Page 80 of Realm of the Wicked

Making it so Stella wouldn’t get into a car accident was trickier than my work with the gun. I needed to buy her enough time that she’d miss the accident and any fallout all together, but not enough to completely mess with the fabric of time. The rules of Hell were complex, and rather tedious, but the result was the same. Keep the Balance. I dragged my finger along her countertop, thinking. A series of events would be best. A coffee machine that wouldn’t start. Water that wouldn’t warm up. She never seemed to leave enough time to get ready in the mornings.

I sighed, clucking my tongue as I popped open the back of her coffee maker. ‘Oh, my sweet Stella. Whatever will I do with you?’ I snapped a wire inside the machine, then carefully put it back together. Stuffing my hands into my pockets, I took my time, touching the walls where she’d put her hands before.

Thankfully, Stella’s apartment was older, and had a separate boiler. I cranked the temperature down, doing my best to not picture her in the shower, running her hands down her smooth body, and I⁠—

Fuck.

It was too much being around her. All I wanted to do was run my hands through her hair, tug it, kiss her until she only remembered me. I was selfish enough to do it, too.

Two out of three accomplished, I eagerly started toward her room. If I hid her cell phone charger, she’d be reliant on her body clock to wake up on time, and we both knew how well that would go.

I was next to her bed, leaning over to detach the small white wire, when the front door flew open with a bang.

‘We go to the clinic every Thursday. Tell me how you forget your insurance card?’ Stella’s voice echoed through the small apartment.

I froze. I could snap my fingers and get out of here, but that would only leave two out of three of my steps complete, and that meant there was a risk it wouldn’t be enough.

No, I had to stay. It had nothing to do with the fact I got to be near Stella.

I threw myself to the floor on the other side of her bed. ‘Fucking hiding under the bed like a child. Do you see the things I do for you?’ Could I have blended in with the shadows? Sure. But something wicked stirred inside me, wanting her to know I was here.

Thankfully, Stella went into Grace’s room, tossing things around. Finally, she called out, ‘Got it!’ I heaved a sigh of relief, hearing her light footsteps trek back down the hall.

I started to haul myself off the floor when Stella’s door creaked open. ‘Hold on, Grace, I just want to change into a cooler shirt while I’m here!’

I tucked myself behind Stella’s bed the best I could, which was difficult considering I could hear her changing on the other side of the bed. As I listened, she paused. Sniffed. ‘Grace? Have you been sneaking cigarettes again?’

‘No?’ Grace called from the front door. ‘You told me they would kill me.’

Stella choked out a laugh. ‘I must be losing it. I thought I smelled smoke in here.’

I grinned, knowing it was me she smelled. Maybe if I was lucky, the smell would linger, haunting her.

Maybe I could… But just as I tried to turn around, a yellow sweater was flung over the bed, the sleeve draping over my face. Stella’s scent was everywhere, overwhelmingly so. All of my senses were so alive with this piece of her being so close, I barely noticed the door shutting, and a few moments later, the front door clicking into place.

I waited one minute. Two.

Then I jumped up, snatched the phone charger, and paused.

The yellow sweater sat there. Unassuming. Looking at me. Daring me. Haunting me.

‘I can’t,’ I whispered.

This was a piece of her, a sliver of something that caressed her skin in ways I could only dream. It comforted her in ways I would never have the chance to, while she laid awake at night, wondering if she, too, was deserving of a chance.

This was a small piece of her, but possibly the only part I’d ever be privy to, and yet would never be worthy of. If I wasn’t deserving of holding this flimsy scrap of yellow fabric in my filthy hands merely because it had once been hers, I was delusional to think I’d ever have her.

Not just a piece or a sliver. More than a crumb, left to linger too long on the tip of my tongue, but all of her for eternity. I couldn’t say no to that chance.

And so, charger in one hand, yellow sweater in the other, I snapped my fingers. I hoped it would be enough, for both our sakes.

29

DAMIEN

I threw the glass paperweight from my desk and watched it shatter into a thousand pieces against the wall. I didn’t feel better. I felt worse. I didn’t think I’d ever feel right again, until Stella was back with me. But if I did it wrong, Clarissa would kill her – or worse – before I ever got close. Knowing her, she’d probably used the tracking magic she was so fond of first thing. If I hadn’t been so distracted by Stella, I could’ve prepared for Clarissa to arrive sooner than she said. Removing the magic would be a nightmare at best. At worst… well, I didn’t even want to consider that outcome.

Red flooded my vision, my veins on fire. With a roar, I flipped my solid desk upright, the papers and pens that sat on top of it flying into the air like doves who didn’t know how to survive outside captivity.