Page 63 of Stone Temptation

“Is it Seth?” He rolled a bracelet crystal between finger and thumb.

I swallowed. “Yes.”

“Follow me into the kitchen,” he said with his outside voice.

He held the beaded curtain open for me.

“Wow. This is so yellow.”

“I like yellow.”

“Me, too.”

Yellow and white tiles, a white microwave, kettle, and fridge.

Asher filled the electric kettle with water, clicking it on to boil, then grabbed some mugs and two boxes of tea.

“Seth put you up to something, right?” he asked through the amulet.

For some reason, I told him everything. More than my friends, the information pouring from my mind.

He stared at me.

Heat crawled up my back, spreading to my neck and face. This jumper was too thick, too close to my skin.

“I’ve said too much. What’s wrong with me?”

“Hey. Hey. Hey. It’s alright.”

“It’s not. It’s really not.”

“Breathe, Luke. Breathe.”

I switched back to mind voice. “I’ve just spilled my guts to a stranger. A gargoyle stranger. Seth is going to kill me.”

Shadows swam in his gaze. “Seth is a knob.”

Lavender wafted into the kitchen, the scent helping to pacify my nerves.

“I won’t let him hurt you.”

Safe…

But was I really?

The kettle finished boiling. Asher poured water into our cups. “Milk? Sugar?” he asked.

“One sugar. Dash of milk.”

“Why didn’t you register your invisibility?”

“I got scared. Wanted to avoid this sort of thing. I’m an idiot.”

“Nah. I’d be able to tell.”

“If I’m an idiot?”

“Yeah.” He shot me a wink.