Page 56 of His Darkest Desire
On her way back to the bedroom, she stopped in front of his lab. There was no flickering light beneath the door to indicate he was inside. Just darkness and silence.
Every time she’d passed this door, she’d wondered what was inside, wondered what secrets he kept within, what sort of potions he brewed. Did he have a big black cauldron like a fairytale witch? The mystery ate at her constantly.
It was the one place in the cottage she hadn’t seen, the one place she’d been forbidden to go. That was like telling someone not to press the big red button.
Being told no only ever made you want to do it more.
“Well, he’s not here to say no, so…”
Grinning, Kinsley picked up the skirt of her dress and hurried to the bedroom. Echo flitted beside her, speaking rapidly and flashing to get her attention. She ignored the wisp and crossed to the desk, where she dug through her purse until she found her makeup pouch. Inside, at the very bottom, were her bobby pins.
With her tools in hand, she returned to Vex’s laboratory door and knelt before it, bending the bobby pins into the shape she needed. Echo floated in front of her face, waving their little arms and shaking their head.
Thunder rolled outside, making the floorboards tremble.
Nope. I refuse to take that as an ominous sign.
Kinsley gently shooed Echo away. “If Vex doesn’t want me going inside, then he should be here to stop me.” She leaned toward the lock and inserted the bobby pins. “I’ve never done this before, but it’s not like I have anything better to do.”
Echo dropped toward her hands briefly, their fire wavering, before darting straight at the door. The wisp passed through the solid wood, leaving nothing behind but a single lick of blue fire that vanished in an instant.
“What do they think I’m going to do, blow the whole place up?” Kinsley squinted and caught her bottom lip between her teeth as she carefully worked the pins.
Echo returned with Flare, startling Kinsley. She drew back and looked at them as they spoke in insistent whispers.
“I won’t touch anything. I promise,” Kinsley said, returning her attention to the lock. “I just want to see what’s inside.”
Flare lived up to their namesake, burning bright and gesturing vehemently.
Kinsley stilled when something clicked. She glanced up at the wisps, and they stared back at her, seemingly sharing in her disbelief that she’d actually made progress. Then the wisps zipped back through the door.
Making sure to maintain tension, Kinsley turned one of the bobby pins like it was a key. There was a louder click as a bolt snapped into place.
Kinsley blinked, gaping at the door. “I did it?” She grinned wide and withdrew the pins. “Oh my gosh, I did it! It actually worked!”
Standing, Kinsley flattened her hand against the door. She hesitated. There was a voice in the back of her mind telling her that she shouldn’t go inside, that Vex had told her not to, that she was about to trespass. And yet…
Another voice, belonging to the childish curiosity she’d possessed all her life, urged her onward.
Kinsley pushed against the door.
It opened slowly, and the widening gap revealed the soft glow of crystals from beyond. She glimpsed a stone wall, and steps leading down.
The door halted abruptly. Long, black fingers tipped with wicked claws curled around it from the other side, and a dark figure shifted into the opening, blotting out the crystals’ light. Vex’s red eyes blazed at her from his shadowed features.
Kinsley gasped, her heart feeling as though it had leapt into her throat. The pins fell from her slackened fingers.
“Apologies for my absence, Kinsley.” Vex’s voice was low with a harsh, ragged edge to it. “But was I not clear in that you are not to enter this chamber?”
Her wide eyes flicked from him to the door and back again. “Oh, this room? This is your lab?” She released a nervous laugh. “My mistake.”
His eyes narrowed. “Indeed.”
Echo and Flare hovered behind him, their fires uncharacteristically dim.
Feeling like a child about to be scolded, Kinsley dropped her gaze and wrung her hands in front of her. “Really! I was just…um… I…haven’t seen you and…”
The door creaked as he opened it further, calling her eyes back up to him. The darkness around him dissipated to allow her an unhindered view of him.