Page 18 of Prodigal Son

“Among other things.”

“Gross. How could you tell that’s what he was?”

Mabel stilled and stared at Juniper, her eyes brimming with enough worry to remove any humor. “This isn’t a joke, Juniper. That man is dangerous. Pour some black salt at the threshold.”

She did as she was told. “What did he want?”

“Something I can’t give.”

That never stopped her aunt from making a sale before. Maybe the guy was really dangerous and that’s why she didn’t try to scam him with some moon water or energy charged crystals. “What can’t you give him?”

“Salvation. He wants to evoke dark magick. That sort of sorcery can be deadly.”

“Right.” There was no masking the sarcasm of her concern.

Aunt Mabel grabbed her shoulders and turned her to look into her eyes. “I’m serious, Juniper. If you see that man again, I want you to get as far away from him as you can, and tell me immediately. Do you understand?”

“He’s Amish—”

“Do you understand?” she asked more firmly.

“Y-yes. Jeeze.”

“Good. Now, put away the salt and go do your homework. If you get another D in algebra, I’m taking away your phone for a week.”

Juniper scoffed. If she had any sort of real witchery hiding in her DNA, she wouldn’t be flunking math. She gathered her backpack, which hadn’t been opened since leaving school and disappeared through the beaded curtain into the back. Aunt Bel drew back the purple tapestry curtain and peeked out the window. While she was distracted, Juniper pulled the black jar off the second shelf and silently uncorked the top.

Thick, green buds filled her palm and she quickly stashed them in the pocket of her schoolbag. Predictably, the chime of a Facetime call sounded and Aunt Venus’s voice broke the silence. “Do you think teal is pretentious or pretty?”

“Are we talking underwear, cookware, or jewelry?” Aunt Bel asked.

“Hair. I’m tired of purple.”

“Teal’s fine. But we have a bigger problem.”

“What? Is it June? What did she do, now?” Juniper rolled her eyes and Venus continued, “I told her she better get her act together if she wants—”

“A vampire came to the shop today.”

“What?” Venus croaked. Aunt Venus struggled to take anything serious, which made the sobriety of her concern that much more alarming. “Are you certain?”

“One thousand percent. And, Venus…he knew my name.”

“Fuck.”

CHAPTER 6

The mortal female navigated the woods as if walking was a second language. Even through the dappled shadows of the forest, Cain could see how out of sorts she was in nature.

Beyond the earlier damage to her clothing, mud caked the treads of Destiny’s boots, grass stained her legs, and small scratches nicked her skin. She was a walking disaster.

“Ah!” Once more she tripped, landing awkwardly on the ground. A short chuckle slipped past his lips.

Her eyes narrowed on him with the venom of a viper backed by the strength of a toothless barn kitten. He laughed again, possibly out of fear that this might be his last chance for any hint of humor. Or maybe he was delirious from blood loss and he was losing his mind.

He hated her. His injuries were her fault. Yet, watching her flail about in mud as she struggled to navigate a simple hill stirred something endearing. She was helpless, pathetically so, and he took pity on her. Or maybe it was just satisfying to watch her struggle because he wanted to see her punished but lacked the energy to do it himself.

Once on her feet, she glared at him, gave a furious huff, and marched east. He allowed her to stomp away only because there was still a hint of sunlight in the sky and she needed to blow off steam. But as she stalked further and further away, he glanced upward at the fading light and sighed. They were running out of time.

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