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With another sigh, I finally pushed back the covers and got out of bed. There was no point in lying around feeling sorry for myself. I had things to do back home, and the longer I put them off, the worse everything was going to get.

Besides, I'd promised Garrik I would come back, and I fully intended to keep that promise. I just hoped I could get everything straightened out in Tampa before Halloween.

I tried to put all these thoughts out of my head, but by the time I finished getting dressed, I was feeling even more depressed about leaving.

I'd put my old clothes back on—the oversized T-shirt and black yoga pants I'd been wearing when I first came to Hidden Hollow. After spending most of the previous day in Lucinda's beautiful green silk dress, they seemed awfully plain, not to mention kind of shabby.

I looked at myself in the enormous antique mirror and sighed. Yesterday, with my hair done and my makeup on, I'd felt almost like a princess in that lovely dress. Today I looked like an ordinary middle-aged woman getting ready to run errands.

Which, I supposed, was exactly what I was.

Garrik had told me I could keep the dress, along with the beautiful mink stole he'd given me, but I'd decided to leave them behind. For one thing, where on earth would I wear an elaborate silk gown like that in Tampa? It was much too heavy for the Florida heat, and the mink stole was even more impractical. Central Florida was hot for most of the year, and even on the coldest winter days, it rarely got chilly enough to justify wearing fur.

Still, I hated to leave them—the mink especially was so beautiful. Of course, I would never buy a fur myself, but this one was old and had been around for over a hundred years, long before social consciousness around fur emerged.

I ran my fingers over the beautiful green silk one last time before carefully hanging the dress in the wardrobe. The mink stole was folded neatly beside it, along with the matching shoes and stockings.

Maybe when I came back to Hidden Hollow, Garrik would let me wear the dress and stole again. I smiled a little at the thought.

When I come back, I repeated to myself. Not if—when.

I was definitely coming back. Because even if Goody Albright couldn't figure out how to finish breaking Garrik's curse, I wasn't going to abandon him. He'd spent a hundred years trapped in that enormous house, and now that his body was breathing again, there had to be some way to get his spirit back inside it, and I intended to help him find it.

Besides, if I was being entirely truthful with myself, I wanted to see him again for reasons that had nothing to do with magic. I wanted to hear his deep, growling voice and watch the way his blue eyes softened whenever he called me sweetheart. I wanted to argue with him about his ridiculous house rules and feel those enormous hands of his wrapped around my waist again.

And I wanted to kiss him, I admitted to myself. Not because some ancient spell told me to either, but just because I wanted to.

Oh, boy, I thought, looking at myself in the mirror again. You are in so much trouble, Celeste Kinderson.

Because I was beginning to think I might be falling for the big, grumpy Gryphon. And considering that I lived in Tampa and he couldn't even leave the grounds of Blackthorn Manor, that was going to make things awfully complicated.

24

CELESTE

When I finally came downstairs, Garrik was waiting for me in the front hall looking as handsome as ever in his white linen shirt and dark trousers. His broad shoulders seemed to fill the space beside the enormous front doors, and the morning sunlight streaming through the stained-glass windows made his dark, curly hair gleam.

It was strange to think that he was a ghost—he looked so solid and real, especially now that we'd managed to awaken his physical body. In fact, if I hadn't known better, I would have thought he was simply an extremely large, handsome man waiting to escort me somewhere.

Of course, he was still transparent around the edges if I looked closely enough, and there was the little matter of his real body lying on a marble table deep beneath the house. But other than that, he looked perfectly normal. Well, as normal as an enormous Gryphon Shifter could look, anyway. I was still wondering what his Gryphon form might look like, but I hadn’t had the nerve to ask him about it since it seemed like it might be a touchy subject.

"Ah, there you are, Lady Celeste," he said as I came down the stairs. "I trust you slept well?"

"Pretty well," I admitted. "Though I missed having someone to talk to."

He raised one dark eyebrow.

"Indeed? I should think you'd have had more than enough conversation yesterday, considering how much you and that infernal cat enjoy talking."

I laughed.

"Well, I guess I was thinking of someone a little bigger and less furry."

His expression changed slightly, and for a moment I thought he might say something, but then he simply smiled.

"Well, perhaps you'll find someone to converse with when you return to Tampa,” he said.

I felt a little pang of disappointment, but I tried not to show it.