Page 12 of Haunted Heart
“If I wanted you dead, you would be.” Her fingers brush my lips. “At first, I wanted you to leave, then… I started to like that you had come to haunt me, too.”
I swallow the tremor of fear and lick my lips. “As long as your intentions are good.”
“Good intentions are a matter of dates and puritanical rules.” Her fingers tip my face up and she leans close. “Can I kiss you, Genevieve… in case this spell fades, and I lose the chance to do it again?”
I look at her lips, soft and dark and pale at the same time, and for the first time, they’rehere. “Yes.”
Her hand grips my chin and as her lips meet mine, I can’t help but shiver at the icy chill that her kiss pulses through me. I take an involuntary half step closer and grip her waist.
Julia says I’ve haunted her, but she has haunted my dreams and desires for so long now… Ineedher.
She hums a soft sound, breaking the kiss but not drawing away. Forehead tipped to mine, she strokes my chin with her thumbs. “That may have been a bad idea.”
“Why?”
“Because now, I don’t want to give you back to the living…” she glances toward the floor, “or the half dead.”
Half… “Crap.”
I want to linger here. The way she smiles makes me want to forget for a moment, but I can’t.
“Ireallywant to talk to you. There are so many things I’ve wanted to ask, but… I have to deal with them first.”
Her smile fades, and she releases my hand. “Of course. I’m sorry.”
I catch the hand that she’s just removed from mine. “No, I’m the one who’s sorry. If I hadn’t messed this up…” I let those words fade, because if I hadn’t, she wouldn’t be solid right now.
“I understand.”
I laugh mirthlessly and drag my hand down my face. “At least one of us does.”
Her head tips to the side, but she doesn’t ask me to clarify.
I grab my phone and hand it to her, but it drops straight through her palm and clatters on the floor.
“Oh. I guess the spell only works for me.” I grimace as I scoop the phone back up.
“You’re more than enough,” she assures.
“If I’d known that spell would do… this,” I say haltingly, still not sure what it is, “I would have done sooner.”
Smiling, she shows off sharp teeth. “No point in dwelling on the past.”
Her hand wraps around my waist, hugging me to her as she looks at my phone, reading the spell, silently. “It’s beenmislabeled. It’s a reveal spell, not a revival one. That’s why I’m here and they’re not.”
“You said they’re half dead. What did you mean by that?”
“Look into their eyes,” she says, releasing me.
“I already did.”
Julia shakes her head. “Lookthroughthem the way you do to see me in the mirror.”
Jonas is closer right now, so I go to him and peel one eye open.
They’re glassy and lifeless like before… until I lookintohis pupil. Red and swirling sky, black branches… I draw back, because something in there tugs at me.
I immediately go to Dylan, lifting him so I can get a better look at the same thing “behind” his eyes.
