The Ghost of Hexes Past by Lou Wilham

Author:Lou Wilham [Wilham, Lou]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Midnight Tide Publishing
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Hours later, Rus and Azure sat on the back porch of 157 Mourning Moore, a bottle of wine between them, watching the snow slowly pile up on the tombstones in the distance.

“I think we should talk about it,” Rus said after a comfortable silence that had maybe stretched on too long.

“Talk about what?” Curling herself tighter under the pale pink blanket they’d stolen from the back of the couch only served to press Azure’s arm closer to Rus’s. Not that Azure minded—it felt almost like old times. The chatter of the girls and Fernando in the house provided background noise, and Azure recalled when she and Rus would escape from the coven house to be alone in their early twenties, tucked close together for no reason other than because they wanted to. Azure had to remind herself—constantly, when they were alone like this—that they weren’t in their twenties anymore. That so much had changed, even if it seemed like nothing had sometimes.

Rus took a sip from her glass, seeming to need to fortify herself for what was coming. “About what I said the other night.”

“You were possessed, you didn’t mean—”

“I did.” Rus shook her head, draining her glass before she set it down. “Maybe not in that way. Like I said, I was a bitch about it, and I shouldn’t have been. But I’ve thought about it a lot, you know?”

“Thought about what?” Azure didn’t know. She didn’t pretend to know what went through Rus’s head anymore. She had a feeling she didn’t want the answer, but she was going to get it anyway.

“About you, and how you kind of—” Pursing her lips, Rus worked over the words. After a moment she shook her head, dismissing whatever track she’d been on and starting again. “What you’re capable of. What you could be doing with your life.”

“You think about that?” Why? Why would she bother?

“Yeah.” Rus turned to look at her, her eyes sparkling in the lights from the house. “You’re so smart, Az. So strong. So capable. But you’ve never really given yourself leave to explore all that means for you.”

She hadn’t, it was true. She’d accepted her lot in life. Let the burden of the shop drape itself over her like a shroud. Let Violet cow her into preparing to take the board seat for the Elwoods. Swallowing around a lump, she asked, “And?”

“And I just . . . I believe in you, Az. I don’t know if I ever told you that before, but I do. I believe you can do whatever you set your mind to. And—” She huffed, a chuckle leaving her lips, and tilted her head to one side. “I want you to be happy. Whatever you decide to do. I want you to be happy.”

“I am happy.” The response was automatic, scripted. Azure could feel it the moment it slipped from her tongue, like someone else had sat it there and left it ready and waiting for this very interaction.

Rus didn’t look like she believed it, which was wonderful and terrifying in a whole new way.

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