Page 31 of Hexes and Exes

I realize she wants Bram to pull my chair out for me. “That’s really not necessary.”

Bram’s already out of his seat, pulling back my chair for me. The metal makes a terrible scraping sound against the stone patio.

Fitz nods. “Of course it is.”

I sneak a look at Bram. He raises one brow and his lip crooks a small smile. Fitz immediately goes to work pinching herbs out of the bowls and placing them in the burlap pouches. She methodically adds them in a little assembly line. She’s not even looking at what she’s doing, though. She stares at me and Bram for an infinity before finally speaking. “Why are you here?”

“Morty sent us.” Bram is lounging in his chair, his legs stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankles. His dark hair is artfully messy and his arms are crossed over his chest. He’s wearing a pair of well-worn jeans and a hooded sweatshirt, looking more casual than usual. In the warmth of Fitz’s backyard, his sweatshirt is too much. He slips it off, his T-shirt riding up and giving me a view of hard muscles. I’m not even wearing a bra under my sweatshirt. It was supposed to be a quick trip to Morty’s, then back to my couch. I keep my layers on and suffer in the heat.

“I know that already.” Fitz sounds bored. A yawn practically cracks her jaw as she looks away from us and focuses on her pouches. She chuckles as she rips up one of the photos into pieces and shoves it in the bag.

“Morty suggested we come talk about fated bonds,” I hesitantly answer. Is she hexing someone with those bags? Maiden help me if I ever get on Fitz’s bad side.

“I wondered when one of you bozos would get up the nerve to ask me about that.” She rips up the second photo with a cackle and spits inside the bag. She winks at me when she sees me looking. “They deserve a little extra something.”

All I can do is nod, as if I know who she’s hexing or why.

“So you know about them?” Bram’s eyes are lit with intrigue as he watches Fitz work. She sets the pouch down and pats it like it’s a pet before her eyes lift to the sky. Even with her magic keeping us in a perfect day bubble, it can’t disguise the heavy gray clouds closing in. The trees in her backyard wave in a gentle breeze, but farther away the branches of ancient pines whip back and forth.

“Our magic is like a river.”

Great. We’re going to get a metaphor instead of answers. I admire Fitz, I respect her, and I’m scared of her, but the woman does not like to shoot it straight.

A vine snaps against my leg. “Ow,” I hiss. That hurt.

“Pay attention.”

“I am.” I try to keep the whine out of my voice. Bram chuckles and a vine snaps up and slaps him across the face.

I burst out laughing and Bram sits up straight, his hand pressed to his cheek.

“What was that for?”

“A reminder that the bad shit that happens to someone else could easily happen to you.”

“I thought you were going to tell us about the fated bonds,” Bram grumbles, slumping back in his chair, but not nearly as relaxed.

“Indeed. Stop talking and let me get my words out.” She grouses as if we’re the ones who started this tangent. I keep my mouth shut and Bram does the same.

“Think of magic like the water around us. There are rivers that flow into oceans. Water evaporates and lifts to the skies, where it turns to rain or snow before tumbling back down to earth. It’s all linked, just like our magic. There’s a thread that ties us all together, but some threads are woven, while others are left untethered.”

Fitz looks back and forth between us and then sighs. “You daft fools don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, do you?”

“Um…” I say to stop the oppressive silence. I feel like I’ve been called on by a teacher and I don’t know the answer.

“A fated bond is bigger than everything. A curse, blood magic.”

“What’s blood magic?” I ask.

“Pfft, we’re not getting into that.” Fitz is back to ripping up photographs and shoving them into the little bags. “I’m just saying, our magic comes from a place of balance. You don’t think it's a coincidence that Roman and Josephine are light and dark witches, do you?”

Bram sits forward. “I thought light and dark magic was just something the council used as a cover when they broke up the original coven in Mystic Hollows?”

Before our town was cursed by the Briar Witch, there was one coven. They split to keep the secret of how the curse originated from the rest of the town. One side, the Lumen coven, were light magic witches. The Tenebris coven members were dark magic witches. Growing up, we were led to believe that dark witches were evil, dangerous, basically bad, awful people. Which is obviously not the case.

“They really don’t teach you lot anything in the covens, do they?” Fitz sighs. “There’s a difference between the magic in that light magic tends to heal and create growth. Dark magic can conceal and usher in change. Neither are inherently good or evil. They are simply a part of life.”

“What does that have to do with fated bonds?” Bram asks, getting impatient.

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