A chuckle burst from Aurora, and Gia smiled wider. Energy crackled between them, lighting Aurora’s soul. Could Gia feel it too?
She grabbed her sandwich and took it over to the couch, so maybe not.
Aurora longed to join her, not as a ghost but as a woman. Tofeel more than electricity as their arms brushed, the heat of their bodies warming the couch as they slowly moved closer together.
She shook herself. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, but Trey tailing you is bad. My coven doesn’t fuck around. I wasn’t aware of any issues between the Thornfields and Lockwoods. Do you think this has something to do with Susan dying and you inheriting the theater?”
Aurora couldn’t see how. The Lockwoods weren’t power players. They were an inclusive coven who stayed out of the kind of shit the Thornfields pulled in their never-ending quest to worship their Damned Lord. It didn’t make sense for the Thornfields to go after the Lockwood Coven, but Trey was up to something.
“I don’t know,” Gia said between bites.
“Let’s talk to my friend Lilly and see if she knows anything. Unless there’s some other reason Trey might be after you?”
Gia gave her sandwich a dirty look, seeming to hesitate. “There isn’t. Let’s call your friend.”
Relief had Aurora floating higher off the floor.Finally.“I’ve got Lilly’s number memorized, and she lives nearby. It shouldn’t take her long to get here.”
“Perfect. Do you think she could bring a bottle of wine when she comes? Maybe a Chianti? A glass or two would pair really well with this bullshit.”
Aurora burst into laughter. Damn, comments like that were the way to her heart, or maybe in this form, she should say the way to her soul.
“You can ask Lilly to bring wine, but you might have to settle for whatever’s on sale at the nearest liquor store.”
“What a pity.” Gia gave a long-suffering sigh and pulled out her phone. “Once I dial, can you talk to her?”
“Sure. It shouldn’t be an issue. Unless you’re the only one who can hear me.”
“Why would I be?”
“I don’t know. The same reason I can’t get away from you?”
Gia opened her mouth, then abruptly closed it, a slight flush staining her cheeks. She cleared her throat. “Surely I’m not the only one who can hear you. What’s Lilly’s number?”
What was that blush about? Aurora almost didn’t let it go, and wouldn’t have if things weren’t such a mess.
Hopefully, there’d be time to work out that little mystery later. It’d be more fun than the rest of this disaster.
ELEVEN
GIA
Gia called Lilly on speaker,and Aurora gave her a rundown of how she’d become a ghost, without any trouble.
See,of course,everyone could hear Aurora. Gia resisted pointing this out.
Aurora’s story didn’t make any more sense than it had the first time Gia had heard it. It was all so fantastical, but apparently, fantasy was real now. Who’d have thought Sam driving for thirty hours straight wouldn’t be the weirdest thing to happen this week?
Wait… If Sam was part of the Lockwood Coven, had she used magic to keep herself going? She must have.
Magic must have helped them evade Franco’s detection the night she escaped. Blocked the street security footage of Gia getting into the car, or something like that. Gia almost asked Aurora to explain if such a thing was possible, but stopped herself. Like hell was she admitting to being on the run from the Italian mob.
Aurora might understand her desperation to escape—maybe even understand her fear—but no matter how similar their situations were, the two of them weren’t thesame. Aurora was a good person, fighting against an evil coven as best she could, while Gia had been complicit in her family’s crimes. She’d sat around for years, doing nothing, and only ran when the odds tipped ridiculously in her favor.
She wasn’t honorable like Aurora, and nowhere near as daring. No matter how little Gia understood magic or wondered how a ghost was technically alive, there was no denying that Aurora’s willingness to literally step out of her body was brave as fuck.
“You idiot! I told you not to do that spell!” Lilly shrieked. Seemed she didn’t agree with Gia’s assessment.
At least Lilly didn’t question Aurora being alive. Gia gave in and let go of her skepticism, logic be damned, and a fraction of the anxiety she’d been carrying unraveled. She hadn’t wanted Aurora to be dead. It would have broken her heart.
