Page 21 of The Midnight Frequency

Since I was halfway there already, I took a few more steps down the hall toward the old glass studio, some part of me a little too excited at the possibility of seeing Rupert absolutely tearing Silas apart.

Only to find the two men seemingly engaged in a serious conversation.

“Of course,” I grumbled.

I mean, Silas was old.

Rupert was old.

They were probably bemoaning how much better the world was when people dressed for dinner and had ‘taste’ and ‘standards.’

They also had housewives hopped up on speed to get through the day, overflowing mental institutions, and polio, but no one was asking me.

I was about to turn and walk away.

When a set of eyes flicked up to me, reminding me of the sky just before a storm—dark, moody, a little menacing.

I panicked, dropped into an almost curtsy, turned, and fled.

“Idiot. What the heck was that?” I mumbled to myself.

Whatever it was, it was embarrassing as hell. And I needed to get out of the station before I ran into Silas after it.

I was mostly over the embarrassment when I made it home and took some cookie dough I had in the freezer, sliced it, and set it in the oven then sat down at my desk.

I glanced at my outline and at the title at the top of my document.

Then I closed it out and opened a brand new one.

The spark I’d had that night after running into Silas in the hall had flickered into a flame.

I didn’t outline.

I didn’t even title it.

I just… wrote.

And for the first time in weeks, the words flowed.

I chose not to analyze why my new hero had eyes like a storm and an affinity for blood.

All I cared about was words on the page.

At some point, Tess came home with one of her many monologues. Until she spotted me, zipped her lips, and ran off toward her room with a smile on her face.

I felt one curve my own lips.

Because whatever made the muses smile down on me again, I was so happy to be writing again.

CHAPTER SEVEN

[ “HELL HAS LAYERS. So does middle management.”

— Working In Hell: Corporate Advice for the Damned and Underpaid

- Episode 503]

Maggie