Page 81 of Potions and Proposals
Lucy clenched her teeth, doing her best not to argue. Instead, she glared at the flowers glistening with raindrops and let her anger pour out. Her mum leaned forward and narrowed her eyes; it only took a few seconds for the rainwater to steam until the soil was bone dry and the flowers scorched.
“Sit and explain,” Mum ordered.
There was no way she was escaping now that she’d confirmed she didn’t have her element. Lucy sat, gripping the edge of the porch swing and trying to bite her tongue, but she couldn’t hold it in any longer. If she did, she was afraid they’d wake up tomorrow in a pile of ash.
“What do you think happened?” she barked. “Your hybrid love potion backfired, like I warned you and Grams it would!”
Mum studied the scorched flowers.
After a shaky breath, Lucy elaborated. “The spell switched my element with Benedict’s. He flooded the manor because he lost control of his temper after some guests caused trouble. He broke the pipe to make it look non-element-related.” She did feel much lighter, not having to hide the truth any longer, though she wouldn’t mention the wolves.
“How could this have happened?” Mum said, almost to herself. “I made sure there was no way anything could go wrong.”
“You might have, but Grams added the wrong ingredient. It changed the spell from a drawing spell,” Lucinda explained.
Mum paled. “I can fix this,” she said, guilt softening her tone.
“We already tried to reverse it by correcting the spell, but it didn’t work,” Lucy told her.
“It’ll probably fix itself after the binding.”
“You can’t know that. We’re going to try a curse-stripping potion.”
“I know.”
Lucy stared at her. “How?”
Mum moved the colourful blanket from her lap, revealing the spell Lucy had copied from the Hawthorne grimoire. Her mum held it in her hands like it was poisonous.
“Using such a potion from that book is taking things too far. The old magic is far more dangerous than what we harness now. It could strip you both of your elements,” she hissed.
“It’s a Hawthorne potion! We should be fine,” Lucy argued, reaching for the paper, but Mum snatched it out of reach.
“Why is it so urgent? Perhaps our spell is trying to tell you something!” she urged.
“That’s the problem,” Lucy snapped, letting her anger get the better of her. “How are Benedict and I to know if anything that happens between us is real and not because of our elements,because of a spell, a potion? This is why you don’t mess with love magic!”
“You care for him?” Mum asked, surprise quietening her voice. “Something has happened between you? A rumour is one thing, but I want to hear it from you.”
Lucy wished she could believe with absolute certainty that what had happened was because she cared for him and not because of some magical draw between their elements. The doubt made her heart ache, and the thought of his feelings being manipulated by her own family tainted the memory with guilt.What if the magic wears off and he no longer wants me? What if he despises me for bewitching him?
“Does it matter? There’s no way to know whether it’s genuine or not.” She wished she could go back to the night of the coven meeting and just let them vote then and there. Yet, as she fidgeted with the ring on her finger, it hurt to think they’d never have become so close.
“Lucy, I think you’re overthinking this. The spell was never intended to make you do anything; if anything, it was meant to show you. Perhaps there has always been something lingering between you, and this has given you the opportunity to walk a mile in each other’s shoes.”
“Easy for you to say. It’s not your life, your heart, your future.”
“I’m sorry. I thought we were helping,” Mum said, reaching for her.
Lucy didn’t want to hear it, and in her anger, she didn’t want to burn her. Her mum’s face fell as she pulled away.
“Let me help. I might be able to find a way that doesn’t involve a curse-stripping potion.”
“I don’t want your help.” Lucy had had enough for one day. “Benedict and I can figure this out ourselves. You’ve doneenough – and please don’t tell Grams, I don’t want her meddling either.”
Mum’s lips firmed into a line. She got to her feet. “We only wanted the best for you,” she said. “And this puts you both in too much danger.” As Lucy watched in horror, the paper disintegrated in her hand.
“How could you take that from us? You’ve no right! It’s our life, our elements!” There was no way of getting hold of the original again now that Emerson had returned it to the Order. Lucy lifted her hands from the swing, exposing the scorch marks her anger had left behind.
