Page 18 of Bewitched By the Voodoo King (The Bewitching Hour #7)

Louis and Adelle paced like caged animals. One clockwise, the other counterclockwise—like if they spun fast enough, they could unravel the entire problem.

I stayed still.

“What happened with the new girl?” Louis finally snapped, pinning me with a stare.

I rolled my head on my shoulders. Maple was back in her room.

I sent Maggie to check on her and bring her some dinner.

She’d looked entirely too pale when we returned to the coven, and I didn’t want her chickening out on me.

It didn’t look good, and for whatever reason, we needed her.

I also didn’t know what I was supposed to tell these two.

I definitely didn’t want to bring the rest of the coven into this, at least not yet.

I would need to tell my mother, but that could wait a little while longer.

She was staying mostly in her rooms. We all grieved differently and she was throwing herself into the making of voodoo dolls.

“I pushed her behind me,” I began.

“And? What did she do to it?” Adelle interrupted.

“She didn’t do anything.” I guessed the truth needed to come out.

Louis stopped his pacing. “What did you just say? Our savior is actually a chicken? Imagine that.”

“Cut the shit,” My voice came out icy cold. Even though he wasn’t aware of it, Maple was my wife now, and he wasn’t going to disrespect her.

Louis wasn’t phased though. “What do you want me to say then? I get it, okay? You’re supposed to be marrying her, but you haven’t yet. We probably need to rethink her being the savior is all I’m suggesting.”

Adelle shot him a dirty look. “No one said she was going to be our savior, but at this point, we need all the help we can get. Mist wolves? Rune. This—I don’t know where to even begin.”

I scrubbed a hand down my face. “She’s my wife.”

Louis’ eyes got round as he stared at me. “You two eloped today?”

I groaned and shook my head as I sunk down into my chair.

I was getting tired of these two already.

Maybe I should have called my mother in.

She would have offered more insight than these two.

“No. The marriage was binding the moment my father signed the contract. They told us that it was a future arrangement. I looked at the paperwork and saw the agreement for myself.”

Louis nodded like it all made sense. “And she’s okay with that?”

Adelle snorted. “She doesn’t even know.” She hooked a thumb in my direction. “He refuses to tell her.”

“I’m waiting for the right time.”

Louis rolled his eyes. “Sure. Because if I were secretly married to someone I was dragging into a supernatural war, I’d definitely wait until after she danced with a vampire and nearly got eaten in a swamp.”

“ Enough .”

The room quieted once more.

Louis blew out a breath. “I hate to say it, but we are going to need to go back out there. During a full moon, with backup. That way our magic is at its strongest.”

Adelle nodded solemnly. “I hate to agree with this idiot, but he’s right. We are going to need to go out there and feel the magic.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “What about Maple’s magic? Did she reveal it to you out there?”

I shook my head. “No, nothing.”

Louis pinched his lips together as he planted his fists on his hips. “I hate to say it, but there’s something strange about her.”

Adelle scoffed. “Pot, meet kettle.”

He flipped her off, and my patience snapped. “Get out. Both of you.”

Adelle nodded and slipped out without a word. Louis hesitated, staring me down for a full minute like he was deciding whether or not to push me further. Then he too left, and I was finally alone. But with the silence came my screaming thoughts.

I hated myself for it, but I wondered what Maple was doing. I wondered if she was feeling better and what Maggie brought her for dinner. I wondered if she was using her magic or waiting for the right moment. I wondered what her magic even was. I was sure it was just as bright and unique as she was.

I leaned forward and dropped my head into my hands, elbows on the desk that had once belonged to my father. The weight of the mantle—the crown, the coven, the contract—was crushing me. And the one thing I hadn’t planned for? The one I wasn’t supposed to care about?

Was the only thing I wanted to check on.

Instead of going to see Maple like I truly wanted, I went to find my mother.

She was usually alone in her rooms, but tonight, I found the object of my desires seated across the woman who raised me.

They were in her boho-style living area surrounded by massive pillows, thin gauzy drapes, and curling incense.

Maple’s curls were still damp from a recent bath, and she was wrapped in one of my mother’s silk robes, far too large for her frame. Her feet were bare. A half-eaten bowl of red beans and rice sat on the small table beside her.

Something cracked open in my chest.

They didn’t see me at first. My mother’s head was bowed over something—one of her dolls, perhaps—and Maple was speaking softly, voice low but animated. She laughed, and the sound curled through the air like magic of its own.

I should have left.

But I stepped inside.

My mother looked up first. Her eyes were calm and peaceful.

I wondered how she did it, especially since her husband was still floating, woven in magic on the other side of the compound.

Guilt rushed through me at the thought. We should have buried him already.

We should have done a proper send-off, but everything else had been weighing too heavily on me.

“Rune,” she said, as if she’d known I’d come. “We were just talking about you.”

Maple turned, her eyes widened for a moment before her expression softened. “Hey.”

That one word— hey —settled something in me and unsettled everything else.

My mother patted the cushion beside her. “Sit. You look like you’ve been pacing the edges of your soul all night.”

I hesitated… then lowered myself to the pillow.

The air smelled like sandalwood and something sweet—jasmine, maybe. My father used to call this space her temple—her sanctuary. I’d spent countless nights in here growing up. We’d cuddled on these very cushions.

“Well, what was said about me?”

Maple’s cheeks colored under my scrutiny, and I found myself wanting to reach out and touch her.

It was such an odd feeling since touching in such a formal manner was unheard of.

It gave the other person access to your thoughts, your soul— your desires.

But I found myself not worrying about that as much as I would have before.

I certainly didn’t worry about it as much as I had with Babette.

Our touches had been only through intimacy, when I knew she couldn’t sense other things about me.

“She mentioned proposals to beignets today,” my mother smirked as she wrapped an arm around my shoulders. She was the only one that I knew would never take without consent. I trusted her with my touch and affection.

Maple covered her mouth as her face flamed even brighter, and I wondered, for a brief moment, what it would be like to kiss her.

If her cheeks would turn this shade of red, or if she would melt into my hands as I touched her.

I blinked hard. I couldn’t go there—not here beside my mother.

I probably didn’t need to even go there when I was alone.

“I was just telling her about,” she paused and looked down at her lap.

My mother finished the sentence for her. “Your first date.” She raised her brows as she looked at me. “But from what I can tell, there was no parting kiss, so it wouldn’t be considered a first date.”

I opened my mouth and then closed it.

“It wasn’t a date,” It was a date . What was I doing?

“You said it was,” she blurted. “You said first date .”

My mother hummed, clearly enjoying herself far too much.

“I was joking,” I muttered but it was a lie. The worst lie I’d ever told. I didn’t know why I was bothering with the lie to begin with, but here we were.

Maple’s lips pressed together. “Well. Good. Because I definitely wasn’t dressed for a date.” She gestured vaguely to herself. “I had powdered sugar in places powdered sugar should not be .”

A startled laugh escaped me before I could stop it. “That’s… fair.”

A knock on the door pulled us out of our conversation.

The door swung open to reveal my sister, Adelle.

Her eyes softened when they landed on us all sitting around with Mother.

I unfolded myself from the cushion and held my hand out to Maple.

She put her fingers in mine hesitantly before she rose with me.

She went to take the robe off, but my mother held up her hand. “Keep it, honey.”

“You two don’t have to leave,” Adelle started.

I shook my head. “Your time with our mother is just as important.”

Adelle’s expression fell slightly. “I was just going to fill her in on everything that happened today.”

“Thank you,” I said without thinking. It was one last thing I needed to do… and I could finally be alone with Maple.

We left my mother’s chambers and walked down the hallway side by side. “How long have you been in there with her?”

Maple shrugged and the robe slid down one of her bare shoulders.

What was she wearing under that? My brain short- circuited.

“A few hours, I guess. I needed someone to talk to, about all of the wolf stuff today and about… our not date. I tried to call one of my sisters, but they’re busy preparing for her baby shower this upcoming weekend. ”

I stopped. “Do you want to go to it?”

She looked up at me with wide eyes. “Why would you ask that?”

“Because you aren’t a prisoner here,” It was an easy answer. “You can come and go as you please.”

She laughed softly. “I don’t have a job, and I don’t have any money. I don’t know how I would even go about that.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You have access to my money.” You’re my wife. It was right on the tip of my tongue. I didn’t know how I managed to hold it in.

She shook her head. “Nah, I’d like to earn my keep.”

I puffed out my cheeks to keep all the words in.

What did I say to that? “We could start with the wolf stuff. You figure that out, and you have access to the coven’s coffers for life.

” I bumped her shoulder with mine to lighten the tone, but I meant every word.

She could have whatever she wanted until the end of time.

The only thing I couldn’t give her was an annulment. That wasn’t how the magic worked.

This time she stopped— right outside of her door, and disappointment licked my soul. “So,” she said quietly. “If that was a date… would you want a second one?”

I turned to look at her with her frizzy curls around her face, and the desire to kiss her came rushing back, full force.

My breath hitched.

Ancestors, she didn’t even realize what she was doing to me. The way her robe had slipped, the way her voice went all soft like she was handing me her heart and pretending it was nothing.

“Yes,” I said, the word leaving before I could stop it. “I’d want a second one.”

Her lips parted slightly, but she didn’t speak. She just looked at me like she wasn’t sure if I was joking—or if this was the moment everything changed.

“I’d want it to be better than the first,” I added. “No pastry proposals and maybe a dress that doesn’t end in powdered sugar in compromising places.”

She let out a breathless laugh. “You liked that, admit it.”

I arched a brow and smirked. “I would have liked it even more if I’d gotten to taste the sweetness caught in those compromising places.”

Her cheeks stained pink as her lips formed a perfect O.

My hand lifted—slowly, giving her time to pull away—but she didn’t. I brushed a single curl behind her ear, and my fingers grazed her skin. The spark between us pulsed.

But I didn’t kiss her.

I couldn’t. Not yet.

Because if I kissed her, I knew I’d never be able to stop.

“Goodnight, Maple.”

She stumbled back into her room, and I closed my eyes as I turned away from the one thing I wanted more than anything else.