Chapter 24
24
brAM
N ever did I think I would spend the day sitting around talking about how to speak with the dead. Ambrose’s fucking huge house has a massive library, unsurprisingly. There are more books just on magic than I’ve probably read in my entire life. Which is either sad or impressive depending on how you look at it. We’ve researched communicating with ghosts, but immediately ruled that out. Seances are fun for Halloween, but it’s rare you actually connect with any ghosts, no less a specific one. Piper remembers reading about a potion used to revive the dead temporarily, but she can’t recall where she saw it.
She’s buried beneath a pile of books on the library couch, her forehead scrunched in concentration. Jo and Roman left about an hour ago to go pick up her little sister from a friend's house where she stayed the night. Stellan and Odie are combing the shelves, looking for any books that reference the dead, necromancy, even the curses. Although they’ve yet to find anything specific to Mystic Hollows. Most of these books are about the theory and history of magic and not our town. Ambrose is asleep on his back in front of yet another fireplace. I’ve never counted, but this place must have half a dozen.
I’ve been sitting for too long and need to stretch my legs. I exit the library, extending my arms overhead as I walk into the living room. Did I leave the room because Ava disappeared a few minutes earlier. No. Of course not. And yet, I find myself searching for her. She’s nowhere to be seen, so I stroll to the hallway. Family portraits dating back to the founding of Mystic Hollows hang on the walls and I find Ava standing in front of one of the oldest. She’s rolling her shoulders and then bends in half to touch her toes, groaning when there’s a popping sound. All I can do is stare at her ass, which is perfectly outlined in the sweatpants she’s wearing.
I shake my head. When did I lose my mind? She looks exactly like she partied hard last night, slept on the floor, and is wearing someone else’s ill-fitting clothing. And I can’t fucking get enough. Without a single thought in my head, I step behind her and my hands land on her ass.
“Holy fuck.” Ava falls forward, but I grip her hips and pull her back to me as she stands up. She spins around and holds on to my arms. My hands shift with the movement, ending up on her rounded butt. Her hair is disheveled, and her face is red as she blinks up at me.
“Maiden, you scared the crap out of me.”
“Afraid some stranger was groping you in the hallway.”
Ava’s eyes narrow. “Why are you grabbing my ass?”
That’s a very good question. Just last night, I told her we should stay away from each other. “It was just waving at me.”
“My ass can’t wave.”
“Fair enough.” I squeeze, and Ava sucks in a breath.
Her mouth parts. I sense the snarky comment coming, but instead, her gaze drifts over my face and down my shoulders before coming back up to meet my eyes.
“I thought we were supposed to stop doing this?” She lifts her chin, and I know she’s talking about me and her in compromising positions. I was pretty clear on my feelings last night. In the light of a new day, I’m making things really damn muddy.
“We are.” My voice is too low, rough with need. That’s what I’ve tried to convince myself is best for Ava. But I’m so fucking weak when it comes to her.
Ava licks her lips and opens and closes her mouth twice before she speaks. “Listen, Bram. I don’t need something serious.”
My heart pounds and her cheeks flush.
“I just got out of a long relationship.”
A low growl rumbles in my chest. I don’t want to think about that prick of her ex. I don’t want her thinking about him either.
“I don’t need to be tied down with anything serious again. I just want to live life and be happy. Have fun. Maiden knows we don’t get much of that around here.”
I slide my hand up her back, and she arches into the touch. “I’m pretty sure you’re a picket fence kind of girl.”
She steps forward, closing up the last bit of space between our bodies. “I’m not looking for marriage and kids. I think we both know why that would be a disaster.”
Fucking curses.
“Maybe it’s just an itch that needs scratching.”
An itch.
The word grates against my skin. The thought that we could be a temporary stop and then she’d move on to some other pathetic asshole who doesn’t deserve her. But I can’t say that. I can’t be with her. Except maybe I can. If we can keep this casual. Friends with benefits who both know there’s nothing more to be had between us. Maybe we can make this work.
“Nothing serious.”
Ava’s eyes go wide, as if she didn’t expect me to agree, but then her jaw sets. “Not serious, but no screwing other people on the side. I might not have a lot of pride, but I’m not that sad. Yet.”
The thought of her grinding on some other guy’s dick, writhing beneath him as he fucks her, has a snarl curling my lip. “No one else. You won’t be able to walk when I’m done with you anyway.”
“Big talker.” She snorts and then gasps when I grab a handful of her hair and tug her head back. I lick up her throat and scrape my teeth over the lobe of her ear.
“That’s a promise.”
“Piper found the spell.” Ambrose’s voice cuts through the air like a bomb. Ava practically shoves me away and I almost stumble back. Ambrose is sitting in a gilded chair with filigree legs eating a piece of toast. His grin is wide as he looks between the two of us. How long has he been there? He shoves the last bite of bread into his mouth and brushes his hands together as he stands.
“Let’s regroup, and then don’t forget, tonight’s the new moon ceremony.”
The new moon ceremony is a whole coven gathering where we restore and enhance our magic for the month. This is technically the first new moon ritual that we’ve had as a new coven. Ironically, even though we were previously two separate covens, we both perform the same ritual. Gathering at midnight in the Grimwood. Offering up thanks to the Maiden or the Mother and requesting they give us strength. For years we’ve excluded the Crone from these ceremonies, and I believe that’s been a mistake. We haven’t been tapping into all our natural power and denying a very important part of ourselves. I’m not sure if our newly formed coven will continue with the status quo or if they’ll be worshiping the Triad as they should.
Our magic is multifaceted. The Maiden, Mother, and Crone are manifestations of power at different points in our life, as well as the representation of different aspects of ourselves. In the past, the Tenebris coven worshiped the Mother, while the Lumen coven worshiped the Maiden. The Crone was labeled evil and excluded entirely. Agatha Fitzsimons told Josephine and Ava that was a mistake. While the coven may not have embraced the Triad, I’ve been thinking about my own magic in a new light since I found out.
Odie, Ambrose, and I rode over together. After Ambrose interrupted me and Ava in the hallway, we went back to the library to discuss Piper‘s findings. There was a whole lot about potion ingredients and specific planetary alignment requirements that Piper needs to work through, but she felt optimistic about a plan. I don’t believe anything will come of this. Why should anything change now? I’ve been living with my curse for eighteen years. I watched my mother die from her curse. That’s the future I have to look forward to. The Crone isn’t about to bless me with a miracle like Roman and Josephine. That’s a foolish hope that will amount to nothing but pain.
I search the crowd for my brother. Candles littering the top of the altar provide most of the lighting in the clearing. A few illuminated cell phone screens pepper the dark clearing, but it’s difficult to find Roman amongst all of these people. Odie tugs on my sleeve and points. Somehow, she found Stellan towering over the others around him. We head in their direction, but I can’t help but catch snippets of conversation as we move through the crowd.
“I heard she got rid of her curse, but it rebounded onto her entire family,” a woman’s familiar voice hisses.
“No, not the youngest one. At least not yet. I guess she’s only twelve or thirteen, though. We’ll see what happens when she turns sixteen.” Another voice I recognize replies smugly.
“Roman’s curse didn’t rebound.”
“Because we weren’t foolish enough to do the ritual in his place.”
I slow my steps. I’m not one to normally eavesdrop on other people's conversations–mainly because I just don’t give a shit–but they’re talking about my brother and I’m pretty sure Josephine and her family. Besides Roman, she is the only other person I’ve ever known to get rid of their curse before it passed onto the next generation.
Excluding my mother, it seems. How have I never made that connection before? Sometimes something can be right in front of your face, and yet, you still miss it.
“I heard that they had Camille do the ritual instead of Josephine and it backfired.”
I pinpoint the person speaking, and my jaw grinds when I spot Anastasia Lexington talking with my parents. This is the bitch who burned my house down, kidnapped and attempted to sexually assault my brother, and my parents are chatting with her like they’re best friends.
I’m close enough to see Roman’s mother rubbing Anastasia’s arm. “We don’t know for sure. The Delvaux family is being very closed lipped about all of this. You’d think they’d be considerate enough to share something so important, but no. Typical puritanical Lumen coven members. Think they’re better than everyone.”
“Oh, I don’t know, Diana, I think the Tenebris families are far more smug. Don’t undersell yourself.”
My stepmother jumps at the sound of my voice. That’s how self-absorbed they are. They’re standing in a field with hundreds of other coven members. If you want to talk about something private, this is not the place to do it.
Ambrose waves. “Hi there, Mr. and Mrs. Blackthorn. What a lovely brisk evening for plotting, isn’t it? Scheduling any mutinies? Or are you just crumbling the infrastructure from within. That’s very clandestine of you.”
“Ambrose.” My father drags out my friend's name. “Must you always stir up trouble?”
“No stirring necessary. More like walked right into it.”
“Quite the company you keep, Father.” I bring the focus back on the real issue here. It’s too dark for me to make out anyone’s faces but there’s no missing the way Vincent Blackthorn’s body stiffens.
“Ms. Lexington is from one of the finest families in Mystic Hollows. Her parents are very influential and important. Her father is now part of our coven council. You would do well to keep that in mind.”
“So important that there are no consequences for her disgusting actions.” Disdain drips from my words.
Anastasia shrieks and lurches toward me, but my father holds her back. She points to her chest, where my brother magicked the word “predator” across her chest. “This isn’t nothing. I’ve been mutilated.” Seething hatred and anger bubble out of her and my curse feeds on the dark emotions.
“Maybe don’t be a rapist and you wouldn’t have that issue.”
She breaks free from my father, but before she reaches me, Odie is there. Her fist slams into Anastasia’s face, and the despicable woman crumbles into a heap on the ground. People around us gasp. My parents shout in alarm, but Odie just shakes out her hand and points toward Stellan.
“You’re right. It smells like shit over here. Let’s go find a better spot.”
I shove through the crowd, the darkness swelling inside me. Fuck my father and his fucking wife. How dare they associate with the woman who hurt their sons. Why would they even talk to her? What the hell did they mean about Josephine doing a ritual?
Roman is standing with his arms wrapped around Josephine as if he’s keeping her warm, even though they’re both bundled up for the weather. I can’t fault him. Before Josephine, my brother hadn’t felt another person’s touch in nearly two decades. I wouldn’t be surprised if they never took their hands off each other. Next to them is Josephine's little sister Penelope, who’s talking animatedly with Stellan. The two of them do a complicated handshake and then giggle like one of them isn’t a grown ass adult.
Even through the darkness, I feel Ava’s eyes when they land on me. She steps in close enough that her arm brushes mine. Some of the darkness lifts, and I can breathe again.
Ava murmurs low enough that no one around us can hear. “Who pissed you off?”
“Why did I think you were going to murmur sweet nothings in my ear?”
She pats my chest with her floppy knitted mitten, the one she almost died to rescue. “Because you’re delusional?”
Already the swirling darkness of my curse is abating, just because she always surprises me.
“Are you okay?” Ava’s question is full of hesitation. Earlier today, she told me we could be something casual. Friends who also see each other naked. Like it was no big deal. I’m not actually sure I know how to do that. My friends are the same ones I’ve had since I was a kid. They’ve learned to accept my assholeishness. This friendship with Ava is unexpected. She makes me laugh and I care about her. I just can’t do anything more than that. Still, her question feels unexpectedly intimate. It’s both comforting and alarming.
“I just ran into my parents and fucking Anastasia.”
Ava hums in understanding.
“Why do you ask?
“Your aura’s all smokey. It seems to do that when you’re angry or upset.”
My aura. I pause. Obviously, I know Ava’s a witch, but I didn’t realize she had empath magic. How have I never asked before now? Stellan mentioned my aura earlier today. I didn’t put it together then, but it clicks for me now. She can read my emotions.
“You can see my aura?” The question snaps out, and Ava takes a step back, her hand falling from my chest.
“It’s my magic. It’s not like I’m trying to pry.”
“My children. My coven.” Lucida raises her hands in the air, her voice striking out over the clearing and interrupting Ava. Selene stands next to her behind the altar. She’s tall and spindly, while Lucida is all boobs and curves.
The crowd grows quiet, and the only sound is the rustling of dead leaves across the frozen ground. The area has been cleared of snow. Someone with elemental magic likely took care of that, but that hasn’t helped the temperature. It’s midnight with no moon in the sky, in the middle of January, which means it’s cold as hell.
“Tonight, we come together as one coven. To celebrate the beginning of another month. This is a time of renewal and rebirth. It’s also time for us to remember our responsibility to our coven. We must learn to accept one another. To form a cohesive group. Tonight, we begin the transformation for real.”
Selene takes over, pressing her hands to the top of the altar. “Maiden, Mother, we call on you to bless us and revitalize our magic. Fill us with power and sustain us for another cycle of the moon.”
“You guys don’t have to take off your shoes?” Ava whispers in the darkness.
“What are you talking about?” Selene is still speaking in the background, but I turn my attention to the woman bouncing on her toes beside me.
“Selene always made us take our shoes off so we could be linked to the ground or whatever.”
Someone shushes us from nearby, and I swear I feel Ava roll her eyes.
“I’m not complaining. It’s freezing out.”
The urge to wrap my arms around Ava sparks deep in my chest, surprising me. I don’t give in to the impulse. I clench my fists and keep my hands at my sides. That’s not what we are. We’re not a couple who hold hands in public. We’re just friends who are scratching an itch.
Possibly.
It’s not like we’ve scratched anything so far.
Selene is still calling on the Maiden and Mother, talking about our magic, but I’m not listening. A swell of warm power fills me, seeping up from the Earth and traveling up my legs and finally into the heart of me, where my magic resides. It glows bright, like a ball of warmth. Then the ceremony is over, and chatter begins in the crowd once more.
A good portion of the people leave immediately. I get it. It’s too cold to be fucking around outside. But others are catching up with friends or listening to the latest gossip. I’m ready to get out of here when a fucking annoying voice catches my attention.
“Do you have a second?”
My head snaps around, searching through the darkness. I can’t see his face, but I know that Ava’s ex is standing next to her.
Roman steps in front of me. “Ambrose said you ran into my mother and dad. They were saying something about Josephine?”
I’m ready to shove Roman away so I can see what the hell Jamie is doing. I can’t hear him over the chatter of so many people around us.
“Yeah. He was talking about some ritual her family did.” I crane my neck, squinting through the darkness to see the little slimeball. Is he touching her arm? I can’t fucking tell.
“They were trying to mess with her curse, but it didn’t work because her curse was already gone,” Roman’s saying, and I finally give him my attention.
“They were talking to Anastasia. You’d think if they cared about either of us, they wouldn’t give that woman the time of day.”
“It’s pretty obvious they don’t give a shit about anyone other than themselves,” Roman grunts, and then whispers a “hey” when Josephine slides up beside him.
I turn from the two of them, intent on finding Ava again, except I don’t see her.
She’s gone.