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Corin tucked his phone away and marched down the path to join Prudence. “Sorry about that. Everything’s squared away.”

“That’s good.” Prudence gestured to the fountain. “Pretty, isn’t it?”

“Very.” Corin glanced over his shoulder back the way they came.

Prudence sighed. “Do you want to go back?”

Corin faced Prudence and shook his head. “Uh, no.”

“Are you sure? You seem distracted, and you’ve hardly said a word since we left the dealership. Did you not want to take a walk with me after all?”

“No, I did. Truly.”

Prudence lowered her head. “Corin, am I misreading your feelings toward me?”

Corin gave Prudence a blank look. “Misreading my feelings?”

“I thought perhaps … I don’t know what I thought. I find you very charming, and I enjoy spending time with you, but perhaps you don’t feel the same way. It’s all right if that’s the case.”

Angela’s words lanced through Corin’s thoughts—“You’re allowed to fall in love”—and he took Prudence’s hands. “Prudence, my feelings toward you are … complicated, but I would like to try and express them.”

Prudence squeezed Corin’s hands in return. “I’m listening.”

Corin squared his shoulders. “We’ve only known each other a short while, so I can’t really say yet what sort of relationship I want, but I have grown very fond of you. You’re kind, funny, confident … The more time we spend together, the more I wish to see you again after we’ve parted company.” He brushed the back of his gloved fingers against Prudence’s chin. “I’d like to see more of you.”

Prudence pressed Corin’s palm against her cheek. “I’d like that too.”

Corin heaved a relieved sigh. “I know I’m sending mixed messages, and I’m sorry for that. I haven’t done this sort of thing in so long—longer than you could imagine. So I’m a bit out of sorts. I hope you can be patient with me.”

“I understand. If it makes you feel better, I’m also rusty at socializing with men I fancy, but we can figure it out together.”

“Yes.” Corin reached into his pocket and took out two quarters. “Would you like to make a wish?”

Prudence nodded, and they moved to the fountain’s edge. Corin held Prudence to his side, handed her a quarter, and they flicked their coins into the fountain.

*****

Angela tucked her cellphone away and buckled her seatbelt. Her eyes settled on Ezekiel’s hands as they came to rest on the steering wheel. His gloves were scraped where he’d punched the concrete back in the alley, tufts of black fur protruding from the abraded tears in the leather. “Are your hands okay?”

Ezekiel looked at Angela in confusion. “My hands?” Then, seeming to remember the state of his gloves, he drew his hands off the steering wheel and used his transmutative magic to mend the leather. “Yes, they’re fine.” He placed his hands on his knees and gave Angela a reticent look. “I’m sorry if I scared you back in the alley.”

Angela touched Ezekiel’s wrist. “You did nothing wrong.”

“I unveiled in front of you.”

“Unveiled?”

“That’s what we call it when we … show our other faces.”

Angela nodded. “You mean when your skin turns pale and your eyes glow red? It’s okay. It doesn’t scare me anymore.”

“If you say so.” Ezekiel rubbed his forehead.

“What causes it?”

“What?”

“Unveiling,” Angela specified. “What causes it?”

Ezekiel sighed, shifted the gear stick, and pulled out of the parking spot. “In most instances, it’s prompted by an emotional reaction. We unveil when we become angry or excited.”

“Excited? Like an adrenaline rush?”

Ezekiel exited the lot. “In a manner of speaking. There’s also … other stimulations.” He avoided eye contact.

Angela felt her cheeks flush. “Sexual arousal?”

Ezekiel blanched. “Well, yes, that too, but I was actually referring to our thirst for blood.”

“Oh, right.” Angela pretended to be fascinated with what was outside her window to hide her embarrassment. “Does anything else trigger it? Like pain, fear, or sadness?”

“No, just anger or exhilaration.”

There was a moment of silence before Angela looked at Ezekiel again. “So it was your anger that made you unveil in the alley? I thought maybe it was because of the pain from the bell tolling.”

“No, it was my anger.” Ezekiel gave Angela a disheartened glance. “Anger at myself.”

Ezekiel had been so enraged, his fists cracked concrete. All that fury was directed at himself? “But why?”

“I’m angry with myself because it’s my fault God and Christ have abandoned me. It’s my fault their names cause me pain when spoken from your lips. It’s my fault … my fault they hate me. God’s power turned those church bells into protective devices, and if He believes I should suffer—”

“You don’t deserve to suffer!” Angela interjected. “If Uncle Corin had been nearby, the bells would’ve hurt him too. Do you think Uncle Corin deserves that?”

“No, of course not, but … Angela, I’ve done horrific things.”

“I know.”

“No, you really don’t.” Ezekiel brought the car to a stop at a red light, and he turned in his seat to face Angela. “I didn’t just feed on my victims. I tormented them, mocked them as they begged for their lives, delighted in their terror, and sometimes … sometimes I tortured them. I can’t bear to describe the things I did to them. Not to you. Corin is a good man. He doesn’t deserve to suffer God’s afflictions, but I do.” He gave Angela an agonized look. “You do understand that those bells hurt me because they were protecting you—God was protecting you—from me.”

Angela rubbed her face in frustration. “I didn’t ask for His protection. When I say His name by accident, I’m not asking him to hurt you or Uncle Corin. I know neither of you would ever harm me.”

“God believes we would.” The light turned green, and Ezekiel drove on.

“Well, He’s wrong.”

“Please don’t blaspheme, Angela.” Ezekiel massaged his forehead. “I know you love Corin, and that you care for me as well, but God knows all. If He believes he must safeguard you from us, he must have good cause.”

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