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“Yes. Brat.”
“Up yours, Aaron.”
Kayla rolled her eyes. “You two, stop bickering.”
“R.A.F.E. Is a good guy.” Finally a man he’d approved of, and Aaron had run him off with his good intentions. Didn’t it figure.
“That’s very sweet, Aaron, but I doubt he’ll be back.”
“He came back before.”
Kayla slanted her eyes at Opal. “That was just Opal’s spell.”
The game piece slid across the board. “More than that.”
More? Was he saying Rafe had come back because he’d really loved her? Because of something deeper than an incantation and a few rocks sealed together in wax? If what was between them was real, then maybe there was a chance—
Opal shifted restlessly in her seat, hissed out a breath, and sat forward with her hands over the planchette. “Fine. Yes, it was more. I lied about last Halloween. I did use a spell, but only because Aaron made me. Another attraction spell. Though, I never would have done it if I’d known the guy was rolling out of town the next day.”
That little balloon of hope within her deflated, but instead of leaving her empty, something else filled the void. Anger.
Kayla slapped her hand on the table, catching the side of the board in the motion. “Another spell? Are you kidding me?” After everything, none of this was real. “Damn it, do you have any idea—just stay out of my life!”
She hadn’t meant to lose control, but the words she never even wanted to think, had leapt past her lips. Afraid voicing them, even once, might give them power, she tried to take them back. “No, that came out wrong. I didn’t mean it, I swear. I just want you two to stop meddling.”
It wasn’t enough. She swallowed hard and went on. “I love you both, but save your spells for yourselves. Opal, it’s amazing that your magic works, but how about next time you find Aaron a nice ghost girl with hot ectoplasm, and conjure up yourself a wicked, sexy warlock.”
Opal took her hand. “I’m sorry. I just wanted you to be happy. So did Aaron.”
“I am happy. You guys are more than enough. I don’t need anything else. I don’t want it.” It hurt too much.
The leaves rustled again and the planchette glided around the board. “You want your own life. You need it.”
“No. I don’t.” She didn’t want to talk about this, so she pulled her fingers away, balling her hands in her lap.
Opal squeezed her knee and gave her a kiss on the cheek before getting up. “I’m going to let you two talk about this.”
After her sister disappeared down the hall, Kayla leaned back and closed her eyes, resting her head against the soft cushion.
“Don’t tune me out.” He was in her head again.
“Aaron, you don’t understand.”
“Yes, I do. Sometimes all you think about is what it would be like to have someone love you, to live a normal life. You try to push those thoughts away, but they’re so strong, it’s like you’re screaming them. I know you don’t want to lose me. I know that. And you won’t. You haven’t gotten rid of me so far, have you?”
Kayla let out a weak laugh, but then fell silent. She was so selfish. As if the life she had wasn’t enough.
“It’s not selfish,” he said. “It’s normal, and there’s nothing wrong with wanting more. I want more all the time. I want a body, I want to go out with my friends and throw lame lines at chicks. I want to go to college and get a job. I want to eat and sleep and taste and smell. I want to breathe. I know I’ve gotten more living in than most of the dead, and I’m grateful for that. But I still want more. And I want more for you, too. But the difference, Kayla, is that you can actually have it.”
“So you got Opal to cast a spell on me?”
“No, I just led her to a spell that would work. Albeit, a little differently than she had intended. She cast a love spell. It wasn’t just about getting a little flesh, the way she thought, although it seemed to have worked pretty well that way, too.”
Blood rushed into Kayla’s cheeks. She cleared her throat and immediately tried to block out the carnal images that were so fresh in her mind. She didn’t want those stray thoughts getting to Aaron.
“So what were you trying to do? Make me fall in love with the guy you selected?”
“No, the spell drew you to the person you were meant for. I’d hoped Rafe might be the one, because I liked what I’d picked up from him. And I liked that he could see me. But I can’t make you love someone; that has to come from the heart. And if your love was true, then nothing would keep you away from each other.”
