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Here is the thing My mom shouldn’t have died in that wreck She was an immortal witch It is hard, very hard to kill our kind Or so, Aunt Elle told me and said Mom told her

The ugly truth, and one that givesthe derailment My mother was pinned and her head severed by a ht her dear and beautiful neck, taking it completely off Thank the fates, I had not seen this when it happened

My father had been human I won’t say ‘only human’ because he had been my hero—there was ‘no only’ about him

But being human, he had been crushed beneath heavy debris and died a slow death before they were able to free him

As I said, I was flung from the train car and barely received a scratch, as I have that i on

Aunt Elle was there for o-to person,I would have floundered in the foster systeoduardian

She saved me She loved h for hu into her own, impossible

The months after my parents’ deaths were difficult Even with Aunt Elle hovering to cohtmares and sorrow tormented me

Elle is a robust and finely tuned earth-bound witch who took control of my life Tall and full bodied, with cocoa delicious skin, dark eyes, and an absolutely dazzling face and heart Thank all the fates for my Aunt Elle

When Mom died, I wasn’t fully in control of ical skills

Aunt Elle’s ht me as much of her mortal witchery as she could, and she ht of my very different mana

I needed the discipline she taught

Elle tried to research ic wasn’t even diluted by ic had never been as strong as mine

I will never forget her sacrifices, and there were , Aunt Elle had only been thirty when she tookthat really was

She gave up a great deal in those first years She hardly dated and only once nearly got , flirty, and Denzel Washington handsoht hi I learned another lesson A man has to be more than a pretty face