Page 48 of Fade With Me

He rolled his shoulders, eyes glinting. “Desperate times.”

I stared at him, too dumbfounded to speak, but he just grinned, slow and sly.

“Although…” he said, tapping his chin with exaggerated gravity. “I hadn’t thought about cutting off the entire arm.” He raised an eyebrow, eyes twinkling. “Now that’s an idea. You coulddefinitelyrock the one-arm look.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re sick, you know that?”

He chuckled softly, clearly enjoying himself, but then his expression turned serious. He refocused on the text in front of him, the playful mood giving way to the gravity of our situation.

As I flipped to the final pages of the book I was holding, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. There, staring back at me, was an illustration of a pendant, its intricate curves and symbols identical to the one I’d seen on Sal’s desk.

I reached out, tracing the image’s outline, half-expecting to feel that same strange energy from the real pendant.

“What is this?” I asked, holding the page out to him.

He leaned in, eyes narrowing as he studied the Latin text beneath the picture.

“It’s an amulet,” he said, low and rough. “Hexed. Meant to grant dark magic…curses, even death itself. But it comes at a terrible price.”

His gaze sharpened as he read further, words tightening with restrained urgency. “The cost isn’t just paid by the wearer...it ripples out, touching everything around them.”

I couldn’t look away from the serpent, my fingers still grazing the page. “Sal…he had this on his desk. I snuck into his office today and found it.”

His head snapped up, eyes wide. “You snuck into his office?!”

The outburst broke my trance. “Yeah…” I admitted quietly. “I had to. If all of this is real, I couldn’t just sit back and let you do everything.”

I hadn’t told him earlier because part of me was afraid—afraid he’d be angry, or worse, disappointed. Iwas so used to Reggie’s sharp reprimands that I couldn’t shake the fear that Zeke might feel the same way. Reggie always made me feel small, like I’d crossed a line I didn’t even know existed. That fear of acting without permission was ingrained in me.

But something had shifted. I wasn’t going to sit back and wait for someone else to fix it, not with stakes like these. So I took the chance, even with that familiar worry nipping at my heels.

Zeke’s features eased, the tension fading from his face. “I understand,” he said gently. “And I admire your bravery.”

He paused, his expression darkening again. “But you need to be careful. If Sal has that pendant, he can kill our kind. And he might already be planning to.”

I nodded, the enormity of his words sinking in. “You’re right. Reggie and Sal wouldn’t hesitate to kill me if they thought it was necessary.”

He inhaled deeply, his chest rising and falling as he steadied himself. “No,” he said, firm. “Reggie won’t kill you. You’re too valuable to him. Your magic is the key to his plan to take over our kingdom. If you die, your power dies with you.”

He looked away, his jaw tight. “Unfortunately…I’m not as integral to his scheme.”

A chill ran down my spine. My heart skipped. Panic flared beneath my ribs. Zeke had always seemed invincible. But now…everything had shifted.

The truth landed hard: he could die because of me.

I couldn’t even begin to accept it.

He must have noticed the shift in my expression, the concern creeping into my eyes. His hand reached out, warm against my skin, gently tucking a stray curl behind my ear. His smile was small but steady, carrying a quiet strength that anchored me.

“Hey,” he said softly, covering my hand with his. “Don’t be upset. I promise, I’m way scarier than I look. I can handle Sally.”

I tried to smile, but it felt like glass—thin, ready to break with the slightest movement. “Yeah…” I murmured, the words echoing emptily. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

Fine. The word barely registered anymore. It was hollow, detached, like it didn’t even belong to me.

Zeke straightened in his chair, glancing at his watch with a flicker of reluctance. He sighed, then gestured toward the door with a subtle tilt of his head. “It’s getting late,” he said. “I should get you home.”

I reached out instinctively, my fingers curling around his wrist as I studied the dials on his watch. “Yeah, you’re right,” I said, feeling his gaze on me, a small smile pulling at his lips.

---