Page 65 of Realm of the Wicked

I left his body for the Nihil. Not that they deserved it. But he did. Dragging my feet, I slumped into a chair in the kitchen. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t realized how dangerous of a situation I’d left Stella and Grace in. What if I hadn’t been there today, and he’d sold off her apartment keys to someone else? I hadn’t even realized that might be a concern. I needed to reevaluate my safety plan for her. Step one was a background check on any potential landlords and fellow tenants. I wasn’t taking any chances.

Was this what it felt like to care about someone? To constantly be worried if they’d be okay, so much so, you lost sleep? Humans really had the short end of the stick if that was the case.

‘Fuck,’ I muttered.

A steaming mug slid down the countertop to me, and I looked up to see Agatha’s soft smile. ‘Guess she’s worth it then.’

I nodded to myself, trying to fit all of my feelings into words, and finally settling on, ‘Yeah. Yeah, she’s worth it all.’

23

STELLA

I touched my lips to make sure they were in fact still there.

Stella. Stella. You are perfection.

My body warmed, remembering the way Damien’s hands traced the outline of my body, the way words seem to fail him.

He’d kissed me until I’d fallen asleep, exhausted. I didn’t dream. But when I’d woken up, I was alone once more. While I was disappointed, I wasn’t surprised.

He was still him, and I was still me. As much as I wanted it to be different, a few kisses didn’t change things. It felt like they should’ve, but they didn’t.

I wasn’t sure I was even the same person I’d been before last night.

Perfection. He’d called me perfection. As if I hadn’t glued myself back together a half-dozen times, my edges rough and chipped. Perfection. As if I wasn’t little more than a shell of the girl I once was, the woman I thought I’d become.

I pulled off another cluster of weeds from the bed of carrots. The garden was slowly coming back to life under my hands, a labor of love I’d been working on with Agatha. It just felt too beautiful to remain untouched, and it gave me a purpose. It deserved to be seen, given a second chance for something good.

Maybe we all did.

‘Come on,’ I grunted, tugging a resistant weed that seemed determined to stay where it was. ‘Don’t be like this!’

‘I’m beginning to doubt your gardening abilities.’

Damien’s deep drawl startled me, and I sat back on my heels, wiping the dirt off my palms.

‘Do you often hold conversations with weeds?’

‘You don’t?’ I smirked. ‘Explains why the garden is so overgrown.’

Damien rolled his eyes, straightening the cuffs of the crisp black shirt he wore. ‘Yes, that’s why. I’m sure it has nothing to do with my dislike of dirt.’

‘Don’t like to get your hands messy then?’

‘Only when necessary.’

We stared at each other, a thousand unspoken words between us.

‘Anyway. I didn’t come out here to scrutinize your relationship with my weeds.’

‘Oh? Do tell why you’re out here to judge me then.’ Tell me why you said those things last night.

Tell me why you didn’t say them sooner.

Had it all just been a dream? A brief reprieve from the realities of my life?

‘Agatha wanted me to find you. She needs help canning tomatoes in the kitchen. Apparently, I am no longer allowed to help.’ He rolled his eyes.