Page 58 of Magic and Matrimony

Well, shit. That should not be hot. Now is a really fucking inappropriate time they get turned on.

She shoves the leaves into Roy’s mouth and holds out her hand to me. “The lemon.” She takes the lemon and squeezes it, the juice dripping into Roy’s mouth and all over his face.

Once she’s satisfied there’s enough in his mouth, she pushes his jaw closed. Then we wait.

Piper’s breathing hard. Roman looks stunned. I’m standing above all of them like an idiot. There’s no clock in here makingominous ticking sounds, but I feel the passing of time in my bones anyway. The waiting is tortuous. Is Roy going to die? I don’t know him, but I don’t want to see him die because of this fucking council competition. Especially when pieces of shit like Francesca Delvaux and Tucker Beaumont walk out of here.

Well, Tucker fell out of here, and he’s probably still alive. Unfortunately.

Roy’s tremors slowly calm, until he’s shaking as though riddled with a fever. His eyes flutter open, but I don’t think he’s seeing very much. Piper flops back onto her butt with a relieved exhale.

“I’m glad one of us knew what to do.” I gently comb back Piper’s hair from her face and she looks up at me. There’s fear on her face.

“He could’ve died. He still needs help.”

“Well, we’ve got exactly twelve minutes to make our own choices and get out of here,” Roman says. “And then we can get him help.”

Piper stands up, rolling her shoulders back and looking determined as she scans the table of food. She picks up a cookie and sets it down with a shake of her head. There’s a bowl overflowing with nuts and dried fruit. Piper grabs a handful and begins sniffing them, one by one. She discards them one at a time with an irritated fling, the nuts pinging back down onto the table once she determines they’re not edible. Finally, she deems one okay and holds it out to Roman. “This one’s fine.”

She repeats the procedure with another handful and holds out a dried cranberry for me. “It’s good.”

“Thanks, Pipes, but I’m not going take a bite until you do.”

Piper resumes digging through the bowl of nuts and extracts a cashew. She holds it up for me to see, and then pops it in her mouth. Roman and I follow suit.

Nothing happens except the clock keeps ticking down. Roman and I lift Roy between us, and Piper moves toward the door. I want to tell her to get back, that I’ll open the door, but fucking Roy is hanging off me like a dead body. Piper’s hand connects with the doorknob and she turns it without issue. Relief sweeps over me. Whatever magic is keeping us in disappears and it lets us walk out with Roy.

We leave Andrew asleep on the ground. Roy needs more immediate help.

Tucker is passed out in front of the exit. He must have gone down the second he got outside.

“Shame,” I grunt as we step over him. Leaving him where he lies.

Odie is still waiting on the roof for us, but everyone else has disappeared. Apparently, they don’t care to see which one of their fellow council members has made it through.

“Is he okay?” Odie gapes at Roy, worry on her face.

“Piper saved the day.” I look over at my wife, and she ducks her head as though embarrassed.

“That was pretty fucking impressive, Piper,” Roman says. Roy mumbles something, but he’s barely coherent.

“Let’s get him down to Lucida. She can help figure out what to do with him.”

“He should be fine in a day or two,” Piper says, as we maneuver our way down the narrow staircase. Roman and I can’t fit with Roy between us, so he grabs his feet, and I hold him under his armpits. We haul him down the steps down like a sack of potatoes.

Lucida’s waiting in the main hall. She frowns when she sees us. Roman and I lower Roy’s body onto a settee. Lucida bends over to check on him. She closes her eyes and presses a hand to her forehead. Lucida is a powerful witch. She wouldn’t be the leader of the coven if she wasn’t, but her magic is abit of an enigma. She has some protection powers and even some elemental magic, which is unique for what used to be the Tenebris coven. Those are just the magicks we know about.

She nods. “He’ll be okay after some rest.” She looks at her watch and then up at the ceiling.

I jerk my head toward the stairs. “Andrew is still up there. Pretty sure he’s just asleep. Oh, and Anastasia and Tucker are up there too. They’re probably going to need some help, or you could just leave them. It’s up to you. Anastasia didn't make it out.”

Lucida nods, but I think there might be relief in her eyes. Anastasia Lexington is a shit human being. I wasn’t originally gunning to be part of this coven council, but now that we’re two trials in, the thought of someone like her or Tucker getting to make decisions for the coven grates on my nerves. There’s a lot of dark shit this coven has gotten involved with over the years, and not much of it has been for the betterment of the witches who live here. I wouldn’t consider myself a philanthropist or even someone who has thought much about others’ situations in the past, but I find myself wanting to do better.

I look over at Piper. Despite the stress of the last hour, she looks beautiful, but it’s her soul that’s truly radiant. Wanting to make sure the things that happened to her never happen to another, has me wondering if I could do some good on the council. I’m sure there are others who need protection in our town. We failed Piper, but maybe we could help someone else.

“Congratulations,” Lucida says to the four of us. Her eyes scan each of us as though taking stock of our true worth. I feel the weight of her gaze when it lands on me.

“I’m hopeful these challenges will reveal the next leaders of our coven. Those who truly have the best at heart for us.” Lucida’s smile grows. “Now I hope you’ll go and have a good witching moon. Don’t get in too much trouble, though.” Shelaughs as she turns from us, her skirt twirling, and heads down the hall.

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