Hexed and Vexed (2 page)

“Nothing?” She threw her hands up in the air. “That’s it? Fine.”

All she’d wanted when she stood in the church had been one more chance to speak to him, one more opportunity to understand what she’d done to turn his love, which had been so steady and all-consuming for over a decade, to Cindy, whom he had never seemed even to like. Maybe, even get a chance to say goodbye in a proper manner befitting their relationship.

She shook her head. Losing her temper didn’t help. “Look. I don’t want to know all the gory details. Could you tell me what I did wrong?”

“My love of Cindy has nothing to do with you. These things happen in life. You have to—”

She interrupted him. “Roll with the punches.”

Campbell Bane held several degrees in both witchcraft and nonwitchcraft fields. She had helped him achieve the one in public speaking. His family had been part of the ruling class of witches for at least ten generations. He could speak on almost any subject, and yet he couldn’t formulate a basic statement to tell her why he’d fallen out of love with her?

It didn’t make sense. A seagull cooed above them. Campbell sneezed.

“Bless you,” she muttered. There were parts of her life, days like the one she found herself in, that were so completely ridiculous she almost couldn’t believe they happened.

And yet they did.

“Thanks.” He rubbed his eyes, which were watering. “I guess I’m allergic to something.”

He looked around rubbing his chin. In less than half a day he’d have stubble there. Campbell had always needed to shave at least twice a day. She closed her eyes. These were the intimate things she knew about him that she had to make herself forget. He didn’t belong to her, and he didn’t seem to want to give her any satisfaction about the whys or the hows of that at all.

She opened her lids. Perhaps she’d answered her own question. “Campbell, you don’t have allergies.”

He rubbed his nose, his eyes looked watery. “Maybe I’ve developed them.”

“What do you suppose you’re reacting to here? The blue sky? The ocean? Some of the green trees? We’ve been to beaches all over the world. You’re not allergic to anything here.”

Campbell shrugged. “I don’t know, Olive. Maybe I have a cold.”

“As you know, probably better than I do, those who are descendants of the ancestors don’t easily catch illness. That would have to be one hell of a cold. I think in your whole life you’ve had two.”

He shrugged. “Stop pestering me about it. I sneezed. You don’t have to make a case out of the whole thing. Do you want to call the witches counsel and convene a hearing? Campbell Bane sneezed. Start an investigation.” He threw his hands in the air. “Oh wait, you can’t do that because you’re Olive Jennings and you’re the worst witch in the world. You stranded us here and away from my beloved.”

Tears slipped from her eyes and she wiped them away. “You know when you used to say things like that, you did it with love in your eyes. Now, it’s with so much venom, it feels completely different to me. So, I’ll tell you what I tell everyone. I might be the worst witch in the community, but if it weren’t for me, you’d all be bankrupt by now. My income keeps half of the witches around in shoes and dinners.”

“Get us off this island. Now!” He hollered like he expected her to suddenly be able to do what he wanted because he’d increased the volume of his voice.

She shook her head. “Men.”

Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that before his tantrum, she’d been onto something. He didn’t have allergies any more than she did. For certain, he hadn’t gotten sick. So what did that leave? She didn’t know. Ironically, he’d have been the one she posed the question to in the past. Campbell could figure out any problem, particularly if it involved magic. But she couldn’t ask him now.

He’d gotten so mean. Sure, being yanked from his wedding had made him mad. The Campbell she’d known would have been working hard to solve this problem with her, not yelling like a lunatic.

What had her sister done to him in six months?

Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten all day. Her appetite had been nonexistent for so long she practically had to force herself to eat. The ten pounds she’d always wanted off had slid from her body with no effort on her part. Starvation happened to be unhealthy, yet she couldn’t bring herself to eat very much.

Not while the man who had been made for her ravished her sister. Or at least she had once believed that he’d been born to be her love.

She stomped up the beach dragging the back of her pink dress behind her until she’d crossed the dune and entered into the forest.

“Where are you going?” Campbell called behind her, but she didn’t answer him. If he wanted to sulk, he could do it alone. One way or another they’d eventually get unstuck on their island. Her father would put out a search spell, and within twenty-four hours, they wouldn’t be stranded any longer.

In the meantime, she had to feed herself. The noises of the forest greeted her, leaving the loud sound of the ocean behind. She really must have taken them some place magical. Anywhere else would not have been so easy to navigate, and she doubted there would have been such an incredible drop of noise between the forest line and the beach behind it.

“Well, if it’s magical, then it’s made for people like me.”

She bent over to examine the roots on the trees. Birch to her right. Camphor to her left. She nodded. Those trees shouldn’t be found anywhere near one another. In fact, they belonged on different continents. Using one of the sharp rhinestones on the front of her dress, she scraped open some of the birch. Standing up, she held a bit of it in her hand. One smell told her that it was, in fact, legitimate.

Campbell spoke. “You always were the best at cauldron work. I guess that’s how you ended up an herbalist. Those humans have no idea they’re taking potions made by a witch.”

She nodded. “Well, you were the teacher’s aide in that class. I guess you’d know whether or not I’m really good at it. I personally thought my grades might have something to do with the fact that the T.A. wanted me in his bed.”

He’d followed her into the woods. Did he finally feel ready to talk? Or had he wanted to continue the argument from the beach?

“I don’t really remember. It was a long time ago.”

“Feels like yesterday to me.” She moved forward to look at more of the trees. The whole place must be enchanted. A flying monkey barely missed hitting her head as it swung by her.

Olive laughed, covering her mouth. She didn’t want to disrupt the quiet of this place. She reached up and pulled an apple from a tree. Her stomach would have preferred a turkey dinner. The bite of the fruit proved sweet and her thoughts of protein fled. If she had to, she’d kill something to eat it. Although the thought made her stomach turn.

She put down the apple.

“Can you try again to get us home? I
need
to see Cindy. It’s pivotal to my total happiness.”

“You know for years you watched me in secret never telling me you liked me. I guess I was too young, right? Then you were my teacher. Finally, you were the love of my life.” Those memories filled her cold insides with warmth like the sun had done for her skin when they landed there. “And I’d loved you forever. Since before I knew what it meant.”

She let the tears stream freely down her cheeks. He’d always hated to see her cry. If this was her last chance with him, she had to get it all out.

“I want you to be happy. More than anything in the universe, and as much as I’ve been making this about me and my pain, I need to let you go off and be happy. Because I loved you that much. Once. I’ll always be sorry we didn’t have forever. If Cindy fills you up inside, you should be with her.”

Olive closed her eyes. She pictured the church where they had been earlier. With her mind, she tried to move them from their current location. A buzzing started and ended in her mind almost as soon as it began. She opened her eyes and placed her hands on her hips.

“Sorry. Worst-witch problem. You’re going to have to do it yourself. You’re a super witch.” She waved her hand. “Go for it.”

“You think I haven’t tried? You did this. I can’t seem to undo it.” His eyes flared and a muscle in his jaw strained.

“I really am sorry. I didn’t do this on purpose.”

Campbell shook his head. “I believe you. You couldn’t have handled the spell if you’d meant to do it.”

“Thanks.”

She’d wished for alone time with him. Now, he could take a flying fall off a cliff as far as she was concerned. Well, not really. She sighed. Her traitorous heart. Would she ever not love him?

Campbell held out his hand. She could feel the charge in the air that told her a powerful witch yielded his power. Maybe he’d get them moving after all. He lowered his hand.

“I can’t make anything happen.” He pointed to the apples. “Can I have one of those?”

She nodded. “Sure.”

This was what they’d been reduced to? Meaningless chatter about apples?

Campbell tugged at his bow tie until he freed it from his neck. “It’s really hot here.”

“Take off the whole jacket and open your shirt. It’s not really hot, only warm. We can wait at the beach where the wind felt much cooler.”

They walked together toward the sand, leaving the mystical jungle behind them. She wished she had time to explore it, to treat this like a real vacation. The idea of doing that, alone, while Campbell sat on the beach mooning over Cindy rapidly became more and more appealing.

She sat down on the ground. “You know they’ll have us out of here by tomorrow. Blame the whole thing on me. Everyone will understand. You can redo the whole wedding. It’ll be quite the scene. I’m sure I’ll be disinvited to the second go.”

“You tried not to be invited to this one.”

The cool ocean breeze blew his hair into his eyes. She tried not to notice.

“I did. But I couldn’t do that to my parents. They’re already having a hard time embracing this whole thing because of my pain.”

They would have let her out of it. She’d seen it in their faces when she’d announced she didn’t plan on attending. The pressure they’d been under. Campbell’s family held rank. The scandals were there. He’d broken up with one sister for another. And what of her father’s accounts at work? Would people move their landscape architecture to another firm if he seemed to not have a steady home life?

She had sucked it up, put on the dress, and shown up on time. Cindy had no care for her family. Olive would never be accused of being the same.

Campbell grabbed his head, nearly doubling over until he hit the sand beneath his feet.

She jumped up and ran to him. “Cam?”

He groaned and opened his eyes. “I don’t feel right. There’s something wrong.”

She felt his forehead. Her fingers heated at the first touch of his skin. “You’re burning up.”

“Yeah.” He coughed. “No kidding.”

“You really aren’t well.” She’d been so cavalier about it earlier, as if it couldn’t happen. Now he lay sick. What kind of terrible person had she become? She jumped up. The tree roots would help.

“Wait.” Campbell’s eyes got huge as he stared at his hands. “Something is happening.”

“What do you mean?” She kneeled down next to him to see where his attention had fixated. Maybe the fever made him see things.

She shook her head. If Campbell hallucinated then so did she. As she watched, blue polka dots appeared and disappeared on his skin. They then reemerged but this time red.

“What the hell is that?” His voice quivered. She could feel his anxiety as if it were her own. It radiated from his pores inside her very cells.

Olive stroked his hair, now drenched in sweat. Staying calm had to be the name of the game. She didn’t hold a medical degree. However, her clients responded better to her when she gave off an aura of authority, telling them all would be well.

Clearing her throat, she finally spoke. “Campbell, I think what we have here is a magic problem.”

“What do you mean?” His eyes turned glassy. That couldn’t be good.

“Well. My best guess would be that you are suffering from a hex.”

“No.” He rolled over, retching on the ground next to him.

Olive grimaced while his back faced her. By the time he sat back up, she’d regained her composure. “You know what they say about a hex. You gotta wait them out until they run their course.”

Assuming, of course, that it didn’t kill him first.

He’d thrown up all night. But that hadn’t been the worst part of it for Olive. The way he suffered had been the soul kicker. She’d gone back and forth to the woods seeking medicine to give him comfort.

The allspice had helped his stomach, a bit. His body wanted to purge. She hadn’t really been able to make him more comfortable on that account. The birch, which should have helped with the pain, hadn’t done much more either. Eventually, with no other choice, she’d given him some rauwolfia to knock him out. Of course, she hadn’t been able to extract the herbs as well as she would have liked. She’d had to do her best with what she could draw out using makeshift tools like branches and twigs. Even the sharp edge of her watch had helped. At home, she’d have been able to do a better job.

She thanked the ancestors for the trees that lined the forest in this place. Otherwise, she couldn’t have helped him at all.

He finally rested as the sun rose across the water, his head lying on the train of her dress that she tore off using her teeth in a desperate moment.

A hex. Every time she thought about Campbell carrying a hex around on him, she shivered. Who would want to hurt him? His family did more to improve the lives of witches than any other members of their clan. Campbell himself had a reputation for having a heart of gold. Someone would have to be really sick to want to cause him any pain. Had it been one of the guests? One of the people who dealt in questionable magic? Which one of them had hexed Campbell and why?

The most likely candidate, unfortunately, turned out to be Olive herself. She bit her lip. When they got home, no one would believe she hadn’t hexed him. Who had more to gain from hurting Campbell than she did? He’d thrown her over for her sister, humiliated her, broken her heart, and she’d kidnapped him from his wedding. Not to mention
the worst witch in witching school
happened to be able to do that kind of magic. Nothing else, usually, but hexing required dark herbs and potions. It could be argued that Olive made her living in a way that wouldn’t take very much effort to switch to dark magic.