The Legend of the Eight: The Wicked (Book 2)

10: Chasing Down a Lost Heart

TEN: CHASING DOWN A LOST HEART
MARCH 20
WIL DIAMOND

THE MORTAL WORLD WAS NOT what she expected. It was loud—much louder than the World of Magic—and there were cars everywhere. In the time that she was standing there, on the corner, waiting for the cross signal, she saw at least a hundred cars drive by. And then there were the sidewalks. They were packed with more people than Wil had seen in her entire life. Everyone walked like they had a million places to be and no time to get there. They blew through her without so much as an "excuse me" and didn't look up from their phones—not even when they bumped against her leather jacket-covered shoulder.

The spell to the Mortal World wasn'ttoo difficult despite it being her first time using a traveling agent orconducting Inter-Realm travel alone. Usually, she was with her parents andnever did the spell herself. But after casting it successfully, she opened hereyes to find herself standing on a busy street corner in the heart of Pittsburgh. There on that street corner, shestuffed her hands in her pockets. In them, she felt her trunk (magicallyshrunken to the size of a matchbook), the thorn-wrapped sage stick she swipedfrom her mother's office (she had to be careful not to prick her finger), andthe crumpled scrap of paper with the mysterious address on it. She took thepaper out and studied it closely, for what was probably the hundredth time

550 Market Street
Penthouse 
Pittsburgh

On the street, people migrated around her on their way to brunch or the farmer's market or wherever it was that mortals went on a Sunday morning. The buildings around her were either high-end boutiques or bars with rustic entryways. Had she the time, she may have wandered into one of them. But she wasn't there to shop and badly as she needed one, she wasn't there to drink. She was there for Damon and she wouldn't stop until she found him. 

"FIVE-FIFTY MARKET STREET..." WIL mumbled to herself later that afternoon, comparing the address in her hands to the one posted on the building in front of her. She'd been walking for the better part of an hour before finding it (Apple Maps was easily the most useless thing a mortal contributed to the Three Realms) and now that she was there, she couldn't get herself to walk inside.

Five-fifty Market Street was one of the tallest buildings she'd seen, reaching at almost thirty-stories. It was a high-end apartment complex and she didn't know how Damon managed to afford such a place but then again, there was no shortage of things she didn't know about him.

She thirsted for a bit of liquid courage but she hadn't packed a flask—something she regretted now more than ever. At least then she could drink until she lost enough sense and stormed in there. Her best decisions were generally made recklessly.

But she was sober and the building was right there so she took a deep breath.

And then she walked in.

WHEN THE ELEVATOR DOORS PARTED, Wil was staring at the foyer of an exquisite, timeless suite. She had to charm her way past the front desk staff and use a touch of Recluda magic to reach the penthouse in the elevator but she was Wil Diamond and she was nothing if not resourceful.

The penthouse foyer was lit by a crystal chandelier so large, it reminded her of one in the palace. Her footsteps echoed down the hall as she walked from the elevator and she heard someone in the kitchen preparing coffee. There was a break in the noise and then a cough. A deep cough. A man's cough. Then a second set of footsteps. And then, at the end of the hall, a man appeared. Her stomach dropped.