Page 74 of Hexes and Exes

“Absolutely.” Piper smiles at me.

“This might have been the easiest shopping experience I’ve ever had. I only broke down into tears once.”

“He’s one of my oldest friends, but I can make his curse feel like a walk in the park.” Odie signs, and I give her a tremulous smile.

“It’s really not that big of a deal. We weren’t anything to start with, so nothing to lose.”

I pretend I don’t see the way the others share a skeptical look between them. Collectively, they must agree to humor me because Josephine says. “Now we just need to find a mask.”

Shayla has the perfect mask to accompany the dress, so I don’t have to spend more time shopping. As we’re checking out, Odie’s phone pings with a message. She reads the text and her eyes dart to me.

“What?” I glance at her phone and then raise a brow. She holds it out to me. It’s a message from Ambrose.

Ambrose: Heads-up…they’re demoing what remains of Bram’s old house tomorrow. He’s going to be in a mood.

The house that was burned down. The same one that held any of the remaining physical memories from his mother. My eyes burn as I try to keep from crying again.

“Thanks for letting me know.” I keep my head down as I finish paying for my dress and mask.

It takes another ten minutes of saying goodbye outside in the freezing wind before the others will let me go. Josephine wanted to grab lunch, but I want to hibernate under a Snuggie, eat a block of cheese and watch extremely sad movies so I can cry and blame it on something other than my life.

31

AVA

My car is parked near my office since I stopped in there to do a few things before we started shopping. I’m still a few blocks away when I turn the corner and find a confusing sight. My father and Jamie are glaring at each other. Their backs toward me.

“Have you made any progress?” my father snarls.

I panic and flatten myself against the wall between two buildings. Somehow, they didn’t see me coming around the corner.

“She’s been drooling all over Abraham Blackthorn.” Jamie snorts. “Honestly, who does she think she is? Just because one of the brothers decided to lower the bar with the Delvaux girl, Ava thinks she has a chance with him.”

“Watch how you speak about the founding families.”

My father’s words shock me. I don’t think he’s ever stood up for me in any capacity. It lasts for all of a second, because he’s not defending me.

“The children may be disappointing, but they are still the elites of this city. You’d do well to remember which families control this town.”

“Josephine Delvaux doesn’t control Mystic Hollows. She had to have her boyfriend give her a job. Even the family has been shamed. There are whispers about whatever they did a few months back. People talk in a small town like this.” Jamie‘s face is smug as he faces off with my father.

This whole conversation is bizarre. My dad and Jamie maybe spoke two sentences to each other the entire time we were dating. Now all of a sudden, they’re BFFs who shoot the shit in the middle of the street, talking about Mystic Hollows founding family politics. What is this?

“We are working on a way to rectify things.” My father's jaw clicks. “You’ve been willing to put in the work. You aren’t fit to be a member of the Vandenberg family, but you have been useful. Your magic is pitiful, but perhaps there are ways to work around that. Maybe I’ll let you have my daughter.”

I slap my hand over my mouth to keep from shouting. Fuck no. And also, what the actual hell? Did my father just offer me up like a cheese platter? I’m not a goody bag to be given out at a kid’s birthday party. He can’t just gift me to Jamie. I’m not a child and it’s been a long time since I’ve let my father dictate things in my life.

Excluding the planning of the masquerade ball.

Technically, that was my boss. If it wasn’t for my stupid curse, I could find a new job. I shake my head. None of these spiraling thoughts are important. This conversation that my father is having with my ex-boyfriend; this is what I need to be focused on.

Is that why Jamie has been texting and chasing me every time he sees me around town? He’s trying to get in with my father? I feel nauseous. Not that I had any belief that Jamie isa good person. Not after everything that happened between us. There may have been a tiny sliver of me that felt good, important even, because he was trying to talk to me again. It made me feel like I wasn’t someone who could be thrown away. What a joke. No one wants me for who I am.

What does my father have to gain in this relationship? Does this have to do with the curse and fucking ritual? It can’t be. Right?

“Just make sure you’re at the party. I think it’ll be an interesting night.” My father claps Jamie on the shoulder, and their voices grow distant as they walk away.

I sag against the cold brick, so tired of everything. It takes all my effort not to slide down to the ground and curl up into a ball. Somehow, I manage to put one foot in front of the other and make it to my car.

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