Page 8 of Stone Temptation

“You’re doing that thing,” he said.

“What thing?” I quickly realized what he meant, catching myself snapping my rose quartz bracelet.

“You’ll break it one day, bro. What’s the matter?”

“A call.”

“What? On the phone?” He shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

“No. Aid call.”

That tore his peepers from the screen. “How is that possible?” His forehead creased.

“No idea.” I quit snapping, bringing out my tail. Grabbed some oil from the table and massaged it into the stony ridges, glad to have my hands occupied.

A lubed-up tail was a happy tail.

“Is it clear?” Dane asked.

“Nope.”

“Have you told Carissa?”

“Not yet,” I replied. “It might be nothing.”

“Yep. But be ready, bro.”

“I will.”

Whatever this meant, it could be the change I’d been looking for. Ever since completing my training and coming here to do my duty, I’d wanted more. Like back in my grandpa’s heyday. Not this same shit, different day yawn fest. My predecessors did battle with apocalyptic threats, taking care of their marks, sometimes even falling in love.

Cool shit.

Yeah, they were romanticized stories from the past, but a lot more interesting than this stagnant present.

Ah, quit moaning.

I tried calling Carissa, my boss, but got her voicemail.

“No answer,” I said, closing the gray flip phone specific to gargoyles, running on the G Network, the signal points in every gargoyle tower across the world.

Done with my tail, I retracted it, taking my first sip of boozy tea.

Dane crunched on more popcorn, his eyes back on the TV.

“Do you think it’s real?” I asked him as a dramatic reconstruction of a murder played across the screen.

“Can’t answer that,” Dane said. “I hope not.”

“Why? It’s part of our job.”

“Was, Asher. Was. If markings are making a comeback, that means things are changing. I hate change. I like things the way they are.”

“You do?”

“What’s wrong with it? The humans are safe. We’re safe. Monsters are under control. End of.”

“Don’t you want more?”