I was having a hard time sitting still, and considering I was in a moving car with my seatbelt on I was pretty damn fidgety. I was also kind of giddy, I'd been smiling so much my cheeks almost hurt.

Mom was driving, and I had no idea how she was staying so calm.

It was half past four in the afternoon and we were nearly home now after spending the afternoon in the city. Mom drove us down there around noon, but before that she insisted on making us both a proper breakfast. Then she called that insurance guy and told him she'd decided to accept the settlement they offered. I didn't know why she was bothering with that now but I didn't question her.

She was acting kind of weird about the whole thing really, like she didn't believe the lottery thing was real.

We were at the lotto offices for most of the afternoon, while they verified the ticket and had mom fill out some forms. From the sound of it we were going to be very rich very soon.

The only potential hang-up was mom told them the truth that she didn't purchase the ticket herself. She explained we found it in a box of her great-uncle's belongings, and that she was the only surviving heir so after he died at the beginning of the month his stuff was sent to her.

The lotto officials said they had to follow up on that. They said it was just a formality but it was one of the rules. So they would confirm Albert was dead and mom was his only heir. And finally, they said we'd expect to hear from them in a day or two, and we should plan for another visit to the city on Friday to collect our winnings.

So we were practically millionaires, we just had to wait a few days to get the cheque.

"We should celebrate tonight!" I announced. "I don't know, maybe we could go out for dinner? Or get something fancy brought in? Can I invite Melissa over too?"

Mom replied calmly "I have to work tonight, Mara. Please don't tell Melissa about the ticket. Don't tell anyone else either, ok?"

I frowned, but before I could ask why she started explaining.

"The lottery people have to verify everything. We'll have enough people coming around looking for money when the news gets out, I don't want that to start happening before we know it's real. And I'm not saying that I don't trust Melissa, but if she said anything someone else could overhear. It's better to just keep quiet, until it's done and we know for sure."

"Ok," I was still frowning, "But that makes it sound like you don't think this is for real? You think the lotto people are going to refuse it or something?"

Mom looked slightly troubled. She sighed, "Mara I know that ticket wasn't there before. I looked through that box very thoroughly last Saturday before you even got out of bed. I'm assuming your sorceress friend is behind this? I'm not ungrateful, I just don't want to get too excited while there's a chance it might not work out."

I stared at her for a few moments in surprise. I hadn't even thought of that, I never made the connection. I knew Lily wanted me to look at the stock certificates, but it never occurred to me she might have planted the ticket in there.

"Lily?" I asked as I looked out the window at the road in front of us. "Is mom right? Did you conjure up that ticket or something? Did you hide it in the box for me to find?"

Mom glanced at me as soon as I started talking to Lily. She had a slightly worried look on her face, but after a glance she focused on the road again.

Lily replied right away, "Your mother is correct Mara. It is a real ticket, it was legitimately lost. I didn't steal it from anyone. The reason it took me so long to do this was I needed time to set things up so it will be traced to your dead ancestor. The lottery officials will find nothing amiss, they will award your mother the winnings."

I had a huge smile on my face again by that point. "Thanks Lily! That's awesome!"

I looked at mom and added, "Lily says she did it, but it's legitimate. She said the ticket's real and the lotto people won't find anything wrong!"

Rather than smiling, mom just gave me another worried glance. "You told me you could talk to her like telepathy. Is she always listening in? Always paying attention to what you say?"

"Uh," I hesitated. "It's like with one of those digital voice assistant things? When I say her name that gets her attention?"

Of course mom didn't buy that, and I could almost see Lily face-palming in the back seat.

"You and I are going to have a long talk when we get home Mara," mom stated. "I want to know exactly what's going on between you and this sorceress person."

I sighed, "Ok mom."

We were only like a minute away from the house, so I didn't have long to wait. Or prepare.

"I hope you're thinking about what you're going to tell her," Lily said. "Your mother is obviously suspicious, and she's not going to be easily fooled."

I couldn't even reply without mom knowing. I just sighed softly as we made the last turn onto our street. A few seconds later we were in the driveway.

Me and mom were both quiet as we got out of the car and went into the house. Mom only had about a half hour before she had to leave again for work, so she warmed up some left-overs and the two of us sat down together at the kitchen table.

"Now I want to know the truth Mara," mom stated. "Who is Lily, how are the two of you connected? Is she always monitoring everything you say and do?"

I had a sip of water then sighed, "Like I said, Lily is ancient and powerful. A thousand years ago she was imprisoned in that amulet by a bunch of evil people. She woke up because I was holding it when I died. She offered to bring me back to life and said she could help me and stuff, if I helped her too. So we're like partners or something now?"

"She's really nice," I added. "She's like my new best friend."

Mom listened and ate, then thought for a few moments before she asked "Where is she now? I haven't seen you wearing the amulet lately, so I assume she's been freed from it."

I blushed, I didn't even know mom noticed I was wearing the amulet in the first place. I always kept it hidden under my clothes. "She's here, but she doesn't have a body of her own?"

"So she's like a ghost following you around? Can you see her?"

I shook my head, "She's not a ghost. Since she doesn't have her own body, she's kind of sharing mine?"

Mom gave me a worried look, "She possesses you?!"

"No," I shook my head again. "She doesn't own me. She just lives in my head and shares my body."

Mom frowned again, she was obviously unhappy about all this.

I grimaced, "Mom please don't be angry ok? Lily's nice and I like her. She brought me back to life and gave me this amazing body and between her and Melissa they both helped me figure out who I really am. And she promised to help you too and now she has? Like back when I was dead and first met her, I said I wanted you to be able to get a nice house and a new car and I wanted you to not have to work any more? Now she's done all that and in a few days it'll come true."

Mom stayed quiet for another couple minutes as she finished her dinner. I ate a bit too, but I was still nervous about what she was thinking and what she was going to say.

She finally asked, "How long is she going to be sharing your body?"

I gulped slightly and shrugged, then replied quietly "For ever. Or like, for the rest of my life."

Mom looked upset again and I pointed out, "Remember I wouldn't even have a life if it wasn't for her. I'm only here because she brought me back. I think its totally fair for me to share it with her."

She sighed, then stood up and put her dishes in the sink. Then she turned and looked at me.

"Mara, whether or not the lottery thing works out you're going back to school. The money we'll get from the insurance settlement will be enough for a new car, several years of tuition for you, and maybe even enough for us to move to a nicer house. So you're going to college. I want you to start thinking about what you want to take, because you're going to take something. So start thinking about a course or program. Now I have to get to work."

As she headed for the door she added, "And remember, don't say a word about the lottery ticket to anyone. Not even Melissa. And please don't stay up too late."

I just nodded, "Ok mom. Good luck with work, have a good night."

"Thanks Mara," she replied as she picked up her purse and headed back out to her car.

Once she was gone I sighed, "I hope I haven't messed things up Lily. I can deal with Melissa not liking you but I don't know if I can handle mom hating you."

Her tone was warm and compassionate as she replied, "I think you handled that just fine, Mara. In the car you were excited and made some mistakes, but you did ok just now. Perhaps it was a good lesson though, to not try talking with me in public?"

My cheeks went red as I nodded, "Yeah. I can imagine everyone looking at me funny if I just sort of struck up a conversation with you when I was in class or whatever."

"Indeed," she sounded a little amused at that thought.

I finished the last of my dinner then washed the dishes and tidied up the kitchen.

Lily commented, "Now instead of looking for a job, you can start thinking about a field of study or a skill you wish to learn. And you definitely won't need to be a cam-girl."

That made me giggle, "You're still uptight about that? I was thinking even if I don't have to find a job I could still do that for fun."

I could almost see her face-palm, which made me giggle again. "C'mon Lily, why are you so bothered by the idea? It's safe, I'd be working from home, it seems like a lot of fun, and it looks like I could make some money at it."

She sighed, "You recall I told you there were some legends about my proper human name, Lilith? Some of them suggest I am a 'sex demon'. If you started doing sex work, that would just be perpetuating those myths about me."

"Nobody would know you're related to me though, would they?" I asked. "I mean, ok Melissa knows, but she only knows you're called Lily, not the other names. And nobody else would know either."

Lily was frowning at me, I could almost feel it. There was a disapproving tone in her voice as she asked "Why are you so insistent on this, Mara? You don't need the money, you know your mother wouldn't approve, and you know I don't approve."

I blushed and shrugged, "I don't know? The whole thing just seems kind of exciting to me. I'm hot, I look good, why not get paid for showing it off?"

She sighed again, "How about you do like your mother asked, and start thinking about continuing your education?"

"Ok Lily," I put away the fun ideas for now and got serious again. "But like I said this morning, I have no idea what I'm interested in?"

"Perhaps you could talk with Melissa, see if she has any ideas for you?" Lily suggested.

"Mom said not to mention the lottery," I reminded her. "I'm guessing she wouldn't want me mentioning the insurance money either, for the same reason. Melissa knows I can't afford college, so she'd be suspicious or whatever if I started talking to her about it."

She was quiet for a few moments then said "Perhaps there's some resource on the internet you could use, something to help you narrow down what you're interested in."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." I got myself another glass of water then me and Lily went into my room and sat at the computer, to try and find some quiz or questionnaire or whatever that might help me figure out what kind of course would be good for me.

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