Page 91 of Realm of the Wicked

I landed with a thud just outside the Council’s looming double doors, towering two stories high, and pushed them open to the round room where they met for occasions like this. Stella stood in the middle of the room, back to me, still in that lace dress. When the door slammed into the wall behind, she whipped her head around and gasped. ‘Damien?’

Clarissa stood in front of Stella, the rest of the Council seated in raised wooden stands surrounding the two of them, a mixture of demons. The smell of ash filled the air, smoke following me as I walked. When she saw me, her eyes narrowed but I ignored her, turning my attention to Stella, and Stella alone. ‘Hey, Bambi.’

Stella’s eyes flickered with relief, then disappointment, and finally resignation. I walked out to them like I had all the time in the world, until I stood next to her, reaching out until the back of my hand brushed against hers.

‘I don’t recall inviting you to this closed-chamber meeting,’ Clarissa snapped.

‘I don’t recall needing permission to attend my own Council meetings.’

Clarissa rolled her eyes and turned her back on us to address the Council. ‘Colleagues, we’re here today to discuss an important matter: one of our own, our very own Devil, has decided they are above the rules, and the Balance that keeps us all alive.’

‘Are you okay?’ I whispered to Stella.

When she turned to me, she smiled, but her eyes were glassy with tears. ‘Yeah. It’s okay. It was meant to be, right?’

My heart cracked at the vulnerability in her voice. ‘Don’t say that. Nothing is ever set in stone.’

In the background, Clarissa rambled on about being owed a soul, and my treachery in keeping said soul away from her.

Stella shrugged, flicking her wrist toward Clarissa. ‘Isn’t it?’ She looked back up at me. ‘I’d do it all again, though. All of it. I love you, you know that? But I need you to promise you’ll look out for Grace and Archie.’

‘For such insubordination, I propose to the Council that the soul is not just taken and held in stasis, but destroyed entirely. As a reminder to any who come after that our rules are not meant to be broken,’ Clarissa droned.

‘No,’ I whispered. ‘I need you to promise me you’ll be okay.’

‘Damien, you’re the one that’s getting left behind here⁠—’

‘Promise me!’ I snapped.

Stella’s eyes went wide. ‘I promise.’

‘All those in favor, say aye,’ Clarissa finished.

I reached out, grabbing Stella’s hand, slipping the smallest of my silver rings onto her thumb, spinning it around. It wasn’t much. But maybe it would be enough to remember me.

Stella looked down at the ring and then back up at me, glassy-eyed.

One by one, the Council members held up their hands with a murmured, ‘Aye.’

Clarissa turned to us with a sickening smile. ‘Very well. Stella, if you’ll step forward. I’ll do the honors myself.’

Stella squeezed my hand. Once. Twice. ‘I love you,’ she mumbled. She went to step forward to let me go, but I beat her to it.

‘Take mine instead.’ I shoved Stella behind me as she realized what was going on. ‘Clarissa. Take mine.’

Clarissa quickly recovered from her shock, tapping her long nails on her cheek. ‘Well.’

‘Damien, no, you can’t!’ Stella protested behind me.

‘I can and I will.’ I raised a brow to Clarissa. ‘Come on, Clarissa. You know it’s me you want to punish. Take my soul out of stasis and destroy that.’

Clarissa looked dumbfounded. ‘You’re really willing to give it all up for her?’

‘There’s nothing to give up. She is all of it.’

Clarissa turned to the Council. ‘All those in favor, say aye.’

‘Damien.’ Stella pulled me until I turned around to face her. ‘Damien, you can’t do this.’