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𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 : 𝐋𝐄𝐎 & 𝐏𝐈𝐏𝐄𝐑

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tw. mention of suicide

Friday took me by surprise.

She had crept up sooner than I expected and I wasn't complaining. The week had felt like a year, something terrible followed by something worse and so on and so forth, a repeating cycle. I ate breakfast alone in Crow's kitchen. It seemed the demon liked his beauty rest because he didn't emerge from his bedroom even as I dropped a pan from it's idyllic hanging spot above the stove.

I crept from his cabin, thinking of just pathetically riding my bike to school again when I saw her. Red, a little dirty (as always), and sitting in one piece. My baby, my beautiful, my truck. If Crow had been outside when I discovered my beloved, whole and ready for me, I would've kissed him. He had taken the time to take her to get fixed and all I could do was pull my old keys from inside my bag and go racing out to her.

My truck still smelled like me. Musty, faintly like cigarettes, and my perfume.

The drive to school was significantly better now that I had my car back, and it made life easier now that I didn't have to go off and find rides from people. I had no one to rely on but myself, just as I liked it.

Walking into school thirty minutes later, I didn't make it to my locker before Blondie was racing towards me in the hallway. She grabbed me by the arm and dragged me backwards into the girls bathroom. She checked underneath the stalls and once she deemed it clear, she stuck her head out the door and motioned to someone and I watched in surprise as Winker snuck in before Blondie locked the door.

"What's going on–?"

She spun around, grinning. "We need to have a recon session, especially since yesterday."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Listen, I know that was crazy and if you want out, you can have it, honestly. I kind of just threw all of that one you both and I get it if--"

"Blaire, shut up for a second," Blondie said, her grin growing. "We're not here to tell you you're crazy or that we want nothing to do with you."

"Huh?" My brows furrowed together and Blondie gave me a mischievous grin.

"You can be mad but..." She pulled her phone out from her back pocket as Winker gave me an eager smile. "I got cute lover boy's numbers yesterday."

"You did what–?"

"Just ignore the fact that she did that and he allowed it because we did some sleuthing last night," Winker said and I leaned against the sink, wondering when and how she got Crow's number. I felt my cheeks flush as I realized she didn't even say his name but had referred to him as 'lover boy' to which I didn't correct.

"He sent me the names you two found," Blondie murmured, her eyes narrowing as she scrolled through her phone. "Ah, there it is," she breathed before holding her phone out for me to take. As I looked at what she had discovered she quickly explained, "I found Dahlia Salucci's address, figured you and Crow could scout it out before the party tonight?"

"Holy shit." I had barely even thought about the names on the list since getting to the cabin last night. I looked up slowly as I handed the phone back. "How did you find her?"

"Not that many Salucci's in Charlon."

Winker crossed his arms, holding his textbook to his chest. "Thinking if it comes up as a bust, we can go looking for the Marshall kid tomorrow? We'll make the most out of our hangovers with a road trip."

"You guys–"

"Don't say we don't have to do this," he interrupted, shaking his head. "Because we want to. If you haven't noticed, Blaire, we're more involved than you think. My best friend is missing and is apparently some rogue demon, which I never even knew and I've been friends with the guy since elementary school, and another one of my best friends got possessed and stepped into traffic, so...there's really no going back for us at this point."

I let out a small breath of disbelief and nodded as I said, "Okay, okay, we're doing this."

"Figure we'll take the time in bio today to search for Marshall, and later tonight, we can have a little run down of what you found with Crow on the Dahlia front," Blondie said with a creeping smile that couldn't seem to leave her face. It was the most I'd seen her truly smile in months, so I took her hand in mine and nodded fiercely.

"No going back."

The duo nodded, sharp grins and excited eyes. "No going back."

~

Blondie insisted I go with her after school to get alcohol. I had an old fake ID that I got before transferring schools, through a graduated senior who had nothing better to do than make fast and easy cash.

The liquor store was near quiet and I trailed behind Blondie as she looked at wine, murmuring how she was going to be nursing one bottle all night. "Red or pink?"

"Pink."

She picked a bottle, slipping it under her arm as she reached for a case of beer near the coolers. I helped with another case, along with a handle of cheap vodka that would more than likely taste like rubbing alcohol.

"What about mixers?" I asked once we reached the cash register.

Blondie slid the cashier her ID and nodded. "Grab whatever."

I went back through the aisles, grabbing a two liter of lemonade, Sprite, and a diet and regular Coke. I added those to my own tab as she paid for everything except the handle which I insisted on buying. Even though it was her party and she tried to tell me that it was all hers to buy, I didn't care. I passed over my ID as she took the two cases of beer out to her car.

I paid and grabbed my things which the owner happily placed everything into an old box for me to carry. I thanked him and left, moving through the parking lot to where our cars sat side by side and I slowed, noticing Blondie talking to someone with an angry expression.

"I didn't see who hit your car, okay? Now will you please back the hell away from me?"

"Hey, everything okay–" My words died on my tongue and I nearly dropped my box, my arms threatening to go limp.

Blondie turned to look at me, arms crossed as she snarled, "This asshole is insisting I saw someone hit his car, but last time I checked, I wasn't anywhere near him and his precious car."

He grinned over her shoulder as I slid the box into Blondie's trunk. "Listen, sir, we were inside when it happened," I said through a clenched jaw. He wore exactly what he had been the last time I saw him and I wondered where he was hiding his gun as I mumbled out, "We're really sorry about your car but we really have to go."

Aiden Tobias didn't falter as he raised his hands and took a step back. "Apologies ladies." He peered inside Blondie's trunk and asked, "Planning a party?"

I narrowed my eyes and opened my mouth to snap at him but Blondie beat me to it with, "Thank you so much for absolutely wasting our time. Maybe you should go bother the police about your obvious hit and run, huh? Yeah?"

"Sorry for the trouble," he said with a sly smile as he passed by us and in the direction of where I hoped his actual car was, battered and broken. He stepped past me and as he did so, he brushed a hand against mine, pressing a small piece of paper into my palm.

I closed my fist around the paper and watched him over my shoulder until he disappeared between the rows of cars. As I turned back to face Blondie, she was already scoffing, "What a creep! Anyways, the party starts at ten, that should give you enough time for you and the lover boy to look up Dahlia, right?"

I nodded, agreeing before my eyes widened and I rushed out, "You can't keep calling him lover boy!"

She rolled her eyes with a laugh. "Why is it hitting a nerve?"

"Yes!"

She gave me a smug look and knowing, "Uh-huh," as she got into her car. She rolled down her window and said to me before backing out, "Well, let me know when you and lover boy are finished so I can have a row of shots waiting for you when you come over."

"Yeah, yeah," I murmured as she asked, "You have my address, right?"

I nodded and she gave me a big thumbs up and stuck her tongue out as her music began to blast loud enough for me to hear it outside her car. She shook her head and tongue at me and squealed, "We're going to go fucking crazy tonight, bitch!"

I waved her off as she sped away and once her car turned out of the lot, I opened my fist. I took the small piece of paper out, unfolding it and reading what little message Tobias had thought was important enough to slip into my hand.

My breath hitched in my throat and I let out a cough to cover the worry that froze my heart. I stuffed the paper into my pocket, shaking my head as I went to my car and got inside, resting my hands on the steering wheel once I put the key in the ignition.

I let the air conditioner rattle to life and blow into my face, as if that would help the nervous sweat building across my upper lip. Shifting the gears and backing out of my spot, his message raged on in my head like a dying record, scratching and picking at my brain.

See you tonight. See you tonight. See you tonight.

Getting back to the cabin, I parked my car next to Crow's and ignored the way my hands shook as I grabbed my school bag. I had homework but that would all have to wait if we were going to go to Charlon to find some nobody necromancer and discuss whether or not who would die.

He was sitting at the kitchen counter going through a stack of papers with a pen in his mouth as I entered the home. His head shot up and the pen dropped to the counter and he gave me a smile that made my stomach flip. Once he saw I wasn't returning his good natured grin, his smile fell and he sighed, rubbing his forehead as he said, "Do I even want to know?"

"Want the good news or the bad news first?" I asked as I threw my bag into one of the open chairs and sat down across from him.

"Good."

"Cass and Luke found Dahlia's address," I said as I pulled my phone out and found the address she had given me earlier today. I slid it over the counter and he read over the directions with a nod of his head. "Thinking we go today."

"We can make it there before six if we go now."

I nodded. "There's a good chance we'll be able to find her."

"You think she's alive?"

I shrugged.

"Are you sure you don't want me to just go down there by myself?"

"What? Afraid she might be alive after all?"

"Not sure if you want to be faced with life or death tonight, that's all," he mumbled as he slid the phone back to me. "And what's the bad news?"

I tossed him the small note I had stuffed inside my pocket to him and I watched as he unraveled it with a frown.

"Who wrote this?"

"Guess."

He rubbed his forehead, sighing out, "Tobias?"

"Mmhmm." I nodded. "Slipped that to me when he found Cass and me outside the store after school."

"Isn't that party tonight?" he asked, tossing the note aside.

I nodded for a second time. "You don't think he'll actually come to a high school party to kill me, right?"

"Wouldn't put it past him."

"He wouldn't kill me in front of a crowd, too many witnesses."

He pushed his chair back and stood, and I noticed he was wearing his black slacks and one of his white dress shirts untucked. He ran a hand through messy hair and looked over at me with a small sigh. "Grab your things, we'll head out in five."

I was already moving, exchanging my backpack for my bag and then headed into the kitchen to go through his fridge for something to eat on the way. With snacks in hand, I noticed the papers Crow had been looking through and I paused.

Taxes and bills for the church. I flipped through the last few pages, frowning. Bank statements from Cage, transferring a hundred thousand dollars and splitting it into my mother's and Crow's accounts. I pulled the sheet free and my heart dropped as I read the dates the money was withdrawn and I let out a choking cough to stifle the worry pooling in my gut.

He had transferred money into Crow's account only a few days before he was killed.

Why would he give money to his killer?

Was he simply paying him off for a past job? Or was it more than that?

Horrible ideas flashed through my mind and I shut my eyes, counting to a slow ten in my head as if that would help ease myself from the dangerous road I was about to go running down. It made sense of Cage to transfer money to my mom, but it meant he knew he was going to die. Had it been scheduled? Had Crow forced him to withdraw that amount?

"You ready?"

His voice startled me and my eyes opened with a jolt. He stood by the front door, keys in hand, and he was now wearing his suit jacket, his shirt tucked in and paired with a nice tie. I forced myself to nod, biting back a curious question of, why are you so dressed up for? Instead, I silently followed him out to his car where I sat in the passenger seat and focused on my breathing and not the bank statement burning a hole through my bag and leg.

~

Ace looked just how he did the last time I saw him.

His hair was brushed back from his face, like someone had taken a comb and forced it through his waves, opening up his face too something I didn't remember seeing. His eyes were dark, their bright blue dulled, but he looked good, as he always did.

He stood alone in an area I was familiar with.

Wrath's trailer, empty and hollowed out, like a forgotten corpse.

Dead, dead, dead, that's how we'll all end up. Empty. Hollow. Dead.

It was neither night nor day where we were in this twisted vision. He had his hands stuffed in his pockets and he looked grim, and as I blinked, I imagined him bloody. Blood running from his gut, black and oozing like smoking tendrils or molten lava. Thick and growing.

"Why are we here?" I asked, finally gaining the courage to speak. My voice echoed like this place was the hollow thing, not the trailer and not us.

"I had to see you," he said with a shrug.

I glanced around, the trees tall and arching in the sky, too large and skinny to be real. I tried to reach out for a branch, to tear off a handful of rich, green leaves but the farther I stuck my arm out, the farther away the branch would seem to be. "Where are we?"

"Somewhere we can speak," he replied, stepping forward. He was at least two arms lengths away but it still felt close enough to feel his breath against me. My mind thought of how I felt towards him in that little bathroom in John's basement, how he had tucked me against him, drunk and sweaty and babbling on about demons. Ace had believed me. Why had he believed me so quickly? So easily?

"How are you even here?" I frowned, wanting to step back and away from him but feeling unable to move my legs. "Where have you been? Where's John?"

His brows furrowed at the mention of John but it flashed away in an instant. He smiled. "Pandora's dead, you're friends with Cassandra, and you're shaking up with Archer Crow. So much has happened since I've been gone."

I ignored the pang in my chest at the mention of Pandora. "You're not answering my questions."

"I don't need to," he said, simply. He took another step forward, keeping his distance as an act to only slither himself closer when I wouldn't be paying attention. I pictured him rotting, decaying from the inside out. "You'll know, sooner or later."

"Ace, where have you been?" I demanded, wondering if maggots would spill from his lips and blood would spill from his nose and eyes. "You and John, you-you just left! The devil, he's coming and we need your help, we need both of you to come home--"

"The devil," Ace laughed, interrupting me. His voice sounded deeper and, this time, blood spilled past his lips, thick and so deep red that it nearly looked black. Or, it was black, trying to force its own masquerade one last time. "He's going to kill you all, you know that, right? He wants to tear your throat out, he wants to fucking eviscerate you."

I recoiled away from him as he raised an arm, molting and wilting like an insect. He laughed, loud and wet, the sound echoing around me like someone slamming their hands against a wall.

"Don't you get it? Don't any of you get it?"

The laughter continued, mixing, as if there were two people here, maybe even three. The world was tilting and he was still speaking, reaching out with spoiled hands.

"You won't survive this," he cackled, blood erupting from his jaws in one long jet when I noticed the scales pooling and slithering, his blood manifesting into something terribly animalistic. Something horrifyingly reptilian. "You won't ever fall in love. Get married. Have children. You will die before you ever get the chance. You should've just died in that grave, Blaire, it would've been nicer than what's waiting for you."

"What's waiting for me?" I cried out, feeling distant, lost. Was I vanishing? Was I evaporating? Will they remember me wherever I'm going?

The bloody snake that fell from him moved through the grass, large and hungry. Its jaw unhinged, mirroring his master, it's fangs long and white, venom ready to spill and explode. Blackness dripped from Ace's mouth and chin, his teeth rotting in an unclean mouth. Liar, liar, I wanted to sob, you don't know anything!

"Your blood is the answer," he cooed as my vision blurred and a new voice joined the mix. "You are our salvation. You are our goal."

"Blaire-Blaire-Blaire–"

I jolted awake, my head banging softly against the window where I had been leaning against. I wiped a thin line of drool from my mouth, blinking sleep away and seeing Ace's bloodied, mutilated face in my mind every time the darkness threatened me again.

"Blaire, I said we're here," came Crow's voice from next to me and I flinched, having expected Ace's menacing cackle to come from beside me instead. I felt his hand on my arm and I nodded, unbuckling my seat belt as I got out of the car.

"Where is here?" I asked, slinging my bag over my shoulder and hoping my dream had just been a part of the twisted manifestations of my terrified subconscious and nothing more, but when has anything ever been nothing with me? I raised my arms above my head, stretching, a small pain in my neck from how I had been sleeping.

"Dahlia Salucci's last known address," he replied, coming around the car to stand by me on the sidewalk in front of the small home. It was a quaint little home, small and painted an old fading blue. The shades were drawn on all the windows and there were wilting plants on the front porch, but the yard itself was beautiful.

Flowering rose bushes, bright and red, along with patches of brilliant holly against the home and lining the small path up to the front steps. I took a glance down the sidewalk, noticing other small homes similar to this one, colors all varying from white, tan, to even a few rusting yellows.

"What happens if we find her in there?" I asked in a small voice, afraid to take a step forward and either be forced to doom myself or another.

"I'll take care of it, whatever it is we have to do," he murmured and I wanted him to reach out and touch me. "I'll do it, okay?"

I looked over at him and found him already looking at me. His eyes were hooded with worry and I wondered how life would be if I just reached out and took his hand, or to simply step into his arms and be taken care of for once. Instead, I nodded, ushering out a slow sigh before finally taking a step forward and onto the little stone path that would lead me either to a grave or to a future jail cell.

I rang the doorbell, hearing it echo off in the small home. We waited a good five minutes before ringing again, and this time, we heard the slow shuffle of feet and an angry voice snap out from behind the closed door, "Unless it's those damn scouts and their cookies, I'm not opening the door!"

I gave Crow a small look, before leaning closer to the door and shouting, "Dahlia? I'm looking for Dahlia Salucci?"

There was a brief moment of pause before we heard locks clicking and the door slowly creaked open to show us a frail older woman, a good few inches shorter than me, peering at us with furrowed brows and a tight lipped mouth.

"You're looking for Dahlia?" she asked, her voice hoarse and I could smell cigarettes wafting out from her home. I flexed my hands, itching for a hit and perhaps I would get on the way home, if I was still alive.

Will you live or will you die, Blaire. Will you fight or will you succumb?

I nodded, giving her a soft smile as if to say we're friendly and not looking for trouble. "Yes, well, we're--" I looked to Crow and gave him an urgent look, motioning with my head for him to cover the rest of our make believe story. "Me and my--"

Crow interrupted me. "Husband." He wrapped an arm around my waist and tugged me closer.

"Me and my--" My eyes narrowed at him and I was barely able to say the last part without a growl. "--husband, knew Dahlia. Do you know where we can find her?"

"I'm her mother, Ava." The woman's face fell and there was heartbreak in her eyes, a lonesome tiredness that practically bled from her wilted face. "Uh, why don't you come in?"

Crow nodded and allowed me to step in first once she pulled open the door from us to enter. The warmth from being tucked into his side left me and I instantly missed it, the feeling of being wanted and whole.

Her home was thick with cigarette smoke and something meaty, like a baking ham, and as we entered, it felt like we were swimming through the humidity in the air. She ushered us into her small kitchen where she offered us chairs at her table. The wood was stained with ash and water rings.

"You said you knew my Dahlia?" Ava Salucci asked as she pulled out three mugs from the cabinet above the sink.

I nodded, unsure of how to go about this situation. "Yes, we--"

"We're old friends, at least our families were," Crow said, flashing me a smile and a knowing look and I let loose a sigh of relief. It was like my brain had simply stopped working, only computing the same words over and over again in my head.

Die or live. Die or live. Die or live.

Ava poured us coffee and slid them over the table with shaking hands before retrieving cream and sugar. Crow took his mug instantly, stirring in what he wanted, which was a short pour of cream and three packets of sugar.

"She was such a wonderful girl," Ava whispered, bringing her mug to her lips and taking a long, slow sip.

"I'm sorry," I breathed, brows furrowing and heart skipping an anxious beat. "You said 'was?'"

She nodded, resting her hands on the table with a tremendous sigh. "Did you not know?"

I shook my head as Crow replied, "We've been traveling due to work, we haven't heard anything."

"Dahlia died ten years ago."

I choked on my saliva and forced out a large cough. I made a gasping sound, as if horrified by the news and not simply ecstatic at finding out I could live another pathetic day.

"Oh my god," I whispered. "How?"

"Car accident," said Ava, reaching up to brush at her cheeks. Her hand was bare of a wedding ring and I wondered how she was able to stand on her two feet without anyone here. The loss of a child, I could never imagine. "It was so sudden, so horrific, but the doctors said..." She shook her head and this time, I saw the tears in her eyes. "The doctors said she didn't even try to put on her brakes, there were no skid marks."

"I'm so sorry," I murmured, reaching over the table to squeeze the old woman's hand. Skin and bone, that was all that was there.

"She died on impact, thank god," Ava said before forcing a small laugh as if to change the burning atmosphere. "It was my only gift from her, knowing she didn't suffer for long."

Crow licked him lips, nodding. "You said she didn't use her brakes?" He placed the mug down as she nodded. "Do you think she did that on purpose, then? That it was deliberate?"

"I ask myself that everyday, child." She reached for a small tin in front of her and produced a cigarette, offering us one and to our surprise, we shook our heads. "You said you were old friends? From where?"

"My father worked with her," I said, quickly.

"Your family work with the church, then, yes?"

My cheeks flushed and I choked out a small laugh. You have no idea, lady. "Yeah, actually, they did."

Crow hid his smile with his mug as he raised it back to his mouth for a short sip. "Now, can you tell me more about this accident? It's just so tragic, I simply can't imagine what you and your family must've gone through."

"It was hard, for so long," Ave said back. "It still is, but every day I remind myself that I'll see her again."

"I just don't understand why she wouldn't brake," I murmured, shaking my head. "Why wouldn't she at least try to stop the car?"

"She left me a voicemail, I think you two will want to hear it," Ave muttered, digging around in the pocket of her old smock dress. She pulled her phone free and searched through it before placing it down closer to us and hitting play.

There was static, the obvious sound of wind racing through open windows. The voice started out muffled before it became clear. "–none of this makes sense but I have to leave, mom. I just–I have to go. I love you, I'm sorry, I can't stay here–"

The audio cut off and we heard only muffled voices and I felt a chill go through the room but the color stayed the same. Dahlia's voice had been soft and sweet, even with her desperate unknowing words. Had this been an unknown suicide note left for her mother and family?

The audio cut out entirely and Ava pulled her phone back with a heavy sigh. "She was so happy until she heard Lisa Mackle's daughter, Celia, had killed herself. Everything changed after that."

I frowned. "Did Dahlia and Celia know each other well?"

"They had begun to hang out just weeks before," Ava smiled, suddenly as she added, "Dahlia had been home looking for an internship with my late husbands company when the two met and she went on and on about how much they had in common. It was a shame what happened to her in the end."

"If you don't mind me asking," Crow said, "but how did she die?"

Ava grimaced, taking a sip from her coffee. When she placed the mug back down on the stained table, her voice felt like a strike to my gut. "She hanged herself."

Swaying feet. Roped neck. Blue lips. Gray skin. Swaying, swaying, always swaying. There's no breeze here, but her feet are moving, drifting through the air. The rope is tight, she died fighting, did she regret it, did she cry out for me–

Crow's hand on my arm shocked me out of my terrorized thoughts and I caught his eyes with mine. His hand moved to mine and he squeezed it, gently, as if to say I'm here and I'm not leaving.

"That's horrible," I finally said once his hand left mine and I finally took a sip of my coffee. I hadn't noticed, but Crow had slipped some cream and sugar into my mug earlier and my heart fluttered as he gave me a long look before glancing back at the woman.

"It wasn't much of a surprise, honestly," Ava muttered and I fought back the urge to smile. The woman may be old but she liked gossip just like the rest of us. "She was into such frightening things."

"Like what?" I asked, licking my lips. Before she even spoke, I knew what she was going to say. I knew and I dreaded it, every second of it all.

"Dark things," Ava whispered, meeting my gaze. "I thought, for a while, she was just another one of those cult fanatics from uptown but she was just very...witchy. Her home was full of crystals and talismans and she even convinced my sweet Dahlia to bring some home! My Dahlia would never associate with those types of people."

"Do you think Celia convinced Dahlia to...you know?"

Ava nodded, slowly. "It's better than thinking she did it because she was unhappy with me, with our home." She sighed, loudly, and checked the clock on her wall and was already standing as she said, "It's getting late and my show is about to come on. It was such a pleasure to meet you...?"

"Leo and Piper," Crow said, standing, and I nearly choked on my sip of coffee. I threw him a 'really?' over my shoulder as I got to my feet.

"Lovely to meet you, Leo, Piper," Ava said in a warm but skeptical voice as she ushered us to the door. "Tragic we had to meet with such terrible news, though."

"You and your family are in our thoughts," I murmured, giving her a gentle hug.

As we stepped back outside, she shut the door very suddenly and I jolted forward with a near yelp. It seemed she wanted us out of there faster than we had expected, and I was willing to bet it was the names Crow had thrown out there. I wouldn't have been surprised if she caught the meanings of the names and was hasty to get us out even quicker.

The air hung heavy outside as I descended the front steps. It smelled like oncoming rain and the sun was getting ready to set. I glanced over at Crow who had both hands stuffed into his pockets with a faint smile on his face that only grew when he caught me staring.

"The Charmed reference in front of the witch hater, really, Crow?" I said as we walked back towards his car.

"Surprised that's the only thing you're mad about," he chirped, pulling his keys out.

I glared, smacking him on the arm and snapping, "Tell me, husband, what else should I be upset about?"

He let out a booming laugh that sent a little rumble of warmth to my gut and I could only roll my eyes as I got into the car. As we drove out of the little neighborhood, I sent a quick text to both Winker and Blondie in our group chat detailing the events of the meeting.

I could only feel a small amount of relief knowing Dahlia Salucci was dead and gone, that I would no longer have to fear somehow killing her in order to be some great and powerful necromancer. She was already dead. Rotting. Somewhere.

"Do you think Celia was a necromancer, too?" Crow asked once we got onto the highway. We had avoided Charlon completely, driving on back roads to get to the Salucci home.

I nodded. "Without a doubt." I rubbed my hands together, thinking of the two women locked away in a bedroom worshipping magic and talking to spirits together in their own shared astral. "Something triggered Celia to kill herself and because of her death, it sent Dahlia to do the same."

"And you think it has something to do with the prophecy?"

I nodded again. "But like you told me a few days ago, shouldn't I have felt the power from them when they died? Shouldn't I have felt any of it?"

"It was ten years ago," he said with a shrug. "Your gifts hadn't yet matured enough for you to realize what you were. So, I'm really surprised you hadn't noticed anything around that time. Hell, I doubt you'd notice anything now."

"Don't think I'm strong enough?" I mused with a small laugh but he shook his head.

"No, you're powerful, a little too powerful but you don't even realize it. If the prophecy is true, if what we know already is all real and you're it, then you have a lot more power in you than you think."

I blushed, nodding. You can be anything, you can be the most powerful person in the room and not even know it. The gods gave you this and you have yet to thank them. Will the devil revoke what they gifted you? Will he spread you open and bleed you dry, little girl?

The souls within you are sitting and waiting to be used.

"Is this weird for you?" I asked after an hour or so of drifting between comfortable silence and small talk. I watched the sunset through the trees, the sky red and pink. "Suddenly being friends?"

"You tell me, wife, is this weird for you?"

I whacked him across the chest with my hand, not bothering to even look as I did it with a laugh. It felt so normal, like we had been doing this for years but I didn't dare say that aloud. "Working with a demonic murderer, yeah," I laughed again, "not weird at all."

"I'll admit," he murmured as we neared home, "I didn't think you would've ever agreed to work with me after everything."

"After Pandora?"

He got off the highway and the silence was deafening before he slowly nodded and said, "Yeah, after Pandora."

"Will you answer me truthfully if I ask you something?"

He nodded again and I noticed the way his hands tightened against the steering wheel. His knuckles were turning white and I was sure the skin would split and bleed from the strangled force. I turned my eyes away from his hands and back to his sharp face. Was this the face of a killer? The smile and laugh of a murderer?

I let out a small breath. "Did you really kill her? Did you kill Pandora?"

His jaw clenched and he wrung his hands over the wheel as we finally made our way through town and towards the cabin. "I don't want to talk about this with you, not right now."

"Why not?"

"Because we've been through this all before–"

"Not really, because you lied when you told me Pandora's last words."

He scowled. "I didn't lie."

"Yes, yes you did!"

"You're acting like a child."

It felt like a smack to the face and I knew my cheeks were red as warmth flooded up my neck. I felt the words bubble up my throat and I knew I shouldn't have said them as we turned onto the gravel road but it came pouring out anyways.

"You're a liar."

He slammed on the breaks and I jerked forward, grateful for the seatbelt. I gasped for air as he unbuckled himself and looked as if he were going to lunge.

"Don't," I snarled, hand already in my bag. I gripped Spiorad and glared, knowing if I pulled her free, he would be dead in seconds.

"I am not a liar," he breathed, deathly still. He was staring down at me, eyes blackened as if to remind me this was who he had been all along. He was not my make-believe husband. He was not my friend. He was my partner for work only, my fellow supernatural being, nothing more and nothing less.

"Then tell me the truth," I snapped, noticing how I had backed myself into the door, my knee up and ready to kick him away if needed. "Tell me what really happened to her, because we both know you didn't kill her."

"You don't know a damn thing."

"Then tell me something to make this make sense!"

"What is there to tell, Blaire? Do you want me to give you the details of how I murdered her? How I had slit her throat? Mutilated her?" He was breathing heavily and it felt like I was the one who couldn't breathe. "Her blood was warm in my hands and I watched her slip away, knowing you would never get to her in time. I took her from you and she knew it, she knew she was just your pawn." He let out a dark laugh even though one hand curled into itself to form a tight, shaking fist. "My knife went in smoothly, her flesh was like butter."

"Shut up," I hissed, shaking my head. "You're lying, you're a liar--!"

"Am I?" he roared and I fumbled with my seatbelt, trying to free myself as he leaned closer. He clamped a hand down against my calf as I tried to kick him back but he was stronger. "Am I, Blaire? Am I really a fucking liar?!"

"Yes!" I spat, challenging him. I would never back down from him, not now, not ever. He deserved a monster screaming right back at him, a mirrored image. I was his equal, not some child, I lost the right to still be a kid after finding the tunnel underneath the stairs. After I found my mother's body, I was no longer a child in the eyes of a wrathful god. "Why would you try to stop me from going into the barn that night if you really killed her? Huh? Wouldn't her murderer want me to find her, to suffer, to hold her body and know I was too fucking late?"

I kicked at him again with my foot, knocking into his shoulder and hands as he tried to snatch my ankle. "Huh?" I shouted, snarling, "Huh? Huh?"

He caught my ankle and forced my leg down, his grip surprisingly gentle.

"You say we're partners and we're going to work with each other, that we're going to trust the other," I breathed, feeling that frightful emotion rise up in my throat like a crashing wave against a brittle shore, "but how am I supposed to trust you when all you do is lie?"

"Blaire..."

"You can't even look me in the eyes and tell me–" My voice caught in my throat and I shook my head. "You can't even tell me the truth about what happened," my voice was a whisper, the tension swallowing us whole. "My best friend was murdered and you know what happened and you won't tell me."

"I'm trying to protect you," he whispered back, his grip falling from my leg and steering wheel. He rested back against his seat, rubbing a hand over his face with a soft sigh passing through his lips.

The god is upset, the god is fragile, just like you, just like me.

"Just tell me, please."

He shook his head and looked up from his hand, his dark eyes meeting my own and I wanted to fall into them. To be swept away by the cool touch of amber and brown. "You have to get ready for Cassandra's party."

My lips parted in a scoff as I snatched my bag from the ground and swung open his car door. "You say you're this big bad demon but all you really are is a coward. You're supposed to make your own rules, forge your own path, but all you've been doing is playing someone else's game." I got out of the car, fully prepared to walk the full length down the driveway to the cabin and to my car. "It's pathetic." I slammed the car door.

The gravel was uneven under my feet and the mud to my right squished underneath my shoe. I had expected to hear the sound of the car pass me by but instead I heard the car door open and slam shut, hearing his feet grind into the path.

He grabbed me by the elbow but I spun around on him, pulling Spiorad effortlessly from my bag and holding it up to his face. Even though the sun was vanishing behind the trees and the sky was cotton candy pink, my knife still glinted in the dying light.

"Don't you fucking touch me," I snarled, keeping Spiorad just centimeters away from nicking him under the chin. I wrenched my arm free from his grip but that didn't stop him from stepping forward to glower down at me.

"This childish behavior will get you killed, don't you understand that?"

I shook my head, trying to push past him but he grabbed me again. Taking me by the arm, I didn't hesitate in swinging my blade. He dodged and struck out with his free hand, knocking my weapon free from my hands and I gasped, watching it fall behind me and in the gravel towards the cabin.

"Get off of me," I hissed, thrashing in his grip as he snatched my other wrist before I could attempt to strike him. "Get off!"

"You want to know the truth so badly but you keep asking the wrong damn questions!" he roared, getting in my face and forcing me to take a step backwards. "You're leading yourself down the wrong path and it'll get you killed!"

I withered against him, trying to move my leg to kick at him but he had me pinned. I gritted my teeth, pushing against him but he had me so tightly in his grip that it felt impossible to even fight against him.

"You're going to get yourself killed, Blaire!"

Just like your father, just like your mother, just like Pandora. Who's next? Who will you sentence to death next, little necromancer? Will it be you or someone else that you love?

"I know that!" I screamed, finally, my throat going raw. "I know! I know!" His grip loosened and I used what little strength I had against him to wrench my arms free, only to beat my fists against his chest, howling. "I'm already dead, don't you get that?! I'm already fucking dead!"

He took the beating, even as I raised a hand to slap him as hard as I could. His head whipped to the side and he let out a small breath, licking his lips before turning back to look down at me. His dark locks hanging down around his face as if a strong wind had run through them.

Once I couldn't hit him anyone and my breathing returned to normal, my chest no longer heaving, I rested my forehead against his chest and said weakly, "It doesn't matter if the devil wants me dead, or anyone else, because it doesn't matter. She's gone, they're all gone, nothing will ever bring them back–" I choked on my words and shook my head.

He moved, gently. He brought his hand down and took me by the face, forcing me to look up and meet his gaze. His eyes looked nearly black in the forest, shadows encasing the sharp outlines of his face and it was hard not to look away. He ran his thumb over my cheek, underneath my eye, and I felt my lashes flutter over him and wondered how he could be so warm when I felt like I was shaking from the cold.

"You're not alone, Blaire," he said to me, in such a soft voice that it was as if he were whispering this to me from bed. Morning light streaming through closed curtains, huddled under warm blankets, and he's right there next to me, solid and soft and something entirely otherworldly.

"She's gone, Crow, she's gone and no one will tell me the truth," I breathed and I felt his fingers trickle into my hair. He brushed a few strands from my face and tucked them behind my ear and I wanted to fall apart, I wanted to fall into him and never get back up.

Swallow me whole, take me raw and empty and hungry. Let me feel, let me love–

"I can't give you the answers you want, not right now," he said with a heavy sigh. It seemed he finally recognized how close we were and he took a step back, dropping his hands from my face and I wanted to retch. "I'm sorry."

I only nodded, slowly before backing up until I kicked at my knife. I bent down and picked it up, flipping the blade in my hand as I nodded again and murmured, "I'm going to walk the rest of the way."

"Be safe tonight, with Tobias."

I nodded a third time, forcing a thin smile in return as he went back to his car. I didn't let myself cry until he was driving past me. I bowed my head, heaved air through my mouth and nose, and let out a strangled sob.

Pandora, Pandora, where are you? Who did this to you, who took you from me?

It seemed all I did now was cry and wallow over what I didn't know. All I could hope for now was that Tobias did finally find me so I could learn every secret he knows and finally tear his heart from his throat, ending this whole charade.

"He wants to tear your throat out, he wants to fucking eviscerate you."

Ace's haunted words echoed in my head as I wiped my hot tears from my cheeks and began my slow stroll to the cabin. I hadn't thought much about my dream since it happened, and the images I saw seemed more like a blaring warning than a feeble, naive dream.

Blood, snakes, and the rot coating Ace's flesh were screaming at me to understand.

"You will die before you ever get the chance. You should've just died in that grave, Blaire, it would've been nicer than what's waiting for you."

I knew what was waiting for me, at the end of this once long road. If Marshall Hollins was still alive, it seemed the devil would never get the chance to taste my blood before the next act in this terrible performance played out.

I would be forced to play a hand I was terrified of. Forced to follow down the same path as Celia Mackle and Dahlia Salucci, the same potential path that led my mother to the rope.

Would I be ready to give it all up? And would I be ready to have my blood spilled, my body torn apart, if everything fell upon me instead?

I saw my car not too far ahead of me and pulled my car keys free from my bag. I wasn't sure if I was going to have the chance to change, not with Crow lingering about inside. I couldn't face him, not after what I had shouted in his face.

He didn't have a choice, I understood that even though I wish I didn't. He was hiding things from me and I had yet to even ask about the bank statements that felt heavy against my side. Would I ask him, point blank? Even after screaming at him until my throat hurt? After I called him a liar, which he never particularly likes when I do?

I hoped, with whatever happened at the party tonight, I ended up drunk enough to confront him the way I needed to. In a way that would get me every answer I needed.

Let me inside your brain, let me inside your secrets. Let me know what's stopping you. Reach inside my chest and you'll know my secrets, too.

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love a lil crow+blaire sleuthing!!! when i say im in love w them.....im in love with them

very much unedited again whoops

HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED IT!!!! comment/vote and maybe you'll get a sexy lil dedication in the next chapter ;)