The Ex Hex

Vivi sits at the foot of Aelwyd’s grave, holding a lit candle. Rhys worries about the ritual: A spirit trapped in a grave is harder to summon than a ghost on the loose. Vivi uses a silver knife to cut her palm, and she presses her bleeding hand to the ground, enacting blood magic. Suddenly, Vivi looks up at Rhys, and he knows “it was not her behind those eyes” (285). As Vivi speaks, there is a second, Welsh-accented voice underneath her own. Aelwyd’s spirit possesses Vivi and addresses Rhys directly. Aelwyd says Gryffud Penhallow needed magic to build Graves Glen as a private kingdom, but his own power was not enough. He asked Aelwyd for help, and she agreed, under the impression they would combine their power. Instead, Gryffud stole her power until it drained her life force and she died. Aelwyd speaks of the monuments Gryffud built to his own honor, as if she never existed. Aelwyd asks Rhys why she should spare him and Graves Glen from Vivi’s hex. Rhys says he loves Vivi, and because Graves Glen is Vivi’s home, he would die if necessary to spare the town. Aelwyd sees into Vivi’s heart and knows she loves Rhys too. Rhys vows to set the record straight about Gryffud and Aelwyd. Aelwyd agrees to lift the curse on him and the town, but when she tries, she realizes she is not strong enough. The possession fades, and Vivi collapses.

Vivi regains consciousness and is distraught when she learns Aelwyd could not lift the curse. She tries to figure out how they can still lift the curse themselves, but her exhaustion makes it difficult. Vivi realizes that her blood alone might not be enough, but if Gwyn and Elaine helped, their combined blood might strengthen the blood magic. She recalls what Aelwyd said about Gryffud draining her powers, and she realizes that the ley lines were not Gryffud’s life force but Aelwyd’s. Vivi urges them all to drive up to the ley-lines cave, and Vivi, Gwyn, and Elaine go inside. She asks Rhys to wait outside the cave. Inside, the once-purple ley lines are almost completely blackened, and red sparks flash from the edges. Vivi, Gwyn, and Elaine hold hands, and Vivi declares they are here to right the wrongs Gryffud committed against Aelwyd: “The Jones Witches are taking this back” (294). The three women strain against the pressure of the curse’s aura and push their own magic into the ley lines. Gwyn sees the black sludge receding, and a bright white light stuns them. When they open their eyes, the purple ley lines are restored.

As they drive back into town, Vivi asks Rhys to pull over beside the road. She sees the field where they first met, nine years ago at the summer solstice. Vivi says she fell in love with him that night, and Rhys asks to kiss her. Vivi climbs into his lap and they have sex in the car. When they finish, Vivi says she is going to miss him, and Rhys realizes she brought them to the field to say goodbye. When he drops her off at Elaine’s house, Vivi invites Rhys to come upstairs, but he politely refuses, as he must wake up early to return to Wales. Vivi is sad that Rhys will leave, but she knows he is not the type to stay in one place, and with her magic now entangled in the ley lines, she does not want to leave Graves Glen. Rhys kisses her goodbye.

In January, Vivi trudges through snow on her way to her office. She congratulates her colleague Ezichi on being promoted to a tenure-track position. Vivi reflects on the aftermath of Halloween. She explained the curse and the new magic of the ley lines to Dr. Arbuthnot, who then offered her a job teaching a few classes with the witchery department. Vivi pulls a book from her bag: a history of Wales, written by a Welsh witch a century ago. Rhys sent it to her for Yule, to put with the other books about Wales in her office. Vivi prepares her lecture notes, then heads to the witchery department to meet with Dr. Arbuthnot. As she walks past the witchery faculty offices, she sees one door with a new stencil on it that reads, “R. Penhallow.” Vivi opens the door and sees Rhys sitting behind the desk within. He says he went back to Wales but found himself miserable. He wanted to come back to Vivi, so he used his family name to secure a position at the college. If Vivi needs to be in Graves Glen, then he needs to be there too.