Page 66 of Magic and Matrimony

When we realized that we needed to dig up Piper’s dad’s grave, and somehow keep from getting arrested, I knew Piper and I were not going to be able to do it on our own. There’s no way the two of us could quickly dig a grave. I enlisted the help of Bram, thinking he could keep his mouth shut, but he proceeded to tell Ava, who then told everyone else. Now there are eight of us on a jaunt through the cemetery at one in the morning.

“We have to go in the middle of the night, because it would be a little bit obvious during the day that a bunch of people are digging up a grave,” Stellan replies as if his sister is an idiot.

“I’m aware of that. It was more of a rhetorical question,” Ava grumbles and curses as she walks into a headstone.

“Maybe we should keep quiet so no one hears us and shows up to investigate,” Roman says, exasperated.

I appreciate the sentiment, but we’re on the outskirts of town. There’s nothing out here but a bunch of dead bodies. I hope.

“Can we plan an outing where we don’t uncover dead bodies, though?” Odie signs as we wind our way around the graves in the cemetery. The moon is bright tonight, and the sky is clear. I’m grateful that the rain seems to have let up for once this spring. It makes picking our way through the gravestones a lot easier.

“Maybe someplace warm, with a beach,” Josephine says longingly as she zips her coat up to her chin. It might not be raining, but it’s still windy and cold enough that even I’m wearing a hat.

“I don’t care,” Ava declares. “Just give me a drink in my hand and I’ll be happy. Maybe a nice stack of books to read in a hammock. I do love a good hammock.”

“There it is,” Piper says softly as she stops at the foot of a grave. I step up beside her, stabbing my shovel into the ground. I rest my chin on my hands, holding the top of the handle. Piper stares at the grave like she expects her father to come bursting through the grass at any moment.

“We don’t have to do this,” I say. “We can keep looking for another way.”

Piper swallows thickly and then takes a deep breath. “I want this done with. I want to put this hex to bed.”

She looks up at the moon that’s nearly full. It’s been almost a month since she got sick. I don’t know when it will strike again,but it feels like there’s a ticking clock. Piper has to deal with a hex and a curse, and both of them are fucking horrible. I can appreciate that at least with this hex, there’s the possibility of freedom. She can be rid of this burden, once and for all. If it takes me drinking human infused juice, then so be it. I’ll do it for her.

“All right. Let’s get digging.”

We brought a handful of shovels, knowing that we couldn’t all dig at the same time. In my head, I viewed this similar to how I think of painting a room. It always sounds like it’ll be fun in theory, but once you start painting, you realize what a giant pain in the ass it is. Between us, I figured we’d dig up this grave in no time. Turns out, six feet is fucking deep, and they use backhoes for this shit for a reason.

I rip off my stocking cap and take off my coat, throwing both on the ground as I work up a sweat.

“How do none of us have earth magic?” Bram grumbles as he wipes his brow. Ava rolls her eyes, grabs his shovel and pushes him out of the way.

“No one said you had to do it alone.”

We take turns, but by some unspoken agreement, none of us let Piper do any digging. I don’t want her to have to dig up her father’s grave. I don’t want her to be anywhere near here, but the reality is that this needs to happen in order to break her hex.

Odie’s shovel strikes the ground with a loud thunk. We're surrounded by the smell of damp earth, worms, and natural things that crawl beneath the surface. I have no idea what it’ll smell like when we open a coffin.

Odie lifts her gaze to each of us and then finally looks at Piper. She nods and we work to clean off the edges of the coffin.

“Just so I’m clear, is someone going to have to cut his tongue out?” Ava grimaces.

“This is so gross,” Bram rasps, pulling himself out of the grave. He reaches for Odie and helps her out, leaving me by myself.

“I made a spell,” Piper says and hands me a vial. It’s hard to see what color it is in the dim light. It looks pink.

“And what exactly will this do, Pipes?” I gaze up at her from the hole and she hands me a Ziploc baggie. How very mystical.

“It will force him to expel his tongue.”

“Oh no,” Bram groans, backing away from the hole. “I can’t.” He makes a heaving sound.

“You’re such a baby with dead bodies.” Ava jabs his side.

“Would you rather I be comfortable with them?” Bram hisses at her.

“Fair point,” Ava says in return.

Piper’s fists are clenched and her shoulders tight. I know Ava’s trying to keep the situation light, that’s just what she does, but we need to wrap this up for Piper’s sake.

---