Chapter 26 Gracie
Suggested Listening: Golden by HUNTR/X
Ilie on the lounge outside of the house, my feet hanging off, and stare up at the sky.
I can hear Ezra arguing with the thralls that showed up earlier today.
They’re in poor condition and can’t be let loose.
But unlike most thralls in this state, they aren’t violent.
In fact, once Ezra brought them home, they picked weeds all afternoon.
Poppy has been texting me about how amazing they are and whether they can stay.
Yeah, that’s so not my circus or monkeys. She’ll have to work that out with Ezra directly. I want no part in that. I’ve got enough to manage for this household as it is.
I pinch the vape between my teeth and take a long pull.
I’m getting married in a little more than twenty-four hours.
It doesn’t feel real yet.
Honestly?
I thought there would be some drama when telling the guys.
Puck has made his feelings known, but what about Ezra and Vyslan?
I love them, but I’m not getting hitched to them.
Yet all they did when I pulled the guys into the office to tell them was smile and congratulate Luciu on being the first. It was utterly anticlimactic and just nice.
I suppose their “first” comment answers why they aren’t concerned.
The subtext says it all. They’re here for the long haul.
And that’s something I’m going to have to process and accept.
They’ve snuck past my walls and won’t leave.
All my life, that’s what I’ve wanted. For people to be in my life.
And now they’re here. It’s going to take time to accept that fact.
And we’re going to have to talk about my abandonment issues.
I hadn’t realized how much of a pain point that was for me.
We’ll have to talk about it later. Figure out how to handle it.
Because this is one thing I don’t want to fuck up.
“Gracie!” Poppy shrieks right before she belly flops onto the cushions next to me.
Startled, I squeal and flail my arms.
“Goddess! Don’t fucking scare me,” I snarl.
She just rolls over, throwing her arms around me, and laughs.
Briella looms over us, a smile spread across her pretty face.
I’m honestly shocked she’s so okay. Issues with her family, and especially her mother, have sent her into a tailspin in the past. Today was a lot.
I’d completely understand if she were in her feelings.
But she seems to be doing better than expected.
“What the hell, Pops?” I grumble as she tries to squeeze the life out of me.
“Are you high enough?” Briella asks.
“Depends.” I narrow my eyes and take another ill-advised pull on the vape before Poppy snatches it away.
Briella holds out her hands and wiggles her fingers. “Come on. You have a wedding dress to try on.”
“A—what?” The words come out as a yelp.
Briella grabs my hands and pulls while the lounge bucks and practically tosses Poppy and me onto our feet.
“Hausé, not cool,” I grumble.
The shutters clap, sounding like chuckles, so I flip her off for good measure.
“Come on!” Briella demands and pulls me toward the doors that open for us without a touch.
Vyslan is in the kitchen with Darius posted up on a stool while Puck and Luciu have their heads together over in the living room. They all glance our way but don’t stop what they’re doing. It’s…nice. Homey. Like this could be our life. Forever.
The girls drag me upstairs to Briella’s room. Low-key, I’m nervous. If they’ve made me a wedding dress, it could look like anything. Briella’s style is very relaxed Victorian gothic witch while Poppy is a total hippy love child. I’m something much more comfortable and monochromatic.
“Hausé wants you to know she’s excited about the wedding,” Poppy says and gestures at a metal sheet with magnets on it that has been propped up against a bookshelf in Briella’s room.
There are dried flower arrangements here and there and garlands. It’s overwhelming to take in all at once.
“Wow… You guys…” I cover my mouth as I take it all in.
I’m getting married because it’s the most logical choice. But they’re still trying to give me the witch wedding all little girls dream about.
The sound of scraping draws my attention to the board and House’s words.
sad wont see
happy for u
“Oh, Hausé…” I glance at the others. “We should move it. Yeah?”
“Can’t.” Briella shakes her head. “The wards, for one. Then there’s the food. Plus, you need a good amplification spot for the ceremony. Poppy has taken all of them.”
Poppy grimaces. “Sorry…”
“Those are all really good points,” I mutter.
“Here.” Briella pulls a black sheet off a mannequin and gestures to miles of black lace, tulle, and other shimmery fabrics. “I know what you’re going to say. It’s too frou-frou for you. But! The skirt comes off. Look!”
With a few tugs, the dramatic skirt comes away, leaving a loose jumpsuit with the most artfully draped lace. It’s edgy and romantic. I never would have imagined something like this for myself, but now that I’ve seen it?
I press my hand to my chest as tears come to my eyes. This wellspring of emotion is unfamiliar, but not unwelcome. The dress, all the flowers—they’re an expression of love that I’ve always wanted. And I’ve found it. With my coven and my husbands. This is the life I always wanted.
“Briella…” I swipe at my eyes. “Fuck. Brie, this is gorgeous.”
Poppy grins at me and sticks the vape between my lips. “Oh, look! She’s showing her feelings.”
I wrinkle my nose and swipe at my under-eyes. “Ew, feelings.”
Arms wrap around me from both sides as I allow myself the luxury of feeling. The wedding is a matter of convenience. It doesn’t have to be anything special, and yet my friends are going to all this effort to make it fit me. It’s so thoughtful and overwhelming.
My knees do this swimming thing as the witchweed infuses every fiber of my body. I swipe at my cheeks while the three of us swap.
“Thank you, guys,” I mutter. “You didn’t have to do this.”
Poppy squeezes me tighter. “Of course we do. You’re the first one to get married. We have to do this right.”
“Agreed.” Briella leans away and smooths my hair off my face. “This might not be what you’d planned, but Luciu is in love with you. I read your cards and... Let’s just say there are good things in store for you.”
I’ll take that with a pound of salt. The cards never speak to me, and I’m not all that impressed with the idea of any goddess or god making designs on my life. But it’s also not my spiritual practice.
“I guess…” I take a deep breath. “I need to tell my dad.”
Poppy sucks in a deep breath. “Oh, shit.”
Briella’s mouth drops open for a moment before she recovers. “Gracie! He is going to scold you. What did you last tell him?”
“Uh…” I squint and think back. “I think I told him about the day Puck showed back up.”
“Gracie!”
I wince and glance away from Briella. Dad and I usually talk a lot more, but he’s firmly in his honeymoon phase with his new girlfriend.
And I haven’t minded. It’s not like I want to open old wounds by giving him a play-by-play of the coven bullshit drama that will only make him think about his ex-wife.
Poppy pulls my phone out of my cardigan pocket and thrusts it at me. “Call him now.”
“What about the wedding?” Briella asks.
“I’d planned on just video calling him. Have someone hold it or… I don’t know.”
Poppy claps her hands. Her eyes are a bit red, proving that she was already into the witchweed before I got home. “That’s a great plan!”
Briella gestures at the device. “Do it.”
“Alright. Alright,” I mutter.
She turns and starts frowning at the jumpsuit. “Then we have to talk about colors.”
That sounds ominous.
I retreat to the armchair furthest from the construction mess and sink down amidst the cushions.
Normally, I wouldn’t call Dad during work hours. But time is running out. I hit call and wait.
“There’s my baby girl,” a deep, jovial voice says over the line.
I can’t help but smile and feel warmth despite the distance between us.
“Hey, Dad.” There’s the sound of a tattoo machine and voices in the background, but it’s faint. “Are you with a client?”
“Nope. Had a no-show. What’s going on? You hardly ever call me anymore.”
“Sorry, Dad.”
“Don’t be. Hope it’s for good reasons only.”
“Um, well… I’ve got a lot to catch you up on. But the most important thing is… What are you doing tomorrow night? Around nine my time? Any chance you’re free?”
“Your dear old dad has to see the doctor tomorrow,” he says with all the disgust of a toddler talking about vegetables.
One good thing I can say about his girlfriend is that she doesn’t stand for his shit and makes him go.
“I’ll be home by then. I blocked off the whole day since it’s going to throw off my flow. What’s going on? Need me to come home?”
“You sound far too eager.”
“If you need me…”
I chuckle. “I’ll always need you, Dad.”
“It does my heart good to hear that. But seriously, what’s going on?”
“Okay, so I know how this is going to sound, but let me explain the whole situation before you say anything.” He makes a noncommittal noise, and I shift a bit in my seat, feeling like I’m twelve again and in trouble.
“Some stuff happened with the coven, and they took the opportunity to basically magically marry me to someone. And I know how that sounds. But I really like the guy. And we’re going to have the wedding ceremony tomorrow night after sunset.
There are a lot of witchy reasons why I don’t really want to get into.
I was thinking I’d video chat you or something so you could be there. ”
I hear him let out a long, drawn-out sigh. “Baby girl… What the fuck?”
“It sounds bad.”
“Bad? What about Puck?”
“Well… Um. Things are complicated, and uh…”
“Gracie. What aren’t you saying?”
“Dad.”
“Gracie.”