A Match Made in Hell - Calbrina

Chapter 2

When Caliban and I arrive back at Harvey's, we find him kneeling on the rug, grasping at broken pieces of stone.

"Oh, no. Oh, Harvey!" I exclaim once I've taken in the scene in front of me.

"Roz broke. I don't know what happened. I left for 15 minutes and came back, and she was... like this."

"Caliban," I immediately ask, "does this mean she's—"

"Dead? No. She needs to be put back together, that's all."

Harvey doesn't seem convinced. "She's in all these pieces."

"We'll gather and arrange them into her shape. Make sure none of her bits are missing. There's a special epoxy we'll need. I'll prepare it and be right back."

Before either of us could respond, Caliban disappears in a circle of flames, leaving Harvey and I alone with Roz's broken pieces.

—-

After the two of us have located every missing wedge, I sigh, "I hate this. I'm so sick of putting all you guys in danger."

To my partial surprise, however, Harvey says, "This one isn't on you, 'Brina. You're not making the pagans go after virgins."

I tilt my head at this. "True," then I pause before continuing. "So, you and Roz never...?"

He shakes his head a little, "No. We were going to, for sure."

I can't help but prod, I know I shouldn't, we're exes after all. But Harvey's my friend, and I can't not talk to my friend. "But?"

He places down the chunk of Roz he was holding, and continues. "But...the carnival came to town. That's when everything started going wrong."

"Nick and I never had sex either."

And maybe I'm just imagining things a lot today, but the look on his face shifts then, like he doesn't believe it, and he says, "Really? I assumed, 'cause you're a cool witch and he's a cool warlock that–"

"Nope," I say on an exhale. "He definitely has, like, all the time, but not with me." I turn to Harvey, "We broke up... earlier today."

"What? How come?"

"Lots of reasons. I dunno. Maybe he just wasn't the right one."

I reach for a piece of Roz's hand, when I feel Harvey's brush against mine. Without a second thought, I move my hand away from his, and without really looking at him, I walk to the other side of the room. There's a sort of shock when I don't feel bad about it, bad that I want to keep our hands together, bad that I'm still in love with him, bad that I'm jealous because of him and Roz. I don't feel any of those things. Sure there's a sort of love that I'll always feel towards Harvey, but not I'm in love with him anymore. Somewhere along the line, I've accepted the fact that our lives aren't compatible and that we're better off as friends.

Soon enough, though, Caliban is back with the epoxy and I don't have to have an awkward one-on-one with my ex.

We're all standing around the table where we've arranged Roz's pieces when Caliban asks, "Is that every piece of her?"

Harvey answers him, "Yeah, we checked everywhere."

"What do we do now," I ask. "Glue her back together?"

"The Pygmalion spell will be most effective where you and your beloved first kissed. Do you remember where that was?"

"Yeah, of course, at school, the night of the Valentine's dance."

"Is it close?" Caliban asks me, to which I nod my head. "Let's take her there then. Carefully. We'll apply the epoxy and then you'll make your offering."