Page 56 of Realm of the Wicked

From her expression, it hit the wrong mark. Her gaze shuttered softly, tears pooling in those bright brown eyes. No, no, love. Don’t cry for this.

Before I apologize for my tone, or what she’d seen, Stella shook her head and fled from the room, the door slamming shut with a finality behind her. Shit.

Closing my eyes, I turned around to Jack with anger and desperation flooding every cell in my body. I’d scared her off, and there was no way she was coming back now. I couldn’t even blame it on Jack like I so badly wanted to. This was my fault and my fault alone. Jack was just an easy target.

He could tell, too, when he opened his eyes, widening them in fear. ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry! I’m sorry, fuck, man, you have to listen to me, I swear, I’m sorry!’

I wanted nothing more than to shut him up permanently. I took another step closer, watching him twist against his bindings, trying to swing away from me. He was afraid of me, just like Stella was. Just like everyone was.

As everyone should be.

Close enough now to easily end his life, I watched him squirm. He was pathetic, really. He was a disgusting excuse for a human being, and he deserved to suffer. But he’d done nothing to Stella. I was taking out old hurts.

I couldn’t change who I was. But I could give her a peace offering. If she’d even want to listen to me. I snapped my fingers, the bindings that held Jack to the ceiling falling free, leaving him bound at only his wrists and ankles now.

‘What… what the fuck?’ he squawked.

Inching my face until I was close enough to feel his terrified breath, I couldn’t deny the way I enjoyed him doing his best to roll away from me. ‘Listen to me, you piece of shit. You deserve to suffer. And you will suffer. But I have more important things to do than to listen to you whine. Someone from Hell will be here soon to transport you there.’

‘To… Hell?’

I smiled, injecting it with every ounce of venom I possessed. ‘I hope you have a wonderful afterlife.’ And with a swift kick to the side of his head, Jack blissfully fell unconscious.

* * *

Unfortunately, I couldn’t leave Jack alone in the dining room. If he woke up before someone from Hell came and started wandering the estate, it could be disastrous. So I’d transported him to the dungeon, locking him safely away. By the time I’d dealt with Jack and washed the blood off my skin, the sky outside was dark. I sighed, stuffing my hands into my pockets as I made my way to Stella’s room.

I had a feeling a simple apology wasn’t going to fix it. Yesterday, she’d wanted to kiss me. Today, I doubted she’d even look at me again.

Agatha’s gray hair caught my eye in the hall. She was already moving dinner toward the dining room, carrying silver domes through the candlelit hall. She saw me before I could speak. ‘D. Is Stella with you? Her room was empty when I went to call her for dinner.’

A slithery tendril of fear started to wind its way around my heart. ‘No… Are you sure she wasn’t there?’

‘Positive. No one but Archie was in there.’

The damn cat. ‘And she wasn’t in the kitchen with you?’

‘No.’ Agatha frowned. ‘Did you do something?’

I narrowed my eyes. ‘Why would you assume something like that?’

‘Because you’re you. But if you’ve hurt her, D…’ She let the words trail off, not needing to finish the sentence. I knew exactly what she’d think of me if I told her what happened.

‘I’ll find her.’

‘You better.’

My office was empty. The garden held no trace of her. The library was silent. There weren’t that many places she liked to go, and if she wasn’t in her room… I cast a glance out the window to the rapidly darkening skies, and the dark forest that rimmed the Fringe. She had to be in her room. Agatha was wrong, and she’d been taking a bath or something.

I stalked toward her room, knowing I only had myself to blame. She’d run, and it was my fault. It was always going to be me. I was the monster under the bed. I was the one who’d ripped her from her life. I fooled myself to think we’d even be friends, let alone something more. That moment in the library meant nothing. She’d been confused, excited to see her sister again, and I’d been close by.

She didn’t want me. Today had shown that all too clearly.

Now the house was empty, no sign of Stella. Her absence thrummed through my chest, building fear I wanted to go away. I wasn’t afraid of anything.

Except, apparently, of Stella getting hurt. I shook it off. She had to be in her room. Angry, but safe.

When I swung her door open, her room sat empty with the exception of Archie, glaring at me with a baleful look. Fuck.