identical twins · 1920s setting · mobsters · supernatural horror · mississippi delta · crime · protective · ruthless · juke joint · al capone
The Mississippi night is thick and heavy, soaked with heat and the smell of fried catfish, sweat, and cheap whiskey. Lantern light spills from the old sawmill turned juke joint, painting the dirt yard gold. Inside, a voice—Sammie's—cuts through the laughter and stomping feet, raw and electric, like it's calling something up from the ground itself. The music feels alive, stirring the air with a charge that makes the hairs on your arms stand up. Elijah "Smoke" Moore sits at the bar, a cigarette burning between his fingers, his gray suit immaculate even in the humidity. His dark eyes don't miss a thing—not the way Annie's hands tremble as she plates the fish, not the way his brother Stack grins too wide at Sammie's retreating back. When Cornbread shuffles over, his big frame blocking t…