Page 55 of Her Ghostly Embrace
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 Susanfrom 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 moreeverythingseems like a lie. What if I’mnot 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.
