Page 26 of Stone Temptation
Yum.
“Thanks.” I added some salt and onion vinegar. “How have you been?”
“Same as always. You?”
“Not too bad. Well, I’d better be going.”
“Have a good one, Luke.”
“And you.”
I continued my journey to the gargoyle tower, scoffing the chips, not realizing I was that hungry. Within ten minutes I’d finished them, finding myself standing in front of the spiral stone escalator curling up into the sky.
Okay. Here goes. I had this. I really, really had this.
I swallowed, my throat full of sand as I approached the twin gargoyle statues standing either side of the entrance to the escalator. Their eyes pulsed with emerald magic, the small, ugly-as-sin things all over town. Teeming with power, ready to unleash vicious jets of magic from those eyes at any monster stupid enough to get too close.
I passed between them safely, a shiver of cool wind licking at my neck. An accepted visitor. I stepped onto the slow-moving escalator, the gray stone grinding in its endless loop.
Despite the rising altitude, the magic in my system kept me safe from altitude sickness, the oxygen levels never changing. More magic rippled in a cylindrical wall around me, shielding the escalator with an extra layer of protection.
Of course, gargoyles didn’t use this escalator. Knights flew, and weavers used private elevators. This was for the rest of us.
I’d love a pair of wings to fly somewhere far away from this town. To start again, lose myself in a new life free from sorrow.
But distance didn’t free you from guilt. It goes with you. Anyway, I couldn’t leave Finn or the lighthouse behind. It would be like severing our ties, giving up on him.
Never. We’d leave Brinecrest together, if that’s what we both wanted.
Eventually, I reached the humongous stone platform hovering in the sky above the clouds. An army of statues peppered the platform, a gaggle of eyes pointing at me. I hurried past them, along a path toward the huge rectangular tower of gray stone, the cone-shaped roof wreathed in shadows. Every light in the balconied windows shone like hundreds of jewels in the foreboding stone.
Why did I eat those chips, especially with the heavy roll of unease attacking my belly?
Something was wrong. Something had to be wrong. Seth never wanted to simply chat.
Stop it!
The massive doors opened inward, the platform rumbling under my shoes, the sound like two boulders racing down a hill. A human servant appeared, dressed in a smart gray uniform, her red hair tied up in a bun.
“Good morning. The most gracious Weaver Seth awaits you in his chambers.”
Ugh. That hurt my teeth. What a way to make my fillings fall out.
“Thank you,” I said.
I followed her through sloping stone corridors, passing under high ceilings, everything cold and woeful, not one hint of color anywhere.
Would it kill them to add a splash of yellow somewhere?
The woman brought me to Seth’s open door, gesturing for me to enter. I did, stepping into the familiar gray room with the dull gray furniture, the balcony windows wide open. The bitter bite of the wind scared my balls into retreat.
Seth liked it cold.
The weaver stood by the window, his chest bare, a pair of brown pajama bottoms covering his lower half. He puffed on a thick joint of gargoyle leaf, blowing smoke in my direction.
It smelled of almonds.
“Have a seat,” he said.