CHAPTER ONE
LILITH
AUTUMN 27 YEARS AGO
“Lilith,get up. The new jukebox is coming in today, and your dad and I need to run errands in the city.”
I groan and burrow deeper beneath the blankets. “I worked the late shift,” I mumble. My mom yanks the covers clean off me.
“The bar is our bar. Our family bar. We all pull our weight. And maybe if you hadn’t stayed up half the night with that Syphilis and his friend?—”
“Silas,” I snap, squinting at her. “His name is Silas. And it’s his brother, Morbius. We were playing pool. I’m twenty-five, Mom. Not fifteen.”
She folds her arms. “Your sister is at Sunday school. Your brother is helping Mrs. Heck.”
I snort. “Yeah. I’m sure he is.”
“It’s only nine,” she adds sharply.
“I’ve had four hours of sleep!”
But she’s already walking out. “There’s stock coming in for New Year’s Eve!”
“It’s only November!” I shout after her.
By the time night settles over town, I’m stretched across one of the vinyl booths, drifting in and out of sleep. The bar is silent, wrapped in darkness. When I finally blink awake, the world outside the windows is black and still.
I unlock the front doors and push them open.
The jukebox sits alone on the sidewalk, strapped to a dolly like some abandoned relic. No delivery truck. No driver.
“Hello?” I call out. Only silence answers.
I step outside and grab the handles. “Jesus, this thing weighs a ton.”
“I don’t know what’s more entertaining,” a voice murmurs beside me, low and amused. “Watching you struggle with it or watching you think you won’t.”
I gasp, spinning around. “Morbius! How many times have I told you not to sneak up on me?”
He smiles, slow and deliberate. His dark hair blends into the night, but his violet eyes catch in the moonlight.
“Maybe I enjoy the way your heart races when I do.”
“Or maybe you just enjoy being irritating.” I try to sound annoyed, but my pulse hasn’t steadied. “Where’s Silas?”
“With the club.” Of course he is.
Morbius steps closer. Too close. The air shifts with him; cool, charged, electric. His thumb brushes lightly across my cheek, and a shiver ripples down my spine.
“So tonight,” he says softly, “it’s just you and me.”
“I need to get this inside before my parents?—”
“There’s an overturned truck on the highway. They won’t be back for hours.”
“My brother?—”
“Occupied.”
