Spellbent (41 page)

“You were in a rough situation with your mundane family in Texas, right?” the Warlock said. “And your Talented relatives got you out of there, didn’t they?”

“Yeah. My stepfather was going to have me locked up in a• mental institution, but my aunt Vicky found out and brought me to Columbus. She was really cool,” I said, swallowing against a fresh swell of sorrow and guilt. No matter how much I told myself that Vicky’s suicide wasn’t my fault, my heart just wouldn’t believe it. “But for what it’s worth, my stepfather isn’t religious.”

“See?” the Warlock said to Ginger. “Jackasses come in all faiths.”

LUCY A. SNYDER is the author of the story and poetry collections
Sparks and Shadows
and
Chimeric Machines.

She has a B.S. in biology and an M.A. in journalism and is a graduate of the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop. Born in South Carolina, she grew up in the cowboys-and-cactus part of Texas and currently lives in Worthington, Ohio.

www.lucysnyder.com