Page 59 of What The Hex (The Family Spells)
“And Hex is my fourth soulmate, as dictated by the Oracle,” I said firmly and carefully. “What he and I choose to do is up to us. Not Coven Apothecary and certainly not Coven Wyrmwood. I don’t understand why you’re even suggesting this; we have a complete soul-circle now. This is a boon for our coven, not a hindrance.”
“Why are we even having this conversation right now?” Spectre demanded, exchanging a look with me before turning back to my mother. “We just woke up; we haven’t seen our children in a month. We’re exhausted, Abigail.”
“In order to keep Coven Wyrmwood from assaulting us in the interim, we struck up a bargain.” My mom sounded apologetic, at the very least, but that did nothing to stop the cold chill creeping over me. “His grandmother, Lulu, she could still summon him at any moment. Grace, you would be too weak to stop her.”
I looked down at my hands, wrapped around the mistletoe mug, and I thought about that, really thought about it. Abigail wasn’t wrong. I lifted my face up. Didn’t change anything though.
“If Hex doesn’t want to go back to his coven, I won’t make him go,” I said, wondering how we were going to get ourselves out of this mess. My eyes met his, and he set the broom aside, moving up to stand on Caine’s left.
“I can’t go back,” he reiterated, swallowing hard. “After the things I’ve done, they’ll kill me. Even my grandmother.”
“She’s assured me that if you return peacefully and proceed with your wedding to Violet Enfer, the Coven Wyrmwood Three have agreed to pardon you and Coven Apothecary in entirety.” My mother nodded and Calla produced a roll of parchment paper from her bag.
As I was the head of our family, she handed it to me and not Hex. I took it but when he stepped up behind me to read over my shoulder, I didn’t stop him. I unrolled the scroll and we read the words together, everything that my mother had said but in a much more long-winded format.
I pursed my lips and glanced over at Hex, his orange and white horns still visible, his wings drooped to the floor behind him. He turned his eyes to mine, and we stared at each other for a moment.
This was it.
His choice to make.
Because we didn’t have time to play games anymore. If I sent him back to Violet, it was over between us, regardless of my being pregnant. If he stayed, his coven would never forgive him. He’d be a wandering witch; he’d have to marry me and join Coven Apothecary as quickly as my other husbands had.
I was used to emergency weddings.
Saving Argent from the faerie queen; Spectre from his Kingdom; Caine from his pack. It was my forte, apparently.
“Whose baby is it?” he whispered, but I just shook my head.
“Does it matter?” I asked quietly, because if it did, then … I wasn’t sure how I felt.
Hex thought about that for a moment, lifting a hand to rub at his chin. He was looking at the kitchen island with a faraway expression on his face. It felt like there was more to this than just his fear of commitment. I didn’t know what that was, but if he chose us, if he chose to stay here, then we could talk our way through it.
If he wanted to go back to Violet, I wouldn’t be able to help him at all.
“I want to stay here,” Hex clarified, looking back up at my face. “I’m not sure where you and I are at in our relationship, but I do not want to marry Violet Enfer. If I leave you now, there’s nothing for us. I’ll either end up married to the princess of Cabal Ungeist or I’ll end up dead.”
He exhaled, and Caine let out a small, sharp breath. Our eyes met, and I could see that he was equal parts happy and sad about Hex’s decision. He’s your soulmate, too, I said with my gaze, and Caine looked away. Not sure if he got the message or not, but it was true either way.
“You would cause a war between our covens over the possibility of dating this man?” Abigail asked, her voice pleading. I knew this was much more than just a simple morning conversation over tea.
This was life-changing stuff.
Monster reappeared, filling the entirety of the doorway between the kitchen and living room area as he looked over our gathered group.
“There will be war either way. Hex’s role in the prophecy that both the coven and the cabal have been tracing for centuries … it’s over.” He moved into the room and stood near Spectre and the teapot.
My mother’s gaze was cold and distant, not that of my parent but of the actual Mother, one of the Three, the coven’s primary leaders. I wondered what happened to Clarissa ‘call me Rissa’ Kate. How had Monster gotten past her without bloodshed?
