Page 29 of Her Ghostly Embrace
Aurora’s features hardened in response to her friend’s admonishment. “Circumstances changed, Lil. They were going to shackle me to some Nightingale witch. I could cope with the binding, same as ever, but a marriage… There was no time. It was the only way off the compound.”
Gia’s chest tightened all over again. With all the blood blood-binding shit, she shuddered to think what marriage would have meant for Aurora. No wonder leaving her body seemed like a reasonable course of action.
“Fuck…” Lilly sounded just as stricken by the news. “That’s… Fuck your family. I’ll be there soon. What’s the address?”
For her part, Aurora didn’t seem overly emotional given what she’d shared. She glanced at Gia expectantly.
Right. She rattled off the address.
“Susan’s old building?” Lilly asked, surprised.
Would the coven begrudge Susan leaving everything to her?Gia hadn’t considered that. “Susan was my aunt,” she said carefully. “She left the place to me.”
Before Lilly had a chance to enquire further, Aurora cut in. “Be careful of Trey. He’s going to spot you coming in.”
“How will Trey know Lilly doesn’t live here?” Gia asked, relieved they’d moved away from her backstory.
Lilly spoke up. “He won’t know for sure, but he’ll probably scan me for magic and realize I’m a witch.”
“You can’t hide your magic?”
Aurora shook her head, her ghostly hair fluffing around her. “Not easily.”
“I’ll be fine,” Lilly assured them. “I’m good at shielding, and I know he’s there. I’ll be prepared. Him spotting me is safer than asking you to come to me, and having him follow.”
After a quick goodbye, Lilly hung up.
“You didn’t ask about the wine,” Aurora said with a twitch of her lips.
Really?“It didn’t feel appropriate under the circumstances.”
“Your loss. I’m going to watch for Lilly out the window.” Aurora vanished from sight.
“Okay,” Gia said to the seemingly empty room. With nothing else to do, she stood and idly put away the items she’d bought at the deli.
Why was a member of Aurora’s awful coven followingher? Gia wasn’t a Lockwood. If Trey couldn’t be sure who Lilly was, how could he know anything about her? And why couldn’t Aurora leave? Were they stuck together because Gia was the one who’d found her in the theater? Like finders keepers? It couldn’t be that simple.
A horrible thought struck, and Gia almost dropped the jar of mustard in her hand. Was she keeping Aurora here?
Despite pushing Aurora away, Gia hadn’t wanted the ghost to leave. Gia was developing an…attachment.Nota crush. Butsomething. She couldn’t deny she’d much rather have Aurora around than be alone. A fierce, determined woman was exactly what Gia needed, even if the last thing she wanted was to develop unrequited feelings for a ghost.
But Gia’s private urge to keep Aurora around couldn’t have trapped her. The things Gia wanted didn’t just happen. Her desire to avoid the Lockwoods wasn’t coming to fruition.
“Lilly’s here,” Aurora’s disembodied voice announced a short time later. “Trey doesn’t seem to be paying her much attention. He’s already looking at his phone again.” She seemed to sigh in relief even though, as a ghost, she didn’t need to breathe.
The soft, airy sound sent a shiver down Gia’s spine, and she did her best to ignore it. Reacting to every little thing Aurora did wasn’t helping her attachment.
Soon, Lilly was knocking on the door, and Gia went to let her in, a now-visible Aurora at her elbow.
Gia opened the door, and a tall, curvy woman with brown skin smiled and introduced herself. Gia returned the pleasantries and invited Lilly inside.
Lilly’s attention landed on Aurora. “Fuck, you look wild.”
The ghost huffed and floated over to the couch. “It’s not a look I’m planning on keeping.”
“Glad to hear it.” Lilly turned serious. “Your stalker noticed me, but didn’t seem poised to pounce.”
“I saw. Can you detect any wards on the building?” Aurora asked.
