Page 88 of Stone Seduction
Smash the glass, release the snakes.
The shadow whispered over there in the dark. “Never leave you alone. Never. Never. Never.”
I wept, walking forward, the body of a dead snake squelching under my bare feet. “Please… I can’t be here.”
“The shadow of you. The shadow of him. Looming. Looming. Never leave you alone. Can never ever do it.”
“But I flow,” I responded, the cold like frozen teeth against my skin. “I have to flow. I am… I am… I am…”
“Here and there,” the shadow answered. “There and here. Not here, over there.”
I returned to the room with Seth, a weak light flickering to life. My eyes quickly adjusted, tears smearing my vision. Snot ran over my lips, every part of me limp and weak and afraid.
“Please…”
Seth’s stood beneath an arched lamp, bathed in the anemic light. I squirmed, a worm on his hook. Desperate to get away from this evil fisherman.
“Poor, Luke. So terrified.”
Wouldn’t you be?“Please…”
“Here.” He placed an ice cube in my mouth. I sucked on it greedily, my hoarse throat welcoming the moisture.
“Better?”
“Please let me go,” I said around the ice, the words not as painful now.
He narrowed his unfeeling eyes. “Stop begging. It’s unbecoming.”
A flicker of anger stopped me squirming.
“Things have changed for you,” he said, his breath thick with almonds. “We mustalldo better moving forward. Clearly, taking you to the facility was a mistake. You’re what humans call a loose cannon. A weapon without discipline. How we move forward iskey. While we figure it out, you must stay here. Your body is filled with potion. There is also a collar around your neck, along with a set of shackles fixed to your wrists and ankles. They act as the bracelet did.”
The unfairness of being trapped like a wild animal helped restore some of my courage. “You can’t keep me here.” I swallowed the rest of the ice cube.
“I can. And I will until we can control you.” Was that a kindly look he just offered me? “While I appreciate your interventions earlier, you’re still a risk.”
“I’m not.”
Gravel, earth.
“I—”
A twinge of pain from the ring.
“I—”
Earthy gravel.
“What—”
Both sensations vanished.
What the hell was this gravel crap?
“But youarea risk,” Seth countered.
I licked my lips, pleading my case. “I was fine without the bracelet and the potion. I only attacked the monsters and the gas mask humans. I’m not as dangerous as you think. AsIthink. I can handle this.”
