Page 101 of Vengefully Matched

“No,” said Priscilla. “I mean, maybe, sort of, in keeping it secret. But I wanted to make sure that it could work first. And Mayor Khalil wasn’t sure about the funding on the state level, and a few other approvals and red tape with the mundanes.”

“In the future, we expect to be looped in,” said Agatha sternly, but her eyes were relaxed. Priscilla thought that maybe she was happy about this, and hope curled, tender and tentative, in her chest. “We do need to vote as a Council, and Mayor Khalil, I apologize for any discomfort this may cause, we will each be divided into separate magical chambers for the ten-minute deliberation. Would it be all right to sequester you in one as well? It will be where you are, seated, with a table, only a barrier, sort of like a magical cubicle that is both soundproof and cannot be seen through. Light passes in, so it won’t be dark. You will just be alone for ten minutes.”

The mayor swallowed but nodded. “Certainly,” he said.

“We meet back in ten minutes to vote.” Agatha ran her thumb across her fingers, and goddess, had there ever been a mode of practicing magic so complementary to her own, but yet different enough to make it work? Priscilla was gutted by everything she loved about Agatha. Even their fingers belonged together.

But they needed to resolve the Council business first.

When they voted, it was unanimous, in favor of the initiatives and of reinstating full trust in her, with the caveat that she swore on her good name not to prank at work anymore.

CHAPTER 34 Agatha

The rest of the Council had gone home hours ago, and Priscilla was waiting for her. Before anything else, they needed to talk.

She wrapped up her notes on the minutes Kevin had taken, and she didn’t need to look up to know that Prissy would be standing there.

“Hey,” she said softly, raising her head.

Priscilla was staring at her, face stricken. “I need to tell you something, and I’m sorry if it’s stupid.” There was a bare honesty to her voice that didn’t match her normally aloof exterior.

“You can tell me anything, chérie,” she said, though her heart raced, and nerves twisted in her stomach.

“I—It’s going to be sloppy. Emotional.” Priscilla made a face. “But it’s going to be true, so I am going to say it.” She looked a little bit pale, and the anticipation was stressing Agatha to the brink of sanity.

Penguins mated for life, she reminded herself. And so did wolves, beavers, California mice, gibbons, shingleback lizards, and an odd aquatic parasite called a diplozoon paradoxum, a flatworm that literally needed to find its mate and become permanently conjoined in order to reach adulthood.

There, that steadied her nerves. She’d rather be a beaver than a worm, and there was probably a joke in there somewhere, or at least a T-shirt, but she’d be pushing up daisies before she admitted that particular thought right now.

“Whatever it is, just say it.” She stood up, rubbing her palms against her red skirt.

“Agatha,” Priscilla began, looking at her, gaze focused. “Honey.” She paused, biting her lip and taking a breath. “I want to bend toward your love and your needs like a flower to the sun, not because I think I need to change for you, but because I know I want to grow with you, and toward you, intertwined into something that makes both of us better and stronger. Always.” Her breath caught. It was beautiful. Breathtakingly so, in fact. She was certain it was the absolute most beautiful thing she’d ever heard.

Agatha leaned back against the desk. “Oh,” she said, hand on her heart. “Oh.”

“Say something other than that,” said Priscilla. “Goddess, I meant to say I loved you and ask if you loved me, too, not just announce it like the daily fucking special. But it’s true. I love you. I need you. I want to be with you, and around you, always. And I think you love me.”

“I do.” Agatha had never said anything more honest in her life. “I love you too.”

“There’s a lot to talk about,” said Priscilla, shifting her weight from one heel to the other.

“It can wait.” And suddenly, the rest of it really could. Agatha beckoned, and then Priscilla was in front of her, taking her head in her hands like it was the most precious treasure, cradling it, kissing her softly, peppering her mouth, her cheeks, and occasionally her forehead with the imprint of her lips.

It was divine.

“I don’t want to rush,” Agatha murmured.

Priscilla stopped kissing her, though she didn’t remove her hands from Agatha’s face. She drifted them down to her shoulders and around, pulling her in for a hug.

“We don’t have to. We can pause the sex, and even the kissing, if you want. I’m happy to just hold your hand, or, fuck, even just sit next to you, Agatha. I’d sit quietly in the same room as you if you wanted me to. I want you to be happy. I want to give you what you need from me. I want to be me, but better. With you.”

“Oh, I want to have sex,” said Agatha, eyebrows raised. “Lots of it. Tons. Everywhere. What I meant was, can we go slow emotionally? I want to know what it is to love you fully in each stage. I don’t want to run too fast into a thing and miss any second of what we’re doing.”

“My love,” said Priscilla. “Goddess divine.” She stroked up Agatha’s arm and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “My sweet. I would like nothing more than that.”

“Good. Now let’s get out of here. I need to sleep in my own bed.” It had been hard leaving Hart Manor, and part of her knew that one day, she would want to stay there for good. Another part of her, though, wanted to take this slow. To do things right. And that meant spending time on her own too.

There was no relationship that should be the sole source of Agatha’s happiness. That wouldn’t be fair, and it wouldn’t be balanced, and if there was one thing an extremely organized Council president knew, it was that fairness and balance were crucial in everything.