Page 61 of Hexes and Exes

“You just wait.” Stellan slaps me on the shoulder when I sit down next to him. Ava heads straight for the DJ to put in her request. He winks at her, and whatever he says has her staying there instead of sitting back down.

I turn my head and find Stellan staring at me, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Interesting that the two of you came together.” Somehow, he uses his eyebrows to point toward Ava.

“We were at the resort working on the masquerade. It didn’t make sense to take two cars,” I lie through my teeth. It’s not that I’m ashamed to be with Ava; we’re just keeping things low key. No one needs to know about our friends with benefits arrangement. I don’t need a lecture from my brother, or Ava’s, for that matter.

“A lot of late nights too.” Stellan takes a long, slow drink of his beer. Odie’s watching with too much interest, but so far, she’s keeping her thoughts to herself.

“There are a lot of details to finalize.”

“Sure.” Stellan chuckles and leans into my space. “I won’t give you the totally stereotypical hurt-my-sister speech, because she’s a grown-ass woman who can take care of herself, but don’t be a dick.”

I glare at him, while secretly wondering how obvious the two of us have been.

The person singing finishes on a warbly high note, and I cringe. Ava smiles over at me as she gets up on stage.

The opening guitar riff of “Sweet Child of Mine” plays, and Ava holds the mic up to her mouth. Something magical happens.I’m not just talking about Ava’s voice, which is completely out of left field. How has no one mentioned that she has the sultry sound of a rock star?

That’s not the only thing going on, though. Her singing is literally magic. With every note, it’s as if my skin is being bathed in joy.

The darkness of my curse, that never fully dissipates, calms to a level that I feel nothing but happiness. Ava dances around the stage, one arm over her head and lots of hair flinging. It’s not pretty, but everyone is mesmerized. As they should be. Watching and hearing Ava sing is near spiritual.

“What’s going on?” I murmur, unable to look away.

“It’s her empath magic. When we were kids, we figured out she could imbue her song with emotion and anyone within a listening distance would get a boost of those feelings. Do not let her sing a ballad to you. You’ll end up in the fetal position, weeping for hours.”

“Wow.” It’s the only word I can think of to describe Ava. The way her happiness is pouring out to everyone in the bar.

When she finishes singing, every person gets to their feet to cheer and whoop. She waves as though embarrassed and darts back to our table. She flops down on the bench next to me and presses her hands to her cheeks.

“That was incredible,” I whisper.

“Thanks. It’s been a while. It’s been so hectic with work and the party planning. I just wanted to do something that made everyone feel good.”

“You succeeded. Does that help you relax at all? Do you get a boost?”

“Not a magical one, but I love seeing everyone light up and how happy the music and magic make them.”

I frown. “But you don’t get the same result?”

“No, but it's a different sort of pleasure.”

An idea takes form in my head. She’s right in that things have been hectic lately. The party planning, work, and spending almost every free moment together haven’t left a lot of time to relax.

We stick around for a handful more singers, but I’m ready to go after a nausea inducing cover of “Blue” by Patsy Cline.

“Are you going to sing again?” If I have something to look forward to, then maybe I can stick out this torture.

“No, once is enough for me.” Ava slumps in her seat, blinking tiredly as our friends joke and go off on random tangents.

I lean down so no one else can hear. “I want to take you somewhere. Are you up for it?”

“Where to?” Interest sparks in her eyes.

“It’s a surprise.”

We leave to various protests, but Ava waves everyone off, telling them she’s tired. We’re nearly to our destination when Ava turns to me. “Um, Bram. I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but I’ve been to the resort before. Like earlier today, with you. I know my curse is to be forgotten, but that’s really fast buddy.”

We turn down one of the private drives that leads past the cabins on the resort’s property. “Just go with it. What’s the worst that can happen?”

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