Chapter 15 Gracie #2
The stairs clap softly as I cross. They still as I climb up to the second floor. But at the top, only the floorboards going toward Poppy’s room rattle.
“Should I go to Poppy’s room first?” I ask.
In answer, Poppy’s bedroom door creaks open.
“Well, alright then.”
I carry the tray down the hall and step into Poppy’s bedroom. Most of the lights are off save for some dim fairy lights. It’s just enough for me to make out shapes and not run into anything. I place the tray on a side table by the sofa then edge toward the bed.
Ah, now I understand.
There are two lumps in the bed instead of one. Since I highly doubt Cerdan grew a pair, chances are Briella and Poppy had a sleepover. With all the stress lately, it makes sense they’d want to stick together.
I discard my robe over a chair and kick off my slippers before climbing up from the bottom of the bed. There’s a narrow space between them, and that’s where I flop, wiggling around onto my back.
They groan and whine in unison, protesting the rude awakening.
“Stop,” Poppy whines.
“What are you doing?” Briella grumbles.
“Making myself comfortable,” I say.
I feel their bodies jolt as they realize it’s me.
The blankets are yanked down on either side, and a tiny, dim ball of light blossoms on the tip of Poppy’s finger.
Her hair is pinned to her head in a braided pink and green crown while her satin bonnet loses the fight and falls somewhere in the shadows.
Briella smacks my shoulder. “Gracie!”
Poppy throws herself at me. “How are you even up?”
I chuckle, pat her shoulder, and have to admit, it’s unexpected. “No idea, but I’m guessing the guys have something to do with it.”
In the past, when I’ve made use of that potion, I’ve been out for a solid twelve hours, plus a generous amount of snoozing and working my way out of bed.
This time I popped up right around the ten-hour mark, if my memory is correct.
I highly doubt my potion has improved or my condition didn’t need that much recharging.
No, I firmly believe there’s something about having my guys around me that’s helped with my pain management. And the most obvious answer is bonding.
My sisters smother me from both sides, and I begrudgingly allow it. I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable with affection as of late. It’s like Vyslan’s arrival has triggered a cascading change in my life for the better. Even if it’s uncomfortable at times.
Briella snickers and wiggles around to lie on her side facing me. “I’m shocked those guys let you out of their sight.”
“Oh, they were still asleep when I left. Hausé helped me out of bed. Sucked me straight through the mattress and up through the sofa. Let me tell you, that shit was weird.”
Poppy sits up and gasps. “What?”
Briella’s eyes go wide. “She teleported you?”
“No… I’m not sure how she did it. Or what she did. But it got me out of bed without waking up Ezra and Vyslan.” I cringe and glance between them. “How were the others last night?”
“Farid came to pay his respects and make amends,” Briella says.
It’s my turn to gasp. “What?”
Poppy nods and crosses her legs, cradling a pillow to her chest. “Yeah. Ezra told us about it later. We’ve heard their version of yesterday. But what about you? Was it really as insane as they made it sound?”
“Yes. And no.” I sigh. “It was almost… Easy. But I think that’s because Darius and Puck were prepared. I think they somehow knew what was going to happen and planned for it. The only thing that really seemed to surprise them was Luc.”
“Luc is a sweetheart,” Poppy interjects.
I chuckle. “Sweetheart?”
“Is that tea?” Briella asks.
“Yes.”
She lumbers out of bed, taking a throw blanket with her, and begins pouring out three mugs. They will be sickeningly sweet with her mixing them up, but after last night I’ll need it.
“What did Luc do? Or say?” I ask.
Poppy huffs and hugs the pillow tighter. “Because he met you yesterday, and he’s practically in love with you already.”
Briella swirls a spoon in one of the mugs. “The man has already done some sort of literal techno-magic to the internet and all of our phones. I was getting suspicious, so I… I might have offered him a truth-speak drought…”
My jaw drops. “Briella!”
“A strange man shows up, bound to my best friend, because I did something stupid, and I’m just supposed to trust him?” She actually stomps her foot she’s so steamed. “He completely understood. Or so he says.”
I take the mug she passes and hand it to Poppy. “What did you ask him?”
“Oh, the man is besotted. He was a good two minutes into telling me about how he wants you to crush his head with your thighs before he realized what he was saying. Then he blushes and asks if I can move on to the next question without skipping a beat or asking what’s going on. He had us pegged.”
Poppy snickers. “Apparently all the boys in his dorm used to haze the new kids with a similar potion.”
I’m torn between being offended and curious. Pushing up, I lean against the headboard. “What did you ask him?”
They look at each other then giggle.
Poppy mimes locking her lips and throwing away the key.
“Not telling,” Briella says in a sing-song voice. She hands me another mug as she settles in on the bed, sitting cross-legged. “How were things with Puck?”
“A little tense.” I sigh. “What am I going to do?”
Poppy holds the mug just under her chin, inhaling the aroma. “Darling, you’re going to have to narrow it down a little.”
I sip the tea and stare across the room. The lights have come up to a low glow while Poppy’s globe of light hovers above us.
“Is it…? I feel like I should be pushing back against what’s happening. With the guys, I mean. I feel like I shouldn’t allow this to happen.”
“Did you change your mind about Ezra?” Poppy asks.
“What? No,” I say quickly. “I… I love him. At this point, I don’t think I could live without him.”
“And Vyslan?” Briella asks.
I glance at Poppy. “I think I’m falling in love with him, too…”
She lifts a shoulder. “I’m over it. I might not be terribly keen on demons as a whole, but Vyslan’s more than proven what side he’s on. I’m sorry it took me so long to come around…”
I reach over and squeeze her knee. “No, don’t apologize. You had every reason to doubt him. Plus, it’s only been a week and some change. It’s not like this dragged on for a year or anything. I think you’ve adjusted pretty damn fast.”
“Maybe, but I don’t like how I let that come between us.
Even if it was just a week. I’m determined this won’t happen again.
You two? You’re my sisters. My coven. When something bothers me, I’m going to do better about talking to you guys about it.
I didn’t like how I reacted or how bottling up my emotions made me feel.
Starting our own coven was supposed to be about leaving behind all the yucky stuff, and I went and brought it with me. I can do better.”
For a few moments, I just stare at Poppy. She’s always been flighty and prone to forgetting things. It’s made me feel more like a parent at times than a friend. But listening to her now? I’m proud of her.
Briella reaches over and takes her hand. “That’s really great, Pops.”
Reaching over, I clink my mug with hers. “I’ll hold you to it.”
Poppy nods. “Please do. Now, how are you feeling about Luc? I figure he’s the easiest out of the remaining three.”
“Optimistic? He’s really good for my ego. There’s no pretense with him. He isn’t trying to hide what he wants. It’s a little unnerving, but… Really sexy. Like, I know he’s watching me, and I just feel… I don’t know? Kind of hot and badass.”
“You are hot and badass,” Poppy mutters with a grin.
I ignore her, my thoughts still coalescing into words. “He just… He’s far too trusting. It makes me protective in the same way I’m protective of Ezra. I totally understand how Treznor took him for five hundred grand.”
“What?” Briella shrieks.
I quickly fill them in on how Treznor chose to simply not pay the remaining balance for the work Luciu did and how it all ultimately worked in our favor.
“He needs one of the others to be his business manager,” Briella says. “He does the work while his big, scary husband-in-coven handles payment. Can I just say that it will be nice to have such badass coven-in-laws?”
We all have a good chuckle at that. Unlike human family bonds, the coven is what ties us together. And our small coven is extremely tight. So, I need to remember that this isn’t just about bringing these men into my life. They’re now part of Briella and Poppy’s lives, too.
I wrinkle my nose. “What are we going to do about the physical tether?”
“There are two known ways to ease the limitations on the bond,” Briella says, sinking into her professor tone.
I tug the blankets up and settle in to listen.
“The first is sex. Because the nature of the bond is intimate, expanding the scope of that intimacy is one way to allow more flexibility. In the old days, witches would punish their bound partners by withholding sex to make them stay closer.”
“Bitches,” Poppy mutters.
Briella stares at me, her gaze heavy with meaning. “Then you could also amend the binding with a more powerful one.”
“What kind of a binding?” I ask.
“A marriage binding,” she says.
I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am.
For several moments we stare at each other while I weigh my feelings.
“Is it weird I’m not opposed to that?” I ask.
They both shrug.
“How much do you trust Darius’ visions?” Poppy asks.
“After yesterday?” I lean back and think over all those little moments where he nudged us. “A heck of a lot.”
Briella hums and stirs her mug, probably because the honey settled too thick in the bottom of her mug. “How do you feel about Darius specifically?”
“Oh…” I blow out a breath. “I’m disappointed he never told me the truth when he and Puck were sharing a body—”
“What?” two voices shriek at me simultaneously.