Page 78 of Prodigal Son

“Venus!”

“All right! All right! She’s in Europe! Or she was last I heard.”

Juniper’s jaw trembled as she sank onto the floor. “She didn’t want me.”

“You were never unwanted, June bug. Mabel and I loved you like our own.”

“I can’t believe she abandoned me. All this time I thought…” She lifted her watery gaze to her aunt. “Why didn’t she want me?”

“Oh, sweetie.” Venus dropped to the floor and wrapped her arms around her, holding her tight. “Your mother wanted you so much it nearly killed her to let you go.”

“Then why did she leave me?”

Venus sniffled and brushed her hair away from her face, pushing their foreheads together. “Because your father was a selfish asshole who never wanted anything or anyone to tie him down. Your mom assumed he’d come around once he held you, but he didn’t. And when he threatened to leave, she lost her mind. They had a very volatile, toxic love.”

She wiped her eyes, unsure how anyone could cry as much as she had in one day. “What kind of mother leaves a helpless child behind for a man like that?”

“He wasn’t an ordinary man, honey. And, like it or not, he’s a part of you.”

“No, he’s not. I have no father.”

“You do. His name is Niro and it’s time you learned about him.”

“I don’t care about him. I hate him.”

“Hate is not indifference. I know this, because your mother also hated him on some level, but she still loved him.”

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“But we have to.” Venus brushed a hand over her hair, soothing her the way she so easily did. “You see, when that man said he knew your secret, it wasn’t that we are witches. It was that you’re different. He must have recognized something in you, because he figured out what you were.”

She drew back and frowned. “Huh?”

“Honey, your mother was a witch, just like our mother and her mother and so on. But Niro was from a different time and place. He lived in Rome and was born just around the year St. Peter’s Basilica was built.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Your father’s old. Ancient, actually.”

Juniper scowled. “Are you screwing with me? Is this some sort of twisted joke?”

“It’s not a joke,” Venus said defensively. “I’m trying to tell you, your father is immortal.”

“There’s no such thing as immortality, even Aunt Bel said so.”

“Because everything alive must eventually die, duh, but what else are we supposed to call it? The guys been around for centuries.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No,” Juniper snapped, and shoved herself off the floor. “This is just more folklore. I’m sick of it! I don’t need fairytales to get through my day. I need someone to tell me the goddamn truth!”

“You want the truth?” Venus jumped to her feet. “Your father is a vampire. Your mother fell in love with him and when he told her to choose, she chose him. She begged him to erase her memories of us and you, and off they went to live their life in Europe.”

“You’re lying.” She turned and the candles throughout the room ignited, shooting flames high into the air before lowering to the wick. She spun back to Venus, staring wide-eyed. “Did you just…?”

“Lying is what we did when you were a little girl to help you fall asleep. You’re not little anymore, Juniper. And it’s time you realized what’s inside of you. One drop of immortal blood has the power to save a life. There are no books or internet searches to tell us what happens when someone is half witch, half undead. There’s a reason you don’t scar, but you also have vulnerabilities.”

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