Page 3 of How to Hide Your Angel Kid

“That’s not the kind of rock-hard I’m looking for,” Pinks yelled.

He whipped around and sprinted for the safehouse, straining his ears to hear if the man was following him.

Except his foot caught on a tree root. Pinks lurched forward, slamming hard into the ground. Pain burst through his hands and knees.

With a curse, Pinks got his feet under himself, only to hear a voice right behind him.

“Are you okay?”

“No! Don’t touch me!” Pinks scrambled upright and lost his balanceagain,stumbling sideways and crashing into a tree trunk. “Ow, fuck!”

If he were a character in a horror movie, he would be dead in the next ten seconds.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” the statue-man said.

Why did his voice have to sound like silky dark chocolate? Pinks snarled, “I don’t believe you! You have the eyes! And the weird swirly head!”

There was a pause. “I have the eyes...?”

Because no villain would stop to ask about their eyes, Pinks turned around warily.

He was struck by the clearest aqua-blue eyes he’d ever seen. Auburn hair. Pink lips.Holy hell,the man was tall. And big.

Pinks backed up against a tree, inching sideways to get as much distance as he could between them.

The man blinked. Then he raked his gaze up and down Pinks, slowly, intently, in a way that promised tomakebabies, not kidnap them.

Pinks’ body responded with a spark of interest so bright, it scared him a little.

“Who are you?” Pinks growled. “Why’re you stalking me?”

The man frowned. “Stalking...? This is the first time I’ve ever seen you. My name is Galent.”

He had to be lying. Pinks waved at the forest around them. “You’re right outside my house!”

Galent opened and closed his mouth, glancing at the row of houses just past the forest. “I was... drawn here. By something that might lift my curse.”

“What curse? You mean where you turn into a rock?”

“Yes, I c—”

Right in front of Pinks, the man froze. His feet turned into stone, gray creeping up his legs and clothes to his torso, then his head. Frustration flashed in his eyes; his jaw muscles twitched.

In moments, Galent was once again the statue that Pinks had crept up on, still and silent. There wasn’t even a heartbeat.

Pinks squinted at the statue suspiciously. “You’re not trying to catch me off guard, are you? Because this is a really sucky way to do it.”

He crept closer, lightly kicking the man in the shin.

The impact went up Pinks’ leg; Galent was really rock-solid.

“If I were stronger, I could totally kill you,” Pinks said. “Can you hear me? You can cough twice if you do.”

Galent didn’t reply. Pinks made a rude face at him. Then he flipped the man off, and turned around to shake his ass.

The statue remained as motionless as ever.

“Huh,” Pinks said. “Well, there’s one more test.”

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