Page 25 of Warlocks Don't Win
I choked on my tea, spraying him all over while I hacked and coughed. “What?” I gasped.
He gave me his own polite smile as he took another delicate sip of tea, ignoring the pink droplets on his forehead. “My soul is thoroughly fused to Sage House. Untangling wouldn’t happen. Cut. Sheared. Guillotined. But not untangled. It would kill one of us. Possibly both. Why did you do it, Clary?”
I winced and grabbed a forkful of hashbrowns. “Don’t ask stupid questions.” I crammed it into my face and chewed. Mm. I was so hungry. And angry. Being soul bound to your worst enemy took it out of you.
“It’s not a stupid question. The only reason to do what you did, was to save my life. You hate me. You’d happily kill me.”
I gave him a scowl. “Like I said, stupid question. Obviously, I did what I did to save your life. I’m not letting you die saving me. No way am I owing you any kind of debt.”
He leaned back on his elbows and smiled slightly. “So you want me to be in your debt? You want me to be your slave? Not only willing, but bound by guilt and duty? You are a hard mistress.” His eyes flickered with heat that made my skin prickle.
I pressed the tines of my fork against his throat. “Stop it. You know that we’re bound together, not one above the other, except that I was on top of you, but that’s not relevant. The point is…” What was the point? Oh, right. “We’re going to ignore this binding and continue on as usual. We’ll find who’s trying to kill me, turn them over to the police, and then go on our merry way. Oh, and your grandmother’s curse.”
“If there is a curse,” he added, drily.
“Right. If there is a curse.”
“Let me get this straight. You want me to pretend that we aren’t married when I woke up with your lips fused to mine?”
I blinked at him then nodded briskly, feeling my cheeks heat from embarrassment. “Exactly that.”
“But you married me against my will.”
“Then it should be extra easy for you to pretend it didn’t happen, since you were unconscious through the entire thing.”
He smiled slightly. “You wouldn’t let me die.”
“Not for me. Obviously. I’m not living with that kind of burden, letting you die looking like a hero.”
He pursed his lips and nodded then broke into a large, incredibly sexy grin. “You married me to save my life. I’m starting to think that you don’t hate me nearly enough.”
I rolled my eyes and buried my face in my tea cup. I hated him just fine. We ate until the plates were clean, and then he got out of bed and took the tray.
“I’ll take this down to the kitchen and then talk to my friends about this situation.”
“The temporary binding.”
“The permanent marriage that can only be dissolved in one of our deaths, but yes, that.” He flashed me another smile, with dimples, and then left me in my mother’s bed with Tolly for company. At least my mother’s spirit wasn’t still hanging around.
“Well,” I said, looking into Tolly’s eyes. “What a mess, huh?”
She chirped and then leapt off the bed, slipping into the fireplace, up the chimney and out of sight, leaving me alone to question my life choices.
I groaned and threw myself back on the bed. One thing I could do right that moment, was go back to sleep. Maybe I’d never wake up.
I woke up the next morning.
I did feel better though, not like my cells had all been flattened and then blown up like an overfilled bike tube. I rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom. Oh look. There was one working bulb. The dim light from the filthy window barely showed my reflection, not that much was visible in the equally filthy mirror. I scrubbed it with the back of my hand and then got to see my face. I looked confused. The most shocking thing of all was my hair.
It was the same green and purple it had been when releasing the death spell. Green and purple stripes.
A filmy green blob appeared behind my shoulder along with a whiff of humid greenhouse. My mother.
“Yes. My curse is well set.” She sounded as self-satisfied as she possibly could, which was very.
I shook my head, staring at my hair. “That was the last curse you spelled at me? Striped hair?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “It has tormented you these many years.”
