Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

I MMY

I froze, horrified by the scene in front of me and completely confused by what was happening. My mother was slowly being overcome by the ghostly water that only seemed to affect her, not even damaging my cottage. The water flowed around me like I was an island and focused on my mother. I smothered the snort of laughter, knowing she would not appreciate the humor in the situation. Finally, someone was standing up for me, even if we didn't know how this happened. But I couldn't let it continue. I had to help her.

"Immy! Look at the water. Do you see it?"

Edge's voice was frantic, even as he faded in and out. He pointed to a ghostly shape riding the waves, swirling in the chaotic mess. It was hard to see, but it seemed like … "Is that a book?"

"Yes!" he exclaimed. "Can you reach it?"

Reach it? It was see through! I could see the refrigerator through the cover of what appeared to be a book. And besides, I had a higher priority.

"Imelda Melania Willowby! I demand you help me right now!!" Mother's voice faded away as she was swept into the sitting room, water swamping her head.

I forged through the water, the current parting in front of me, until I stood in front of Edge. "You have to stop this. Please, Edge."

"She insulted you. She treats you poorly. She deserves a little soaking," he stated, a little sulkily.

In that moment, I saw a new side to this surely ghost who had been plaguing me since I'd first run into him at The Rusty Anchor. I'd never really had someone act protective of me, especially someone who I'd just met and didn't seem to like me. I'd considered Edge attractive when he wasn't sneering at me, but now I couldn't help but notice just how sexy he was.

I reached out to touch him, expecting to go through him, yet my hand landed on a very firm forearm. His skin felt unexpectedly warm and his arm was roped with muscle. I didn't expect a ghost to have muscle. Weren't they just skeletons and skin? I clearly needed to update my education.

I tugged him to face me. "It's nothing I haven't heard before. It doesn't bother me, not really."

Okay, maybe that was a lie, a small one. I didn't want to let myself care about what my mother said or thought. I never fit in with the Willowby life and never would. I didn't embrace their values and was happy to have my own life in my small cottage. The last thing I needed was their meddling in my affairs. But that didn't mean I wished them ill.

Edge was glaring at the doorway where my mother had disappeared, the water pouring through. I couldn't hear her anymore and I worried she would drown, if you could drown in ghostly water. How to protect her?

I grabbed Edge's face, not even sure I would be able to touch him, and turned his face to me. I tugged him down to me, since he was taller than me by a few inches and I kissed him.

His mouth parted under mine, his lips warm and firm. Everything faded as his arms came around me and he pulled me close against his lean frame. The sounds of chaos faded as he swept me deeper into the kiss. I wound my arms around his neck, holding him as I tentatively traced his lips with my tongue. Edge groaned and took over the kiss, crushing me to him. His hands desperately roamed over my hips and back before one of them cupped the back of my neck, holding me exactly where he wanted me.

This wasn't simply a kiss. Edge devoured me, consumed me like I was the only thing that would keep him alive… uh, undead? I wasn't sure. His mouth opened, his tongue taking charge and stroking against mine. His fingers sank into my hair as little moans filled my mouth. I'd never been kissed with such unabashed passion. The heat built between us quickly, so fast that I expected the water to turn to steam. If my mother wasn't possibly drowning in the other room in some kind of weird ghost water, I'd be tempted to climb him like a tree. Or drag him over to the couch to really kick this up a notch.

"That's what you do while I'm drowning? Really, Imelda. I expected so much better of you." The sound of my mother's voice was like ice water on a hot day. Shocking and uncomfortable.

We broke apart, Edge's form fading almost completely. I caught a look of dazed contentment on his face, flash to confusion as he seemed to remember what was happening before I'd pulled him into the kiss.

I straightened my shirt and faced my mother standing in the doorway, my face burning. It was a good thing she couldn't hear how fast my heart was beating in my chest. There was an ache deep in my core after the intensity of that kiss. Which was alarming because I didn't like Edge… right? That was something I'd have to explore later.

My attention returned to my mother. She dripped water in my doorway, her once perfectly coiffed hair completely bedraggled, and her clothes in complete disarray and ruined from the water. My cottage, however, did not suffer any ill-effect from the deluge, and appeared dry as a desert.

"Well? What do you have to say about these new powers you've developed over water? When you develop new powers, you have a responsibility to share them with your family." As was typical, mother focused on the potential power element and how she could leverage it for position against the rest of the covens.

"It wasn't me, mother. I don't know how it happened." As soon as she was gone, I planned to interrogate Edge. Ghosts shouldn't have the power to summon a grimoire. But more than any other question, I wanted to know which grimoire it was.

"You're telling me it was that ghost? Everyone knows ghosts don't have power. You figure this out and let us know. Finally, you have come into your name and can make us proud. Don't let us down, Imelda."

And with that final pronouncement, mother swept out of my cottage like a queen, albeit one who limped on one heel since somehow she'd lost the other in the flood. Yet she gave the appearance of being entirety put together, as if nothing was awry. I aspired to her confidence.

I darted into the sitting room where mother had been swept, and where I had last seen that book-like shape. The ghost needed to answer some questions for me. Or kiss me. Or both. But definitely needed to kiss him again. "Edge! Where are you?"

He flickered into existence in the corner, bent over something under my couch. "I think there's something here, Immy. But I can't touch it. Can you?"

I walked over and got on my hands and knees. Sure enough. There was the ghostly outline of a book. A grimoire if I wasn't mistaken. I reached for it and my hands passed right through it. Damn it. I tried a few more times with the same result.

"I'm sorry, Edge. I can't get it. Can you?"

He shook his head mournfully. "I expended too much power. I need to recharge."

"What is that book?"

But he was gone. I hoped he would be back soon. I really needed to know more about the grimoire. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen. But I couldn't get the memory of that kiss out of my mind.