✓ DYING MOURNINGS, original

twenty-three : aces pt. 2

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𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 : 𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍 

(𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝, 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥)

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I went to school in the morning, forcing myself to leave my perfect love nest. While I was there, I had Blondie help me perform the spell that would keep Crow safe on the watch she swiped off him. It was a strange thing to do in between periods but it was better than stressing over the exam we had coming on Tuesday in Mr. Parker's class.

The spell was simple, far more simple than I cared to admit. Protegere. Includo. Connect. Hoc corpus ab iniuria serva. Reduco. Mors ad vitam. Redi.

(Protect. Enclosed. Connect. Keep this body from harm. Bring back. Death to life. Return.)

I repeated it two more times for good measure and brought the watch home with me. I parked Crow's car in the front yard and was surprised to find my truck in the spot he usually parked in. I got out of the car and rounded the front to inspect what was so different and I couldn't stop the smile on my face. I hadn't even noticed that the truck hadn't been here for the past few days but from its new exterior, I only had one person to thank.

"Shit, you're home already," came my darling's voice from the front steps.

I found that I was already smiling before even turning to face him and a laugh already in my throat. "Yeah, what the hell is this all about?"

He was wiping his hands off on a towel from the kitchen and I could only imagine what wonders he was cooking in there. He draped it over his shoulder as he approached. "I sent it to get fixed while you were handling Blood. Pandora...she did a number on it."

I remembered that night not long ago, finding it wrapped around the tree in the front yard. "I didn't think I'd ever drive her again," I murmured, running my hand over the smooth hood.

"You know," he said in a soft voice, coming to stand beside me, "your mom used to drive this thing back in the day."

This surprised me. "Really?"

He nodded. "She had it for a few years, before you were born, and asked me to put it in storage. When you were getting ready to start driving, she asked me to bring it out of retirement. Your mom loved this shitty thing." He laughed, patting the hood. "The windows would be down constantly, even when it was raining. She blew out the speakers the second year she had it and had to get the thing fixed, it took months to find a guy who could."

"Funny," I whispered, "she never told me that."

"It was a different life then."

I nodded, finding myself smiling softly. I pretended as if I remembered something and pulled his watch out from my bag, lying straight through my teeth as I said, "Oh! Here's this back. Blondie gave it to me at school, said she's been practicing her pickpocketing skills and looks like you were her latest victim. Sorry about that."

Crow nodded slowly and took the watch. "You know, she mentioned something about that last night. She swiped Luke's debit card the other week."

I wondered if Blondie had told him this because she knew what lie I was going to tell him, but I ignored my growing suspicions. Instead, I let him take my hand in his and walk me towards the cabin.