Her throat swelled. She pressed the cell back to her ear. “Th-thanks for letting me know, Sai. Do you…do you know when the funeral is?”
“I’m not sure. Tomorrow, I think.”
So quick? Why would they do that? Unless it was at Nan’s request.
She swallowed hard. “I see. Thanks.”
“Nia, I’m here for you, honey,” Saia murmured. “We all are. You’re not alone.”
Nia didn’t want Lore to see how much it hurt that no one had bothered to contact her.
With the composed mask she’d perfected wearing at the mansion back on, she nodded. “I know. I’ll be there. Thank you, Sai.”
She ended the call and stood there, loneliness consuming her.
“Nia, it will not be safe with the demon still hunting you.”
About to tell him it was her grandmother, she choked back the words. Lore wouldn’t care. His priority was her safety. She shook her head and walked outside into the gloomy afternoon, barely feeling the chill. She stopped under the leafless oak and grasped the swaying punching bag.
Nan might have been cold and distant, and it didn’t matter if they hadn’t had much of a relationship or if the crumbs of affection she longed for had never happened. Nan was still family.
She sensed Lore behind her.
“I’m going home.” She let go of the punching bag, wrapped her arms around her waist, and prayed she could dematerialize herself back to New Orleans.
He came into her line of view. “You cannot teleport long distance just yet,” he said, apparently reading her mind. “You’re still new to this. I’ll take you.”
He held out a hand.
Nia eyed it.
He was right. In her current state, she’d probably end up in the ocean. Without a word, she placed her hand in his. His warm fingers wrapped around hers, and the abbey disappeared.
Nia swallowed hard and shut her eyes. With the last of her family gone, she couldn’t help but feel utterly alone against a world out to destroy her.
Chapter
Twelve
They reappearedin the small paved, plant-scaped backyard of her two-story apartment, the chilly night enclosing her. Without a word, Nia opened the door Lore magically unlocked and walked into her home.
The lamps on the side tables next to the couch came on. Lore again. The soft light illuminated the kitchen shadows, faded sofas, and the side stairs leading up to the bedroom. The familiar details of the home she’d lived in for the past four years and loved did nothing to ease her.
She’d been gone for nearly a week, but it felt like months. Everything felt different. She shut it all out, just needing to get through the coming days.
Lore followed closely behind her. His enticing warmth wrapped around her like an embrace, one she badly needed?—
No, she wasn’t going down that route. God, she wished he’d never kissed her because something had fundamentally changed inside her, and she had no idea how to fix it, how to feel normal again.
Now, she had to go to the funeral and pay her respects to a grandmother who’d ignored her for most of her life. Memoriesflooded her of the day when she’d been packed off to Nan’s after her parents’ death…
“It seems you are now my responsibility,” Nan Cora said. With her white hair pulled into a severe bun, her eyes were dark holes in her thin, pale face. Nia’s heart fluttered like a trapped bird.
“These are my rules. Follow them, and we will live in peace. I don’t like unnecessary disturbances to my days. No friends over unless they pass muster and are scheduled. Meals will be served in a timely manner. Your maid will instruct you onthose hours.”
Struggling to hold back her tears, Nia gulped as she stared at the grandparent she’d only met a handful of times, too terrified to say a word.
“If you need anything, within reason, your maid will see to it.” Then, her hard stare held Nia’s. “I don’t want to hear about demons.”
