Gigi climbed the trellises leading to her window, tired but full of vigor and victory. Her right eye stung, but she didn’t care. She felt invincible—until she realized the light in her room was still on. She frowned. Had Drake forgotten to turn it off? Had he stayed up for her? She hauled her aching muscles through the window, only to find her room very empty.

However, she heard the echo of laughter just beyond her door. Her ears twitched nervously. She dumped her bag on the floor and went to investigate. Something wasn’t right, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

She followed the sounds of joy to the dining room, where a roaring fire had been lit. There, she saw something truly horrifying: Drake and her mother talking, and worse, enjoying it. The bottom dropped out of her stomach. What in the seven hells is she telling him?! She looked down for a moment and grimaced. What is he telling her?! The unfortunate reality of being a lying drunk was your memory wasn’t all that sharp.

“Why, if it isn’t my oldest daughter,” Griselda said with rosy inebriated cheeks. Her mother turned to see her. “With a fresh black eye! No less!” Griselda said, taking a sip of wine and gesturing toward her.

Drake whipped around to see her. “By the gods, are you okay?” Drake said, standing up abruptly. Gigi wasn’t sure what to say. Drake had failed her test clearly, so she was right not to tell him. How he was acting now only confirmed it.

“I’m fine,” Gigi said curtly. “I um…ran into a tree,” she lied. Her mother snorted.

“You are both horrible liars,” she motioned to them with her wine glass. “At least this one, she pointed toward Drake, “tries to tell the truth.”

“What did you tell her?” Gigi seethed at Drake. His face twisted in confusion.

“Umm, nothing. It’s not like I knew where you even were.”

“The man who lives in our attic, Gigi, is a wizard?”

“Still, don’t think that’s right,” Drake mumbled.

“And you weren’t going to let your mother in on that information?” Griselda prodded. Gigi smacked Drake with the back of her hand on his chest.

“I thought I told you not to tell my family!”

“Well, she is really hard not to tell things to Gigi. I think we both know that.” It was a fair point, but she didn’t care.

“Don’t blame him,” Griselda scoffed. “Talking to the boy for a tick of the clock, it’s obvious there is something off about him. A human covered in tattoos just washes up?”

“You,” she motioned to Gigi, “drag him out of the river and bring him here. Not knowing if he is dangerous or not. Well, he is more dangerous than anything I could have imagined.”

“I’m still here…” Drake said.

“Don’t get used to it,” Gigi glared at him. “I want you out in the morning!” Gigi snapped. Drake staggered back like she had punched him.

“Gigi, I’m sorry. Please don’t kick me out,” he pleaded. Griselda sighed and shook her head.

“Don’t worry,” Griselda interjected. “Even though she likes to pretend it is, this isn’t Gigi’s house.” She stood and stretched. “I’m not about to throw you out, not when your crimes are telling me the truth and being worried about Gigi’s bad choices.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Who knows, maybe you two will be a good influence on each other.”

“I’m never talking to you again,” she snapped at him. “Enjoy the attic,” she jabbed as she stormed away.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Goodnight, Gigi,” her mother sighed.

“Gigi…” Drake whispered.

Griselda turned to him. “I’m entrusting you to be there for her if she needs you. She shrugged. “Assuming she lets you.”

“But she just said…” Drake motioned toward where Gigi had been.

“Yeah, she’s said that to me every night since she could talk, don’t worry about it. If she were serious about it, your nose would be broken. Now go to bed.”

***

True to her words, Gigi didn’t talk to Drake the next day. They performed the deliveries in virtual silence but only for Glorp’s squelching and the grinding of mechanical treads. Drake tried to say he was sorry for not being able to stand up to Griselda, but he didn’t know what he was apologizing for, so the words rang hollow in his ears. He was just sad that she was upset with him.

Gigi stomped off to her room without a word when they got home. She slammed the door, and Drake could hear her go about her room angrily. He frowned before making his way into the kitchens. Two of Gigi’s sisters were gossiping while kneading dough. Drake approached them.

“Can I help?” he asked.

The pair stopped talking and looked at the interloper with surprise. The familial resemblance was unmistakable. Despite this, Drake could tell them all apart reasonably quickly. He absolutely did not know their names. However, he could tell by little things, mainly how they deviated from Gigi.

“I don’t know, can you?” the goblin to his left sneered. She threw the dough hard against the table.

He knew the woman to his left. She was mean, and she always wore red nail polish. The woman to his right chuckled but smacked her sister on her shoulder.

“Be nice. We don’t want to scare him off too. Otherwise, we’ll be stuck with Gigi forever.” They both went silent for a moment and shuddered at the thought.

“Scare me off?” Drake questioned. They exchanged knowing glances with one another.

“Well, I know you’re new here, so let me tell you a little secret,” the red-nailed goblin loudly whispered. Drake sighed. He did not like Red Nails. “Our sister has a reputation,” she smirked. Drake folded his arms and braced himself. He was not excited about where this was going.

“What does that mean exactly?” he asked. Red Nails then made a show of looking around as if trying to make sure her sister wasn’t in earshot. She looked past Drake for a moment, and a quick smile flashed on her face before turning back to him.

“It means,” she said, raising her voice loud enough for the entire kitchen to hear. “That Gigi doesn’t get a lot of suitors because she’s broke the last one’s…arm, I think?”

“It was his hand,” her sister confirmed. Red Nails nodded knowingly.

“Ah, of course, his hand. Then, before that, she made this poor guy's nose explode in front of the entire tavern,” she cackled. “Then there was…”

“Why did she break the last guy’s hand?” Drake asked, unmoved.

“What do you mean?” Red Nails responded.

“Did this guy do something?” Drake probed. Neither said anything. “Because, last night, she was mad enough at me to spit fire, said she never wanted to talk to me again, and she didn’t break anything of mine,” he said, looking at his hand for emphasis. “I’m going to guess I’m not getting the other half of this story. Gigi is a good person and wouldn’t just hurt someone for no reason,” he said, anger seeping into his voice. “So if she broke this guy's hand, I’m positive he had it coming.”

Red Nails gloured at Drake. Then, she moved her sour expression behind him again. She sighed and finally shrugged.

“Fine, Gigi, you win,” Red Nails spat. “Take your prize. He’s annoying anyways.”

Confusion washed over Drake for a moment, but only a moment. He spun on his heels to see Gigi standing behind him. She was eyeing him cooly as she ate a donut. Drake smiled when he saw her. He couldn’t help himself. Gigi nodded to herself solemnly as she finished the fried cake.

“Okay, idiot, one more chance. Follow me.”