Page 68 of Stone Seduction
“Lovely day, isn’t it?”
I slouched a bit, crossing my legs. “Sure.”
The man acted all butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-his-mouth. A kindly middle-aged guy with the weight of the world on his shoulders, looking for a friendly ear to bend.
But I smelled the sour milk of his deceit.
“May I join you?” he asked.
I couldn’t wait to see where this went. “If you like.”
“Thanks so much. My feet are sore.” He sat beside me, making a song and dance of it. “I’m no spring chicken anymore.”
I smiled, closing my eyes again.
He bumped his knee against mine. “It’s always nice meeting people like you.”
Coldness seeped through my jeans, chilling my thigh. I opened my eyes, seeing a hand carved from ice resting there, bypassing the gargoyle protection.
Interesting.
“You’re always so easy to eat.”
The ice froze me to the bench. I let it, still curious.
“I’ve found a way to circumvent the ghastly gargoyles. Soon, there will be more like me. Those stony scumbags have been here too long. Complacent. Weak. It is time for my kind to rise.”
Without the magnificence inside me, the ice would’ve stopped my heart by now. Lucky for me, I could save myself.
Yes. Help myself. No depending on Asher or anyone else.
“No one will see or hear you,” the monster whispered. “They walk by, seeing nothing but an empty park. You’re not on this bench, you’re not anywhere but inside a special place with me.”
Uh-huh.
He pressed his nose to my cheek, taking a big sniff. “Tasty. Tasty. Tasty.”
Enough of this.
I snared his power, the ice receding, transferring into the prison of my palm.
The monster jumped to his feet, stumbling in an escape attempt. I launched a jet of water at the back of his legs. His face hit the snow with a sickening smack.
“What is this?” he cried, rolling onto his back.
I stood, my right hand a claw. “What? No bloodied face? Shame.”
“This can’t be happening,” he whimpered.
His power worked by paralyzing the victim, their nervous system still able to feel pain. Slowly, he devoured the flesh, small piece by small piece. Starting with the head like a praying mantis.
Not a skill I wanted to possess.
I released it back into him and unleashed my fire. He died screaming, though I wished I could prolong it. Make him suffer like his victims, vestiges of their misery echoing around me.
Oh, well. At least he was one less stain on existence.
A gargoyle knight landed before me, her eyes on the steaming liquid remains of the monster.
