Page 77 of Prodigal Son

“You’re going to help him?”

She looked at her like she was crazy. “No, sweetheart. I’m going to kill him.”

Juniper jumped off the couch and followed her into the kitchen. “You’re joking.”

“I never joke about murder.”

She grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back from the pantry. “Aunt Venus, stop. This isn’t funny.” When she faced her, her eyes were ravaged with tears. “That man is a psychopath. Let’s go to the police and report him. They’ll take care of it. He’ll get arrested for arson and tried for manslaughter.”

“Juniper, it doesn’t work that way with vampires.”

Her mouth gaped. “You can’t be serious.”

“Do I look like I’m joking?”

No, she looked terrifying. “Aunt V, we can’t.”

“Juniper, sit down. We need to talk.” She ushered her to a chair at the kitchen table and gripped her hands. “When that man said he knew our secret, what did you think he meant?”

Juniper shrugged. “That we were witches.”

Venus’s face pinched with regret. “You really have no idea, do you?”

“What do you mean?”

She drew in a galvanizing breath. “Okay, sweetie. We had hoped this would come about naturally, under less worrisome circumstances, but we don’t always get what we want, obviously. Your mother begged us not to tell you, so we tried to keep our word as long as possible, assuming one day we would have to break our vow.”

“Tell me what?”

“Oh, honey, this isn’t going to be easy—”

“Say it, Venus.” Unlike Aunt Bel who always took the maternal role, Venus was younger and highly emotional at the worst times. They were only fifteen years apart, and sometimes it was hard to think of her as any sort of guardian even though she technically had been her guardian since her mom died.

“Your mom didn’t suffer from postpartum depression.”

“What do you mean? I thought that was—”

“I know what we told you. It was close to the truth, but also a lie. Your mother never suffered from depression, and she would have never hurt herself.”

“Then what happened to her?”

Venus’s eyes filled with tears. “She left.”

Juniper scowled. “Left? What the hell does that mean, she left? She’s still alive?”

Venus pinched her fingers together. “A little.”

Juniper shot to her feet. “A little? What the fuck, Venus? Whose ashes are in the urn on the mantle?”

“Oden’s.”

“Oden? The Norse god?”

“No, Oden our old tabby.” She rubbed her temples. “See, I feel like Mabel would have handled this way better.”

“Well, Mabel’s not here!” Her whole life was a lie. “Where’s my mother?”

“You’re yelling and I do much better with tranquil tones.”

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