“No, toot, it won’t be. Not for a while, at least. And there are things I need to tell you. Traditions you’ll have to take over. Legacies you should know about. You and your brother,” she started.
“No,” Sadie shook her head frantically. “No, I’m not listening to this. How can you be so calm? Why have you already given up?” Her voice was frantic. This couldn’t be real. She wouldn’t let it be. She tried folding the thoughts in half, but they wouldn’t budge. They were wedged in concrete. Gigi was her world. And her world was unraveling.
“Sugar,” Gigi said, reaching out a hand to her granddaughter. “I know this is hard. I know it’s turning your world upside down. I’m calm because I’ve been expecting something like this for a long time. I’m just surprised it didn’t come sooner.”
Sadie stared at Gigi’s hand on hers, the age spots and wrinkles in stark contrast to her own smooth skin, and jumped to her feet.
“I took on this curse for my magic. The least it can do is be useful to fix this. I’ll find a way. I will,” Sadie said, her hands clenched into fists at her side.
And before Gigi could say anything else, Sadie left, the pit in her stomach growing heavier with every footstep.
She stomped through the garden and into the woods.
Gigi couldn’t die. She wouldn’t allow it. Seth had already left. And if Gigi—but no, she wouldn’t.
Still, one thought kept reverberating around in her head. One day, I’ll be left completely and utterly alone.
She had never hated her curse more than in that moment.
She wiped the traitorous tears from her eyes and hardened her heart against the pain. She couldn’t dwell on that now. She couldn’t risk heartbreak when she needed her magic now more than ever.
Vanilla Jasmine Tea with Black Pepper and Cinnamon
If you don’t like spice, you won’t like this. It’s a spicy floral tea that will give you the clarity to see what’s missing in your life while helping draw those things to you through good fortune. But remember, good fortune will only get you so far, and for the rest you’ll have to rely on your own wit and wisdom.
Ingredients
jasmine tea
1 vanilla bean pod
1–2 drops cinnamon bark oil
1–2 drops black pepper oil
Directions
1.?Scrape vanilla bean pod into pot of boiling water, strain, and use to brew tea.
2.?Drop in cinnamon bark oil and black pepper oil. Enjoy.
（To increase clarity and focus, diffuse 4 drops clary sage and 4 drops frankincense while drinking tea.）
??4??
SADIE SLEPT FITFULLY THAT night. She awoke with a crick in her neck and a sour taste in her mouth, finally trudging out of bed at dawn with the phantom smell of ash trailing her like a bad decision.
In the sleepy little kitchen, she put the kettle on to boil and thoughtfully eyed her jumbled collection of tin canisters filled with various blends of teas and herbs. In a mesh bag, she mixed one teaspoon of mango black tea for focus and energy, a sprinkle of dried lavender for calm, and a few buds of clove for both dignity and the ability to withstand troubles. Tying the bag with string, she dropped it into a cup of water that measured exactly two hundred and twelve degrees. As it steeped, she added a dash of cinnamon for stability and a drizzle of honey for sweetness.
The old hardwood floors creaked as the sound of pattering paws reached her. Bambi, tail wagging, sat at her feet.
“Today will be better,” she told him, scratching behind his ears. “Today will be a good day. We’ve got work to do. Nothing is happening to Gigi on my watch.”
She sipped her tea, the bright floral earthiness dancing on her tongue, and tried not to think of Seth. Or to wish that he was here.
Their last argument had been brutal. “You use people,” he’d seethed. “You’re so afraid of your curse that you let people love you until you get too close, then you push them away. For your magic. You’re a manipulator. Only using people for what they can do for you.”
“I’ve never treated you like that,” Sadie had argued.
“You didn’t have to! Jesus, Sade. You couldn’t not love me. I’m your twin! And I see who you could be if you weren’t so goddamn afraid of who you’d be without what you can do. There’ll come a time when people figure you out, and they’ll get sick and tired of the way you take and take without ever loving in return.”
“I don’t just take! I give! That’s why my magic is so important; I help people,” she insisted.