Page 35 of Prodigal Son

“What the fuck?” she whispered. Could she have done that?

Her heart pounded and she felt sick to her stomach. She compulsively swallowed, the memory of Mr. Weckle’s broken arm making her want to vomit. She disliked algebra and thought he could be a dick, but she never meant to hurt anyone.

You didn’t do it…a voice in her head demanded.

She couldn’t have. There was no way.

Too freaked out to return to school, she hoisted her bag over her shoulder and walked toward the tow path of the canal that led home. The cold wind did nothing to settle her nerves, and by the time she reached the footbridge, she was completely disturbed and ready to confess all.

She crossed the bridge and—“Holy fuck!” Juniper jumped back, her heart lodging in her throat as a man emerged from the shelter of the trees.

“Did I frighten you, child?”

She instantly recognized his plain clothing and the black hat. It was the guy who visited the store a few days ago. The…

Even her mind rejected the possibility and refused to accept such reality. No way was this guy a vampire. He looked straight up hokey with his old-fashioned boots and simple black jacket.

“I recognize you,” he said, before she could confess the same. “From Mabel’s store. You were minding the register.”

She didn’t find him frightening. He honestly appeared so unthreatening she didn’t know what her aunt was afraid of. He looked like a guy who might run a fruit stand on some back country road or have his picture taken for a canister of Quaker Oats. “Yeah, it’s my aunt’s store.”

He cocked his head. “So, you’re Mabel Temperance’s niece?”

“Yeah, and she’s expecting me, so I better go.” She side-stepped him on the path and walked briskly toward the store. School still wasn’t over and she’d have to come up with some explanation for skipping last period, but there was no way she was hanging out on a vacant trail with Cotton Eyed Dracula or whoever this guy was.

He kept pace with her. “If you’re her niece, that would make Venus your mother?”

Thrown that he knew her other aunt’s name, she frowned and walked faster. “Um, no. Venus is my other aunt.”

“Your aunt. So that would make you the daughter of—”

“Look, dude, I don’t know what your deal is, but I’m not Ancestry dot com, and I don’t share my personal business with strangers, so how about you go back to your little troll bridge in the woods and leave me the fuck alone?”

He drew back, a look of such offense on his face she almost took pity on him. “I apologize if I’ve made you uncomfortable.”

Okay, maybe she overreacted. “Just…back off.”

He held up his hands in a peaceful gesture. She stepped around him, then turned and continued walking on her way. It would help if someone else showed up. Even a dog walker or an eighty-pound jogger would be a comfort at this point.

That guy was just a creep. Vampire my ass, she thought, shifting the weight of her backpack and—

A scream screeched out of her as his hand covered her mouth and gripped her throat without warning. He lifted her booted feet clear off the ground and she kicked wildly, her hands grasping his arm so he didn’t choke her.

“Silence.”

Panic welled in her chest, breath after breath, until her lungs were painfully full. She couldn’t scream, couldn’t breathe. Tears of panic made it hard to see as the tree line blurred.

“I want you to convince your aunts to help me. Have them meet me here, tomorrow night at midnight, with whatever they need to make my problem go away. If they’re not here, their little secret won’t stay safe much longer.”

Juniper kicked her legs and threw her elbow back, hitting him hard enough in the ribs that he dropped her to the ground. She landed on her hands and knees, coughing and gasping, as she stared up at him, no longer finding him unthreatening.

He glared at her with elongated pupils and distended fangs.

“What the hell are you?” she rasped.

“Tell them. Tell them I know what they’re hiding, and now,” a trickle of blood slid down his finger and he licked it clean, “I can track your coven anywhere.”

Juniper’s hand jumped to her throat and she felt the burn of a fresh cut. Red smeared her palm. The sick fuck was licking her blood. “What the hell?”

---