She rolled her eyes. “Your only sister.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “What are you going to do? Are you staying here?”
She nodded, gesturing across the street. “I’m going to reopen the theater my Aunt Susan left me. Hey”—she playfully smacked his shoulder—“if I can’t find enough employees, you can be an usher or a concession operator or something. In case you can’t find a job.”
Marc looked horrified by the idea. “Thanks…”
Gia laughed, shoving him again, like she used to do when they were young, and he grinned. “What? Is working in a theater not good enough for you?”
His cheeks reddened. “It’s not that. Okay. Maybe a little. Damn, I need to adjust my world view.”
More like rid himself of Franco’s world view.
“Don’t worry about it, Marc. You’ll be fine. Let me know if you need anything. Seriously.” She meant it, but prayed he didn’t need a place to sleep.
“Thanks. I should be okay for now.”
Gia smiled. “Glad to hear it.”
The last thing she needed now that she had her first girlfriend was her brother crashing in her one-bedroom condo.
EPILOGUE
AURORA
Six months later.
It was openingnight for Maya’s latest production, and the Spotlight Theater was packed. While this was the coven headquarters, the shows and movie screenings had always been human-friendly. Not all the actors were witches, and the lighting and sound were done by human technicians. Aurora loved how the theater served as a place for the whole neighborhood, not only witches and vampires.
Covens like the Thornfields only succeeded in isolation, and Aurora would much rather hide her magic ability in public than be cut off from so much of the world. Living amongst human society made life brighter.
Gia found her at the bottom of the stairs. “The doors are shut.”
The music swelled in the theater beyond. “You look excited.”
Gia grinned, her cheeks flushed. “I am. I might not have acting or singing skills, but I love this.”
“Yeah?” Aurora pulled her close. “Even with all the late nights and staffing drama.”
Gia rolled her eyes. “I’d hardly call it drama.”
In truth, the staff were great. Aurora had worked more closely with them when they’d first reopened for movie nights, but she was becoming less involved as time went on. She wasn’t as enthusiastic about running the theater as Gia. Especially when it came to the business side. Aurora had quickly learned to avoid the office, and not because she’d once been trapped in there.
Gia, on the other hand, was all business, happily taking care of all the tasks that made Aurora’s mind fog over. Aurora might not mind hiding magic sometimes, but human work wasn’t for her.
Luckily, Gia had helped her settle on the perfect alternate career. The woman was full of brilliant ideas.
Gia glanced around the lobby. “I don’t think there’s anything else we need to do until intermission.”
The staff did seem to have it covered. “Shall we wait it out in the office?”
“An excellent idea.” Gia led her up the stairs and along the hall. “How was your class today?”
Aurora’s stomach flipped. “I think it went well.”
At Gia’s suggestion, Aurora had started helping one of the coven elders teach magic lessons. After Aurora had taught her the magic basics, Gia had claimed she was a natural teacher.
While most witches were taught by their parents, family members, or tutors, Gia wasn’t the only one to miss out and find themselves an adult in need of training. Working with children wasn’t for Aurora, but she loved teaching adults, whether it was basic stuff or more complex theory. She was even helping run an advanced session on magical research, diving deep into counter spell construction. Picking things apart and building new spellsstretched Aurora’s mental legs in a way working in the theater simply hadn’t.
