The Ex Hex

by Erin Sterling

“I mean, you saved an entire town and my life with your magic,” he reminded her. “You’re allowed.” Tipping her head back against the seat, Vivienne laughed again. “I did. I did that. I am a certified badass witch.” “The baddest of asses,”

“Can I tell you a secret?” she asked, her voice quiet, her mood a little more subdued. “It’s not that you didn’t actually reverse the curse, and you’ve brought me here to kick me off this hillside, is it?”

When she turned to him, her eyes were filled with something Rhys couldn’t name, but whatever it was, it warmed his chest, his heart. God, he loved her.

“May I kiss you?” Rhys’s heart jerked almost painfully against his ribs. “Now?” “I’m open to whatever your schedule allows.” “Well, lucky for you, I am currently free as fuck,”

“I’m going to miss you, Rhys,” she said, her voice soft and dreamy. That’s when he understood what this was. Bringing him here to this place where they met, making love to him. She was saying good-bye.

But then he stood up and walked over to her, as warm and real as anything as he gently shut the door behind her and said, “Hello, cariad.” There were a million things she wanted to say to him, to ask him.

“You have . . . an office.” “I do.” “And a desk.” “Even so.” “And you’re . . . here.” “Noticed that, did you?” “Why?”

“Well, you see, I went back to Wales, business as usual, only the thing was, I was completely fucking miserable. Just the saddest bastard you’ve ever seen in your life. So sad, in fact, that Wells— Wells!— told me I was a sad bastard, and as he is president of the Sad Bastards Club, I found this very distressing.”

“And so I thought what I could do to make myself less of a sad bastard, and I realized the only thing for it was to be with you. Or at the very least, near you. And it turns out that when a college is named after your family home, they’re fairly willing to let you teach the odd class, so here I am.”

“I love you. So very, very much. And I know that I’m flippant sometimes, or make a joke rather than say the truth, but I want you to know that you’re everything to me, Vivienne. Everything.”

The Fool and The Star, just like Gwyn’s cards had shown. Leaping off cliffs and shining steadily, opposites who couldn’t live without each other. Who didn’t have to.