Page 11 of Stone Temptation

I got under a hot shower, trying to piece my vision together. Came up with nothing but a baffled mind.

Was I clairvoyant now? A new power joining my invisibility.

God, I really hoped not. The last thing I wanted or needed was an extra magical skill. One was bad enough, two would be a ball ache.

Stepping out of the shower cubicle, I decided to put this weirdness on the back burner for the time being. If it happened again, I’d deal with it.

There. Sorted. Time to move on. My brain couldn’t be dealing with this right now. And I’d have to register it with the gargoyles, which would create more problems.

By law, every new power must be registered as soon as possible. Because the motes couldn’t be destroyed, that was the gargoyle’s way of keeping a grasp on things. Failure to register a power would result in a lengthy prison sentence.

What choice did I have but to hide it? What if I fell into nefarious hands? Invisibility would be useful for shadowy operations. And as far as I knew, there weren’t any other humans with the same power living out in the open.

I could only hope my decision wouldn’t bite me in the bum further down the line.

Sufficiently refreshed, I dried off, dressing in my work clothes before my floor-length bedroom mirror. I slipped on my tight gold jeans, the cherry-red tee clinging to my swimmer’s build, the nightclub’s golden cherry logo emblazoned across the front.

After blow-drying my auburn hair and adding a dash of hair wax, I applied black eyeliner, then spritzed on some cologne. There. Done. All jazzed up and ready to serve drinks.

I grabbed my coat and my packet of strawberry fondant creams, popping one in my mouth—I never left my converted lighthouse without my precious yummies.

A monster appeared outside my bedroom window.

“Pickles!” I cried, the reactionary word one I’d blurted in fear ever since childhood. Almost choked on the strawberry cream.

Dammit!

Snatching a bottle of water from my bedside table, I flushed my throat clear, scowling at the naked woman-like creature with sea snakes for hair looming in the window.

What a rubbish homage to Medusa.

Living on the coast gave us monsters with a sea theme most of the time, as if the motes brought them to life with a wink and a nudge.

Yes. Hilarious.

The monster smiled, the eyes of her snakes red flames flickering in the night.

Heart jackhammering, I closed the blinds. “Naff off.”

“But I want to help you,” she returned with a seductive tone.

By doing what? Eating my flesh or my soul? Those were the only two options from a monster to a human.

I gulped more water, ignoring her.

“I may look beastly, but I can set you free. You do not have to be a slave to the gargoyles. They are the real monsters, not us.”

Yawn.

“Please, Luke. Please.”

I hated that monsters always knew our names.

Rather than indulge her further, I hurried down the spiral staircase of my lighthouse, popping another strawberry cream into my mouth.

“Luke…” The monster’s voice rolled through the lighthouse as a sinister wind, licking at the back of my neck.

“Want me to deal with her?” Maren asked from the sofa, mermaid tail flapping.