Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

Author:Ava Reid
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2022-06-21T00:00:00+00:00

By the time Papa came home the sky was dimming to the color of a bruised peach and he told us that he had posted his signs all over the city. Rose and Undine had used needle and thread and a bit of spellwork to mend their dresses, and they both were so beautiful it would make your eyes well up to look at them. Undine wore her gown of peacock blue and Rose wore one of deep scarlet; they reminded me of little jeweled sucking candies that came inside bronze tins, except Undine’s eyes were dangerous and Rose’s smile looked mean.

I had chosen my least ruined dress, a pale pink gown that was too snug in the waist and had one of its corset bones snapped. Undine was right; it mattered little how I looked. Papa swept right past me without even a glance. He was standing with his arms drawn over his distended belly, staring out the window.

The charm bracelet was curled in my pocket and the card was folded tightly and tucked between my breasts. I felt as though if I removed either from my person they would vanish, like there was some spell cast over the house that would instantly obliterate anything that Papa might want to keep hidden. But I could feel them both there, the weight of the bracelet and the paper poking into my skin, ink slurring as it mixed with my sweat.

I wanted to pull it out and hold it up to him and demand the truth. I wanted to see him stammer and flush and try to explain it. Courage mounted in me with each passing moment, courage and insatiable hunger. All my fear and good sense once again forgotten—what did I have to lose now? Papa would be furious the moment he walked into his room and saw the ruin I’d made of it. I might as well try to eat the truth out of him too.

It was not just the card or the charm bracelet or the strange filling that had appeared in the icebox the same day Mama had vanished. It was every scream I had swallowed for so many years. If I opened my mouth now, those cries would pour out of me with no way to stop them.

And perhaps the walls around me would begin to show small cracks at last. If there was power in keeping a secret, surely there was power in revealing it too.

But I couldn’t quite manage the feat of such a great thing, no matter my heart-pounding bluster. I thought of Sevas and clenched my fist so tightly that my knuckle split open and bled.

All four of us were silent for a very long time, the grandfather clock ticking away the seconds. I opened my mouth and then closed it again, skin chilled with nervous anticipation. And then, before any of us could speak, Papa raised his hand and pointed out the window, toward the gate. “Look.”

A trio of men were loping down the road.

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