Chapter 20 Aurora
TWENTY
AURORA
Aurora watched helplessly as Gia thrashed in the chair. “Stop!”
Viv whirled around, eyes glowing. “I’m not doing anything. The memories I released are flooding her consciousness. I can’t stop them now.”
Satan on a stick, this was bad. Aurora had thought she’d been prepared. She thought she’d imagined the worst, but whatever Gia was seeing was something else altogether.
Agony twisted Gia’s face, her eyes blank and streaming with tears as she saw things Aurora couldn’t.
Whoever had done this was Aurora’s number one enemy. Screw the Thornfields. At least they’d never tortured her like this.
“Gia, can you hear me?” Aurora ran a delicate finger along Gia’s cheek, unable to wipe her tears away.
Gia gasped at the touch, and her eyes focused for a split second before her pupils blew wide. “Aurora?”
“It’s me. You’re okay. You’re safe. Whatever you’re seeing is a memory.” Aurora’s hands jumped from Gia’s tear-stained face to her shoulders, to her wrists, and she had never been so bereft that they couldn’t touch beyond tingles and sparks.
“I know who it was,” Gia gasped, reaching for Aurora, their hands passing through each other.
“Who was it? Who did this?”
Gia wiped her bloodshot eyes. “Franco Balzano.”
Heat flared deep in Aurora’s soul. “And what did he do? What does he need to pay for?”
Gia’s broken expression hardened. “Too many things to count.”
“Still, a list would be nice,” Viv butted in, sounding as glib as only a vampire could at a time like this.
“We’ll all help deal with this, Gia,” Edward added with far more compassion.
Gia seemed startled by the offer. “You’ll help even if it means burning the Balzano family to ash?”
“Oh, fuck yes,” Viv said, fangs out and practically salivating.
Gia had eyes for Aurora and no one else. She waited, uncertainty creeping into her expression.
Aurora cupped Gia’s cheek. “I’m with you one hundred percent. However long it takes. Whatever we need to do. “
“But you don’t even know why?”
“I know it’ll be a damn good reason. Hell, taking your memories, making you sick, gaslighting you, and keeping you tied to them is reason enough.”
“Agreed,” Edward said, surprising Aurora this time.
Enacting vengeance wasn’t the Lockwood Coven’s way, as far as she’d known, but if the coven elders had been trying to free Gia for years, they’d want to see this through to the end.
Gia nodded, a shudder coursing through her as she gathered her words. “To gain power in Ashton Lakes, Franco killed the previous head of the mob and all his supporters, but it turns out, he didn’t kill them with guns or men like Salvator. He had me do it.”
Aurora reared back. “You?”
“With my magic. Once he realized Jeffrey was a witch and had passed his power on to me, he found a way to use me, though it took him five years to do it. He became a vampire when I was ten. There was some guy in the shadows, coaching him. I think he was a vampire, too. Franco would hypnotize me. Direct me to…to torture and kill his enemies, track their whereabouts, terrorize them until they came running to him for help against unknown evil.”
“When you were ten?” Aurora’s burning soul wavered. Her heart didn’t need to be present for it to break.
“Why wait for me to grow up?” Gia laughed bitterly.
“Franco wanted to seize power, and once he had it, he wanted more. Which meant keeping me dependent on him so I wouldn’t leave.
The only reason he didn’t hypnotize me twenty-four-seven and keep me locked away was his image.
I couldn’t disappear from the public eye without drawing unwanted attention. ”
“Did everyone around you know?” Aurora was afraid of the answer. She wanted Gia to have had someone, anyone. But she had a feeling they were all complicit, and not in the way Gia feared she’d been over the years.
Gia nodded grimly. “They all knew. Franco hypnotized his men to keep my magic hidden from the outside world. It created an aura of power around him. The kind of fear that kept any rival humans from crossing him because they knew Franco never lost.”
“He’s going to fight like hell to take control of you again,” Viv said in warning.
“Then we shouldn’t wait to make our move,” Aurora said. “We can’t give Franco any more time to prepare.”
Gia gave a decisive nod. “Agreed. Salvator knows I’m finally aware of magic. They won’t need to pretend, and I doubt they’ll approach me unprepared again.”
“If they’ve found you already, let’s lay a trap,” Viv suggested. “Lure them to you and attack. One vampire and a bunch of humans will be easy prey.”
“I wouldn’t say easy.” Aurora wanted to jump up and go as much as the vampire seemed to—for different reasons—but Franco’s men weren’t a bunch of humans. They were killers, and no one in the room was trained to fight.
Except Gia.
“Easy enough,” Viv argued, reminding Aurora she had no idea who this lady was.
Gia shook her head. “I’m not so sure. Before I fled, Franco was looking for more powerful witches than his Ashton Lakes allies.
It was all part of his plan to expand his empire.
Before, I’d thought all his talk of expansion was about the drug and weapons trade.
That’s all he’d let me remember, but after what I just saw, I think it’s something else.
He wants more powerful allies in the magic world. He wants to expand beyond human crime.”
Edward leaned forward in his seat. “Do you know if he found any new allies?”
“I’m not sure. He talked about the West Coast once or twice, but nothing specific in front of me. What if he was looking this way because it’s where Jeffrey came from?”
Viv raised a brow. “You think he wanted to get rid of Jeffrey’s surviving family?”
“Perhaps. Franco doesn’t like loose ends. I’m surprised he didn’t hunt Susan down years ago.”
“Susan died of natural causes, right?” Aurora had heard as much, but it was worth checking.
“Yes, there’s no disputing her cause of death.
” Edward ran a hand through his hair. “Most covens won’t be interested in allying with a vampire who heads human organized crime, regardless of what he’s planning.
Franco might not have had any luck, even looking as broadly as the whole coast. I’ll ask around and see if anything suspicious pops up.
Until I hear, we should hold off tracking Franco down, in case he has new magical allies. ”
“How long will that take?” Aurora was uneasy. Getting information on the entire region’s coven’s alliances sounded like a huge undertaking. Especially when the Lockwoods didn’t associate with the kind of witches Franco was likely to approach.
But making a move without a clear picture of what they were facing could get them all killed.
“I can get a solid answer in a day by calling in some favors. If Franco doesn’t have a new coven working with him out here, we’ll strike immediately. Before he has time to do anything else.”
Viv’s eyes gleamed, nearly glowing. “And what move are we aiming for? Fire? Beheading? Ripping out the wretch’s heart? Those are your options for killing a vampire, in case you didn’t know, Gia.”
Gia didn’t flinch at Viv’s violent musings. Aurora was sure she would have yesterday. The fact that had changed because of what Franco had done made Aurora want to destroy the world and start over.
Gia nodded, but she seemed deep in thought. She reached for Aurora. “I think we should retrieve your body first.”
“What?”
Gia ran her fingers along Aurora’s forearm. “You need to be safe before we do this, and have access to your magic.”
It would be best to have her full strength and ability. “But what if you need me to channel you? It could be our surprise move.”
“I’m not completely clueless about magic anymore.” A haunted look passed over Gia’s face. “I know all kinds of horrible spells. I’m a weapon, and maybe I shouldn’t want to use what Franco taught me, but turning it on him is the least of what he deserves.”
Aurora’s chest ached. “The very least. Do you know how to counter spells?”
Gia frowned. “No. I never went up against anyone with magic, which is why it’ll be better to have you with me. At my side as a witch. You won’t need to channel me like you did with Salvator if you have your magic.”
“She has a point,” Edward cut in. “If you’re willing to fight with us—”
“Of course I’m willing.”
Aurora wanted to be sure of what they’d find at the Thornfield compound before going for her body, but she had to admit they might not get any more information than Lilly had already uncovered.
Not without infiltrating the compound to see what was happening, and the change in Gia’s situation added an urgency that hadn’t been there before.
Gia was right. Aurora needed her body and full power before facing Franco.
“If we go onto the Thornfield compound, we have to be ready for them to expect us.”
Edward nodded. “I can send a diversion to distract them while you break past their wards.”
Nerves churned in Aurora’s soul. “Would anyone in the coven be willing to help break in? Unless…Gia, do you know how to break wards?”
“I don’t.” Gia might know plenty of ways to kill, but her magical knowledge was limited. Aurora would offer to channel her to break in, but she’d never broken a ward without detection, and they couldn’t have her family running to meet them at the border.
“That’s not a problem. I can break in for you,” Viv said, sunny as a fucking daisy. “I love slipping past protective spells.”
Aurora stared at her. “How? You’re a vampire.” She’d be excellent backup in a fight, but useless against warding spells. Other than hypnosis, vampires couldn’t do any sort of magic.
Viv scowled. “Yes, we’ve established I’m a vampire. That doesn’t mean I don’t have a few tricks up my sleeve. My past has been colorful, shall we say.”
Edward raised an eyebrow.
“Which we’ll discuss another time,” Viv said to him. She jabbed a thumb at Aurora and Gia. “Surely you’ll consider accepting my application if I help these two?”