Page 46 of The Midnight Frequency

The light, breezy, mildly overwhelmed, but entirely competent station manager she’d been a moment before seemed to shrink before my eyes, looking unsure of herself and uncomfortable.

“Of course.”

“Okay. I have to grab my notes. I’ll meet you in your studio.”

She turned to walk away, reaching back to pull her hair to one shoulder. And I could have sworn I’d seen a flash of blue on her neck before she disappeared.

My suspicion was confirmed when she came into the studio and sat beside me, then leaned over the desk to reach for something, making the collar of her shirt pull downward to expose more of the bruise.

“Maggie,” I said, reaching to pull it down further. “You claimed you weren’t harmed.”

“I may have fibbed a little,” she admitted, her cheeks blooming pink. “But it’s not a big deal.”

“Does this go all the way down your back?”

“Yeah, but it’s faded a—”

“It looked worse than this?” I hadn’t intended my voice to have so much bite, but she winced at the sound of it, making me soften when I spoke again. “Have you been checked by a doctor?”

“For a bruise? No.”

“A bruise from a gargoyle,” I corrected.

“Still just a bruise.”

“Does it hurt?” My finger moved by itself, whispering across her warm, soft skin. It dragged a shiver out of her, making my stomach twist at her sensitivity.

No.

It wasn’t sensitivity.

It was my cold skin.

I needed to stop having those kinds of thoughts about a woman who was, for all intents and purposes, my superior.

“Only if I lean against it. Really, it’s not a big deal.”

I’d almost forgotten how fragile humans were. Their soft skin, their breakable bones, their slow healing.

It never bothered me like it did right then.

Human fragility was part of their mortality. It long since stopped occurring to me to notice.

But not only was I noticing, I was caring.

I wouldn’t pretend to understand that.

“Alright, so. Your show.”

“Jack says the comments are ‘on fire.’”

“He’s not wrong. But there is a problem.”

“With a slew of positive commentary?”

“With how specific it is.”

“I don’t follow.”