Page 66 of Stone Temptation

Asher opened his muscular arms. “Then come here.”

With nervous laughter helping to relieve my personal tension, I went to him and buried my face into his leather-clad chest, wrapping my arms around him.

Safety in a stranger. Real, solid safety. I couldn’t explain it, probably a condition of him marking me. But I’d never felt like this in my life. Not even as a child living at home with my parents.

He held me for a while, gently rocking from side to side. A true port in a storm. And he actually wanted to help me, hug me, keep me safe.

A heavy banging on the door shattered the mood.

He ended the hug, speaking in my head. “Ready?”

“Oh, God.”

“Tell me when.”

“I… I’m ready.”

He left the kitchen with me close behind him, terror squirming in my guts.

“Showtime, Luke.”

He opened the door.

SIXTEEN

Asher

Carissa ordered us into a meeting room near the ballroom.

By the stone gods. How did I even begin to unpack Luke and all his baggage? Whoa. I really wanted to hug him again.

We gathered around one end of a huge stone table, me making a point of sitting beside my mark. Seth seethed in the seat next to my boss, opposite us.

It took everything to not stick out my tongue. Childish, but would’ve been funny.

He glowered at me, his spine painfully straight.

Wound up, are you?

Excuse me while I piss myself.

Knobhead. Who did he think he was to treat a human like this? His job was to weave protection, not use that protection as blackmail or for favors.

Why had he been on the beach when Luke’s brother got cursed? It wasn’t his job to patrol.

Carissa cleared her throat. “As you know, the chimera has been dealt with, the tower now undergoing repairs. We’re safe. No more chimeras have been spotted.”

Some of my comrades were amazing builders. Gargoyles possessed mad skills with stone and construction. By the end of tomorrow, the tower would be as good as new.

“An investigation into this situation is now underway, the masked human’s body undergoing an autopsy.”

“Were there any casualties?” I asked.

“No. Thank the stone gods.”

“This is deeply concerning,” Seth added.

Hundred percent, but who asked him?