Page 87 of Ever Dark

Sleep is forever

I wear the nightmare crown

Don’t make a sound

Silent as the howl less wind

Down, down, down

Back to his web again

Honeyed fingers, poisoned tongue

Sharpest is the kiss that feeds

There is no dream in which I’m from

Lost between the Wishing Trees

Down, down, down

Crushed by devil’s rocks

Bound, bound, bound

To an eternity of Nox.

I kind of like the smell of motor oil now, I realize as I sit cross-legged on the ground next to the 1962 Super Beetle that Bones is working on. Hunched over the trunk, he looks gorgeous in his grease-stained muscle tank. In the days when these cars were originally built, the engines were put in the back. Another thing I learned from Sister Mary, the mechanic, at the orphanage.

“She is such a classic. What are you going to do with her after she’s all fixed up?” I’ve always had a soft spot for this model.

He pokes his head out from behind the hood and winks. “What color do you want her to be?”

I nearly choke on my cherry cola. “Um, what?”

He grins as he wipes his hands on a dirty rag. “She’s yours if you want her.”

I bite my lip to stifle a cheesy grin. “Is that a trick question? I absolutely want her.”

“What color then?” He plops down across from me and steals a sip from my soda.

I salivate over the way his throat bobs when he swallows, glancing back and forth between him and the can. “Red. Cherry red.”

“You got it, mi amor. Mmm, this drink tastes like your lips.” He takes another sip before handing it back to me.

I fidget with a loose thread on my jeans, my anxiety building.There’s so much I still don’t understand. But I’m grateful my path has led me back here.To them. “What will happen to me?”

He leans back against the car and sighs. “You’ll be tied to him and this place forever. Cursed. Forbidden to enter the After. That’s the deal. He gives you Nox, and, in return, he gets to do whatever he wants with your soul.”

I peel back some of my chipped nail polish, making it worse. “That might happen anyway…”

He nods. “We’ve got you, either way, mi amor.”

“Whatever happens will be,” I murmur, repeating Nox’s words.

“That is the way it’s always been.” He kisses me on the forehead before standing up. “I’m going to get cleaned up, baby girl. Don’t lose that vial. It’s the only dose.”

I tap on the outside of my jacket pocket. “I won’t let it out of my sight.” I guess I’m going full macabre tonight, poison, sacrifice, and a blood oath.Just a typical Saturday night in Ever Graves.

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