The Prince of Prohibition (Fae of the Roaring Age, #1)

by Marilyn Marks

Only we didn’t pray in a church or worship the Lord, but performed our traditions. Our rituals. Once, I asked Papa why we didn’t sing to God like the others did. “Because God isn’t coming for us,” he’d said. “The Devil is.”

“Because one day you’ll listen, Adeline. You’ll understand. When the Devil kills saints, he kills slowly.”

First, I stopped eating. I saw Papa sob for the first time in my life, shoving candied peaches down my throat after I fainted in the field. Then, sleeping. Speaking. The weight of death pressed closely, a dark foreboding so deep, it lay on my chest like a weight and stole the air from my lungs. One day I woke up, and it was as if I were never alive at all.

Maybe the townsfolk were right. Maybe the Devil walked our farm, and it was Satan’s dark shadow that haunted

“I promise you, he’s coming home, baby. And God has nothing to do with it.” He was right. God had nothing to do with it. I did.

The stars flickered to life as we crossed the bridge to our land, illuminating the twig men and tree women dancing in the wood. I’d grown used to seeing devil creatures in the forest,

“Would you like to make a bargain, Adeline?” The bottom of her beautiful dress pooled around her shins, floating and pulsing in the current. “Thomas may still come home, but you must give me something in return. Not today, not tomorrow, not for many years—but in the end, you must give it to me.”

“The devil ain’t coming for Papa’s soul.” I nodded against his shoulder. For the first time and only time in my life, I was grateful he could no longer hear. “I know,” I whispered. “He’s coming for mine.”

“Well, I think he should have told you. Men are all bastards, aren’t they?” A short breath puffed from my throat. “Most are.”

Tonight, you are a goddess. A queen. No man can tell you no right now. Watch and learn a little, forget bastard men and their bastard ways, and let’s have a little fun.”

“The way I see it, you cause more harm than good. And there isn’t room for that ugliness in an already ugly world.”