Page 68 of Magic and Matrimony

31

PIPER

Ilook down at the dugout grave where my father’s body has laid for the last eleven years. I haven’t been back to my father’s grave since the day he was buried. There’s a weird sense of him being here right now. Not that I think his spirit is lingering in his body or anything, but it’s almost as if he’s glaring up at me from down below.

I look over my shoulder. My friends have moved far enough away that they can’t hear me.

“When I was little, you used to sit me down and lecture me for hours on everything I was doing wrong,” I say to the now closed casket. “Now, it’s your turn to listen, even if it’s only in spirit.

“You were a horrible father. The things you did were damaging and cruel. I will never forgive you for the way you treated me or the hex you put on me. I want you to know that I’m breaking free of the shackles that you put on me. I refuse to be meek any longer. To let others tell me that my voice isn’t important. You failed. I want you to know that most of all. Youwanted to break my spirit, but in spite of everything you tried, I learned how to persevere.”

I stare at the weathered casket, remembering the withered husk inside.

“I hope the Crone is punishing you in whatever version of hell exists. After tonight, I won’t think of you again. Soon, I’ll be free of this hex, and with it, free from the reminder that you ever existed. Fuck you.”

I pick up a shovel and toss dirt over my father, burying the past as I bury his body. Ambrose appears moments later. He picks up another shovel and helps me fill in the grave. The rest of my friends circle around us, picking up the remaining shovels or standing guard until the last bit of dirt is back in place.

“Thanks for helping,everyone. I think Piper and I have it from here,” Ambrose says as we make our way back to the car.

Bram laughs, a deep dark rumble from his belly. “I did not just go through that without a payoff.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ambrose replies as he throws a shovel into the back of his SUV.

Odie claps him on the back and signs, “Nice try. We know what Piper has to do next.”

Ambrose turns an accusing glare my way.

I grimace. “I’m sorry. I just mentioned something to Josephine.”

Ambrose’s stare drifts over to Josephine. Roman throws an arm around her shoulder and glares at Ambrose. “Of course she’s going to tell me everything. She’s my fated bond.”

Roman holds up his hand, as if we don’t remember that he and Josephine are fated to be together. The black inky vines that circle his ring finger and hers are proof of that.

It’s a magical bond that happens when a witch meets their fated person. The one who they’re meant to be with, the perfect compliment to their heart. Josephine and Roman found each other, and then Ava and Bram discovered they were fated to be with each other. None of us even knew this was a possibility before it happened to Roman and Josephine. According to Fitz, it’s been so long since we’ve had fated bonds in Mystic Hollows because our coven split and decided that light and dark magic shouldn’t mingle together. Our parents and their parents before them married purely for power over love. Their selfishness only escalated when they did a ritual to pass along the Briar Witch’s curse to their firstborn children instead of letting it die out with them.

The incredible thing about these fated bonds is that it's a cure for the curses of the firstborns. I don’t think I’ll ever be so lucky to find my fated bond, but I already know I would never pass along my curse to a child. I’ll die because of this curse, and I would rather do that a thousand times than watch my own child suffer.

“And who did you share this with?” Ambrose grinds his teeth together.

“I may have heard them talking about it.” Stellan shrugs. “And then shared it with Ava. And Odie. And Bram.” Stellan rubs his hands together. “So, are you whipping this potion up tonight, Piper?”

“Yes,” Ambrose says before I get a chance to answer.

I wasn’t actually planning on doing it tonight. While I’m anxious to break this hex, this is asking a lot of Ambrose, and I wanted him to tell me when he was ready. Not that I wouldn’thave been persuasive about getting it done sooner rather than later.

“Are you sure?” I lay a hand on Ambrose’s bicep. The muscle jumps beneath my touch. His hair is a little wild, but his eyes are soft as he looks down at me.

“There’s no question, Pipes. Let’s get this hex off you. You deserve to be free.”

My heart leaps into my throat and my eyes grow teary.

“Okay. We’ll do it when we get home,” I murmur, feeling as though the Maiden, Mother, and Crone have blessed me for once in my life.

Once we’re back at the chateau, Josephine sits in the kitchen with me while I brew up the potion. Everyone else is out in the living room having drinks and playing pool. No one is taking this seriously enough in my opinion, but Ambrose is the one who this will impact the most. If he wants to prepare by pretending this isn’t going to happen, then that’s his decision.

The potion for the spell is actually very simple. I gather my ingredients in a row on the counter. Chamomile, lavender, cinnamon, turmeric, thyme, and my father’s tongue. This is essentially a tea with a hint of body part.

Josephine watches while I measure everything out and start water boiling on the stove. She has the hood of her sweatshirt up over her head, still cold from our cemetery outing.

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