Page 24 of Magic and Matrimony


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PIPER

Hollows Lounge is a swanky bar that sells specialty drinks and isn’t so loud that you can’t hear your companions over the music. The walls are papered in a hunter green with tiny gold birds as embellishments. Along the perimeter are tufted dark green bench seating, and tables for two that can be assembled into larger configurations. Paintings of fainting Victorian ladies, in various states of undress, hang over the benches.

The bar is immediately to the right of the entrance and has shelves of liquor on a mirrored wall that reach all the way to the ceiling. There's a sliding ladder that’s used to get the expensive liquor on the top shelves.

Bram, Ava, Josephine, and Stellan left the coven house before the rest of us and managed to snag a table in the corner. Ambrose escorts me through the crowded bar with his hand on my lower back. My head is still reeling from everything that just transpired. Thankfully, the red sparks have disappeared fromover our heads. The shock that I was selected to be part of the trials for a new council still lingers.

Why on earth did the magic pick me? I’ll admit, I’m good at potions. My father basically called me a kitchen witch because home remedies and mixing things together have always been my specialty. But I don’t have illusion magic like Ambrose, or shadow magic like Roman and Bram do. It seems wrong, like I’m not worthy of such an honor.

Then again, my uncle somehow managed to get in on these trials, not to mention Anastasia Lexington, who’s just an all-around awful human being. A shiver runs down my spine as I think about Tucker’s face when he commanded me and I didn’t obey. Even with the fear he induced, a spark of glee lights up inside me.

For once, my hex didn’t force me to submit to his demands.

He was so angry. If Ambrose hadn’t been there, I have no doubt Tucker would have beaten me to a pulp, but the pleasure of saying no would almost be worth the pain.

Ava scoots down on the booth and pats the seat next to her. I slide in beside her and Ambrose sticks tight to my side. Sitting in chairs across from us are Roman, Josephine, Odie, and Stellan.

“I know we have a lot to talk about, but I need you to tell me what this is first.” Ava grabs my hand and stares at the ring on my finger. We’re interrupted by a server who comes by to take our drink orders. My nerves are fried and practically jangling under my skin. I need something strong and order an old fashioned.

Our friends are staring at Ambrose, waiting for him to start the story. His arm is behind me on the booth, resting with his palm splayed across my back. It’s oddly intimate. Somehow even more so than his entire side pressed against mine. And really confusing. I asked a lot of Ambrose when I begged for his help. To marry me, to have sex with me. Part of me thought he wouldsee it as a joke. That after we got back from Vegas, we’d go about our separate lives. Instead, he’s become oddly protective. Not that he wasn’t kind before we got married, but everything has intensified.

“Can you...” I choke out, but Ambrose knows what I want. The geas Tucker put on me is still in place. That means, I can’t talk about my hex with anyone unless they know about it. Once the truth is out in the open, I can speak freely.

“Piper’s father put a hex on her.” Ambrose rips the band-aid right off.

“A different one from the Briar Witch’s curse?” Stellan’s face goes tight with anger.

Ambrose fills them in on the story of this hex. Outrage fills the table when he tells them about the geas Tucker laid on me to keep me from getting help and removing the hex.

“Is that why you’re telling us about this?” Odie signs, looking at Ambrose.

“Until you knew about the geas, I couldn’t speak about any of it.” Now that it’s out in the open, I sigh in relief, a weight off my shoulders. I’ve kept this secret for so long from my friends. “I’m sorry,” I choke, my emotions swelling up and cutting off my words.

Josephine grabs my hand from across the table and squeezes. “I’m sorry we didn’t figure it out.”

“Fitz knew.” Ava stares at me with wide eyes.

I nod. “She did somehow. But I couldn’t say anything without the geas kicking in and causing me pain.”

“That’s really shitty and fucking sucks, but what does this have to do with marrying Ambrose?” Bram looks between the two of us, raising his eyebrows when he notices how closely or pressed together. “Or was that just for fun?”

Ava raises her brows at me as if to say, good job.

“The only way I could be free of the curse was to transfer ownership of the hex to someone else.”

“Did you say ownership?” Odie signs, turning a frosty glare at Ambrose.

Ambrose sinks back into the booth. “I’m just here to help. Don’t blame any of this on me.”

“I gotta say, Piper”—Stellan shakes his head—“I’m a little disappointed that I wasn’t in the running for husband.”

Ambrose’s head snaps around and he glares at Stellan. My cheeks flush and I'm grateful for the server showing back up to drop off our drinks.

“There were parts of the hex transfer that I really couldn’t do with you, Stellan.”

“Like what? I’m a great dancer. I’m handy with a screwdriver. I’m an excellent grill cheese maker. You need some wood chopped? I’m your man.” Stellan looks like a lumberjack with his beard and full head of hair. He tends to wear a lot of plaid and is objectively very handsome, but I just can’t look at him that way.