God, I missed working. I could do with a shift as a barman at the nightclub Midas Cherry right now to blow away the cobwebs. But Seth wouldn’t let me work any shifts. His club, his rules. Blah, blah, blah.
Fuck him.
“Luke?”
I blinked at Asher, the bite of the bitter wind getting to me. “I’m…I’m sorry.” I shivered, bobbing in the air as if on water.
“Come here,” he opened his arms.
I went to him, my fury receding. A bubble of calm engulfed me as he held me close. Just like that, I returned to my softer self.
What a magical guy. A bodyguard and an antidote to anger.
Lucky me.
Asher stroked my back, his big wings sheltering me from most of the wind and rain. “Let’s get you home. It’s been a shit night.”
“Okay…” I breathed against him, the ability to fly slipping away from me.
I clung tightly to him, wriggling further up his body.
“You alright?” he whispered.
