Page 86 of Magic and Matrimony

“Piper,” I pant as I push off the wall and stumble over to her broken body. “Help me,” I beg as I drop to the floor, not even caring that I’m kneeling on pieces of broken glass. I scoop Piper up, but I’m too spent from using all that magic. I can’t even stand. Roman takes her from my arms. I can’t even protest because I’m too weak to do anything to help.

“We’ll take her to Josephine. She can heal her.” Roman hurries through the apartment. I follow, but each step is a challenge. My feet weighed down by my fatigue. I send up a prayer to the Maiden, Mother, and Crone, begging that they’ll listen and save her.

The people who are supposed to love me the most have spent their life running away from me. I can’t lose Piper because she holds my heart in her hands. She’s lived under the thumb of herfather or her uncle her entire life. Only now, when she’s broken free, will she be able to have peace. And this is what happens? How fucking unfair is life?

“Josephine,” Roman bellows as he sets Piper down on their couch. Josephine runs out of the bedroom in an oversized t-shirt with Yoda on the front, her hand pressed to her chest. Her little sister, Penelope, sprints out of her room a few seconds later.

“What happened?” Josephine looks between me and Roman.

Penelope glares at me. “Did you do this?”

“No,” I bark out, my eyes focused on Piper’s beaten body. “Tucker.” I choke out the word, hoping he’s screaming in his mind, trapped in a nightmare for eternity.

“Please help her,” I beg Josephine, who immediately drops to her knees in front of Piper. She places her hands on her head and closes her eyes.

Some of the swelling immediately goes down. The blood that’s dripping from her split lip dries up as the wound closes. Josephine runs her hands down Piper’s arms and over her stomach, frowning as magic continues to pour out of her.

Penelope comes around the table with a bowl of water and a washcloth and begins cleaning blood off Piper’s hands and forearms. They must have been cut by the broken bottles.

“Why is she shaking like that?” I ask. Piper’s body is trembling, her teeth chattering.

“It’s her curse. I’ve healed what I could of the injuries, but her curse is hitting her right now, too. I can’t do anything about that,” Josephine says forlornly.

Fucking curses.

I sink into the chair, my legs no longer able to hold me up. What a fucking day.

“Should we move her back to her bed?” Josephine asks as she lays a blanket over Piper. She’s still bruised. I know from what she’s told me before that Josephine can heal and speed thingsalong, but depending on how badly you’ve been hurt, she might not be able to fix everything as good as new.

“Tucker is over there.”

“What?” Josephine looks at the door that’s still open out into the hall. Piper’s door is wide open too. Thank God, nobody else lives in this apartment building besides our friends.

“He’s not a problem any longer.”

Penelope gapes at me. “Did you kill him? Awesome.”

This kid. Crone’s titties. “No, I didn’t kill him. But he is…incapacitated.”

“For the rest of his life,” Roman adds in. When Josephine turns wide eyes on Roman, he waves her off. “I’ll explain later.”

Stellan chooses that moment to wander inside the apartment, although it’s obvious he’s been listening. “I’ll take him to the hospital. They can figure out what to do with him.” He walks out the door before barely setting a foot inside. A few minutes later, he walks past with Tucker thrown over his shoulder like a bag of cement.

“There are broken bottles all over the floor.” I try to get up, but Roman pushes me back down.

“Just take it easy for a few minutes. I’ll go clean up the mess, and then you can take Piper back home.”

Home. I chew on the word. That place is not her home. She belongs with me. I’m not about to resort to kidnapping, though. Roman gets the mess cleaned up–his hands breaking out in a horrible rash from one of the potions that Josephine promptly heals. By the time he’s done, some of my strength returns.

I gently pick up Piper and carry her back to her apartment.

Once again, I sit vigil at Piper's side. She alternates between shifting restlessly and kicking off the covers, to being so still I worry that she’s stopped breathing. More than once, I’ve anxiously laid my hand on her chest, fear gnawing at mystomach while I wait for the gentle rise of her breathing to reassure me that she’s still alive.

39

AMBROSE

It’s been a little less than twenty-four hours of this bout of sickness. Last time, it lasted three days. I’m already so fucking tired, but I can’t imagine how hard this is for Piper. She was exhausted when she left the chateau, and she’s had no rest. She’s been beaten, tried to protect herself, and now is forced to endure her curse once again.

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