Chapter 17
“A ghost,” Gwyn said, looking back over her shoulder at Vivi. They were at Something Wicked, but Gwyn had hung up the closed sign as soon as Vivi walked in, and was now restocking the shelves of leather journals and grimoires.
Nodding, Vivi leaned her elbows on the counter. “A ghost.”
“The Casper kind.”
Vivi shook her head. “Way scarier than that, trust me.”
As briefly as she could, she told Gwyn about what had happened at the library, adding, “But the bigger problem—”
“There’s a bigger problem than a freaking ghost?”
“Mmm-hmm. The college witches are involved now.”
Now it was Gwyn’s turn to roll her eyes. “Those weirdos.”
The witches who worked at Penhaven had always kept themselves apart from Vivi and her family, probably because most of them were transplants, and, Vivi suspected, because they didn’t like the store. Lord knew they’d never set foot in it. They were too serious, too academic about magic for that sort of thing.
Their loss, Vivi thought as she studied a pile of crystals heaped on purple velvet there on the counter. “Anyway, they want us to ‘fix this,’ which, I mean, same.”
Gwyn snorted. “Tell them about the curse. You’ll have a fifty-page paper on curses by next week, but probably no actual solution.”
“Rhys said we were being snobs.”
Gwyn hooted at that. “Oh my god, a Penhallow Witch Boy calling anyone a snob is rich as fuck. And tell him they were rude to my mom first.”
“I tried,” Vivi said, “but I didn’t want to actually get into all of it, you know? The less Rhys and I talk, the better.”
She didn’t add that when they weren’t talking, they were kissing, which was a problem all its own.
Vivi honestly couldn’t believe it had happened at all. Even now, it seemed like a dream, or like something that had happened to someone else. Surely she hadn’t been so completely stupid as to make out with Rhys as . . . what? A dare? A bet?
This is why she’d ended up in this whole situation in the first place. She was normally a completely rational and calm person, and Rhys Penhallow made her totally lose her mind. Which is why they had to break the curse and send him on his way as soon as possible before she did something truly nuts like sleep with him.
Again.
Gwyn finished her arranging and turned around, brushing her hands off on her thighs. “Well,” she started, “Mom is gonna be thrilled—”
She broke off suddenly, staring hard at Vivi.
“What?”
Narrowing her eyes, Gwyn leaned over the counter, getting closer. “Vivienne Jones. What happened with you and Rhys today?”
“Nothing,” Vivi immediately said, but the fact that she could literally feel herself turn pink didn’t exactly back her up.
And Gwyn knew it. Squealing, she clapped her hands. “Did you bang him in your office?”
“What? No!”
“In the library?”
“No,” Vivi said, pushing off the counter and suddenly taking a lot of interest in the display of tarot cards. “There was zero banging.”
Which was true. She and Rhys hadn’t done anything more than kiss. Technically.
But if they hadn’t been interrupted?
Vivi had never been one for sex in public, but she’d forgotten that Rhys could make her feel like that, like she’d die if she didn’t have him right that second. Like her skin was too tight, and his was too far away, like she wanted to crawl inside him.
And that’s why he was dangerous. She’d forgotten herself once with him, and look what had happened.
“Girl, if your kissing him can make you make that face, I have to say, I’m less surprised you were so devastated when the two of you broke up. The whole curse thing actually makes a lot more sense now.”
“Ha-ha,” Vivi replied before covering her face with her hands and groaning. “It was just . . . such an intensely stupid thing to do.”
“Sweetie, again, you were nineteen and really upset, and—”
“Not that. I mean, yes that, that’s way up there on the stupid meter, but I meant kissing him today. It just complicates things.”
“How?”
When Vivi just looked at her, Gwyn lifted both her hands. “No, I’m serious. How? You’re not nineteen anymore. You’re not thinking he’s gonna be the one and planning to marry him on a hillside covered with bunnies.”
“Bunnies?”
“Stay with me here. You’re an adult woman going through a stressful time in her life, and now your hot-as-hell ex is back in town and wants to kiss your face off. I say smoke ’em if you got ’em, babe.”
Vivi couldn’t help but smile, curling her fingers around one of the crystals on the counter. “That’s always been your philosophy, Gwyn, but it’s not mine.”
“But it could be,” Gwyn insisted. “And why not?”
Vivi realized she didn’t really have an answer for that.
That kiss today had been good. Really good.
Why shouldn’t she do it again if she wanted to?
The raven over the door squawked and Vivi and Gwyn both turned to see Rhys walk in. He’d changed since the morning, although he was still in his usual jeans and sweater, this one green, and Vivi had to bite back a sigh at the sight of him.
Gwyn caught it, though, shooting Vivi a look as she turned to finish stocking the shelves. “Hi, dickbag,” she called out, and Rhys lifted one hand.
“Lovely to see you, too, Gwyn. I assume Vivienne told you about our encounter this morning?”
Vivi dropped the crystal on the floor, the sound surprisingly loud in the quiet store, and Gwyn’s smile when she looked over her shoulder was downright gleeful.
“Oh, she told me.”
“Gwyn,” Vivi hissed, but Rhys seemed unbothered as he strolled over to the counter.
“Have to say, never thought I’d actually see a ghost,” he continued, and Vivi rolled her eyes at herself.
Of course. He was talking about the ghost, not what had happened between the two of them.
But then, as he settled next to her, resting his elbows on the counter, she thought she saw the corner of his mouth kick up slightly.
“I can think of few things more depressing than haunting a library,” Gwyn said. “At least if you’re in a graveyard or something, there’s stuff to do, you know? An aesthetic to maintain. But stuck in a library because you forgot to pay a fine in 1994 or something? That sucks.”
“I think she was looking for something,” Vivi said, trying to ignore how close Rhys was to her, how good he smelled. Had he showered after the library? He must have. Or maybe he just smelled good all the—
Okay, she was going to have to get a freaking grip.
Clearing her throat, Vivi pushed away from the counter. “Also weird that she just showed up now.”
“That’s because of the curse, right?” Gwyn asked, coming off her ladder.
Rhys nodded, turning his body slightly to face Vivi. “Or the ley lines, to be specific.”
“What else could the cursed ley lines do?” Gwyn asked, frowning as she studied the two of them. “Demon toys, ghosts . . .”
“We don’t know,” Vivi admitted on a sigh. “And that’s the issue. All magic in the town has gone haywire, and . . . random. So anything could happen.”
She thought again about the frantic face of the library ghost, the way her eyes had moved restlessly over the shelves. She’d looked confused and scared, and that was . . . her fault.
Her curse had done that.
A curse she was no closer to being able to break.