Page 43 of Her Ghostly Embrace
Gia took another step closer. A horn blared. The SUV was blocking traffic, but Salvator had the air of someone who didn’t give a fuck, his arm tucked under his jacket like he was holding the gun, ready to draw it any second.
Fury burned through Aurora. She was so damn sick of men like him. She didn’t need to know Salvator to know his type. And she wasn’t letting him get his paws on Gia.
Aurora zoomed in front of Gia, her will to be invisible evaporating, replaced with the consuming desire to be seen. To take up space and scare the shit out of this fucking guy.
Energy crackled, and Gia gasped, halting her steps before they collided. Aurora raised her arms, translucent skin glowing. “Leave,” she growled, dropping her voice low.
“Merda!” Salvator’s eyes went wide, and in one swift motion, he drew his gun.
Oh, Satan. That wasn’t supposed to happen.
Salvator’s surprise quickly faded into cold determination. He pointed the gun through Aurora’s translucent form, right at Gia. “In the goddamn car, Gianna. Now.”
Seriously? He wasn’t shitting himself when faced with a real-life ghost? Who the hell was this guy?
Aurora had to do something, except yet again, she was helpless. A witch who couldn’t use her magic to do what truly mattered: protect herself and the people she cared for.
“Okay,” Gia said, like it pained her, before stepping forward.ThroughAurora.
Electric chills enveloped Aurora’s entire being, and she gasped. Gia gasped too, as if they were one, and Aurora swore she felt air in her phantom lungs.
Gia’s fear crashed into her. Aurora sensed her hopelessness, her regret, all as if they were her own emotions. She felt Gia’s pounding heart, but not in the electric way she had before. Blood pulsed through Aurora, flowing stronger than it ever had in her own body.
Gia shuddered, and Aurora’s soul shook, a shared cold dread threatening to smother them both.
Satan. Aurora was inside Gia, joined together in a way she hadn’t thought possible. And here, in the depths of Gia’s being, swirling along with her despair and fear, was her magic, bright and bursting to be used.
Aurora seized it as she would her own, and when she spoke, Gia’s mouth moved.
“Run,” they said, voice a booming echo.
Salvator’s mouth dropped open. He blinked, grip tightening on his handgun. “Stop fucking around and get in the car, or I’ll shoot every single person on this street.”
Aurora raised her hand, Gia’s hand, and for the first time, her power wasn’t restricted when she needed it most. She could fight back. Aurora muttered a spell, slashing her hand upward, and Salvator was thrown into the side of the SUV, hard.
He grunted, slumping to the side, and she took a step forward. Gia’s power sang in her grasp, seeming to grow, opening up to reveal a well far greater than anything Aurora had ever found within herself.
Damnation, Gia was powerful.
Excitement sparked within Aurora’s soul, lighting up Gia’s body as unexpected joy filled them. Aurora tipped her headback and laughed.
Salvator scrambled to his feet, waving his gun, all composure gone. “What the fuck!”
Aurora hit him with another wave of power, and he grabbed the hood of the SUV to steady himself. She poured magic into the metal, heating it to scorching in an instant.
Salvator screamed, nearly dropping the gun in his other hand. He clutched his burnt hand to his chest and ducked into the back seat. “Drive!”
The SUV’s tires screeched, and it peeled out from the curb, tearing down the street, the path ahead clear.
The rest of the intersection cleared slowly. People on the other side of the street stared, but they wouldn’t have seen exactly what happened behind the SUV, and no one was on the sidewalk behind them.
“We have to go,” Gia’s rough voice vibrated through Aurora, her throat tingling. “Before the cops are called.”
Gia didn’t wait for a reply, quickly returning the way they’d come and ignoring the concerned questions volleyed at her as people rushed over.
Aurora should leave, float beside Gia as she had been before, but the idea of separating felt akin to hurting herself. She couldn’t.
“Don’t go,” Gia choked out. “Stay there. Please.”
