My father was a vulture. My mother was a magpie. My oldest brother is a crow. My sister, a sparrow. I have never really been a bird." Lila resisted the urge to say he might have been a peacock. It didn't seem the time.

he feels like he's stepped into another version of his life--not ahead, or behind, but sideways. One where his sister looks up to him and his brother doesn't look down, where his parents are proud, and all the judgment has been sucked out of the air like smoke vented from a fire. He didn't realize how much connective tissue was made up of guilt. Without the weight of it, he feels dizzy and light.Euphoric.

Kell resisted the urge to stab a fork into his own leg just to watch his brother wince.

Your true family.But what did that mean? Was family the ones you were born to, or the ones who took you in? Did the first years of his life weigh more than the rest?Strange thing about forgetting spells.Rhy was his brother.They fade on their own.London was his home.Unless we don’t let go.”