Page 48

PIPER

M y body is weary, and my limbs feel weighted as I close the door to my bedroom. I stare around the beautiful room, my eyes drifting to the right, where I share a wall with Ambrose’s room. We’ve spent just as much time in his bed as we have in mine.

After the events of tonight, my brain is spinning.

The challenges, the punishment, it’s a lot.

Not that I’m unhappy with how things turned out.

I’m excited that I’m part of the council.

That I can help do some good for the witches of our town.

I’m also relieved that the old council was stripped of their magic.

It’s the least they deserve. But now it’s over.

Ambrose is avoiding me because I love him.

I can’t keep relying on other people. I need to stand on my own two feet.

“I can’t do this,” I murmur to myself and walk right back out the door.

Ambrose is standing in the hallway, looking like he’s been waiting there for a few minutes. Or maybe I caught him on his way to his room. He looks just as tired as I feel.

“Did you need something?” Ambrose asks.

“I need to go home.” As soon as I say the words, I know that it’s the right thing to do.

My mind figured it out before I made the connection.

Tucker has been stripped of his magic and kicked out of the coven.

The hex and geas my father put on me are gone.

That’s the whole reason I married Ambrose in the first place.

And those things no longer torment me. It’s time for me to leave.

“You are home.” Ambrose narrows his eyes in confusion.

“I mean my own place, Ambrose.” I start down the steps, and Ambrose catches up with me a moment later.

“It’s the middle of the night. At least wait until morning.” His voice cracks, eyes filled with desperation.

I look out the window and see the sun coming up. “It’s the start of a new day. It’s the right time to go.”

Ambrose rubs at his eyes, putting his hand on the front door before I get a chance to open it. “Why don’t you get some sleep, and then we can talk about everything after we’ve both had some time to digest what happened over the last few days.”

I look up at Ambrose. There’s no hint of the jubilant, upbeat man who I first asked to marry me. That wasn’t really him, though, was it. Ambrose says he was broken, but he seems worse off now. Have I done that to him? I cup his cheek, his eyes lowering slightly as he stares down at me.

His whiskers bristle under my fingers. “You look scruffy.” I smile up at him.

“I did stay up all night.” He smiles down at me.

“I need to go, Ambrose. I love you, and it’s too hard to have that denied over and over again.”

“It’s my curse.” His voice is pleading, and it makes my heart ache. How easy would it be to stay here and pretend like nothing is wrong. That we’ve both chosen each other of our own free will. But he’ll never believe that.

“And now it’s mine.” I drop my hand and suck in a deep breath, trying to keep tears from spilling down my cheeks.

“We’ll figure everything out,” I say, wondering how the hell you go about getting a divorce.

I stare up at the man who’s totally won my heart and see how he doesn’t think that’s possible.

“You’re worth loving, Ambrose. In case you haven’t figured that out. ”

I duck under Ambrose’s arm and open the door, slipping outside before he gets out another word. Right now, I just need to be alone.

I cry the entire way home. I cry as I unlock my apartment door. And I cry when I step inside. It smells stale and dusty in the closed-up space. Dragging my sleeve over my eyes, I wipe away the tears.

“What am I doing?” I ask the quiet apartment. This place was a haven for me when I first got away from Tucker. Now it feels like a tomb that has captured all of the memories of my loneliness and how trapped I was. Coming back here feels like falling back in time to a place when things were worse.

I lock the door and shuffle to the bedroom. I left my clothes and everything back at the chateau, and I’m too tired to find anything to change into. I flop down on the bed, hating that it doesn't have Ambrose in it.

“This is for the best,” I mumble into my pillow, willing myself to believe the words when my heart is breaking. When I finally fall asleep, tears still cling to my lashes.

I bolt upright in bed, my heart racing and my skin clammy.

What was that sound? I’m disoriented and dizzy.

Dammit. My curse is getting ready to hit.

My breaths come out in shallow pants, and I wipe the sweat off my forehead.

Chills rack my body and uncontrollable shivers take over.

My curse might be hitting me, but that’s not what woke me up.

The floorboard outside my bedroom creaks, and I hold my breath. My heart is beating so hard, it’s a whoosh in my ears making it hard to listen.

There’s another creak, and I wait, frozen with fear.

Someone is in my apartment.

What do I do? I don’t even know where I left my phone. How long have I been asleep? It’s dark outside so I must’ve slept all day. I can barely see two inches in front of my face.

The doorknob turns, and I shuffle out of bed. My legs give out and I crumble to the floor. Everything is spinning. Sweat soaks my clothes. I might vomit if I stay conscious. Blasted curse.

I pull myself up, wondering if there’s anything I could use for a weapon, but I can barely lift my arm. The doorknob clicks and the door slowly swings open. Light from the hall frames a silhouette I would recognize anywhere.

Tucker.

He flips on the light, and I sluggishly lift my arm to block my sensitive eyes.

“Look at that,” Tucker says as he saunters into the room. “Now I thought your curse might be hitting soon. I’ve gotten pretty good at tracking them. It looks like I was right.”

“What are you doing here?” My voice trembles from both fear and my curse. Debilitating waves of pain roll through my body, and I clutch at my stomach, willing myself to stay standing.

Tucker’s face looks gaunt and drawn. Taking away his magic must have hurt. He looks like he’s been put through the wringer. Not that I can talk. Despite his sickly appearance, he’s still a massive man.

Strands of my hair cling to my face and neck as cold sweat drips down my back.

“I’m here to visit my favorite niece. To congratulate you on your seat on the council. You sure fooled the coven into thinking you’re worthy to lead them.”

“I am worthy.” I clutch the edge of the bed to keep standing. Tucker laughs, the sound grating at my already sensitive skin.

“You’re so pathetic you can barely stand up.”

“Get out.” My words are weak.

“Are you going to make me, Piper?” Tucker rounds the bed, and all I can do is take a step back. We may have taken his magic, but it didn’t sap his strength. He might not be able to burn me under my skin anymore, but he could beat me to death.

“I’m warning you. Leave now, and I won’t hurt you.”

Tucker throws his head back and laughs obnoxiously loud. Everything about my sensitive body recoils from the sound.

His fist swings and connects with my jaw before I even consider moving. I’m too sick and sluggish to do anything but take the hit. The pain radiates from my cheek down to my jaw. I think he’s broken something. My lip is split and blood dribbles down my chin.

I fall into my nightstand and the clink of glass rattling together reminds me that I’m not defenseless.

Ripping open the drawer, I grab a glass vial.

I uncork it and throw it at Tucker, followed by another, and another.

I don’t even know what I’m grabbing. Some could be sleeping drafts.

Some could be healing potions. There are others in this drawer that I kept just in case a situation like this arose.

There’s one that causes blistering boils and another that temporarily closes off the windpipe until the person passes out from lack of oxygen.

Burns appear on Tucker’s arms and chest where one potion hits. It’s a poison oak spell.

“Fucking bitch.” Tucker lifts his leg and his booted foot connects with my stomach, launching me back into the table. Both me and the table topple. Glass bottles spill onto the floor, some breaking. I’m so weak, I can barely lift my arm to throw the potions, but I keep tossing them at Tucker.

He roars as one hits his face and boils erupt over his skin. It’s so bad, his eyes swell shut, and he lumbers around the room. He rips at the blankets on my bed, throwing a lamp off the dresser. He’s determined to damage everything he can.

“I’m going to kill you.”

I crawl across the floor, broken glass cutting my arms. If Tucker calms down even a little, he’ll remember that he knows exactly where I am, even if he can’t see me.

I barely make it a foot before Tucker’s rage quiets.

He carefully steps forward, his boots crunching on broken potion bottles, until he’s standing in front of me.

A vicious smile creeps up his swollen face.

“Shame on you, Piper. You thought you could get away from me.”