“I’ll never understand this thing,” she sighed, reaching for the instruction manual.

“You’re smart. You’ll get it … eventually,” I joked, pitching the yogurt container into the trash can under the sink.

She laughed and instantly, I missed her.

Mom and I had always been so close, just the two of us. My father disappeared under bizarre circumstances. I was only a baby when that happened.

They had me, and then one day he just … disappeared. My mother never talked about it. She still doesn’t. She has no idea that I know the truth about my father or the deeper mystery—the existence of my father’s guardian. A dark angel named Hadrian. I had narrowly escaped his powerful influence last spring in the woods surrounding our little town. Our confrontation led to a fire that nearly killed me.

Now, life is back to normal and my mom’s been spending a lot of time with the hunky doctor that bandaged me up afterwards. I’m happy she’s found someone; she deserves it, and he seems to treat her well. I mean, it shows that she’s happy. She dresses up more, like she’s making an effort to be a person other than just my mom. She never comes home dog-tired anymore because she’s so hyped up to go out later with Dr. Dean. That’s his name. Dr.

Nathaniel Dean, M.D. He’s nice, I guess. He’s a widower so I guess they have that in common. He’s pleasant to me when he comes to our house, but he has to be. He’s on our territory. It’s just … I miss having her all to myself. Mom says I’m getting older. Eighteen. A senior. I should want my privacy. So maybe the M.D. after his name should mean “mom deterrent.”

“Oh! I forgot to tell you; this Friday we’re having our first weekly pizza party,” came a muffled voice. Mom’s head was in the fridge searching for lost lunch meat. I made a mental note to move it closer to the front so she wouldn’t have to look so hard.