She twisted the ring around her finger, trying to work up the nerve. “If I seem like I’m burning, will you touch my shoulder or something? It seemed like your aura helped stop the pain.”

“Of course.”

After closing her eyes, she yanked the ring from her finger, shivering at the tumultuous presence of the aura. It swirled through her body, skimming over her skin with a tingling and buzzing. Tendrils of green unfurled in her mind like spectral ferns.

Rosalind tried to curl them up again, forcing them together into a small sphere, but the aura wouldn’t obey. In the heavy spring air, her body vibrated with exertion.

The spirit was winning, forcing her to move, making her open her eyes. She stared up at the stunning incubus. Pearly moonlight filtered through the oaks, dancing on his smooth skin, glinting in his pale eyes.

The spirit wanted Rosalind to run her hands over his strong, tattooed arms, his perfectly muscled chest. But it wasn’t just how he looked. Something in his aura drew her closer, like a gravitational pull. The spirit knew his aura.

She took two steps, slipping her arms around his neck, reveling in the warmth coming off his body. She thrilled at his sharp intake of breath when the spirit pushed Rosalind’s body against his.

She studied his face, and the ethereal silver aura spiraling skin. Another soul lay inside the incubus, one the spirit knew well. “Richard.”

His muscles tensed, a hint of confusion in his beautiful eyes. “Cleo.” He gripped her forearms. “Rosalind. You need to control the aura.”

His touch sent thrills through her body, but the spirit looking out through her eyes didn’t like the name Rosalind.

“That’s not my name,” she warned, her voice laced with venom, no longer her own.

His grip tightened. “Rosalind. I need you to gain control. Close up her aura.”

The aura surged through her body, and her voice came out low, strangely accented. Her arms tightened around the incubus. His body was rigid against hers, and she tried to pull his head down for a kiss, but his perfect lips were out of his reach.

He swallowed hard, closing his eyes, and took a steadying breath. “Rosalind. Crush the aura.”

The spirit forced her to stand on her tiptoes, but she couldn’t reach his mouth. “Richard. I missed your touch, but I like your new body better.”

Caine pulled her arms from his neck, gently pushing her back. “Rosalind. Get control of the aura.”

The green tendrils spiraled through her in whirlwinds, and she tried to get control of them, but the spirit was stronger. It began speaking in Angelic, and Rosalind’s body hummed with the growing aura, a thrilling rush of power.

At her words, the incubus’s eyes widened, and he spun her around, wrapping his strong arms around her. He clamped a hand over her mouth to silence her.

She didn’t like being pinned. Rage burned through her nerves, and she bit into his fingers, drawing blood. He released her, and she broke into a run through the forest, the damp air whispering over her skin. This was Cleo’s true home, her world before the evil ones snatched it away from her.. How would you like the flames, Rosalind?