Juniper & Thorn

by Ava Reid

You should know, of course, that there are only two kinds of mothers in stories, and if you are a mother, you are either wicked or you are dead. I told myself so many times I was lucky to have the dead kind.

She fell in love with the story more than she fell in love with the man.

Magic was always like that: it had ugly undersides. Wanting anything was a trap.

“Well, you’re my first secret then, my first lie. Does that please you?” “Only if it pleases you.”