Page 70 of Her Ghostly Embrace
Was there time to cast a counter spell? Aurora turned toward the approaching footsteps, and her mother stepped out from behind the shed.
“Aurora.” Virginia betrayed no hint of surprise. Shouldn’t the sight of her daughter, fresh out of her grave, evoke some emotion other than cold fury, even if she’d been watching and had time to school herself?
Aurora’s throat ran dry. With Gia unconscious, she couldn’t channel her magic. When Aurora had been a ghost, the usual rules of magic didn’t always apply. Like being invisible. There was a chance she’d have been able to join with Gia as a ghost and work through her, even if she were out of it. That wouldn’t work now. Channeling between witches needed continuous consent on both sides.
She was as defenseless as she’d ever been, and worse, she couldn’t protect Gia.
“I don’t know how she got past our wards.” Virginia gestured carelessly at Gia. “But it doesn’t matter now. You won’t be leaving with her, so why not come with me? Stan needs to see you urgently.”
Aurora’s grip on Gia tightened. “That’s all you have to say after I crawled out of a coffin? Stan needs to see me urgently?”
“If you didn’t want to be put to rest, you shouldn’t have abandoned your body in such a lifeless—or should I say soulless?—position. Do you have any idea what you’ve cost us? All Stan’s plans are ruined.”
Damn it, where’s Viv when you need her?Aurora didn’t have the energy for her mother’s bullshit.
“Leave the trespasser where she belongs.” Virginia’s voice rose, and she swept out a commanding arm, sending magic cutting through the air.
Power hit Aurora in the chest, and she staggered to the side, dropping Gia.
“Come with me.” Her mother pointed toward the main house. “Don’t make me force you.”
Aurora bit the inside of her cheek until she tasted blood. She walked as slowly as possible, but didn’t try to resist. The last thing she needed was her mother hurting Gia more than she already had.
What else could Aurora do? She saw no way out of this.
The back door to the house opened, and three familiar men strode across the lawn. Her uncle’s steps faltered, his pale face losing color at the sight of her. Had he expected someone else? From what Virginia had said, they’d known she wasn’t dead. Stan had expected her to suffocate, and here she was.
Sick satisfaction at catching him off guard coiled inside Aurora. She wouldn’t be beaten down easily. But without Gia, Stan’s momentary fear meant little. He still had power over her and seemed to remember as much.
Stan’s surprise smoothed over. By the time he stood in front of Aurora, meeting halfway between the trees and the house, he wore his usual self-important sneer.
“Aurora, I thought we made it clear we no longer need you.”
She flinched as if he’d slapped her, hating that he could still cause her pain. She didn’t care what he thought. Didn’t want anything from him, least of all to be of value to him. But still. He’d buried her in the ground, knowing she was alive and assuming she’d die.
“You expected me to suffocate?” She lifted her chin, pretending his cruelty was nothing to her. “Maybe you should have dug deeper.”
“Perhaps you should have done as you were told and solidified our alliance with the Nightingales. As soon as I asked to postpone the betrothal, they dropped us faster than hot coal.Claimed we were unreliable and not what they’d hoped. All because of you.”
Aurora fumed, even though she was glad to hear the Nightingales weren’t around. “Seems like pinning your alliance on me was a dumb idea. You can try as hard as you want, but you can’t control me.”
“No?” Stan cocked his head. “What are you still doing here then?”
Aurora swallowed a scream, the desire to escape swelling within her.
She glanced over her shoulder. Virginia stood over Gia, who remained slumped on the ground, and Viv was nowhere to be seen. Even if Aurora could escape, she couldn’t run and leave Gia defenseless.
No matter how fiercely Aurora raged inside, she was defenseless too, a caged animal, and her keeper knew it.
Panic threatened the edges of Aurora’s senses. She clenched a shaking fist, trying desperately to come up with a plan. Her next move.Anything. She reached inward, searching for…she didn’t even know what.
Something responded. A tickle of warmth caressed the magic within her. Was it Gia’s?
Hope tore through Aurora, and she reached for Gia’s power. It pulsed stronger, like it was offering itself up, waiting and ready to give her everything it could.
Gia must have woken and had the forethought to remain limp. Satan bless that smart woman. Aurora wanted nothing more than to kiss her until her lips were raw.
Soon. She’d give Gia the world as soon as she got them out of this mess.
