Page 15 of Potions and Proposals
I could’ve refused to accept the nomination, but I said yes. Maybe I wanted to see Lucinda’s reaction. I’ve spent so long trying to get her to see me as more than a Matherson, someone without a tainted ancestry.
He had to admit it had felt good to have the High Priestess accept his nomination, even if he’d spent most of his life tryingnot to care what anyone thought of him. To know he was worthy of even a nomination was a recognition of all he’d done for Foxford. Still, he didn’t know how the vote would land. He didn’t want to leave Foxford, especially not everything he’d built, and he didn’t want his mum to be the last Matherson in town. She’d lost his brother and dad; he didn’t want her to have to lose anything else.
After all these years, he’d never expected his and Lucinda’s rivalry to come to this. To spend the rest of their lives together… he didn’t know if he’d survive her goody-two-shoes act, even if it delighted a twisted part of him to consider it.They’d both worked hard throughout school, maybe a bit too hard, in their attempts to get the other expelled. He enjoyed bringing out her recklessness more than he cared to admit, even if it was at his expense.
The battle lines had been drawn when he’d turned the Manor into a hotel, the only thing left to the Matherson name, and Lucinda had traded the school library for the vault. They’d kept to their territories, and incidents had grown few and far between. Tasting blood on his tongue, Benedict wished they’dcalled a truce before the coven had had to take such drastic action. Maybe they deserved to face the consequences.
When he stood straight, sparkles formed in his vision. He scolded himself for running on an empty stomach. He reached into his pocket to check for the bar he usually brought, but found nothing. As he started to walk back the way he’d come, the smell of burning plastic drifted around him. He sniffed the air to see what direction it was coming from. It was usual for people to light bonfires during the autumn equinox, but it was so wet tonight one wouldn’t be easy to light, and the smell was far too strong for a flame he couldn’t see.
Feeling something crispy in his hand, Benedict glanced down to find he’d burnt a hole in his pocket.Hewas the burning smell.
What the—?He patted down the singed edges, startled by the sudden loss of control over his element. His fire magic always acted up whenever his emotions were heightened.
He decided to return home before he set anything else on fire. Thankfully, Lucinda wasn’t here to see the mishap; she’d have loved to see him lose control.
He’d started back down the trail when, as if his thoughts had brought her to life, Lucinda appeared on the trail.Now I’m imagining things. Great.
“Lucinda?” he called, narrowing his eyes. She seemed to be swaying.
Benedict walked towards her, needing to make sure it wasn’t his mind playing tricks on him. A branch cracked under his foot, and the startled figure darted into the shadows of the trees and disappeared.
I’ve lost my mind. I should’ve known it would be her to send me over the edge.She wasn’t his to worry about; anyway, he wasn’t even sure it had been her. It was the last moon of summer: many would be in the woods, doing gods knew what. Most activities were kept to the lake at the other end of thewoods, where the gap between woods and town was smallest and safest.
Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling he was being watched as he walked down the trail. If it was Lucinda, he couldn’t blame her for wanting to blow off steam after the evening they’d had.
He only made it a few feet when she jumped out from behind a tree with a mocking roar.
“I could’ve hurt you!” he snapped. He’d already lost control of his fire once this evening.
She dropped her hands to her sides, giggling as she circled him.
“What are you doing out here so late? Are you alright?” he asked, as she stopped to hug a tree.
“Why wouldn’t I be fine? Nature will always protect me!” She sounded far more relaxed than normal. It wasn’t that she was uptight, but she certainly wasn’t going around hugging trees most days. Benedict’s concern amplified when he realised she was in her underwear.
“Where the hell are your clothes?” He turned away, fearing she’d disappear. The idea of others seeing her in her underwear troubled him more than he cared to admit.
“I was swimming! And I didn’t want anything to separate me from all the glorious nature,” she told him. “There is no shame in my natural state.” She spun him around; her skin, glistening with droplets, and soaking wet hair confirmed her story.
“It’s not safe to be out here alone, especially half-naked!” he grumbled, shrugging off his raincoat. Even with twigs in her hair and her fringe a damp mess at the sides of her face, her natural beauty remained.
“Don’t be such a downer, Benny. I’m not alone. You should join me. It’s such a beautiful night!” Her smile brightened her eyes, and he realised she wasn’t wearing her glasses. He hopedshe was wearing contacts, because he wasn’t going searching for them.
“Benny?” he muttered, running his hands over his face. There was no way she was in her right mind. She couldn’t get away from him fast enough after the coven meeting, and now she was calling him Benny? “You think that now, but when you wake up tomorrow you might not be too happy with me having seen your… natural state.” He turned her around so she’d stop looking up at him with those big green eyes.
“I think we have far more important things to worry about than you seeing me like this,” she grumbled, with her back to him.
He was too distracted by the tattoo between her shoulder blades, a crescent moon, to register her words.She’s always had a thing for piercings, but the tattoo was a surprise.It suited her– delicate in detail, yet a force of nature.
“Have you taken anything?” he asked, trying not to spook her as he slowly approached with the raincoat to protect her modesty. She didn’t seem to notice, too busy petting the tree bark. He wondered how many splinters she was going to wake up with tomorrow. It wasn’t odd for those frolicking to forgo their clothes, but she wasn’t the type to throw caution to the wind.
“Just some tea that Luisa got from a witch overseas. Tastes awful, but very soothing. Even Rosie said it was all right if you held your breath while you drank it.” Her eyes were watery, and the whites seemed brighter.
“I should’ve known Luisa would be involved,” he muttered. Lucinda’s old school friend had been suspended for selling all types ofrelaxinggoodies in their senior year. “You do seem very… relaxed, but I think that tea must have had mushrooms or something else in it to help loosen your inhibitions.” She’d nevercall him Benny, or ask him to join anything if she wasn’t under something’s influence.
She beamed at him. “Trees have so many stories to tell. I can almost hear them.”
“Yes, trees are wonderful. How about you just put this on?” He held the jacket out to her, averting his gaze.
