Destiny Revealed

by Bailey, Nicole

  Back at the party, the music was loud and our friends were all dancing. Ky’s parents were gone, but the other adults were visiting at the table. “Finally,” Mamma practically shouted as we walked up to them. She blushed, but I couldn’t figure out why. I didn’t think Tristan would have told on us.

  There wasn’t any food left so Nick and I went over to where the others were dancing. When Nat saw me, she smiled and said, “You’ve got a little somethin’ somethin’ right about here.” She pointed to my neck.

  “Oh crap, no wonder Mamma blushed. What is it?” I moved my hair all the way off my neck and Nick inspected it.

  “Oops, my bad,” he grinned sheepishly.

  “What already?” I yelled.

  Right then, Dash walked up. “Nice hickey, Sof,” he said as he fist bumped Nick.

  “Are you freakin’ kidding me?” I turned and faced Nick. He shook his head. “That is so gross.”

  “What happened, Sof? Were you attacked by the big bad wolf in the woods?” Luca teased as he joined in. I pulled my hair back so that it wrapped all the way around my neck. I was the one blushing now.

  “Are we done dancing yet?” Jack whined as he came over. He wrapped his arms around Nat’s waist and kissed her cheek.

  “Hells yeah,” she spun around to face him. “Let’s get the rock outta here!”

  Nick raised his eyebrows at me and I announced that we were leaving as well. “I guess the party’s over,” Dash yelled to Rene over the music.

  “Thanks again, Rene,” Nat yelled as Jack picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

  The next week came and went without anything spectacular happening. Mamma gave Nat the entire week off so she and Jack could spend some time hibernating since they didn’t have enough money saved yet to go anywhere for a honeymoon. They thought of going back to Mexico, but decided to save up for France instead.

  Nick worked all day at the restaurant, I helped at the store everyday to help Mamma. Nick patrolled most nights. Gia was still seeing Rene and we went out with them and Dash and Helene one night. I told Luca to back off because of what I suspected about Gia.

  Surprisingly, he didn’t stick up for her, but agreed with me. “I trust your instincts. You knew something special was going on with you and Nick and you always seem to know the right spells to use,” he said one night. Babbo was home for once in the evening and we had a big family dinner.

  I still wouldn’t share any of my suspicions about Gia with Mamma. She always wanted to see the good in people. I never saw Ky around town and assumed he had finally given up on me and decided to keep his distance. I hoped he was afraid of Nick at last.

  Marco came in to the store one day for a new athame. I conveniently had to do something in the office while he was there. I was a little surprised that Mamma would still serve him, but when I asked her about it, she said, “Business is business. Where else will they get their supplies?”

  When Nat and Jack finally left their apartment, we all went to dinner one night at Monte’s. Luca wasn’t working because he had started taking some night classes for his photography.

  “So… how was the honeymoon?” Dash grinned, turning to Jack.

  “Even you can’t ruin the high I’m on,” Jack replied. The rest of us laughed.

  “You never told me about your honeymoon,” Gia said to me. “Did you visit your nonna?”

  “Of course. We also visited my cousins, Nick’s aunt and Nat’s grandparents,” I answered.

  “Any new spells or prophecies from Rosaria the rest of us should know about?” she asked as she stared only at Nick.

  He actually noticed and squirmed in his seat a little. “Uh, no,” I said. I wasn’t about to tell her about the prophecy I found in Nonna’s book.

  “Did she ever tell you why your parents all moved here?” she asked again.

  “Why do you want to know?” Nat asked suspiciously. “That’s really not your business now, is it?”

  “Well, I was just curious,” she replied innocently. “Have any of you talked with Ky lately?”

  Nick actually growled out loud and said, “Do not ever say that name again. Capisci?”

  “Sì, I understand. Mi dispiace.”

  Dinner was pretty much silent after that. Nick was angry, I was grumpy. The four of us that rode together left everyone else and went to our apartment to watch a movie.

  “I don’t trust her as far as I can throw her,” Nat turned to me on the couch as Nick made popcorn in the kitchen.

  “Me neither,” Jack added. I was a little taken aback that he was even participating in the conversation. It wasn’t like him to gossip with us. Nat looked at him in surprise.

  “What? I’m starting to see what you ladies were talking about,” he shrugged. Nat and I both laughed as he called us ladies.

  “I won’t be heartbroken if I don’t see her for the rest of the summer,” Nick said, sitting down on the couch on my other side.

  “Did you see the way she was checking Nick out?” I fumed.

  “It gave me the creeps,” Nick admitted. “What do you think she’s planning with all that stuff she got at the store?”

  “I think she’s going to spell one of the guys for sure,” Nat answered. “What I can’t figure out, is who.”

  “Well, she seems to have her eye on half the guys in our group, so who knows. But I’m keeping a closer eye on her,” I said.

  We dropped the subject for the time being and watched our movie. We chose a classic 80’s film so the guys wouldn’t complain about a romantic comedy.

  “I will never get tired of watching that,” Nat said as she stood to leave. The rest of us agreed and they left for their apartment next door. It was fun having them so close and Nat and I rode to work together on the days we both went in.

  The following week, I walked through the front door of the apartment after work. I heard noises in the bedroom. From the sound of it, Nick wasn’t alone. I had an ache in the pit of my stomach. Something was not right. I practically ran down the hall. I flung the door open and there she was—Gia.

  ~Chapter Fourteen~

  She was straddling Nick on the bed in nothing but her underwear, kissing him. Nick was lying there bare-chested. “What the hell is going on here? Nico?” I looked to him for an answer.

  Nick was silent. To say I was pissed would be a major understatement. Gia looked over at me and smiled wickedly. Before I had time to think, she threw a spell at me that knocked me back on my butt.

  I recovered quickly, but she had her hand raised to throw another one. I was ready this time and blocked it easily, but I had to think fast or I would be on the defensive the entire time.

  Nick stayed completely frozen. He was in a daze. I couldn’t tell if it was because he couldn’t believe what was going down in front of him, or because he was under Gia’s spell.

  Staring at him distracted me. My heart was breaking. Just because we were bound, didn’t mean he couldn’t be with someone else physically. How long has this been going on? Was he pretending to be afraid of her before? I thought to myself. Gia was standing in front of the bed now and threw me back down with another spell. She looked evil as she spouted off another chant.

  My brain finally started to focus, and before she could finish, I shouted with everything I had,

  Hatred and malice and anger I feel.

  My insane side has been fueled by you

  Vengeance is just

  And you are worthy of my punishment

  Feel the force of my lost pain

  Feel the force of my lost anguish

  Let terror haunt you

  Strip all defences from you

  As long as there is darkness in my heart.

  Gia crumpled in front of me and collapsed on the floor. It was like when I attacked Marco all over again. Something dark came over me and the world disappeared. I stood over her and closed my fist. She began to choke and claw at her throat. She tried to fight back, but I was too strong. After a few seconds, she pa
ssed out. I knew she wasn’t dead because I could still hear her breathing.

  I turned to Nick. “Nick, can you hear me?” I didn’t move any closer to him. He was still silent. “Nico Bartolini,” I shouted. He looked over at me finally, but still gave no response. I decided to try a spell,

  By the light of the moon

  and the path of north

  Let illness be purged

  and good health flow forth

  Let not this simple spell coerce

  Or make your situation worse

  Hear now my humble plea

  As I will it, so mote it be.

  As soon as I finished, Nick blinked. I ran to him and sat

  down on the bed. “Nick, can you hear me?”

  “What?” he finally said. I let out the breath I was

  holding.

  “How do you feel?” I asked him.

  “Fine. Why, what’s going on?” he looked completely

  clueless and I breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t cheating

  on me. Well, at least not knowingly. I instantly knew that

  Gia had used the force spell on him. I hoped that this was

  the first time it had happened and I wasn’t too late. “What is the last thing you remember?” I asked. “Um…” he concentrated. “Why am I half-naked?” he

  looked down. The bottom half of his body was under the

  covers, but he still had his boxers on. A whole new wave of

  anger came over me and I raged over to Gia on the floor. I kicked her in the side with my boot. “Get up you

  whore! Let’s finish this,” I shouted.

  Nick had no idea what was going on and started to get

  up. He grabbed his pants off the floor and put them on. Gia

  began to stir. Nick came and stood next to me. “What is she

  doing here? And why is she in her underwear? Oh crap,

  Sof, what’s going on? What did I do?” He looked

  completely horrified.

  “I don’t think you did anything, yet. At least I hope not.

  I walked in on you guys,” I answered.

  He grabbed me by the arms and swung me to face him.

  “Oh Sofia. I’m so sorry. I don’t remember anything. I was

  in the living room, watching a movie, waiting for you to

  come home from work. I think there was a knock at the

  door, I answered it, and then… I can’t remember.” He

  crushed me against him and kissed the top of my head. I heard a laugh behind me. I turned just as Gia blasted

  me with a spell. She had recovered and stood slowly. I lay

  on my back on the ground. Nick was blown backward with

  me and hit his head on the nightstand. I was frozen. I tried,

  but couldn’t move a muscle. Gia stood over me, choking me the way I had done to her. “I will have his child. And there is nothing you can do to stop me,” she laughed at me. I tried to gasp out a spell. Tried to calm myself and meditate, but before I could, I saw stars and everything

  went black.

  I didn’t know how much later it was when I finally

  woke up. I sat up slowly, my head spun, and I realized it

  was throbbing in agony. I looked for Nick and he was still

  on his back, a small pool of blood underneath his dark hair

  on the floor. I crawled over to him and lifted his head in my

  hand. “Nick! Nick, can you hear me?” I practically

  screamed.

  I heard a soft moan that meant that he was still alive. I

  concentrated as hard as I ever had. I felt myself fill with

  pure light and whispered the healing spell I used on Ky

  when he hit his head on the rock in the woods. I opened my

  eyes and Nick was blinking slowly. “Oh my gosh, are you

  okay, Nico?”

  “Mmm… I think so.” He continued to lie there. “Don’t move. You hit your head pretty hard and lost a

  lot of blood,” I told him.

  “Are you okay, Bella Mia? She hit you hard. I could see

  you choking, but I couldn’t move.”

  “I’m fine. I passed out and my head hurts like a mother,

  but I’m okay,” I assured him.

  “Is she gone?” he asked.

  “Yeah. I don’t know where she went, but there’s no way

  we’ve seen the last of her.”

  “What happened? What does she want from me? Is she

  just trying to hurt you?” he wondered.

  “She wants…” I didn’t want to say it out loud. I wanted

  to hunt the witch down and watch her die slowly, after I

  tortured her. I was a little surprised at the darkness I still

  felt inside myself.

  “What is it, Sofia? Tell me.”

  “She wants to have your child,” I whispered. He sat up straight with a jolt. “She wants what? Why

  would she want my baby? Please tell me what’s going on

  here.”

  “The prophecy. From Nonna’s book. Remember? It said

  that a child would be born from a witch mother and

  werewolf father. It would be extremely special and strong

  and have powers beyond our own,” I paused while I let it

  sink in. “I think she wants to take over. I mean, not like

  world domination or anything. But I think she wants to take

  over our world. Like rule over the covens and packs or

  something.”

  “What the hell?” he was rubbing the back of his head.

  “That witch is psycho! Like I would ever let that happen.” “Uh, it almost did, Nick. You were completely under

  her spell. She had complete control over you. It could

  happen again. Nick, you guys were kissing,” I frowned. “No! It will not happen again. I don’t care if I have to

  come to work with you, or you have to put up wards around

  the apartment, or do a protection spell over me again, or

  whatever, but there’s no way I’m leaving your side. There’s

  no way I will let that happen. I’m so sorry. You know I

  would never…” He pulled me into his chest and squeezed

  me so tightly that I lost my breath.

  “Can’t… breathe…” I stuttered.

  He released me just enough that I could get air, but still

  wouldn’t let go. He whispered, “Oh bella Sofia. Non posso

  vivere senza di te.”

  “I could never live without you either, Nick. You are

  my whole life. When I first came in, I thought you wanted

  to be with her.”

  He took my face in his hands, looked deep into my

  eyes, and whispered, “Never. How could you think that

  after what just happened at Nat’s ceremony? You know

  you’re the only one—forever. And, we’re bound. Would

  she really have been able to pull it off?”

  “Yeah,” I shivered. “Just because we can’t divorce,

  doesn’t mean it’s impossible to cheat.”

  He continued to stare at me. “You know I would never

  do that to you, right? Our connection—I could never have

  that with anyone else.”

  “I know,” I reassured him. I knew he was right, but I

  was still a girl, and Gia was drop dead gorgeous. So of

  course I still worried. He kissed me deeply and gently

  pushed me to the floor. “Your hair,” I mumbled against his

  lips.

  He paused kissing me and put his hand to the crusted

  mess of blood on the back of his head. “Fine, but you’re

  coming with me,” he smiled as he picked me up and carried

  me off to the shower with him.

  We eventually got out of the shower when the water ran

  cold. Whil
e I was squeezing the excess water from my hair,

  I said, “I need to tell Mamma what happened. We need to

  get the entire coven on this. I know Gia is only one witch,

  but if she gets what she wants, we’re screwed. I mean, how

  do we know for sure this hasn’t happened before? What if she…” I trailed off. It made me sick to think that she might have been in my room before, in my bed, sleeping with my

  husband.

  Nick came up behind me and wrapped his arms around

  my waist. “I really don’t think it’s happened before. I’m

  usually working during the day, and when I’m not in the

  woods at night, I’m with you.” I tried to feel reassured. “Yeah, but can we really be sure?”

  He leaned in and kissed my neck. It made me feel tingly

  inside. “I’m positive I would know if something

  happened,” he whispered against my skin. “Even if I was

  under a spell during it, I would’ve known afterwards that

  something had just happened.” He dropped my towel to the

  floor and we ended up on the bed.

  I called Mamma later that night to tell her what

  happened. “No,” she exclaimed. “Oh, Sofia, are you okay?

  Is Nico? What did she do to you?”

  “We’re fine now, Mamma. I got home in time. She

  attacked me, but I knocked her unconscious.” She sucked

  in a breath. “She came back around while I was removing

  the spell from Nick and she threw us both backward. Nick

  hit his head pretty hard and lost some blood, she choked me

  unconscious. But I healed Nick and we’re fine now,” I

  finished.

  “Why would she do this? She was such a nice girl.” “The prophecy about the baby,” I answered.

  Mamma paused. I could almost hear it click in her mind

  as she realized what I was saying. “She thinks she will be

  the one to have the child? No. The prophecy is about you

  and Nico. You are the ones who broke the curse.” I cringed

  at the thought of having a baby. I was barely eighteen. I had no plans to have a baby anytime soon, regardless of what

  some prophecy said.

  “Are you sure? She is a witch, Mamma. She could have

  the child.”

  “No. It will be you,” she answered with finality. “Well, that’s obviously not what she thinks. I think she