Hexed and Vexed

by Rebecca Royce

  He tweaked her nose. “You’re not a coward. Every day you show bravery in the face of adversity that most people could never get through. I get it, sweetheart. And I’ll show you every time I come back, in every way I love you, that you can trust me. Until you do.” Tears came to her eyes, and he furrowed his brow. “Tears? I didn’t want to make you upset.”

  “I… I’m not, I’m moved. I don’t know…”

  “Hey.” He pulled her over and then essentially trapped her between him and the bed in his embrace. “None of that. It’s late. We just had this… wow… sex. And we’re both emotionally raw from it. Go to sleep.”

  She sniffed. He was right. “Are you going to?”

  “Maybe a little. I don’t sleep much.”

  He’d told her that before. She closed her eyes, not even wanting to move. He was so on top of her he was practically her blanket, and she decided right then she liked the feeling. Sleep took her fast.

  * * *

  Lawson claimed not to sleep much, and the last time they’d shared a bed she’d awoken to find him not in it. That wasn’t the case this time around. When Ava opened her eyes, it was to find the morning sun pushing through his drapes and Lawson still sprawled over her like he’d been when she first shut her eyes. Neither one of them had moved all night.

  His eyes were closed, and he breathed easily, deeply. Beneath his lids, she could see the rhythms of a dream moving through him. He might not sleep much, but apparently, he needed to. If the sun was any indication, it was fully daytime, and he was still quite out of it. She hated to disturb him, and the last time she’d found him asleep and tried to get water he’d awoken immediately. There really was no choice. She had to pee, and it was not going to wait.

  Ava slipped out his hold and rather than startle, he rolled over, muttered something unintelligible, and resettled. She took care of her needs in his very clean, very orderly bathroom and even found a toothbrush in an unopened package that she used. Some witches spelled everything—some chose to do some things the way humans did them. It looked like Lawson mixed the two.

  She touched her stomach. Not that such things were discussed, but he’d actually managed her birth control the night before, and she’d never heard of a male witch doing that. He was really powerful.

  The now opened toothbrush caught her attention. He’d bought this for her. She smiled. He wanted her here so he knew he was going to have to accommodate her in the ways she couldn’t spell.

  Ava walked back toward the bedroom. Lawson hadn’t moved, and she decided to leave him there to get whatever sleep he could. Maybe fully rested, he’d know what to do to get whoever the hexer was.

  She quietly wandered his house, looking at the pictures. Who were all the people in the frames? Other Enforcers? She didn’t even know how many of them there were out there in the world. Did they all know each other?

  He didn’t know her people outside of Zoe and Eli. Well, she supposed he did know Melanie. But other than that, she didn’t have friends. Not like he did. Lawson had gone out and made a whole life for himself outside of the one he’d been given at birth. What had Ava done? Nothing so spectacular. She continued to see the same set of people who had laughed at her in school, gossiped about her when Mitchell left her at the altar, and still whispered about her now.

  What in the heck was she doing with her life?

  She finally arrived in the kitchen. Like the toothbrush, there were all sorts of things still in packaging out around the counters, including a never used coffeemaker. When had he done all of this? She opened the box and put it together. Did he actually have coffee she could make somewhere?

  Halfway through looking, she heard a loud crash and then she was in Lawson’s arms. His eyes were huge, his breath coming out in bursts. “Ava, don’t leave me. Are you okay? Where did you go?”

  “Lawson.” She put her hands on both sides of his face. “I’m right here. What’s wrong?”

  “I…” He shook his head, and she realized his eyes were unfocused. “You disappeared.”

  “Hey, it’s okay. I’m fine.” Ava pulled him close. Some dream was still riding him, or the remnants of it were. “So are you. We’re in your kitchen. Good morning, sweetheart.”

  His body shuddered, and she didn’t try to go anywhere, just stay where he could hold her. Eventually, he calmed. “I’m a little screwed up right now.”

  “It happens.” She grinned at him. “I’ll wake you, okay? The next time I get out of bed and you’re still sleeping, I’ll wake you up. Then you’ll know. You can go back to sleep, but you’ll know where I am.”

  He shook his head. “First, I can’t believe you got out of the bed and I didn’t notice. Second, it’s so messed up that I need you to do that. I’ll adjust.”

  “I like that you care about my well-being. I feel the same for you. That’s a small thing. If you need it, you need it.”

  He picked her up and put her on the counter, pressing his head against her chest. “I haven’t slept that deeply in I don’t know how long.”

  “Then I’m flattered. You must have known I’d keep you safe.” She winked at him. “I’m big and strong, right? Fight off whoever would come through the door.”

  He winked back at her. “I think you would, actually. I see you found the coffeemaker.”

  “Maker. Yes. Coffee. No.”

  He stared at her for a second. “Shit.”

  “You forgot the coffee?” She kissed his forehead. “I’m glad for the thought. It’s fine. I can go home. I have stuff to do today anyway. Thank you for the toothbrush.”

  He snapped his fingers, and the coffeemaker turned on, suddenly brewing the coffee he must have had immediately delivered to his home. “Don’t go yet. And you’re welcome, of course, for the toothbrush. I want you comfortable here. I want you to feel like you could spend some time.”

  She thought about the pictures around his home. “Lawson, do Enforcers ever have families?”

  He didn’t jolt or even seem particularly surprised by her question. “Some do. It’s easier the further up we go in the agency. The less fieldwork we do, the more time we can be with other people. It’s somewhat easier to be with another Enforcer. They know the same secrets. Otherwise, the spouses have to get used to the idea of ‘I can’t tell you’ as a fact of life. Some people work through that.” He ran a hand over her arm. “Could you?”

  “I could try. There’s not much I wouldn’t attempt to do for you. I’d worry about you. But if you can get used to having to treat me like a human, I can keep my nosiness to a minimum. You’ll just have to hear a lot about my day if I can’t hear about yours.”

  She’d meant to be funny, only Lawson didn’t laugh. “I can’t think of anything I’d like more.”

  Chapter 13

  Ava lay on Lawson’s lap, listening to the fire in his fireplace crack and snap. She’d never been around a real working fire before. Lawson had spelled it to life, and it made the room feel cozy. Who cared if it was cold outside?

  “I went to Prestige Institute.”

  Lawson, who had been reading, went very still. “Did someone try to stick you in that place because you can’t do spells? I’ll rip them apart.”

  “No.” She listened to his heart rate speed up, and she kissed him on the exposed skin of his arm. “I went because Elmer’s doctor came and asked me if I’d come see him.”

  Lawson was very quiet for a moment. “He. Did. What?”

  “Did you not hear me or are you just mad it happened?”

  His body seemed to vibrate. “And you went? All of this while I was not here?”

  She shook her head. “Neither one of us lives life looking for permission for things we want to do. I’m glad I went. I mean, it was a train ride and a hotel and a lot of walking, but I got to thank him for saving my life. I wanted to do that.”

  Lawson pressed his hand against her back. “Okay. I’m glad it went well, then. I’m glad you were safe.”

  She closed her eyes. He was upset
but not so much it was going to spoil their time. Maybe if they had the kind of relationship where she could count on him being around, she’d consult him on things. Maybe not. Ava had gotten used to her freedom in a lot of ways. She didn’t see that changing. Time moved, the crackling of the fire the only indication it was passing.

  “Lawson, I have a question, and if you can’t answer it, that’s fine.”

  He didn’t answer, and when she raised her head, she saw his eyes were closed again. He’d conked out. She grinned. This was a guy who claimed he didn’t need a lot of sleep. She was glad he could find rest when she was around. Unfortunately, she was once again not going to get to ask him what he knew about the humans intermarrying non-humans.

  She picked up her book and read for a while. It was fiction, and she loved to get lost in other worlds. This one took place on Mount Everest. She wondered if Lawson had ever seen it. He squirmed slightly, his eyes opening a second later. “Sorry, I must have dozed.”

  “Sleep if you want. We’re being lazy. I have to reopen the store tomorrow. I won’t be able to do this for who knows how long. I have to hustle. I was doing well, but this will have set me back. I’m going to be tightening my belt next month.”

  Lawson shook his head. “Anything you need, I’ll take care of.”

  “That’s sweet, but I’ve always rather preferred to see to it that I can manage on my own.” She flipped the page in her book. “I’ll be fine. You sent everyone there from some message board I didn’t know existed. You’ve helped enough.”

  “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”

  She considered her response to that sweet statement before she made it. “I know, which is why I will always make sure never to ask you for things you shouldn’t be doing for me. You have this huge heart. I won’t ever take advantage of you.”

  “No.” He shook his head. “I want you to.”

  She got off of him, and he groaned. “Hey, I have a question.”

  He rubbed his eyes. “Maybe I have an answer.”

  “The humans and the witches are intermarrying more than they tell us, right? That’s why you weren’t shocked at all when we met that woman married to a human?”

  Lawson shook his head slowly. “We’re all really just people, right?”

  She nodded. “And love is love.” She had one more question, and it was a big one. “If I left here, closed the shop, and went to live with the humans, if I tried to make a life for myself as you’ve done, would you come see me there?”

  He got up on his knees. “There’s nowhere you could go, Ava, that I wouldn’t come to you. Unless you told me not to. And…” He cleared his throat. “I’ve had some times and made some friends, that’s for sure. I don’t know if I’d call it a life. I tried to have friends and some fun in between really hard, disturbing stuff. But I want something else, Ava.”

  She leaned over and kissed him. “If that is possible, then I want that with you, too.”

  “I think between the two of us, we could make anything possible.”

  She would love to see what normal looked like with Lawson. Or their version of it, at least. “I’m going to make you dinner. I am going to get stuff from my apartment. I’ll bring it here. And pick up the food to cook.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “If you tell me what you need, I can just get it here.”

  “I don’t know what I need. I won’t know it until I am standing in front of it. That’s how my brain works sometimes. Like I can’t plan ahead. You moved my car for me. I’ll go and come back.”

  He swung his legs over the couch. “Or I could come.”

  “You can, if you want. Or you could stay here, relax, which would make me very happy since you are clearly exhausted.”

  Lawson scrunched up his face. “I don’t get exhausted.”

  “I’ve got news for you, honey, you do.”

  He grinned. “I like the honey.”

  She pointed at him. “Get some rest. You won’t even know I’m gone. And, not to bring him up, but you’re never going to catch your hexer if your mind is tired.”

  He groaned and lay back on the pillow. “Fine. Don’t take too long. I’ll start to worry, and then I’ll have to come follow you around.”

  “Worry about what? Short of another tsunami… okay, tell you what, if another tsunami comes, could you come get me?”

  He didn’t laugh. “I don’t like that I’m not on that case. That was some dark magic. It should be me hunting. Yes, count on me showing up if another tsunami or anything like it occurs while you are buying food.”

  “I’ll be right back. Sleep, don’t worry.” She pointed at the fire place. “Can I walk through it when it’s lit?”

  He snapped his fingers. “Now you can.”

  “Just how powerful are you, Lawson? And how do you find me wherever I am?”

  He slowly smiled, and that was the only answer she was going to get, apparently. Why was he being so completely uncommunicative about how he found her so easily? Was it some Enforcer secret? She groaned, and he laughed. On that note, she stormed through his portal.

  Ava hummed to herself. She really needed to go through her pots and pans. There were just so many she didn’t use. At some point, Zoe had supplied her with all of them. Eli had taken her on a trip to the human world to go to the movies. He liked to do things like that. They were well matched in their love of adventure. Zoe had stopped and gotten her kitchen supplies. Ava barely remembered it. Two days after being left at the altar and she’d still been in a total blur.

  She didn’t know what noise she heard or even if she did, but suddenly, she knew she wasn’t alone. Goosebumps broke out on her arms. She’d not heard the pop, so it wasn’t Lawson and he wouldn’t be trying to hide his presence from her anyway. Elmer was locked up. So who was in her apartment, and why?

  Ava gripped a heavy pan tightly in her hand and whirled around, swinging as she did. The pan was flung from her hand before it could hit anything and the next second she was against the wall. A man stood in front of her, his arm raised as he used his power to hold her captive. She struggled to breathe through her panic. Movement wasn’t possible. She was caught in the grip of whomever this was.

  Why was his power working on her? Of all times to have it turning back on… It was one thing when it was Lawson and Zoe. This was an entirely different situation. Somewhere deep inside, she knew she wasn’t thinking correctly. Whatever was happening was very serious and the whys of the spell working didn’t matter just yet.

  “For a few seconds, I wondered if I had found her.” The man was older, somewhere between Ava and her parents’ ages. It was hard to tell since he didn’t have hair. “But the necklace led me to you. I’ve already tried to kill you once. It was harder last time. You didn’t respond to my spells. But, now you are. That’s convenient.”

  He’d already tried to kill her? Realization dawned on her. This was Howard Henry, brother to Johanna Key. The woman had hidden in the human world for most of her life to avoid this moment Ava was now having. This man wasn’t Elmer… he was a very dangerous criminal who had eluded capture for decades.

  “Who are you? Why do you keep getting in the way of me finding my family?” He had wild eyes, red around the edges, and his pupils were huge.

  Fear struck her all at once. Sweat formed on the back of her knees, and throbbing started in her ears. Even when Elmer had had her tied up, she’d been able to think. When the giant wave came, she’d thought through it. But Ava couldn’t get her brain to work.

  All she could focus on was the red rim around his eyes. He’d already tried to kill her once, and now his magic was working on her just fine. She was going to die. This was happening. She’d had a moment of happiness today with Lawson. On the couch had been downright cozy. Why had she done this? Why hadn’t she let him come with her?

  What in the hell had she been thinking? Well, that was obvious. She’d been doing what she always did. She was proving that she could do things on her own. That was wha
t she set out to do every day. Just because she couldn’t do what others did didn’t mean she wanted to be treated differently. She’d got to her apartment on her own and…

  “Answer me, or I’ll break your neck right this second.”

  That was right. He wanted her to speak. “You’re Howard Henry, aren’t you?”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Very good. I haven’t heard that name in over a decade. You could only have come to know it if you encountered a member of my family. Who. Are. You?”

  Her stomach clenched. “I’m no one. I found your necklace. That’s all.”

  He walked toward her. “Maybe. That would be highly unusual, but I’ll pretend I believe you for a moment. My family has gone out of their way for decades to not touch our totems with any dose of power present. That’s how I can’t track them. No power. Then it came alive in your hand.” It hadn’t. That had been her poor store neighbor, Todd. There was no question now, if there ever had been, he’d died because Ava gave him that necklace.

  I’m so sorry, Todd…

  “I follow the power and here you are.” That just wasn’t possible. She didn’t have any. Although, Lawson said she did. Was that possible? Whatever miniscule, cellular level power she possessed this man who killed was able to follow to find her here in her apartment? “Where is my family?”

  “I don’t know.” That wasn’t a lie. Ryan Roberts had taken Johanna and her family to hide them. Ava had no idea how things had gone in that direction. How had Stanley taken the news his wife was a witch who spelled their children to have no powers? She had no idea. She couldn’t tell Howard anything she didn’t know.

  “I am going to break into your head and get the answers I need.” He twisted his hand and she cried out, the most brain shattering pain taking away all consciousness of anything other than the sheer agony and how she could make it stop. She’d heard of this. It was…something. Illegal. She couldn’t think. Couldn’t find the words she needed. But still…