Sapphire Spells

Chapter 47

The sun is warm on my face as I close my eyes, enjoying the moment. The rays are like a gentle caress on my cheek. It is quiet in the graveyard, the sound of a breeze rustling some leaves lingers. Down below is the intricate cave system where the Obsidian Coven lives. Beneath the dead of the graveyard.

"Hey," Ally's cheerful voice pulls my attention and my eyes open to find her sitting beside me on an old wooden bench in the middle of the cemetery.

"Hi," I offer her a smile. It is bittersweet.

"You have a thing for the dead," she comments, looking around.

A smile pulls at my lips. "Yeah, apparently I am not the only witch who does." I only lived around cemeteries. The Obsidian Coven lives beneath them. It is clear that witches have some sort of bond with the dead. Being a Sapphire witch, my blood sings to spirits. Even though I did what I could to ignore this side of myself, the magic, trying to be normal, I still was drawn to the dead. Choosing to have them as neighbors. What a fool I was. Thinking I lived a quiet life away from magic.

"I wish I could have been a witch," Ally says. If she were one, then she wouldn't have to leave. Her soul would not be dammed to wander the earth for eternity if she stayed.

"I'm sorry," I whisper. It hurts. Saying goodbye hurts.

She tilts her head, viewing me, her blond hair spilling over her shoulder. "That's not what I mean. It would just be cool to feel magic the way you do. To see the world differently." She sighs, leaning back and closing her eyes as if enjoying the feel of the sun on her skin, just as I was a minute ago. "I regret nothing. My life followed the path it was meant to. I believe that." Her eyes slide open and find mine. "I need you to not blame anyone for what happened in my life."

But I do. I'm sorry for the pain I cause not only for her, but for her family. Ally's body was 'found' not far off of Drew's property. The police have no leads, believing it might have been a stalker or something. At least Ally's family could bury her body. I hope that brings them a sense of peace, though I doubt it does much, for they still are left to wonder who did it and why.

"If you never met me-" My throat tightened. How could I not feel responsible for what happened?

She cuts me off, saying, "Then I would never have been given a sister, a best friend, a life partner."

"You would have lived." I hardly get the words out. Emotion surges through me, painful and longing and somewhat desperate. Yet Ally sits before me, appearing calm and at ease.

"That is not the life I would have wanted. I'm ready for my next adventure, whatever that may be." She smiles warmly, void of fear. Only wonder sparkles in her eyes.

"Are you not afraid of what waits for you once you leave here?" Where will her spirit go, if not here? Will it be a better place or worse? These are answers I have tried to find over the last few days, yet it seems like there aren't any. Or no one wants to share what they know.

"No." She says it in a way like she knows what is next in store for her, though will not tell me. "Do you trust Preston?" She asks suddenly.

I am stunned by the turn of the conversation. "No. Do you?"

She shrugs, eyes turning upward as if in thought. "I never liked him for you. But he released you from that collar."

"Probably to save himself," I mutter. There is no way I am ready to deliberate the mess that is the fairies and Preston.

"Yeah. I honestly don't know what to think of him, but I am glad you got away. And now... a wolf warms your bed." She grins wickedly, moving her eyebrows up and down suggestively.

I snort. Even as a ghost, it's still just Ally. My Ally.

Her smile seems to grow. "Is the sex good?"

"Ally!" My jaw unhinges, though really nothing should shock me at this point when it comes to her questions.

"What?" She looks at me like she has no clue why I am surprised. "Magic intrigues me. He is a wolf, an alpha. I imagine the sex to be extraordinary. Does he ever suspend himself in both forms? He can do that right, be like part human and part wolf."

Despite this being our last talk, a smile finds its way to my lips. "Glad to see being a ghost has done nothing to tame the kink out of you."

"I have read too many smutty fantasy books to not have questions about this stuff." Her eyes grow larger in excitement. "And now, there are even freaking dragons!"

A small laugh moves through me. "Yeah, they are terrifying." Seriously. I thought Alaric was scary and commanding. Dragons are a whole different breed of shifter.

"Terrifyingly hot." She fans her face with a hand as if unable to tolerate the heat that even the thought of them brings to her.

I can't help but smile at her dramatics. "That's because you can not sense their magic. Trust me. They are intimidating." If only she knew what being around that magic feels like. Even though they are shifters, they are nothing like the wolves.

"It is true that the most pretty things are often the most deadly." She comments as if it is an afterthought.

"You get that from the national geographic channel?" I smirk.

"You know me so well." She smirks right back.

"Animal-loving freak," I comment.

"I love you, Emma," she says, and everything light in our conversation vanishes.

It is time. I don't know how I know, but I know it. She is leaving me. Though she is here, beside me, not moving, she is leaving.

"I love you so much." My eyes water. I am not ready for this. "I wish we didn't have to say goodbye." This month with the Obsidian coven has flown by too fast.

"Maybe it's not goodbye. Maybe it's just a see you later." She smiles, silver lining her eyes. Can ghosts cry? "Close your eyes," she instructs.

I shake my head. No. Instead my gaze moves over her, memorizing her face, the way her eyes sparkle so bright and full of life, the silky smoothness of her hair, the way she sometimes scrunches her nose at me, forming that wrinkle I know so well.

Ally smiles softly. "Don't be so stubborn. Just close your eyes."

A tear runs down my cheek as I finally do what I am told.

"Even if you can not see me, I want you to know that I am with you," Ally says, and more tears fall. I feel a tug within, like a thread loosening. Like whatever had me joined to her is unraveling. I fight the urge to pull on that thread, to keep it from slipping away.

"I'm going to miss you-" My voice breaks, throat closing up as I try to control the sobs that threaten to escape.

Ally's hand touches mine, fingers wrapping around mine. Despite her not having a body any longer, I feel that touch. She squeezes three times, each meaning a word, saying - I. Love. You.

I squeeze back in response.

A breeze runs a circle around us, and her touch disappears.

My eyes slide open, finding no one beside me.

"I'll miss you," I whisper to the breeze and hope that it carries my words to her.

The End.

This is where the story ends (for now)