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CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

Ellery

“The stone… it made me feel… like, ah… like I needed Ryker,” I managed to get out.

“So what?” Then her furrowed brow cleared, and her mouth parted. “Ohhhh.” She glanced from me to him to the town and back again. “ Really ?”

I struggled not to turn red at her disbelieving tone. “I know it’s insane and completely inappropriate, considering where we are, but yes. Every time it released that red pulse, it got inside me and dug deeper until I had to get away.”

“Or else you’d get Ryker inside you?”

I gawked at her as she gave me a devilish grin. “Scarlet!”

She waved her hand. “Yeah, I know, I’m hilarious, but do you still want to fuck him in the tower?”

Despite her blunt words and my lingering discomfort from that gem, I couldn’t stop smiling at her. “I feel better away from it, but I still feel its vibrations in my bones. It didn’t make you feel the same way?”

“Thankfully, no. I like those guys, but I’d prefer not to have sex with any of them. Maybe it had that effect on you because you and Ryker already have a sexual connection. The gem’s power might have enhanced that.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

I didn’t know what happened up there, but I was happy I’d put some distance between myself and the stone. I wished Ryker would do the same.

Two more flashes passed before the others descended the stairs and joined us. I felt stable enough to look at Ryker again, but he kept his gaze away from me.

Staring at the town, he stood with his body tensed like he was waging a battle against himself. Since he’d spent more time up there than me, I had no idea how long that battle would last.

“It consistently flashes every minute,” Ianto said.

I was grateful when no one else asked why I’d fled the tower. Maybe Ryker had somehow explained it to them, but I doubted it.

“Do we leave it there?” Scarlet asked.

“Yes,” I said, far too quickly.

Scarlet’s mouth twitched toward a smile. I itched to kick her.

Ryker shuddered at the sound of my voice and closed his eyes. My heart yearned for him, but the worst thing I could do was go to him. If I touched him, I had no doubt I’d end up on the wall with my legs spread and him thrusting between them.

I almost crossed my legs to suppress the ache, but only Ryker would ease that. Not here. Not here.

“I don’t think any of us should touch it,” Tucker said.

“It possesses a lot of power, but we have no idea what it can do. Something happened to this town, and that gem is at the center of it; touching it could destroy us all. If we could figure out what it is, maybe it could help us against the aristocrats.”

“How do we figure that out?” I asked.

“I have no idea. I was going to say we should leave this town immediately, but we should keep searching it. There might be a temple here that contains its history and information about the gem.”

“We saw the whole town from up there; there is no temple,” Ryker said.

“We can’t walk away without knowing we did everything we could to uncover the truth,” Tucker insisted.

“There’s the library downstairs,” Scarlet said. “There might be something in it.”

“Yes,” Tucker agreed. “We should start there.”

I didn’t want to stay in this town or be anywhere near that stone, but they were right; we couldn’t leave without searching for answers. I would never return to this place once I left it.