Prologue

"Grandma," I say, not even trying to hide the whine in my voice. "Please share the secret with us?"

My cousins and I all sit around the table, watching as our grandma crochets another scarf. She's been doing this so long she doesn't even need to look at her crochet hook and yarn as she works. She smiles at us, shaking her head. She's looking at us fondly but this time that does nothing to soothe the annoyance threatening to flare up in my chest. I just barely keep back another whine.

"Sometimes it's best to trust Lady Fate's timing in these things, darlings. She will guide you to your sparks when the time is right."

Bently, one of my cousins, lets out an annoyed huff, unable to hide it as well as me. "You're just saying that because not everyone gets a spark. Is that it? You're trying to protect us?"

Grandma sets her hook down, looking at Bently with an unimpressed brow. She shakes her head. "Is that what I said?"

"Well, no," he admits softly.

"Then trust me, give it time. You're all still so young. There's no reason for you to go chasing after things you're not ready for."

I look across the table at my cousins. I nod my head up towards the ceiling and they all nod in agreement. "Thanks for this talk, Grandma," I say, standing up and walking over to her, kissing the side of her head. She pats my cheek gently.

"You're all my favorites," she says with a wide smile. "I love you all and I just want the best for you."

"We know," I tell her before heading upstairs to my room. My cousins all follow. There's Bently, Casper, Willow, and the baby of the group, Harbor. I don't have any siblings so my cousins are the closest I have to that. They've been in my life since they were all born and we've grown a bond like no other.

"I really thought she was gonna crack," Bently says with a shrug. "But she's holding onto her secrets."

Casper snorts, shaking his head. "That's the thing, I bet she doesn't even have any secrets to share. Maybe there's no magical way to help us out."

"There's gotta be," I murmur, running my fingers through my blond hair. "We just have to do a little research. We might be familiars but we don't have to just sit around and wait for our sparks to find us. I'm sure there's books or spells or magical items that could get us what we want."

Being a family of familiars comes with its perks and downfalls. Hide and seek is a blast because I can shift into my raven form and hide in small places, but being the seeker while trying to find a hedgehog is a giant pain. We know about magic and the supernatural world, but we learn early on that we have to be careful and shield humans away from what we really are.

Harbor speaks up. "Grandma isn't wrong though," he says softly, "we are still young. I'm only 15."

"You're the baby, but I'm almost 18. I could leave on my birthday and start trying to find my spark," I say, puffing out my chest. I completely deflate when Willow elbows me right in the stomach. Everyone else chuckles at my pain and I'm reminded why I'm so glad I'm an only child.

"You're not just ditching us. We're family. We're sticking together!"

I roll my eyes. "Fine," I say with a groan. "Fine, I'll stick around long enough for us all to turn 18. How's that?" The guys all nod their heads. "But maybe it's better to realize there will come a day when we're separated." I look down at my feet. "We can't all stick together forever. Eventually we're gonna find our sparks and stay with them instead of each other."

Just then, there's a soft knock on the door. We all freeze, staring at each other with wide eyes. Grandma pokes her head inside.

"It seems the five of you are pretty determined to do this, huh?"

My cheeks heat at being caught like this but because I'm the oldest, I clear my throat and nod. "We are," I say, trying my best to seem confident.

Grandma sighs, crossing her arms over her chest. "Then I do have something that will help, but you won't be getting it until Harbor turns 18."

"Really?" Willow asks, his voice sounding just as excited as I'm feeling.

Grandma nods. "A long time ago I was gifted a magical compass. It'll direct you towards your spark."

"Oh my gods," Bently murmurs, his eyes darting to me. We share an excited smile. "This is awesome! We can rent an RV and travel across the country in search of our sparks!"

"So it's a deal," I say, looking at my cousins, letting myself smile from ear to ear. "After Harbor turns 18, we go on the road trip of a lifetime!"

We all cheer with excitement as Grandma watches on with a soft smile. Now I just have to start preparing. I have a feeling these three years are going to go by quickly and I wanna be ready for when it's time to meet my spark.