Within These Wicked Walls(35)

Gently, I laid my hand against his still-red cheek and kissed him.

It was the far extreme, and maybe it was as wrong as hitting him. I didn’t care. His soft lips pressed hard against mine at first, as if he’d lost his footing, but then I heard the crumple of stuffed leather as he adjusted his grip on the back of the chair. Even when his lips lifted away from mine, they never quite left me, his uncertainty as adorable as it was unbearable. He pressed closer and the warmth of his body sent my heart racing—

And then he jerked back, stumbling toward the fire. He caught himself on the mantel just as I reached to catch him. But I stopped just short of touching him, instead hugging my own arms, holding myself steady.

“Why did you do that?” he asked. Angrily. Painfully.

My heart hummed like a mouse’s in my ear, but I managed to look him in the eye. His expression was more conflicted than his tone suggested. How could I tell him why? What answer could I possibly give that would make sense to either of us?

Thankfully, he didn’t wait for me to figure it out. “I don’t deserve to be kissed.”

“Why not?”

“I am … a monster, Andromeda.” The heat of his face near mine froze me still. I suddenly realized I wasn’t looking in his eyes anymore. I was looking at his smooth skin, warm and umber in the fire and dim, the curve of his neck calling to my fingers to run the length of it. “But, then again, if affection is your contribution to my humanity, then by all means…”

His whisper was like molten silver, beautiful and dangerous at once.

My heart pounded. My stomach hurt. Sometimes I hated how sick empathy made me feel. Or maybe I just hated that I was thinking of that drawing, of those lovers in the shadows of the bookcases … of how the two of us could be living that moment now if we stepped away from the fire just a few feet …

Despite my annoyance with myself, I had to bite my lip to keep from tasting his again. I backed away to a more appropriate distance. “You’re a heathen. You just like to stir people up.”

He raised his thick eyebrows. “Did I stir you, Andromeda?”

I blushed, and Magnus—the little demon—smiled.

“S-stop that,” I said.

“You kissed me, remember?”

I snatched up his sketchbook and shoved it into his chest. My force showed in the shock of his expression.

“Peggy is rude,” I said, scrambling for anything I could to change the subject. “If she doesn’t start treating me and Saba like her equals, I can’t work here anymore.”

Magnus’s expression dropped into confusion, followed by distress. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Good. I’m … I’m going to leave, now.”

“You really shouldn’t get too attached to her.” His voice stopped me as I spun on my heel.

“What do you mean?”

“As soon as you cleanse the entire castle Saba will leave. At the rate you’ve been working, that shouldn’t be too long.”

I spun slowly back around on my heel to look at him. “Is she your caretaker while you’re cursed?”

“You could say that.” He closed his sketchbook and hugged it to himself. “She’s the most important person in the world to me. I love her like family. But I’m telling you not to get too attached.”

“Are you trying to tell me who I can and cannot make friends with?”

“I’m telling you you’ll regret it if you do.”

I opened my mouth to speak, then changed my mind and left the room. It wasn’t worth it, arguing. It’s not like he could stop me from keeping the only friend I’d made here. The only person in the house I cared about.

Except, no. That wasn’t true, and the thought of it made my stomach flutter in excitement.

Because, if I was honest with myself, I cared far too much for Magnus, too.





CHAPTER 15


I managed to avoid Magnus for two days straight after that. I had no choice. That kiss had been … surprising. Mortifying and wrong, and yet, somehow it felt like the truest thing I’d ever done. I wanted it again … and again … my God, what was wrong with me?

I had kissed my employer, and the more time we both had to forget about it the better.

I waited until I could hear him playing Bach to head to the library. It was about time I cleansed the Librarian, although I could tell she was going to give me a hard time. She was an extremely interactive Manifestation, which was normally a sign that she wasn’t going to give up her position easily. But from what Magnus had told me, it seemed she could only interact through the books. So, at least I wouldn’t have to worry about this evil spirit murdering me with the fireplace poker.

I peeked in the room first to make sure it was vacant. Just entering the library with my basket I felt the atmosphere move, as if the Librarian could see what I was about to do. I ignored it and sat in the chair by the fire. The sooner I started, the sooner I’d be done, and this one would probably take about two hours and two amulets—one to lock it to erase the threat of interaction, one to cleanse it completely. The less time I wasted in here the more likely—

I heard a thump, and from the corner of my eye saw when the book fell to the floor.

Time to work.

I worked quickly but carefully. I didn’t want to have to start over. Ten minutes in, a book plopped onto the ground and skidded to a stop at my feet. I ignored it. A few minutes later another one landed on top of the first. I folded my legs beneath me and kept working. That kept happening for the next twenty minutes, until my amulet was pounding and I could identify the page of the top book without leaning over.