1Prospero
Prospero fled to her study after retrieving Ellie from the nonmagical world. All the Victorian witch could think of was the venomous way Ellie had called her a “lying bitch” before Prospero erased Ellie’s memories of escaping Crenshaw.
Now, Ellie thought they chose to be wed. She remembered a handfasting that had never happened.
“Is something bothering you?” Ellie asked gently, glancing over at her as they walked toward the castle.
“I am tired.” Prospero opted not to lie outright.
And overwhelmed and not sure how to fix… anything. Not the rift. Not my life. Not this sham marriage.
Ellie’s expression tightened. “Something betweenusis wrong.”
Prospero gestured at the front door of the castle as they approached, and it opened like an invitation. “You cannot—”
“Bullshit. I know this sour face of yours is about you and me!” Ellie gestured with one hand as she snapped at Prospero. “You’re keeping secrets.”
Prospero tucked her wife’s other hand into the fold of her arm and all but marched her toward the room Elliethoughtwas hers. Ellie had moved out of her actual room when she escaped from Crenshaw. Too much evidence waited there, although the headmaster refused to throw it all away.
“You’re making a spectacle of us,” Prospero murmured softly.
“You have no idea what sort of ‘spectacle’ I could make.” Ellie’s voice thrummed with a threat.
Prospero looked around as they hurried through the castle. The hall was nearly empty now that the student class had been trimmed some. Those not staying had been siphoned of their magic, and the rest were free to roam the village.
“Here we are. Safe and sound.” Prospero gestured at the door to the student lodging. After a pause, she flicked her fingers, and the door opened at her unspoken command. “I’ll leave you in your home, and—”
“Seriously? We’remarried.”
“But you’re still a student.” Prospero stepped back, evading the door and the unspoken threat of being alone with Ellie. “Students live in the castle.”
Prospero crossed her arms over her chest. Until Ellie escaped Crenshaw, they’d been building something real—but then everything fell apart. She was not going to manage this ruse well.
Ellie stepped closer. “Find time for us.”
She tilted her head up in an obvious request. Instead of the kiss Ellie clearly expected, Prospero lifted Ellie’s hand to her lips and kissed the air above her knuckles.No touching. No kissing. And certainly absolutely nothingelse.
Ellie scowled. “Surely the headmaster wouldn’t object to—”
“He is busy with his bride and the students and dozens of things,” Prospero explained lightly. Those details, of course, werealltrue. They were not the whole truth, however. One learned to twist words when overt lies were not options. “We had last night, Ellie—”
“Right. The night I fell asleep waiting for you?” Ellie snapped. “Exactly the honeymoon I dreamed of.”
“You know who I am, Ellie. I have obligations to Crenshaw.”
Ellie frowned. “I’m not sure why I married you.”
“I see.” Prospero flinched. She’d made Ellie’s memory alteration in a crude manner, leaving behind their few date-like moments but erasing the meeting with the Congress of Magic, the escape, anything with Maggie or Monahan. There hadn’t been time to sort through each memory slowly when Ellie’s aunt, the headmaster, the other escapee, and Monahan were all present.
With such massive deletions, the brain would fill in the gaps with conclusions. However, in barely a day, Ellie was already questioning the parts left behind after Prospero’s crude memory erasures.
“I feel like I should have met the headmaster’s wife.” Ellie frowned. “She’s a remedial witch, too, right? Margie? Same group as me?”
“Maggie.Maybe you didn’t notice her. There are hundreds of witches who didn’t catch your attention.” Prospero stepped back, giving Ellie more space.
“I noticedyou.” Ellie flashed a flirtatious smile at her and reached out to catch Prospero’s hand. “What if you stayed in my room tonight? Remind me why I’m your wife.”
Prospero’s morals recoiled.
