Page 109 of Stone Temptation

“No swimming for me,” I said. “He wants to do the test now. Bastard.”

Asher frowned. “Trust him to piss in the cereal. Come on. Let’s get this shit over with.”

Asher waited outside Seth’s room, everything felt hollow without him by my side.

Uh-huh.

The weaver stood before me, shirtless, five gold chains hanging from his neck, his jeans extremely tight.

Was this for my benefit?

“Good morning,” he finally broke the silence between us.

“Morning.”

He rolled the ring between the finger and thumb on his left hand, holding a lit joint in the other.

A soft breeze rolled through the room, pushing the already unfriendly temperature down.

“Such an interesting weekend, wasn’t it?” he said, puffing on his joint.

I couldn’t express the tirade of colorful language sitting on the tip of my tongue.

“Yes,” I said instead.

“How is your new tenant settling in?”

“Fine.”

He blew out two smoke rings. “Is that all you have to say to me?”

“What do you want me to say?” Anger crackled in my tone.

“You hate me.”

Damn right. “Can we get on with it?”

He tittered, flicking ash onto the floor. “Such bite. Has Asher turned you against me already?”

You did that yourself!

“Everything that transpired was necessary, Luke. To teach you a lesson not to lie to me, and to give Carissa a wakeup call regarding this ring. Hiding it in her safe is not conducive to this investigation.” He smirked. “But now the wheels can turn properly.”

His presence became more intolerable by the second. I wanted out of here, out of this town.

“I’m sorry for hurting you, Luke. But the lying hurt my feelings.”

Not as much as his tail around my neck.

“This is all for the greater good, to discover a truth about you, about this world. I only have your best interests at heart. Always.”

A horde of insects scuttled in my veins in response to his simpering.

“You will see one day, Luke. Come here.”

I obeyed him, sickened by a flutter of desire for the blissful warmth of his mouth.

He slipped the ring on my finger, his touch so gentle.

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