A Ghoulish Midlife (Witching After Forty #1) - Lia Davis Page 0,55

and walked me to the cemetery gates. “Look at the whole graveyard. And heal the skeletons. Not fully. Just heal their state. Their proper state is in the ground, at rest. Heal them to that state.”

I shrugged. Worth a try.

Usually I placed my hands on people when I healed them, so this would be tricky. The skeletons didn’t need actual healing. The last thing we needed was a bunch of undead beings roaming the town. What they needed was to go back to the resting places. To sleep once more.

A thought formed in my mind and I closed my eyes while lifting my hands in the air. My power flowed out in all directions and I could feel it touch each skeleton as it went. I felt their confusion and their need to obey me. “Time to go back to sleep. You served me well tonight.”

One by one, I sensed the skeletons moved to their graves. When everything was nice and quiet, with no signs of bones, we walked back to Olivia’s car, exhausted. “Back to my place?”

Olivia nodded. “Yeah. But I’m not driving. I’m too tired.”

Sam took the keys. I climbed in the back seat beside Owen and stared out the window in a bit of a stupor. We made it to my house quickly, and by then I was beyond bone weary and didn’t even notice Drew had followed us in his squad car until he put his hand on the small of my back.

I was too tired to jump in surprise. “I think I used too much magic,” I whispered.

The next thing I knew, I was up in Drew’s arms with my arms around his neck. Even exhausted, I couldn’t help but feel a thrill of excitement. He was carrying me inside. Who does that anymore?

Was there anything hotter, ever, anywhere?

No. There was not.

Drew got me inside and set me gently on the sofa as Wallie ran in. “What’s wrong?” he cried. “Is she hurt?”

“No, Wal, I’m okay. Just exhausted. I used too much magic; I think.”

Drew pulled a blanket off of the chair and wrapped it around me. “Are you sure nothing hurts?”

“I’m fine.” I smiled up at him. “Thank you.”

He sat at my feet. “Carmen is gone,” he told Wallie. Alfred hovered in the doorway, and I could’ve sworn he was relieved when he heard the news.

“Where?” Wallie asked.

“The skeletons took her,” Olivia said brightly, then giggled.

Wallie gaped at us. “The what now?”

“It’s a long story,” Drew said. “If Ava is sure she’s okay, I’m going to go home and let you lot fill him in.”

I caught his hand as he got up. “Thank you,” I whispered.

He touched his forehead where a hat would be, as if he’d forgotten he wasn’t wearing one. He gave my hand a gentle squeeze before letting it go. “Yes, ma’am.”

A bit of a western or maybe southern accent slipped out and holy shit. He got about ten times hotter. Did he grow up in the south? Visions of him riding a horse in a cowboy hat flitted through my head and I wanted everyone to go home so I could spend some time upstairs.

Alone.

“I’ll walk you out,” I said.

Drew said goodbye to the rest of the crowd, and I stepped out onto the porch with him. “Thanks again,” I whispered.

When he took my hand, my energy recuperated quickly. Drew stepped close. “You were pretty amazing tonight,” he said. “You’re untrained?”

I nodded. “I just wanted you all to be safe.”

As he leaned closer, I stared at his lips. Was he going to kiss me?

Just before his lips met mine, the porch light flickered. I looked at the door in surprise to see Alfred peeking through the curtain.

“I should go,” Drew said, chuckling. “I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

“Sure, yeah.”

I watched him walk down my porch steps and sighed. What a man.

Chapter Twenty

I slept like the dead, which was saying a lot after what we went through last night. Olivia and Sam went home, and Owen settled into my Aunt Winnie’s old bedroom, which he’d chosen as his. I didn’t mind. He was cool.

Someone yelled up the stairs as I brushed my teeth. “Hey!”

I didn’t recognize the voice. Rushing out of my room in my nightgown, I looked downstairs in confusion.

“Yeah?” I asked through my mouth full of toothpaste.

“We quit!” the construction foreman yelled back. “I don’t know what kind of Halloween bullshit you’ve got going on, but we saw the man dressed up like a zombie in your upstairs window. And