Sins of the Innocent: A Novella Read Free

“It’s been a year, Bex.”
    He sighed. “Thirteen months, three weeks, five days … seven hours.”
    I leaned over, touching my temple to his shoulder. “I’m sorry she wasn’t your Taleh.”
    He patted my knee and kissed my hair. “I’m not. My Taleh happens to be the only person I love more than her.”
    My eyebrows shot up, and an appreciative smile touched my lips. “I’m not your Taleh.”
    He shrugged. “Close enough.”
    I reached over to pull the lever, and then I ducked when Bex took a swing at me. I chased him through the front door, past Agatha, the housekeeper, and into the kitchen.
    “It’s about time,” Mom said. She licked something off her thumb and then continued to peel potatoes.
    “Hi, Grandmother,” I said.
    “Eden, dear,” Grandmother said, somehow looking busy, angry, and polite as usual. She was bouncing from one cook station to another. Her white hair was pulled tight into a French bun, her heels clicking on the tiled floor as her slight frame moved about the kitchen. “You’re a mess.”
    “The drive home was windy,” I said, combing my hair with my fingers.
    “How was school?” Mom took the few steps to lean over to allow me to kiss her cheek, and then she returned to the potatoes at the sink.
    “Globins, Mommy,” Bex said with an ornery grin.
    Mom arched an eyebrow but hardly seemed alarmed. It had been a long time since she worried about me. Sometimes, I missed it.
    “Where?” she asked.
    “In Calculus,” I said.
    She groaned. “I hated calculus. Be thankful for all the room in that brilliant brain of yours, Eden. Brown is just around the corner.”
    “Nina, dear,” Grandmother said. “The leeks.”
    “Oh!” Mom said, turning for the stove. “How was school? Besides the globins.”
    I rolled my eyes. “It wasn’t a goblin. This thing had thick gums and rows of tiny shark’s teeth. I know what it was.”
    “Oh?” Mom said, only mildly interested.
    “Don’t roll your eyes at your mother, Eden. Honestly,” Grandmother said.
    “It was a druden,” I said.
    Mom stopped stirring but only for half a second. The only way I could tell if she was keeping something from me was to listen to her heart. Right now, it sounded like a hummingbird was in her chest.
    “I told her it couldn’t have been, Nina,” Bex said. “But she’s sure of what she saw.”
    “Well,” Mom said, returning to her potatoes, “just because you’re an immortal doesn’t mean you can’t be wrong.”
    “Fine,” I said, crossing my arms. “But if it were a druden … what does it mean that they keep coming around?”
    She shrugged. “They’re probably attracted to you, Eden. You know how this works.”
    “They’re coming around more often. Sometimes in groups.”
    Mom made a face. “Drudens are reclusive. Don’t be silly.”
    “Why are they coming out during the day? They’re just … observing. Why would a druden do that?”
    “I don’t understand,” Mom said, exchanging a quick glance with Grandmother.
    “He was just hanging out,” I said, leaning against the wall.
    “Stand up straight, dear,” Grandmother snapped.
    I stood. “But he’d just been downstairs. He had a stank on him that I haven’t smelled in a while.”
    “Resist the slang, please,” Grandmother said.
    “Downstairs?” Mom asked.
    “Hell,” Bex clarified.
    Mom swallowed. “Definitely a goblin then. They typically hop back and forth.”
    “It wasn’t a …” I let my arms fall. “Are we really going to do this? I’m not a child. Just tell me what it means.”
    Mom looked to Bex, but he shook his head.
    “Honey, just be patient. Graduation is in a few days, and then—” She noticed my expression. “What is it?”
    My eyes widened, and an automatic smile stretched across my face just when the door flew open.
    Aunt Claire yelled from the foyer, “Edie!”
    I turned on my heels, flew through the dining room, and crashed into her. She threw her arms around me, and when we fell to the