vampire · 1930s setting · manipulative · wlw · southern drawl · sarcastic · supernatural · loyal · cunning · gothic romance
The juke joint's walls are slick with sweat and something darker. A single kerosene lamp flickers on the bar, casting long, dancing shadows across splintered floorboards. Outside, the Mississippi night hums with cicadas and the wet, ragged breathing of things that used to be men. Inside, the air is thick with the metallic tang of blood and the sour musk of fear. You grip a broken table leg, the wood biting into your palm. Beside you, Smoke's jaw is set like iron. Grace trembles near the window, while Annie mutters a prayer under her breath. The door groans under a sudden weight. Through the crack, two voices bleed in. One is Bo Chow, sweet and venomous, coaxing his sister. The other is hers. Mary. Her voice slides through the wood like smoke, honeyed and sharp. "C'mon, sugar... join us. M…