Page 38 of Gifted Destiny

“Absolutely not. We told the detective that my discarded magic belonged to the library. That isn’t true until you’re mated with Zosia. I think I gave the library enough magic to ease her exhaustion, and every completed bond will strengthen her. She won’t deny you.” His lips curl into a sly smile.

I’d overheard the goblin’s concerns regarding Zosia’s energy, and I hope Bren is right. I won’t force myself on her, regardless of how long I’ve waited. If she doesn’t wake up or is too groggy to offer enthusiastic consent, I will hold her while she sleeps. Despite my eager dick’s whining arguments, I am grateful to touch her in any way.

“Do you know how long I have?”

Bren shrugs. “Dawn? I have no way of knowing for sure, but it feels right.”

Perfect. It’s strange for me to admit, but I don’t want to be solid when the library opens. I prefer my job in ghost form. As for spending the rest of the night with Zosia and being able to touch her? This is the best thing that has happened to me in years – perhaps my entire life. My body thrums withanticipation, but I have one more thing to do before I sprint toward the woman I love.

“Thank you.” The words stick in my throat, but they aren’t insincere. My asshole of a father didn’t raise me to be nice and manners are unnecessary for a ghost. I’m more accustomed to deflecting emotions with humor than addressing them.

This is a second chance, though, and Zosia carries dreams of a happy found family. To help her achieve that, I need to be less toxic. I doubt I’ll find a qualified ghost therapist, but understanding that Bren deserves my gratitude doesn’t require a master’s degree.

“You’re welcome. Thank you for being my guinea pig.” Bren’s humor lessens the discomfort of our exchange. “Now, go to her.”

A switch flips in my brain and every cell within me hones in on a singular goal – go to Zosia.

“Ow!” My solid head bounces off the stairwell’s exit door. I stumble backward in confusion and realize that my wail was reflexive. Although my forehead and nose collided with the solid barrier, it didn’t cause pain. The blow to my pride, however, strikes with quadruple force.

Bren doubles over and hoots with laughter. The sound bounces off the walls and echoes back to me. “You can’t …!” He runs out of breath as another hysterical laughing fit seizes him. “You have to actually open the door now.”

I scowl at him but admit that it probably looked hilarious. I think I forgot how doorknobs work anyway. I fumble with the unfamiliar catchment, uncertain whether to twist and pull, twist and push, or do something else entirely.

Finally, it cracks open a slit, but my triumph wilts as quickly as it bloomed. A face full of fury and a mountain of muscle is all I see. I release the door and stumble backward, but Garrett grabs it and opens it wider. His looming hugeness fills the portal. Ican barely see the vampire behind the shifter, but his face looks significantly less irritated.

“What in the seven fucking hells is going on?” The shifter doesn’t speak; he growls. “The door was locked, but I felt your power. It felt like an explosion. Are you all right?” He barely glances at me as he advances toward his brother.

Shit, he’s huge. His size didn’t seem as intimidating when I could hover several inches above him and he couldn’t hurt me.

Bren’s broad, bright smile halts Garrett in his tracks, but I barely notice. Avery is staring at me, his sightless silver eyes bright with confusion and curiosity. “Kodi? You seem … strange.” His head tilts to the side, causing his loose white hair to cover half of his face.

“You’re just noticing this?” My reply is heavy with sarcasm as I edge past the shifter’s bulk, around the vampire, and out of the cramped stairwell. I was beginning to feel claustrophobic – which is weird because I never felt that way as a ghost. “You’ll have to excuse me. I have a date. Bren can explain.”

“Yes. I’ll explain. Everything is perfectly fine. I had too much power, so I gave Kodi some.” Bren’s tone implies that he’s gifted me with a penny or something equally inconsequential. I feel like turning around to argue, but I have better things to do. “It worked!”

Legs are more difficult than I remember. Stairs present a particular challenge, and the brothers’ argument follows me as I slowly descend. Garrett lectures his brother about the dangers of impulsivity while Bren calmly regurgitates quotes. I specifically hear ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained,’ but I don’t hear who he credits with the words. Their voices finally fade when I reach the sixth-floor landing.

My goal is Zosia, but this body moves like molasses. I’m also scared I might dissipate, which is silly because I’m as solid as I was five minutes ago. The occasional prickle on my skin remindsme of Bren’s magic, and I’m grateful he stopped when he did. If I’d started to develop a weather mage’s abilities, we’d have double the trouble. I don’t regret anything, but Garrett might have a point.

Why are there so many stairs? How does the living manage? Recalling that the shifter carried Zosia up and down all ten flights creates an equal measure of envy and pity.

When my feet land firmly on the main floor, I feel like days have passed instead of minutes. Despite the effort of maintaining my coordination, I’m not out of breath. The fact that I’m breathing at all blows my mind. I figured I’d be undead like a typical vampire, but my involuntary systems must be reflexive. Will I pass out if I hold my breath? I shake aside the question; more important ones await.

After fumbling through two more doors, I stand outside Zosia’s bedroom. My heart thumps faster. Weird. I also feel compelled to inhale deeply, and my chest expands. Doubly weird.

I finally remember how doorknobs work, but my hands shake as I twist the handle. Floating in and out of her room as a ghost never bothered me. Somehow, using the door feels different – almost invasive.

I almost backpedal when a pair of glowing, golden eyes greets me in the pitch-black darkness of Zosia’s room. They’re fixed on me, and I worry that a wild animal has somehow gotten into my friend’s – girlfriend’s, mate’s – bedroom. My brain stumbles over the stupid labels while I remind myself that Zosiaisthe animal. Her eyes have shone in the dark since she remembered how to shift, but I’d attributed the change to my ghostly vision.

“Wha-?” The groggy tone suggests that she’s barely awake.

“It’s just me, princess,” I whisper, and the familiarity of my voice relaxes her. She lays back down, her eyes drifting closed again. I pull the door shut behind me and realize my mistakewhen I turn back to the room. I can’t see in the dark anymore. Gritting my teeth, I move forward slowly and bite back a curse when my shin hits something solid. Just like in the stairwell, however, the pain is muted. Have my physical receptors been altered? If so, my time with Zosia won’t be as I imagined.

The bed isn’t hard to find, considering it takes up nearly the entire room. I don’t bother going around it once I feel the short footboard. Instead, I begin crawling toward the headboard on my hands and knees.

“Kodi? Waz going on?” Zo jerks upright again. Her half-conscious mind must be confused that my weight is affecting the mattress.

“Your eyes glow in the dark now.” It’s a little frightening, but I don’t add this part aloud.

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