Inappropriate thoughts successfully squashed, Gia washed quickly and stepped out of the shower to dry off. The bathroom was attached to the bedroom, so she didn’t have to traverse the living room in her towel. Thank god.
Gia pulled on a pair of pajama shorts and a T-shirt she’d been gifted with the rest of the clothes. Once dressed, she hovered, uncertain, in the empty bedroom. Now what? Leaving Aurora all alone, looking out the window all night, felt wrong.
Ugh, whatever. Gia was making this weirder than it needed to be.
She marched over to the door and yanked it open, calling out, “I’m going to sleep.”
Aurora floated in the kitchen, not near the window at all. She gave a little start at Gia’s words, disappearing, then reappearing a split second later. “Sounds good. Trey’s gone, by the way.”
“He is?”
“Yeah. He walked away not long after you went into the shower.”
Because she was the most hopeless person on Earth, Gia’s face heated. She rubbed the back of her neck, hoping Aurora didn’t notice her flush at the mention of showering. “That’s good, right?”
Aurora shrugged. “No one came to take over his post.”
“Do you want to go out and…” Gia had no idea what they’d do. They’d established that going for Aurora’s body could be dangerous if her coven were expecting them.
“Not unless you want to stock your fridge.” Aurora’s gaze swept over Gia, perhaps noting her sleeping attire.
She had to resist crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m not going anywhere tonight unless it’s to help you.”
Aurora smiled like Gia had said something really sweet, rather than betray how much of a homebody she was, not even wanting to go shopping after eight p.m. “I don’t think there’s much we can do tonight. Could you text Lilly with an update?”
“Sure.” Gia ducked into the bedroom and grabbed her phone, glad to escape Aurora’s gaze, even for a moment. Shebrought the phone to the doorway, not looking up as she typed. “I’m like a ghost secretary. Doing your bidding.”
Jesus, why had she saidthat?There was nothing she wanted more than to do Aurora’s bidding. She’d love for Aurora to tell her what to do…tell her what she needed.
Aurora huffed like she found Gia amusing. “Never thought I’d be important enough to have staff.”
Gia’s stomach dropped, and she forced a laugh, the sound strained. She’d had plenty of staff in Ashton Lakes, and it had nothing to do with being important, just being the daughter of a mob boss.
She cleared the lump forming in her throat. “Want me to tell Lilly anything else?”
Thankfully, Aurora seemed oblivious to her inner turmoil. “No, but make sure your phone stays charged so Lilly can get in touch. We’ll need to know right away if anyone tampers with her ward.”
“Yeah, I figured.” Gia plugged the phone in, aware of Aurora drifting into the bedroom doorway behind her. “Do you sleep?”
Oh fuck, why had she asked? That sounded rude, didn’t it? Or like she was about to invite Aurora in to sleep with her. She should be banned from talking.
“I can’t,” Aurora said smoothly, like she wasn’t bothered. “Zoning out and losing track of time is as close as I get. I’ll leave you in peace.” She drifted into the living room.
Gia switched off the light and got into bed, pulling the covers over her. She immediately overheated and threw them off, rolling to her side.
Was Aurora going to zone out all night? It sounded dull as hell and far from restful.
She rolled over again. Dammit, she wasn’t even tired. Ifanything, her brain was kicking into gear now that everything had stopped.
She was a witch.
There was a ghost in her living room.
She hadmagic powers.
A random evil witch had followed her to the deli.
A gorgeous ghost was literally tied to her side.
