Except, lying here together, sex wasn’t at the forefront of Gia’s mind. This other kind of intimacy—to be close, to be trusted, to be gifted with secrets and dreams, and be free to give hers away in return—was something she’d craved even more fiercely than another woman’s touch.
Maybe she didn’t have to long for the intimacy of friendship anymore. Maybe she was in it right now.
Aurora chuckled. “You’re right. I imagine college students weren’t doing much sleeping. I didn’t have aclassicexperience either. I didn’t go to college.”
Maybe that shouldn’t have been a surprise. “Do witches often go to college?”
“Some do. Plenty of witches live semi-human lives andintegrate into wider society, rather than spending every waking moment on a mission to serve Satan.”
“You mean Satan as in the Devil?”
“He’s not the Devil you know. Lucifer is just the immortal being who spread magic through humanity when he wasn’t supposed to.”
That didn’t sound terrible, but there was probably more to it. “And how does your coven serve Satan? If he isn’t evil, why is your coven so terrible?”
Aurora’s glow flickered, but Gia didn’t take her eyes off the ceiling, too afraid to break the spell of closeness. She liked Aurora sharing things with her.
“Serving Satan is mostly bullshit, and doesn’t have much to do with him,” Aurora admitted. “Lucifer is to thank for our magic, but most witches don’t obsess over him as a figurehead. He made no decrees and gave no guidance for who witches should be.”
“Doesn’t sound like much of a leader.”
“He isn’t. Not to witches, at least. Demons are probably another story. Witches, like my coven, use ‘serving Satan’ as an excuse to act however they want, pretending it serves a greater purpose. Suffering proves we’re worthy of the gifts bestowed on us. If you’re a lower member of the coven, that is. Leaders and their advisors are above all that. They make you suffer.”
Fucking hell. She said it so nonchalantly, like suffering was normal. Gia supposed in a way, it was. Removing the Satan of it all, the set-up Aurora described wasn’t altogether unfamiliar.
Gia swallowed, not sure if she should, but asked anyway, “And the marriage thing?”
Aurora flickered once more, but she didn’t seem to hesitate as she answered. “Covens like mine are all about forming alliances. Building power. The Thornfields have been trying to expand their territory for years. We don’t have power in the cityand are stuck on the outskirts, so my uncle looked farther afield, and finally picked a coven from the Rocky Mountains to join forces with.”
“That’s far.” Not even Gia’s father had tried to expand that broadly, as far as she knew.
“You have to cast a wide net,” Aurora said bitterly. “Most witches aren’t like the Thornfields or Nightingales. There were probably closer covens interested in an alliance to increase their territory, but my uncle wants more than territory. He wants witches like him. Cruel people looking to manipulate others into serving them.”
“Is that why Trey might be scoping out the Lockwoods? To see if they’ll serve your coven?” She chanced a glance at Aurora, who was staring hard at the ceiling.
“The Lockwoods would be a bad coven to overtake. You need to go after witches who share enough of your beliefs that you can ensnare them. The Lockwoods would resist getting involved at all, or die trying.”
“Damn.”
Aurora glanced over, a guilty look on her face. “Everything I said probably sounds really fucked up. Sorry.”
“Don’t be. Your coven is the one terrorizing people to the point they’d rather die. They’re the fucked-up ones who should be sorry.”
There was a long pause, and Gia had no clue what more to say. Her chest swelled with the ease with which Aurora opened up. She wished she could reciprocate, but she’d never fought against the evil she’d grown up with. What would she even say?
“The Nightingales aren’t people my uncle can manipulate,” Aurora said after a while. “He sees their leader, Arthur, as an equal, and Arthur has some business in Shearwater Landing that Uncle Stan wants to help with. Maybe he thinks he can gain power within the city that way.”
“Is Arthur who you were supposed to marry?”
“Fuck no. Though his son won’t be any better. I’ve never met Harper, but Arthur is rotten, the kind of person who takes pride in molding their offspring into horrible, mini versions of themselves. Even the way he smiles is slippery and gross. It’s no wonder he’s big into blood magic.”
Gia was afraid to ask what she meant, but Aurora wasn’t done.
“My uncle is under no illusion I’d be a willing bride—he probably didn’t tell the Nightingales—but they’d have figured it out quickly, and wouldn’t have cared. They’d take my blood and use my power even if I didn’t want to help them with their spells and schemes.”
Gia’s stomach dropped. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too…and as bad as being trapped outside my body is, I’d rather this than what would have happened if I’d stayed. I don’t regret taking the risk and fucking up. I’d do it again.”
