Lastly, I know you’ve always closed yourself off because of your curse. It’s easier not to lose anyone when you don’t let them in all the way. But that’s no way to live, sugar. You’ll figure things out. And it’ll get easier with time. Know that you and Seth were my pride and joy. I will love you every moment of forever. Now, go live your life, you hear me? I believe in you. I always have.
Love,
Gigi
The looped, old-fashioned handwriting, Gigi’s “chicken scratch,” clung to Sadie’s heart. The tears burned hot on her cheeks as the lights flickered overhead.
Twenty-one days.
That was all she had left.
Twenty-one days until the full moon. Until the life debt had to be paid.
And Gigi had written about sacrificing herself as casually as she would have discussed the proper way to flip fried chicken. And what was with the ending telling her to go live her life? How could she live her life if she sacrificed herself to save her brother? It was madness. All of it. She wanted to laugh but knew if she did, she’d end up sobbing and unable to stop.
Instead, she clutched the lockbox to her chest and curled in a ball on the floor.
Through the high window she could see the waxing gibbous moon, soft and eerie, the symbol for changing seasons, life and death. Gigi’s knit blanket slid off the bed and laid itself over her, tucking in at her shoulders.
Everything seemed utterly lost. Gigi was dead. Her aunts and uncles would soon return to their lives and jobs and homes. Seth had never promised to stay. And Jake—well, it was too late for that. Gigi had been the glue that held them all together. With her gone, everything unraveled. Everything she’d ever been, all that she’d known, it died with Gigi. And she couldn’t do it. Even with her life, or maybe Seth’s, hanging in the balance, she couldn’t think of a single way to nullify the conduit magic.
And in that moment anger dominoed through her heart. Anger at Gigi for killing Julian and incurring the life debt; at her mother for putting Gigi in a position to have to; at Julian for being the world’s biggest dick; and all the way back to Evanora Revelare for picking that goddamn diablo buckwheat up on Rose Hill.
The quiet murmur of voices floated up to her on the cold floor as she let the anger burn hot through her. It felt good. Even if it was only a numbing sort of Band-Aid.
And then a gentle knock on the front door reverberated through the floor, after which the grandfather clock blasted a dozen notes, like a call to arms.
Maple Butterscotch Walnut Fudge
It won’t heal sorrow, but it will spark wisdom and strength, traditionally for new beginnings, ventures, or the new year. I also made it the day before Sadie and I opened the café. Running that place with my favorite girl have been some of the best years of my life.
Ingredients
1 c. white chocolate chips
1 c. butterscotch chips
1 c. chocolate chips
1 can （14-oz.） sweetened condensed milk
? lb. butter （1 stick）
1 tsp. maple extract （maybe a dash more）
1? c. chopped walnuts
Directions
1.?Grease and line an 8 × 8-inch dish with parchment paper. Combine chips, sweetened condensed milk, and butter in a microwavable bowl.
2.?Heat the bowl for 30 seconds at a time, giving it a stir after each time, until everything is just melted. Don’t overdo it, or the chips will get grainy.
3.?Stir in maple extract and walnuts.
4.?Pour fudge mixture into tin. Refrigerate until set, and then cut into squares.
??12??
BEFORE THE CLOCK HAD finished its echo, Kay screamed. Anne’s laugh set Sadie’s teeth on edge. The house seemed to snap to attention. Picture frames straightened themselves. Knickknacks scuttled back to their corners. Piles of dust swept themselves under dressers.
There was the sound of footsteps thundering up the stairs, and seconds later Seth burst through Gigi’s door.
“You need to come downstairs,” he said breathlessly.
And before she could demand why, he was gone again.
She sat up, wiped her nose on her sweater, and set the lockbox down, her heart thudding. She didn’t want to go downstairs. Didn’t want to see whoever was at the door. But the lights flickered, and a warm breeze shuffled through the room despite the lack of open windows, and Sadie knew it was Gigi reminding her of her manners again.
With trepidation in every step, she took to the stairs and swore they looked like they’d just been polished. Halfway down, as the entryway came into view, she stopped, her bare feet against the wood floor heavy as cinderblocks.
She looked impossibly young. Dressed in all black except for a calf-length velvet duster in a jewel-toned floral pattern. The air pulsed around her, and her inky black hair, cut in a shoulder-length bob with thick bangs, shone iridescent blue black in the porch light. Her face wore a smile that made Sadie shudder. It was Seth’s smile. It was hers. Even though she’d only seen a few photos of her mother, she’d recognize her anywhere.