Page 45 of Lost in the Fog

Gia blinked. “Yeah, I suppose we have skipped that part.”

She was held to Ornolf’s side as her father left, and she stared at his forehead. “What are those white marks?”

“Designation of my focus. It lets those around me know that I contain the dead.”

“Oh. I don’t want to be rude, but today has been exhausting.”

He smiled. “I will escort you to your room and wish you a good night.”

Gia wrapped her hand around his forearm, and they headed up the stairs again as he led her to her room. The goodnight kiss began as calm and chaste, but she was soon pressing against him and holding tight. She tasted him, he tasted her, and she was pretty sure she could get addicted.

Self-control kicked in, and she backed away, licking her lips and breathing heavy. “Um, okay, so that part is good.”

He smiled slowly. “Goodnight, Gia.”

“Good night.” She closed her door slowly and walked to the bathroom. A shock of cold water didn’t do much for the heat in her system. Gia found her nightgown in a drawer, got changed, and settled into bed. She grimaced and shrank back to her smaller size. None of her clothing was set for her taller self.

She tried to sleep, but she felt snug. Confined. Gia pulled her nightgown off and slept in her omega shape, sighing in relief. That was what she needed. Sleep came surprisingly easily.

* * * *

Ornolf’s astral projectionstood next to the souls of Gia’s destined mates. They all looked down at Gia, sprawled on the bed with the sheet tantalizingly low.

Simur groaned. “If I knew she looked like that, I would have fought much harder to survive.”

Dansing nodded. “Same here. I had no idea the omegas would look like that.”

Ornolf sighed. “No one did until Keres was at the Stronghold. It was right before you two passed. Achilles and Dante are now very pleased with their mate, and from what I have heard whispered, Keres is expecting.”

Simur smiled. “Good. They will make excellent parents. She recovered?”

Ornolf nodded. “She did. She was reunited with her sister and is now working on her own life, and that includes Achilles and Dante.”

Dansing looked at Gia. “Do you think she misses what could have been?”

They jumped when she said, “She can’t miss shit if she doesn’t sleep. Can you all be spectres elsewhere?”

Ornolf grinned. “You can see us?”

“If I opened my eyes. I can hear you just fine.” She spoke calmly. She rolled away from them, and Ornolf chuckled.

He murmured, “If you were in my bed, we wouldn’t need to check on you.”

“Will it stop you from hovering?”

He grinned. “Yes.”

The sheets flew back, and Simur and Dansing gasped. Ornolf just watched as she got up, walked past them as if they weren’t there, and stalked down the hall into his room. He quickly returned to his body and sat up to watch her enter the room with long strides. She walked around the bed and got into the opposite side, beat the hell out of a pillow, and thudded her head down.

“Good night, wife.”

“Good night, husband. Now shut up. I have stuff to do in the morning.”

He grinned, and the other two returned to their place inside him, amused and amazed. They were gone, but she was here. They had worked for years to convince him to help, and now she was here and safe.

Ornolf leaned up on one elbow and admired the slope of her shoulder and the curve of her hip and thigh. Moonlight streamed in through the window, turning her silhouette into an image that would live in his memory for centuries. All these years with no hope of a mate, two ghosts had nagged him into cooperation that had gotten Gia linked to him and into his bed. It wasn’t what he expected, but her response to his kiss heartened him. He could wait for more, for a while.

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