The Ex Hex (Ex Hex #1)(65)

Shutting off the car, Rhys ducked his head down to study the building through the windshield.

“She’s at a B-and-B?” Vivi asked.

“This was definitely the address Wells gave me,” Rhys said, then, after a pause, added, “You know, when we’re done here, we could get a room, and—”

“Rhys.” Vivi gave him a look. “Focus, please.”

“Sorry, you’re right. Curse work now, sex later.”

They got out of the car, the morning chilly and still a little damp, dew sparkling on the thick bushes outside the bed-and-breakfast as they made their way up the steps, and Vivi smiled at the little jack-o’-lantern sitting on a wicker table just outside the front door.

Bells chimed overhead as they opened the front door, and a cheerful blond woman behind a large oak counter beamed at the two of them. “Good morning! How can I help you?”

Vivi realized she hadn’t asked Rhys if he had a plan for how they were going to talk to Tamsyn. Any hotel worth its salt wasn’t just going to offer up the room number of a guest, and Vivi wasn’t sure how long they could just hang out in the lobby, hoping Tamsyn came down.

Rhys smiled at the woman behind the counter. “We’re actually hoping to say hello to a friend,” he said, his accent thicker than usual, and Vivi fought the urge to elbow him in the ribs.

Charm. That was his entire plan. Smile, drop a few Welsh words in, do that Leaning Thing against the counter while his hair did that Other Thing, and hope for the best, aka the Rhys Penhallow Special.

But before Rhys could even do the Leaning Thing, footsteps were pounding down the massive staircase to their right, and Amanda—no, Tamsyn Bligh—was suddenly there, practically leaning over the bannister. “Hi, you two!” she said, her voice so bright and cheery that Vivi was surprised cartoon birds didn’t appear by her head.

And then Vivi noticed how pale she was, the deep shadows under her eyes and that her smile had a kind of rictus quality to it.

She waved at both Rhys and Vivi. “Come on upstairs! So glad you’re here!”

Rhys shot Vivi the most eloquent What the fuck? look she’d ever seen, and then the smile was back, the easy charm, and he slipped an arm around Vivi’s waist, pulling her toward the stairs as the blond woman behind the counter went back to her computer.

“Good to see you, too,” Rhys said as they climbed the steps, following Tamsyn, who nearly sprinted to her room.

This B-and-B still used big old-fashioned keys, and Vivi saw Tamsyn’s hands tremble a little as she unlocked the door.

Rhys and Vivi followed her inside, and Vivi immediately gasped at the cold in the room despite the fire crackling in the fireplace, tugging the sleeves of her sweater down over her hands as she glanced around. The room was dark, curtains drawn, and there, in the middle of the floor, was the Eurydice Candle.

Tamsyn closed the door, and whirled around to face them.

“You guys have got to help me.”





Chapter 29




“And why exactly would we do that?” Vivi asked, folding her arms over her chest. “You lied to me.”

“I did,” Tamsyn replied, not sounding all that sorry about it. Then she schooled her expression into something a little more contrite. “And that was wrong of me, but I had a very good reason.”

“Which was?” Rhys asked, walking over to the fireplace to brace a hand against the mantel.

Tamsyn looked between him and Vivi, and then sighed. “Okay, I was gonna say something about how I needed a trapped ghost to save my grandma or something, but really, I just wanted to make a whole bunch of money. People will pay thousands for a Eurydice Candle that has a ghost in it, and one with a witch ghost? Please. I was going to spend the summer in Portugal from this one sale alone. But”—she glared at the candle where it sat—“turns out, I can’t off-load that thing after all. Something’s wrong with it.”

She gestured around the room. “See how cold it is? How dark? It’s been doing that every day since I got here, and it’s just getting worse.”

Vivi slowly made her way over to the candle, and immediately saw what Tamsyn meant. The whole thing was radiating a kind of dark energy that let her know Piper’s ghost might still be trapped, but it was very unhappy about it.

“Eurydice Candles aren’t supposed to do that,” Rhys said in a low voice, coming to stand beside Vivi.

“Yeah, no shit,” Tamsyn replied, placing one hand on her hip. “I’ve bought and sold tons of the things but that one? It’s completely busted. And I can’t just dump it somewhere, and I definitely did not want to take it to the witches at your college, so I’ve been stuck here, trying to figure out what to do, and then you two showed up like some kind of witchy angels.”

“You’re not a witch, then?” Vivi asked, looking back over her shoulder at Tamsyn.

“Definitely not,” she replied with a little shudder. “Just make money off their stuff.”

“And lie to people to obtain said stuff,” Rhys said, to which Tamsyn shrugged.

“No one got hurt.”

“Yet,” Vivi said, reaching down to pick up the candle. It was so cold to the touch, it almost burned, and she winced as she tugged at her sweater, covering her hand so she could carry it.