Page 38 of Realm of the Wicked

‘No.’ Yes. ‘I thought we were friends. Can’t friends walk together?’

‘You’d know better than me how this frenemy thing works.’

I rolled my eyes. ‘The frenemy thing only works if you both hate each other, and apparently, you only bestow an eternity of damnation on those you care for.’

We’d stopped in the hall just outside his office. Archie came barreling down the hallway, Luna hot on his heels. They whipped around the corner toward the kitchen.

His dark brows nearly hit his hairline. ‘If you want to get technical, the Fringe isn’t damnation, and if I have my say, you won’t experience it for an eternity.’

My heart froze. The joking manner we’d had was gone. When I spoke, my voice was quiet. ‘If it’s not damnation, what is this to you then?’

I could’ve sworn a smile ghosted across his lips, so quick, I might’ve missed it.

‘A chance, Bambi.’

‘I do have a name, you know.’

‘I know. I use it. Bambi just suits you so well.’ Damien smirked.

I rolled my eyes. ‘I think I do just fine for myself, thank you. But I’ll leave you to your jokes now. I’m going to find Agatha.’

‘You won’t miss her in that damn hat she likes so much.’

‘I’ll see you later, Damien.’ I smiled to myself, thinking about Agatha’s hat, a pop of color amongst the doom and gloom. Damien was just missing the big picture.

Before I could barely get a step away, Damien grabbed my arm and yanked me backward. His silver rings pressed into my skin.

‘Do you even look where you’re going? Fuck!’

I glared at him, wrenching my arm out of his grasp. ‘As far as I was aware, I was headed to the garden. Until you so rudely pulled me back.’

Damien scoffed, pointing in front of us. ‘See that?’

Staring at where he pointed, I could see nothing. ‘No. There’s nothing there, Damien.’

‘Look closer.’ He grabbed my jaw, gently pulling me to look in the direction he wanted. ‘Look closely at the air.’

I wanted to look closer. I really did. But all I could think about was Damien’s warm hands on my face, and how nice it would feel to just lean into his touch. Just a little bit. Then I saw it. The flickering of the air, like a television struggling for signal.

‘Oh,’ I whispered. ‘What is that?’

‘It’s an anomaly. We don’t have a word for it, really. A disruption in whatever magic keeps the Fringe in existence.’

‘What would happen if I touched it?’ I couldn’t deny I wanted to touch it, if only out of curiosity. It seemed like the more dangerous things were, the more I was compelled to get closer – Damien included.

‘You’d end up somewhere else. Hopefully.’ Damien let go of my face, and I missed his touch, however brief. ‘I’ve ended up in the dungeons before, had to get Agatha to release me. But I’m also part of the Fringe. Connected. Those who are less so… well. You might end up on Earth. Maybe in Hell. Maybe somewhere else altogether, where I’d have no hope of finding you and getting you back.’

‘That… sounds pleasant.’ With a grimace, I pictured getting stuck somewhere even worse than the Fringe, alone. ‘So I’m just supposed to avoid them?’

‘Do your best. You’ve seen one, so any new ones should be easier to see now.’ Damien’s expression grew dark and serious. ‘Please. Try and not get yourself into any trouble from here to the garden. I’m already behind on paperwork. I don’t need to go traipsing into Hell today. Clarissa would only be all too thrilled to see you.’

I sniffed, giving the weird wavy air a wide berth as I walked away. ‘You can provide me with a list of everything that might hurt me at dinner.’

‘I’ll be sure to do that. Color coordinated and everything.’

I ignored the jab. All the same, I kept a closer eye out on anything strange while I found my way out to the garden. It wasn’t until I was halfway through the door that Damien’s words came back to me. The part about having no hope of finding me and getting me back.

He had to just mean in terms of making his life difficult. Because there was no way those words could mean the same thing to him as they did to mean. That would require Damien to be worried about my wellbeing. To care about me.