Page 149 of Stone Temptation

Put it on…

Put it on…

The stairs ended and Asher turned into a curved corridor, knights dashing past us.

A rumble sounded from somewhere close by, rolling through my bones. The corridor shook, the ceiling splitting with tiny cracks. Dust sprinkled on our heads, the roars of the chimera deadly close.

Oh, God.

“It’ll be alright,” Asher said. “I’ve got you.”

God, my throat begged for water. The sooner I got it wet, the better.

“What happened to me?” I asked Asher.

The last thing I remembered was being naked, and Seth trespassing in the suite. Kind of trespassing. Beyond that, nothing was clear.

“You passed out,” he answered.

“Again?

“We’ll talk when things settle down. Have you had any visions?”

“No.”

“That’s good.”

I didn’t like the hints of anguish in his tone, how he seemed to be a little bit afraid of me.

No. That must be my imagination. Compared to him, I was a docile hamster.

Put it on.

Put it on.

Put it on.

I really wasn’t keen on the idea of slipping it on my finger.

“The ring—” I tried to say.

“Gods!” Seth roared, throwing me off.

Yelling mingled with the alarms and the mighty roar of the monster outside.

“Incoming!” someone bellowed.

A mighty explosion tore through the corridor, swallowing everything in scarlet light and horrible heat.

Oh, crap.

Asher’s arms snapped around me, his wings forming a protective shield in a split second. We crashed into the ground, my bones rattling, ears ringing from the boom. We slid, Asher holding me tightly as debris rained down around us, wind howling through the corridor.

The ring remained in my hand.

Put it on.

Dust choked the air, thick and burning my eyes and nostrils, prompting a coughing fit.

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