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 avampirewas 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 aretons 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 beforerevealing herself as a vampire. And it wasn’t like Gia trusted easily. For good fucking reason.
But none of that mattered right now.
