Page 82 of Stone Seduction
Monsters melted, their powers broken. My body buzzed with great energy, colors pulsing behind my eyes.
Too much.
You’re doing too much.
Screw it. I pushed harder, snaring more monsters, launching fire and water at the gas mask humans, transforming into a vessel of destruction, rising higher and higher, saving the day.
Yes! Me! Saving the day. Check me out. Not so useless, not so disappointing. Better than anyone, stronger than every single creature beneath me.
How about this, Mum?
Shove it down your gullet, Dad.
What if I flew to Bedford and kicked the front door off its hinges? I would relish the fearful sounds of their shock, laugh at the panic on their faces as their disappointing son displayed utter greatness.
I can end you.
I can make you beg.
My hands were shaking. I panted like a dog in the height of summer. So much power, my body working overtime. Anger rising, memories clashing, images of my parents rioting inside my skull.
Pain and sorrow and rage shaped a vortex beyond my control. But it spurred me on, monster after monster finding itself in my web.
Is this what Ember wanted? Was this part of her game to break me? Use my memories against me?
I have enough…
Pfft. The joke was on her charred arse.
“Fuck you!” My voice crashed like thunder. “Fuck you!”
I heard Ember laugh inside my head, felt my dad’s hands on me, suffered the bite of my mum’s poisonous words. Enduredrejection, the grief over my brother coming at me in a flurry of arrows.
This world. This life. This everything. I couldn’t… I couldn’t…
“I’ll kill you all!”
With one final surge, I destroyed every single monster and gas mask human. Their deaths hit me in a frenetic ricochet, shoving me into a hurtling spin.
“Luke!” Asher cried.
TWENTY-THREE
Asher
Luke blew my mind, but not in the good way. Bolts of lightning forked in the air, linking him to the monsters, fire and water taking out the gas mask humans.
By the gods, he was a sight to behold. Radiant and terrifying, the hub of pure power. His hair stood on end, his arms outstretched like some human-worshipped messiah. Those eyes were full of white fire, the essence of Luke gone, this deadly weapon in his place.
I shivered, feeling him hum down our connection.
Shit. What should I do? Fly over there? Wait? If I interrupted him, I might make things worse.
Man, look at this carnage. The stink of burning human flesh reached my nostrils, the whimpering of the poor victims filling my ears. With the fighting on pause, gargoyles and able-bodied humans helped the injured and comforted the traumatized. I wanted to join them, but my attention stayed on my mark.
I inched closer to him, ready to swoop in.
Seth and Luna were gone, along with Billy. I ignored every creeping thought about him, too wrapped up in this moment to give a shit. He was insignificant compared to Luke’s wellbeing.
