The Ex Hex (Ex Hex #1)(40)

“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.





Chapter 18




After the day he’d had, Rhys needed caffeine, and since the coffee shop was just down the way from Something Wicked, he’d suggested he and Vivienne go grab a cuppa.

As they made their way there, he had to admit that Graves Glen was a pretty place. The sun was setting behind the low mountains that surrounded the town, turning the sky a deep purple. The lights strung between the streetlamps twinkled, and in every store window, there was some charming display—a pile of pumpkins, cardboard witches on broomsticks, more fairy lights.

“It’s like being in a souvenir postcard,” Rhys said. “‘Greetings from Halloweentown.’”

Vivienne chuckled at that, crossing her arms. “No arguments there.”

“I see why you like it here.”

“It’s definitely a good place to be a witch. Even a secret one.”

“Technically we’re all secret witches,” Rhys said, “but I understand your point.”

The night had gone cool around them, but the sweet, soft sort of cool that comes on perfect autumn nights as opposed to the unnatural cold of the library. Wales got these nights, too, but earlier in the season and not usually quite this mild.

Still, as he wandered the cobblestone streets with Vivienne, Rhys felt an odd longing for home settle into his bones. Vivienne belonged in this setting, fitting as perfectly as a jewel.