A Charmed Life | Coven Corner #3

Chapter Twenty-Two

Hazel threw every ounce of herself into Sky's wedding preparations. When she stepped into the Torres house, she found Sky in the guest room. Lacey fabric was looped over her arms, around her waist, tangled around her ankles in a mess.

And Sky was beginning to hyperventilate.

"I don't know what I did!" she half-shrieked. "I thought I'd cast a spell to let out the waist just a little. I knew I shouldn't have had those pumpkin pastries for breakfast."

Bryony huffed. "We've been over this. You have to eat. And so what if you let out the waist? Aiden doesn't care. He's too obsessed with your face anyway. All moony-eyed over you."

Hazel took out her wand and began to untangle the dress from Sky.

"You just got your spell a little mixed up with the nerves," Hazel said. "It's nothing a counter spell can't fix in no time. Now hold still. And Bryony's right. Enjoy the pastries."

Sky released a shaky breath and didn't move a muscle as Hazel worked the dress over Sky's head. She cast a spell to loop up the buttons and tie the sash at the waist.

"All done," Hazel said.

Bryony picked up the veil from the bed and draped it over Sky's head, rearranging the thin, gauzy fabric.

"I can't believe you're getting married," Bryony said. "Seems like it was only yesterday that we were running around on the playground."

Sky squeezed Bryony's hands. "Do not get me started crying, Bryony. Please. Just help me get down the stairs without tripping, would you?"

Bryony clasped Sky's hand tight as they headed out of the room.

And for a moment, Hazel was alone.

She glanced down at the wand in her hand. The birch leaves shimmered pale gold, tinged with veins of green. The handle had been worn to smoothness, pale as a ghost.

And a terrible realization slithered into her mind.

It would be so easy to erase her existence from the Butler's family memory. To make Nick and Phoebe forget everything Hazel had been through with them.

Hazel would remember.

But Nick and Phoebe wouldn't.

The nightmare. Searching for a familiar. Making breakfast every morning. Phoebe falling asleep with her head on Hazel's lap.

I want to be a school teacher. Like you, Miss Aven.

With one simple spell, Hazel could return everything back to normal. Or as close to normal as she could get.

Hazel would be known only as Miss Aven, the school teacher. Marissa would resume her role of mother to Phoebe, wife to Nick.

"Don't you dare."

Hazel turned to see Sky standing in the doorway, her skirts bunched up in her arms. She was so short and her skirts were so full that she seemed to be lost in a cloud of white fabric.

She stepped forward and pushed Hazel's wand aside.

"I know what you're thinking," she said. "Bryony told me. About Nick and Phoebe and Marissa."

"Then you have to realize why I'm considering this," Hazel countered.

"No, I don't. Hazel, this isn't a time to be practical. To do the logical thing and erase your existence from their lives because you think it would make the transition easier for them. Smoother somehow. It won't. There will be a hole that you can't fix, no matter how much magic you use. You already have their hearts and they have yours. No amount of magic can change that."