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    Ghost in a Bottle
    Ghost in a Bottle
    Ghost in a Bottle
    Ebook98 pages1 hour

    Ghost in a Bottle

    By Lia Davis and Kerry Adrienne

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Some family secrets are best left buried.

    Ophelia Hunt travels to her family’s ancestral home in Savannah, Georgia, to help her beloved grandmother get her affairs in order. To destress, she spends the day shopping, ending up at an antique store near the river. A hand-blown glass jar, shoved behind other trinkets and baubles, catches her eye. Unable to shake the strong feeling she’s meant to have the old jar, she buys it and sets it on her grandmother’s mantel.

    As All Hallow’s Eve approaches, strange things begin to happen. Objects move on their own, doors open and slam closed, and a man’s whispers call out in the darkness. Are Gram’s old stories of family curses and ghosts real, or is Ophelia cracking under the stress of dealing with her grandmother’s finances and last wishes?

    Anatoli La Croix has spent the last century cursed to exist in spirit form, locked inside a glass jar. When the beautiful and magickal Ophelia purchases the jar, he discovers he’s able to escape his confinement for short periods. For the first time in a century, he has hope. Could the beautiful witch be the one to break his curse? Or will she provoke the evil spirit that imprisoned him and bring dark magick’s wrath down on them both?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAfter Glows Publishing
    Release dateOct 31, 2017
    ISBN9781948121033
    Ghost in a Bottle
    Author

    Lia Davis

    "Lia Davis is the USA Today bestselling author of more than forty books, including her fan favorite Ashwood Falls Series. A lifelong fan of magic, mystery, romance and adventure, Lia's novels feature compassionate alpha heroes and strong leading ladies, plenty of heat, and happily-ever-afters. Lia makes her home in Northeast Florida where she battles hurricanes and humidity like one of her heroines.When she's not writing, she loves to spend time with her family, travel, read, enjoy nature, and spoil her kitties. "

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      Book preview

      Ghost in a Bottle - Lia Davis

      Publisher

      Ghost in a Bottle

      Some family secrets are best left buried.

      Ophelia Hunt is spending her vacation in Savannah, Georgia, helping her dying grandmother settle her affairs. Upon arriving she stops in an antique store. She doesn’t know why, but she’s drawn to the store and an old glass jar. Unable to shake the feeling she’s meant to have the jar, she buys it.

      The closer to Hollows Eve the more eerie the house becomes. Objects move on their own, doors open and close, and a man’s whispers are only a few things Opehlia experiences. Suddenly the old stories of curses and ghosts Grams use to tell her don’t seem fiction anymore.

      Anan La Croix has spent the last century cursed to live as a ghost, locked inside a glass jar. When the beautiful and magickal, Ophelia, purchases the jar and brings it and him home with her, he is able to leave the confines of the glass. Hope is restored within him. Could she be the one to break his curse?

      1

      Ophelia Hunt tugged her leather jacket tighter as the fall wind off the Savannah River sent a chill through her. She walked a little faster, boot heels clicking on the bricked sidewalk. Savannah usually wasn’t cold. Summers had always been hot when growing up and she’d come close to not even bringing a jacket on her trip home this time.

      Good thing she’d decided to toss it in her luggage. It was nearly the end of October and she didn’t know how long she’d be in Savannah and fall would soon turn to brisk days and cool nights.

      Her gramma’s idea to take a day’s break from sorting through stuff at the house had been a good one, but Ophelia was tired of walking and sight-seeing. The quaint shops along the river were always fun to poke around in, but she hadn’t bought anything and she was ready to head home. To Gramma’s house, the old farmhouse filled with family memories.

      She paused at the sidewalk’s railing and watched the river roll by, the wind sweeping her long hair up and over her head in a tangle. She tugged her locks into place and stared into the water. The current a muddy brown, sometimes deep green, she’d always imagined it hid secrets of the past beneath its swirling surface. A tributary ran by her family’s home farther inland but the Savannah River was wide near the port and she’d always loved being on the river walk.

      In the harbor section of the river, cargo ships chugged by the promenade where she’d spent many days watching the vessels go by when she was younger. They sailed in from ports of call around the world and brought every type of goods from cars to food.

      She used to daydream about what the port looked like over a hundred years ago when ocean shipping was the main way things came into the country. Bananas from South America and silk from China arriving on triple-masted schooners with billowing sails that seemed to reach the clouds. What an amazing sight it must have been to see such treasures float into America on wind power alone. Now, items were locked away in rusty shipping containers on big metal boats motoring under powerful engines.

      Still, a sight to behold.

      She’d spent her high school summers ship watching instead of dating, which had suited her grandmother just fine. Ophelia tucked fly-away hair behind her ear.

      She’d left for college and not really looked back. She’d become a big-city girl and forgotten about her roots. At least, that’s what it felt like. A pang of guilt stabbed her heart. Her gramma had never said a word about it, but Ophelia knew.

      One more stop then I need to get back to Gramma’s. She stuck her hands in her pockets and turned to the row of storefronts that filled a weathered warehouse facing the river. She’ll be wanting supper. And I need to spend more time with her while I can.

      She scanned the shops. A candy store, stationery boutique, toy store, and an antiques thrift shop. Any would be interesting.

      Benjamin’s Antiques and Oddities. Perfect. His quaint showroom had been in the same location since she was a child, and even before that. She set off toward the building, autumn leaves swirling at her feet. Ben knew her grandmother and would likely ask how things were. It’d be good to talk to someone about the situation.

      Coming home to take care of her grandmother’s things before she died was not exactly a fun task, though she got to spend time with her favorite person. With her parents having died in a car crash when she was little, her grandmother had been both parents and grandparents, paying for college and becoming both mentor and confidant.

      They’d only had each other.

      Ophelia smiled. So many happy memories. She really should have come home more often. After she left for college, she’d been so busy, especially once she’d gotten her job.

      She tugged at the heavy door to the shop and it opened, sending the bell on the doorframe ringing. She stepped up the two worn oak steps and let the door close behind her. Dusty age hit her nose and she held her breath a moment to keep from sneezing.

      Welcome to Benjamin’s! The voice crackled from somewhere deeper in the store. If we ain’t got it, you don’t need it.

      Hi, Ben. Ophelia lowered her hand from her nose and made her way around the tall piles of stuff at the front of the store so she could see Ben. She waved.

      Well, I’ll be… His face lit up as recognition set in. Oooophelia Hunt. I haven’t seen you since you were knee-high to a grasshopper.

      She laughed. I don’t think it’s been that long. But hello. It’s good to see you.

      He’d certainly changed, though she couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t old. He’d always had white hair. Now he had less of it. And he was shorter than he used to be, or maybe more stooped over. More wrinkles but still a sweet face. And his eyes were the kindest blue she’d ever seen.

      Yes, Ben was a nice man—maybe a bit dramatic, but always charming. It’d only been maybe four or five years since she’d seen him on a rare visit home over the holidays.

      How’s Betty doin’? I haven’t seen her down here on the promenade in a long time. He leaned on the counter. His voice had grown serious, like he knew what he was about to hear.

      She studied her fingertips then met his gaze. She’s dying, Ben.

      We’re all dying.

      You know what I mean. She doesn’t have long. I’m here to help set her estate in order. She held back her tears. It was a hard job. She had thought it would help to tell someone else—maybe she’d been wrong.

      Ben shook his head. "I’m sorry to hear that news, Ophelia. I really am. She’s a good one—a real upstanding

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