Chapter 18 Gia
EIGHTEEN
GIA
After Nico confirmed it would counteract the spell on the tainted pills, Gia took a swig of one of the potions and left the apothecary. Marc seemed to have disappeared from the vicinity, and no one jumped out at her as she waited for a cab and made her escape.
Gia’s headache faded, and by the time the taxi pulled over in front of the lawyer’s building, her pain was gone. Seemed the pill she’d taken earlier was one of the tainted ones.
It was a wonder smoke didn’t billow from her ears. Gia felt like taking a bat to every single one of Franco and Marc’s sports cars, then turning her fury on them, pummeling them until there was nothing left.
They’d been making her sicker. Lying to her about even more than she’d thought. All to some mysterious end she couldn’t fathom. Unless it was nothing more than cruelty. Punishment for being a bastard.
Why not dispose of her like they did her mother? It almost would have been kinder.
Gia climbed out of the cab, holding the door for the invisible Aurora. Whatever was happening, she was getting to the bottom of it and claiming her retribution. Escaping was nowhere near enough. Not anymore.
Would Aurora understand her change of heart?
The cab sped off, and Aurora’s disembodied voice piped up. “Are you okay with me showing myself once we’re inside?”
Gia blinked out of her rage-fog. “Of course.”
“Lilly already told the rest of the coven, so it shouldn’t be a shock for Edward or Grace to see me.”
“Good. I’d rather talk to you openly.”
Soft tingles trailed along Gia’s arm, at odds with the hardness creeping into Aurora’s tone. “Come on, let’s go figure out who we need to smite.” It seemed she understood.
They entered the building, and Gia hiked up the stairs and into the office suite. “I need to speak to Edward Ramirez urgently.”
The receptionist, Grace, glanced up from behind her desk like she’d been caught off guard.
Her smile didn’t falter. “Gia, hello.” There was a flicker of light beside Gia, and Grace gasped.
“And Aurora.” Her hand fluttered to her chest. “Damnation, hearing what happened and seeing it are two different things.”
“What the hell is that?” came a shout behind them.
Gia stiffened. She hadn’t noticed anyone else here, and apparently, neither had Aurora. Turning, she faced the small waiting area where Viv, of all damn people, sat on a worn sofa.
Unease curled in Gia’s gut. Why was she always popping up?
Viv stood, attention fixed on Aurora like she was fascinated rather than terrified. “Are you a ghost?”
Aurora didn’t bother stating the obvious. “You know about magic, I’m guessing?” she said blandly.
Viv shrugged. “Sure do. If you need to talk to Mr. Ramirez, I don’t mind waiting. Even though I have an appointment.”
“Um. Thanks.” Gia glanced at Grace, who gestured to the door.
“Go on in. I’m sure Edward will be happy to help.”
Gia pushed Viv from her mind—she was a mystery for another time—and entered the office, Aurora at her elbow.
Inside, the lawyer sat at his desk, the room as cluttered and candle-strewn as ever.
“Sounds like you’re causing a commotion,” Edward said by way of greeting. “How can I help, Gia? And Aurora. I’m so sorry to hear what the Thornfields were planning for you.”
“Thanks, but we’re not here for me.” Aurora floated toward the desk, and Gia shut the office door.
She got straight to the point. “Do my family—the Balzanos—know about magic?”
Edward folded his hands on his desk. “Yes, they do.”
Gia plopped into the chair facing him. “I had no idea.”
“I’m sorry. Susan hoped you might, but feared you’d be unaware. I didn’t want to try to enlighten you before we met in person.”
A logical move. Gia wouldn’t have believed him or returned his call if he’d started yammering on about magic. She’d still be in Ashton Lakes if he’d told her she was a witch.
“Wait,” Aurora said before Gia could respond. “How do you know the Balzanos are aware of magic?”
Edward sighed. Not in annoyance, rather like he regretted what he had to say.
“It goes back to Jeffrey and Letti’s attempt to bring you here, Gia.
As far as anyone can tell, the Balzanos weren’t aware of magic then.
Your mother hadn’t been before meeting Jeffrey.
But he must have used magic in the fight that resulted in his and Letti’s deaths.
Jeffrey’s unconfirmed death, I should say, since there’s no official record.
Anyway. By the time Susan figured out something terrible happened to her brother, it seems Franco had wised up.
A spell was cast to prevent Susan from reaching you by any means, Gia.
Susan spent decades trying to find a way around it. ”
Decades? Gia hadn’t even known the woman existed, and she’d been fighting for her all this time? Her heart ached, but the story still didn’t add up. “Franco can’t have cast a spell. If my brother Marc isn’t a witch, Franco can’t be either.”
“He doesn’t have to possess magical ability himself,” Edward said patiently. “Franco could have hired a witch once he discovered magic. He’d have had time between your mother’s failed escape and when Susan first attempted to get involved to seek someone out.”
“Okay, but how could a spell keep Susan away? You got me out without any trouble. Too easily, even.”
“The spell stopping Susan was linked to your bloodline. Meaning Susan, as a blood relative, couldn’t get to you.
She founded this coven in part to try to save you, to bring her brother’s daughter home, but all our attempts failed because the coven’s magic was intertwined with Susan as our founder, and therefore deflected by the spell.
When Susan died, taking away the blood-link between you and the Lockwood Coven, we could finally reach you. ”
Gia looked at Aurora, too stunned to speak. Did this make sense? Aurora didn’t seem confused, so it must add up.
Aurora reached for Gia and brushed their fingers together, sending sparks up Gia’s arm. “Tell him the rest,” Aurora coaxed.
Right, Gia had to keep going, take everything in, and move forward so she could figure out how to stop her father. And make him pay.
“I just found out the pills I take for a rare medical condition were altered by magic to make it worse,” she told him.
He scowled. “I’m so sorry.”
“I guess Franco hired a witch to do that, too. But why? The more I learn, the more everything seems like a lie. What if I’m not even sick?
What if my memory loss is magic? It seems too convenient not to be.
I don’t remember the day Jeffrey tried to take me.
I always thought it was because I was young, and I’d blocked out the trauma, or because my condition set in a few years later, and everything became so murky.
Of course, old memories might fade away. But now, it’s nothing but suspicious.”
“Spells can’t take your memories the way they can make your headaches worse,” Aurora said again. “Lilly checked, and you haven’t been cursed.”
The sound of voices swelled outside, and the door burst open. Gia spun in her seat, finding Viv in the doorway.
“You can’t go in there,” Grace said from behind her.
Viv ignored her. “Sorry to interrupt,” she said without a shred of remorse. “But you’re looking at this all wrong.”
Edward stood from his seat. “This conversation is confidential.”
“It’s fine. Gia is a friend, and I couldn’t sit around and let you miss the obvious. You all are forgetting about vampires.”
“I was not forgetting about vampires,” Edward said, his tone harsh. “I was about to say, a vampire could mess with your memory, Gia.”
“What?” She looked at Aurora.
Her cheeks paled, almost disappearing entirely.
“Vampire hypnosis didn’t even cross my mind.
It wouldn’t have explained your pain, and we were focused on a spell that could physically hurt you to the point of blacking out.
We thought the memory loss was a symptom of the blackouts.
But the blackouts on their own… The gaps in memory…
Fuck. Now that we know the pills were making your headaches worse, it’s obvious the pain is a separate issue. ”
“So you’re saying a vampire was stealing my memory?” Gia glanced around at them all.
“One very well could have been.” Edward tapped his chin with a finger. “Is there anyone associated with the Balzanos who seems to age particularly well, to the point they might not be aging at all?”
Gia’s mouth dropped open, about to deny it. She stilled. “Everyone says Franco looks as good now as he did a decade ago. But he’s aged since then. He must have. This is ridiculous.” The man she’d always known as her father wasn’t a vampire.
“There’s one way to know for sure.” Viv couldn’t seem to help butting in. “I can remove the hypnosis, revealing who cast it.”
“You?” Gia frowned at her. “Wait. If I’ve been hypnotized, why didn’t Lilly detect it?”
Viv rolled her eyes like everyone was being incredibly silly. “Vampire hypnosis isn’t a spell and doesn’t physically affect your body. It’s all in the mind. Illusion. It’s not witch magic.”
Gia still didn’t follow. “Then how can you remove it? Aren’t you a witch?”
Viv smiled, her canines elongating into fangs. “I’m a vampire.”
Gia should have been shocked, but she’d passed that point several revelations ago.
She’d process vampires and Viv later. She clearly didn’t know the first thing about real vampires, considering Viv was out in broad daylight.
Whatever. There was no time to dwell. She needed answers, or she might start screaming and never stop.
“Do it. Remove the hypnosis.”
“Gia, you don’t know what you’ll find.” Aurora’s voice rose in alarm, concern lining her flickering expression.
“But I can’t not know. I can’t keep wondering. I’m tired of being cautious all the fucking time.”
Aurora smiled sadly. “I know, baby. But take a second to think about what you might uncover. It sounds like there are tons of gaps in your memory, and your family is terrible. Someone erased more than the day your mother died.”
“I know. I can’t bear the thought of someone stealing so much…” Gia’s stomach cramped, and she worried she’d be sick.
Fifteen years of gaps and a fog. Gia didn’t know herself. Her own story. Nothing would be right until she put the pieces together.
“We’ll start small.” Viv came farther into the room on silent feet. Some of her earlier flare dimmed, but not quite bringing her to the point of somberness. “Let me check you for mind alterations first. Then, I can start undoing them. If you want.”
Gia nodded.
“Grace, can you reschedule the rest of my afternoon?” Edward asked, and she nodded, leaving the room. “We can call one of the vampires in the coven to help. The Lockwoods are a hybrid group. Viv doesn’t have to be involved.”
Gia realized he was talking to her. “Viv can do it. I don’t want to wait. Unless,” Gia looked at Viv suspiciously. “Do you think she’ll hurt me?”
To her credit, Viv didn’t seem at all offended as she glanced at Edward, awaiting his verdict.
“I didn’t mean to cast suspicion.” Edward returned to his seat. “Viv is here to see me about joining the Lockwood Coven. I don’t have reason to believe she’ll hurt you, but I don’t know her on a personal level yet.”
“I won’t bite. Promise.” Viv pouted. “Besides, if I did anything shady, you’d find out quick enough. Why would I risk it? I want in with the Lockwoods, and what better way than to help you? I’ve been trying to help all along, and you kept pushing me away.”
Could anyone blame her? Viv hadn’t been forthcoming, which made sense if she had been trying to sus Gia out before revealing herself as a vampire. And it wasn’t like Gia trusted easily. For good fucking reason.
But none of that mattered right now.
“Do it. I need to know, and the sooner the better.” Gia gripped the arms of her chair. The people here weren’t the ones hurting her. The Lockwoods never wanted to do anything but help.
The Balzanos, on the other hand, never wanted what was best for her, and she’d known that all along.