"This is dangerous. You sure you want to go stirring such things up?"

"I'm certain," Jun said, his smile fierce. Two years of searching would be wasted if he turned back now. Still, when he glanced around the doublewide trailer and back to the fat possum, he couldn't hide his skepticism. "Are you sure you know how to do it?"

"Now you listen to me, son," she said, shaking her finger at him. "Don't you be doubting that I know my hoodoo. I know when not to do it, too. That's more important. This isn't just calling up some friendly on the other side with some speaking board for a chat - you want to call 'em forth. This is like leashing a shark. You gotta be strong and smart or boy, you gonna get tore up."

Jun's smile shone on. "My love makes me strong."

She stared at him, even her lazy eye coming in to focus on him. Jun was used to that look whenever he talked about his relationship with Amy. Perhaps the possum saw what she wanted, or perhaps not. All those teeth flashed in a crooked smirk. "All right, I can see you ain't gonna stop. First, this ain't free. My grandbaby needs her Christmas toys."

Jun counted out the bills without a thought.

"Now... This here business you're asking for is special. Dates and times have meaning, and while you could do this any old time, what you want is every bit in your favor, so do it on the anniversary of their death. It's strongest where they rest or where they died, and I bet you ain't doing this dance on her grave."

He could wait a little longer.

After she walked him through the process, Jun turned to leave. "Wait," the possum said. "One last thing. Beware, boy. You opening a door and she ain't gonna close it behind her." More discouragement. The red panda left without another thought.

Several months later he now stood on the road just short of the embankment. If her stupid sister hadn't fallen down the stairs and gone to the hospital, Amy wouldn't have been on the road that night. If her "husband" hadn't been driving they wouldn't have been going so fast and reckless. If that stupid teenager coming from the other direction hadn't been texting, he wouldn't have hit them coming around the curve. Jun scowled in the direction of the tree where they found his body. If the guard rail hadn't been rusted and the ground beneath it eroded, her car wouldn't have rolled down the slope.

Even before beginning to pick his way down the incline, Jun's heart trembled. He was close, so very close. Near the slope's bottom he stopped at a tree. Definitely the spot; he knew it in his dreams from the pictures of it splashed across the front page of newspapers for days. The tree itself tilted back, a section of the trunk split from the impact. Broken limbs were growing back. How unfair the tree would survive but his Amy didn't.

The red panda removed his equipment from a metal bucket and went over the witch's instructions in his mind as he worked.

"You gotta have fire."

Flames licked inside the bucket at the base of the tree. The ground here wasn't level, forcing Jun to pile rocks underneath the bucket to keep it level.

"Add dirt from their grave."

The fire sagged beneath the soil he tossed over it. Jun held his breath. Had he put too much dirt in? Thankfully the flames rose again. A sharp wind slithered through the leaves around him, ruffling his fur and setting the few crosses still hanging from the tree to swaying. For just a moment Jun thought the forest held its breath.

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The above is a preview of my story "Binding the Heart", which appears in the anthology Taboo, published through FurPlanet available for Pre-Order now. The anthology is all about crossing lines, what characters are willing to do when tempted and pushed against the forbidden.

The cover art here is done by the excellent  Kadath. The cover depicts the first story, "That Red Panda Girl", written by Tarl "Voice" Hoch.

Also in the book are stories by Whyte Yote, Hawk Wolf, Kandrel, NightEyes DaySpring, Robert Baird, Yannarra, Roland Jovaik, Tony Greyfox, Huskyteer, and Ianus J. Wolf.

If you'll be at FWA, you can pick up your copy there. I'll be there, running writing panels.