Page 46 of Hexed & Hazy

“I know you will.”

How can he still have so much faith in me? It’s misplaced. I hurt him, and he looks at me like I’m supposed to fix it—but I can’t. He picked the wrong sister. The wrong witch. My chest rises with each sharp breath, and as much as I try to keep it all in, I can’t. Not anymore. Not now.

“I’m supposed to do this,” I say, a trembling mess. “They say—they all say I’m the smart one. The strong one. Why can’t I do this?”

“Hey. It’s probably me⁠—”

I whimper. “You’re going to say that when I burned your hands? I hurt you.”

His lips tug up at the corners—a pity smile. “You didn’t.”

“I did.” I stand up, my back to him once more—it’s more comfortable that way. “Come. I… if you trust me, I have a potion at home that will help. I’ll get Juniper.”

“Of course, I trust you.”

He shouldn’t, but I leave, and he follows anyway.

Chapter 16

Seth

Rowan silently leads me right to Juniper’s bedroom. She knocks on the door in several loud thuds, and Juniper is quick to appear.

“What is it?” she asks, exasperated.

“I… Seth is hurt. Burns, I think. Do you have something that can help?”

The last time I heard Rowan’s voice this soft was when she was admitting to breaking her mother’s favorite deity sculpture. She had to have been thirteen and practicing levitation. Even though I tried to take the fall for her, she wouldn’t let me. The way she sounds now—it’s that same broken, scared voice.

But she doesn’t need to be so afraid, just like she didn’t need to back then. Her mom wasn’t mad, and I’m certainly not.

Of course, Juniper has something to help; she gives Rowan the potion, and Rowan’s hands are shaking as she takes it and removes the stopper.

“Are you sure you don’t want to do it…?” Rowan asks, averting her gaze from either of us.

Juniper narrows her eyes. “I’m sure. You can handle this.”

And though Juniper’s words are as firm as ever, there’s something caring in the way she says it. Rowan doesn’t argue, leading me to a bathroom. This one is tidier than the rest in the house, without the beauty potions and supplies that I know litter the space Rowan shares with Laurel and Aspen. She lets go of my hand and bends low, opening the cupboard beneath the sink to find the first-aid kit.

It’s one I know well. When Laurel and I were younger, we’d get into all sorts of scrapes. Just like now, Rowan was the one dragging us back to get cleaned up, but her mother used to be the one who pulled out the first-aid kit.

There’s one glaring difference now: Rowan caused the wound this time—not that I blame her. She’s trying to help, I know she is, and magic always has a chance of going wrong. No matter how hard I stare at her, she won’t meet my eye as we move to the kitchen and she sits me down, turning on the big light.

“Ro,” I whisper.

“Hm?” She slathers a potion over my burn, and it heals before my eyes.

The stinging fades away, and I know within a few hours the skin won’t be tender to the touch. There’s nothing for her to beat herself up over, but of course, that won’t stop her.

“Accidents happen with magic,” I say. “Your mom taught me that, so I know you know it.”

She looks up, and exhaustion pours from her in waves as she pulls her hands from mine, fussing with the potions. It’s not until now that I realize her eyes are sunken, with dark circles under them, and there’s a tremble in her hand.

Either the spell took a lot out of her, or she hasn’t been sleeping.

“I do. I know. But I really wanted this to work. I wanted to do something right.” She shakes her head, quiet for several moments. “Forget it. Juniper is worried about me, you know.”

“Maybe she should be.” I reach for her hands again. It’s natural to take them both, pulling her closer, until her body is resting between my legs. “When’s the last time you got a good night of sleep?”