17. Asher

SEVENTEEN

Asher

“ F uck off!”

The connection crackled with white noise and a puff of air.

Did he really just say that to me?

“Luke!”

Silence.

Did he remove the amulet?

“What’s going on?” Eden asked.

Shit. He’d lost control of himself, this training bollocks must have backfired.

“Cookie?”

I had to find him. Fast.

“Fuck Seth,” I growled, hurrying out of the room.

“Cookie!”

As I ran to Carissa’s office, I concentrated on finding him. Sparks of warning bristled across my skin, giving me nothing else.

I stormed into my boss’s office.

Empty.

“Shit!” I bellowed, pulling out my flip phone.

She didn’t answer, the call going to voicemail. I slammed the device shut, too rattled to leave her a message. What good would it do anyway? I’d still have to wait for her to get back to me.

“Luke!”

Nothing.

What was the point of marking the human if I couldn’t pissing find him?

Eden arrived in the corridor with her team as I charged out of the office.

“What is it?” she asked, her voice a life raft in the choppy seas of life.

I broke, slamming my fists into the wall in a fit of rage. I roared it out, punched it out, making a significant hole by the time I calmed down.

“Fuck…” I sank to my knees, totally lost.

“Cookie…” Eden’s hand landed on my shoulder, squeezing gently.

“I’ve…I’ve lost him…” I breathed, languishing in defeat.

I’d failed Luke so many times, the most useless gargoyle knight to ever walk the universe.

Why me? Why not pick a better gargoyle over this useless lump of shit?

“Is it Luke?” she asked.

I pressed my forehead to the wall. “Yeah. He’s… Something’s wrong and I can’t find him.”

“He’s not in the tower?”

“He’s out with Seth. Training .” I growled the last word. “What a piss take.” I lifted my head. “The amulet’s down, I’m getting warnings, but…” A glimmer in the darkness, a signal breaking through. “Wait. He’s moving.”

“Where?”

I jumped to my feet, ignoring the pain in my knuckles. I saw him as a speck of light far away. Not here in town.

Where are you?

There. A lock on his location.

“I have to go.” I ran back into the office, crashed through the windows, and swan dove off the balcony.

“I’m coming, Luke.”