Page 84 of Stone Seduction
Imagine a world without him. Man, I couldn’t get the image up. He was part of my life, part of me completely.
We had to live without this lie. “I have to tell you something, sis.” I pushed through the dry mouth. “Something about Luke. Something I need to tell him after telling you.” Gods, was I really gonna do this?
The smell of almonds reached me first, followed by the sound of footsteps, and the faint scent of bergamot.
I recoiled from the smell, despising it. My teeth clenched, the rest of me braced for impact.
Seth and Billy arrived side by side, my ex keeping his head dipped while Seth stood tall and shirtless. Fresh from a shower, his wet hair slicked back, looking much better.
“There he is,” he said.
I made sure to fix my gaze to him, standing tall and firm against Billy’s presence. “Yeah. Here I am.”
Luna arrived, sweeping past Seth with a silver bag. “Hand him over.”
“Piss off,” I retorted, moving back.
Seth chuckled, not seeming one bit bothered by his experience at the café. “Now, now. There’s no need for childishness, Asher.”
My chest rumbled. “No one touches him.”
Puff, puff went the turd. “I see.”
“Good. Now leave us alone.”
He smirked, the action testing my limits. “I cannot allow you to go skipping around this tower with such a deadly man in your arms.” He looked me up and down. “Although, I’m guessing you’ve never skipped anywhere.”
Funny. Cool. I’d play along. “I once skipped to go eat steak at the Beef Hut. You know the place in the dining district of Marble City? The one with the candy-striped tables cloths?”
I knew Billy did. We’d been there before on a few dates. I’d skipped to our first one, whistling, so happy he’d finally said yes to meeting up with me.
Cheating slime.
Cheating, irrelevant slime.
I liked this dismissive energy I’d mustered. Yeah, bollocks to him. Bollocks to heartache, and hello to Luke.
“Chef’s kiss,” I added.
Seth cocked his head. “Are you trying to delay the inevitable?”
“No. Because there ain’t one.”
“I see.”
If he said that one more pissing time…
Seth snapped his fingers, gargoyle knights flooding the corridor. Eden moved, pressing her back to mine. I tensed, letting off a warning growl and held Luke closer to me, ready to kill if I had to.
“No one touches him!” I barked.
The knights drew their weapons.
“Can we talk about this?” Eden tried.
“Talk about what?” Seth countered. “Your brother’s foolishness? How he puts us all in serious danger?”
Gods, my fists were ready to take him out. “He’s not dangerous.”
