Page 69 of Hexes and Exes

Flo wanders back over to our table, her pad of paper and pencil at the ready. “What can I get you?”

We order a round of coffees and hot chocolates, since no one has an appetite. Flo glares at us, but then Ambrose raises a hand as he studies Piper’s face. “You need to eat something.” He turns to Flo. “A cheeseburger with sweet potato fries, please.”

Piper’s cheeks grow pink, and she murmurs, “I’m fine.”

“Sure. You’re not about to pass out at all. Just humor me.” Ambrose thanks Flo, who wanders away, mumbling something under her breath about wasting a table. As if there’s people waiting to be seated.

“Why did Briar’s grimoire say that the curse was for all the firstborns, if that wasn’t the case?” Odie signs. She’s wearing a stocking cap with her long blonde hair braided and hanging over her shoulder. The strands are starting to fall out of the braid. She rubs her eyes, looking tired. To be fair, we all look beat down.

“Still talking about curses. Do you guys ever talk about anything else?” Agatha Fitzsimons drops a heavy bag onto one of the booths next to us. Despite how cold it is, she’s clad in only her typical jogging suit, this time in a pale peach color. Her long white hair is pulled back in her usual braid and her eyes are bright, like it isn’t the middle of the night. Standing beside her is Morty, looking too fucking cheerful in a hot pink jumpsuit complete with a flouncy tie around the neck.

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?” I’m barely in the mood for the company of friends. I’m not sure I can handle other people.

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” Fitz smirks at me.

“So any second now.” I shrug.

Ava kicks my shin under the table again just as Fitz flicks her finger. The water from my glass jumps up and splashes me in the face.

I glare at the old woman and wipe off my face. Morty inserts himself between me and Agatha, gently pushing the old woman back. She crosses her arms with a huff, acting more like a petulant teenager than someone who has seen at least one hundred years pass her by. Although both Morty and Fitz’s ages are questionable. Fitz has been around Mystic Hollows forever. Some say she’s used magic to prolong her life. Then there’s Morty, who looks like he’s forty, but he’s also been a resident of this town for longer than even our parents can remember.

“What sort of mischief have you all been up to tonight?” Fitz’s inspecting gaze drops on each of us one by one as if she can read our actions with just a look. Hell, maybe she can. We all know Agatha Fitzsimons is an elemental witch with an affinity for plants, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have other powers.

Ava is messing with her glass of water until she spills half of it over her hands. She shoves them between her thighs and gnaws nervously on her lip. “Just a little magic spell.”

“Ava,” Stellan hisses and jerks his head inshut upgesture.

Ava whips off her stocking cap and mops her brow. “She makes me nervous.” She leans in toward her brother, but we all hear her.

“That’s because you’ve got more than one brain cell to rub together.” Fitz laughs and taps her cane on the floor.

It’s Morty’s turn to inspect us, but there’s nothing to outwardly indicate where we’ve been tonight. He sniffs loudly and narrows his eyes before turning toward Fitz. “They’ve been in a cemetery.”

The table has no fucking chill. If it wasn’t for the shock on everyone’s faces, Ambrose crying out, “how did you know?” would’ve been a dead giveaway.

Morty walks around the table and pulls a tiny potion out of a chest pocket on his jumpsuit. He sets it in front of Piper.

“Drink this before you pass out, my love. You really shouldn’t perform such strong spells if you’re not used to it. Reminder to you all not to let your magic wither away. It’s like any muscle, if you don’t use it, it will become weak.”

“I thought magic was a pool and once it was emptied, tough shit,” Stellan responds.

“It is, dumbass,” Fitz snaps back. “But if you’re not used to hauling buckets of water, you’re going to exhaust yourself.”

When Piper doesn’t immediately open the potion, Ambrose uncorks it and holds it out for her. She takes it with a shy “thank you” and tips the bottle back, drinking it all.

“Since you’re here, we may as well ask you.” Stellan looks over at Fitz, who has a spark of curiosity shining in her eyes. I don’t want to have this conversation. To dissect how our parents fucked us over. How my mother apparently was just as bad as the rest of them and still ended up dying from her curse.

“Enough. This is all bullshit,” I cut Stellan off before he voices those questions out loud, airing our dirty laundry. Besides, whatever that fucked up skeleton said can’t be trusted. He was one of the dicks who tried to force Briar to marry his son. He’s just an example of another power-hungry asshole.

“If anyone in this town knows anything about our curses and any rituals, it would be these two.” Roman frowns at me.

“The coven council might know something as well, but they aren’t likely to share any information with us.” Ava shakes her head.

“Is the only reason our curses have been passed down to us because our parents did a ritual?” Piper’s words shock the entire table into silence.

Both Fitz and Morty freeze. They cast a glance at one another before turning their attention back to our table. A slow smile creeps up Fitz’s face.

“Did you finally figure it out?” Fitz waves her cane in the air when the waitress heads our way. Flo spins on her heel and scampers back to the kitchen.

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