Page 56 of Descent

“She looks mad,” he says.

I glance down at my engagement ring. I’ve been wearing it more often lately. Asher said he was going to get a wedding band added to it soon, since everyone knows we are essentially married anyways. Slipping the ring off my hand, I put it in my purse. I don’t miss the way Asher frowns as he watches me do so, but he doesn’t say anything.

“Oh, she is,” I say, before I open my door and slide out of the car.

“Hey! What are you doing here?” I ask as I walk towards her.

“Skyla Ann, what the fuck is going on here!” she seethes.

First and middle name, I’m in for it.

“Where exactly? Like here, at school, or just in general?” I ask, causing smoke to practically billow out of her ears.

“Sincewhendid you move off campus? Sincewhendid you move in here? Why the fuck did the front office tell me that you moved in with yourhusband?” she snaps, shooting a glare at Asher, who chose now to exit the car.

“Is this the little shit?” she practically snarls, storming her way up to us.

“I’m Asher Putnam. Skyla has told me a lot about—”

His words are cut off with a sharp slap. His head snaps to the side as I push Steph away.

“That’s for how you treated my niece, you little fucker! You’re just like your father, all of you are the same!”

Asher doesn’t respond, and to my surprise, he doesn’t get mad either. He just stands there stoically and lets Steph get out all her rage.

“That’s enough. I get that you’re mad, but take it up with me,” I say, as I stand in front of Asher protectively.

She looks at me as if I’ve grown two heads, before she blinks rapidly.

“How could you not tell me? How could you not invite me to the wedding?” she asks, emotion choking her as she looks away harshly.

“We haven’t had a wedding yet, technically.”

“Then how are you married?” she asks, her eyes narrowing before they widen. “No…sweetheart. You…you didn’t. They didn’t…”

I wordlessly nod. Clearly she already knows what happened, though I’m not sure how. It’s obvious the knowledge of the ritual is very sacred.

Her hand scrambles for mine, pulling my branded palm to her face before unshed tears fill her eyes. She pulls me into her, hugging me tightly to her chest in a way that feels like coming home. I wrap my arms around her tightly, a relief like I didn’t know I needed wrapping around me. We stand there for I don’t even know how long, but it’s not long enough. Mad at me or not, I’ve missed her so much.

When we pull apart, she quickly wipes away her tears before brushing a few of my own away.

“Well, are you going to show me around this mansion or what?” she asks with a sad smile.

“Yeah, come on,” I say, as I loop my arm through hers and walk her to the front door. Asher jogs in front of us, unlocking the metal bar door that now sits outside our wooden door before placing his finger on the biometric scanner, as well as scanning his eye through a retina scanner. Once all of that is done, he inserts a key, unlocking the deadbolt.

I glance at Steph to see her watching Asher with a worried furrow to her brow. As soon as the door opens though, the frown slips away as her eyes begin eating up the space. Asher politely bows out, allowing Steph and I time to visit, as I give her a tour through the house. I tell her about when Asher and I first came here, it was empty, and he had it set up exactly as I envisioned it.

We didn’t get into the details of the ceremony, or what has occurred since, and I’m grateful for that. I don’t think I could handle it right now.

Eventually, we make our way downstairs to the kitchen, where she decides she’s going to cook us dinner.

“Oh, that’s okay. We usually get takeout,” I say.

“All the more reason,” she says, as she steps into the pantry.

I hear the front door open and shut, two pairs of footsteps sounding through the house. My wide eyes come to Asher, who curses under his breath.

Shit.

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