Page 51 of Realm of the Wicked

The dress, surprisingly, wasn’t black, unlike my normal dinner dresses. This one was the softest shade of yellow, the same color as the wheat fields just outside of town before the storm. It swished around my legs, silky soft and whisper light.

‘Here. What do you think?’ Agatha stepped out of the way of the mirror so I could see myself up close. She’d pulled my hair away from my face, leaving most of it loose, and she must have had some kind of magic herself to tame it like she had. The yellow dress draped elegantly down my hips. In a weird way, I’d never felt more like myself.

‘It’s D’s favorite color.’ Agatha smiled as she fluffed the hem.

‘It doesn’t seem like it should be.’ I smiled at my reflection. ‘It’s funny, I had a sweater this color, a long time ago. It was my favorite. I don’t know what happened to it, though.’

She sighed. ‘I know it doesn’t seem like it sometimes, but he does care for you. I just think somewhere along the way, he forgot it’s okay to feel.’

I blinked at the older woman, who stared back at me with no reservations.

‘Agatha, I—’ I, what? Anything I could’ve said would’ve been a lie.

She squeezed my shoulder one more time and turned toward the door. ‘I best get myself ready. Don’t be late. I don’t know who would be angrier.’ With a scoff, she disappeared out of the room.

Ironic that this dress was the same color as that sweater. How angry I’d been when it went missing. I’d assumed Grace stole it, or the wash ate it.

With Agatha gone, the voices grew louder once more. What if Damien’s plan didn’t work? What if Clarissa dragged me away mid-dinner?

Shit.

I gripped onto the bedpost, lowering myself down before the anxieties overwhelmed me completely. This was dark waters for me, and I didn’t know how to swim in this alone. Agatha seemed to think Damien cared for me, but Damien made it quite clear he had given all he could.

And just as my nerves began to get the best of me, there was another knock at my door.

‘Come in!’ I threw my shoulders back, expecting Agatha to return, and not wanting her to see exactly how her words had affected me.

Except instead of Agatha’s smiling face peeking around my door, the last face I was hoping to see stared back at me.

18

STELLA

‘Oh. It’s you.’ I lowered my hands, digging my nails into my palms. Damien being in my room, after what he’d just said in the garden, did nothing for my increasing nerves.

Damien twisted one of his rings. ‘Were you expecting someone else?’

‘Agatha,’ I said. ‘She helped me get ready.’

He nodded. ‘You look beautiful.’

I looked down at the yellow dress, draping softly over my legs, and back up at Damien. He cut an incredible figure in a black suit. ‘Why would you say that?’

‘Because I mean it?’ Damien frowned. ‘I don’t go around lying for the good of my health, Stella.’

I shook my head, frustration rising within me. ‘I mean, if this is all you can give me, why do you keep saying things like that? Why do you keep telling me I’m your temptation? That I’m beautiful? Why not let it be?’

Damien crossed the room, crouching before me. He rested his large hands on my thighs, and as much as I wanted to push him away, I couldn’t. ‘Because they’re true. And I know I should stop. I know I shouldn’t say them. I know I shouldn’t find ways to touch you, like I’m doing now. I know, okay?’ His voice was harsh, raspy with some unspoken emotion.

My skin burned beneath his touch, and my breath caught in my throat. I hadn’t seen him show this amount of passion since the night in the hall. ‘So why do you do it then?’

‘Because I can’t help myself.’ The words were strangled, tortured, and his hands wrapped around my thighs, squeezing. ‘I seem to have very little control around you, Stella.’

My tongue darted out to wet my lips, and I dug my nails into my palm harder. I could lie. Say it didn’t matter. I could. But he would know. ‘I don’t mind.’

‘But you should.’ He sank to his knees, eyes never leaving mine. His hands slid down the silk, caressing me without ever touching my skin. ‘This is my favorite color.’

I squirmed under his touch, wanting to press closer, but not knowing where the line was. ‘Agatha mentioned.’