“I—No. No, I had no idea that people were dying because of me.” Enzo flexed his hand. A nail popped free, bloody and curved. It landed just outside the circle, staining the rug red. “What the fuck?!”
“Do you understand the temporal loop you created?”
“No, obviously not!” Enzo snapped. “I knew it was part of the deal, but I thought it would just be a couple of days, not this endless fuckinghell!” Another mouthful of blood. Three teeth came loose, popping out of the newest blob of flesh like maggots.
“And at no point did you attempt to reverse the spell?”
“No,” said Enzo, panting now, face streaked crimson.
“I know this is beyond your comprehension,” said the yellow-eyed man, “but you’ve violated three statutes and dozens of interdimensional laws.”
Jack and Carla exchanged confused glances.
“Do you think I give a fuck? I’m melting, here!”
“Do you know how difficult it is to contain these creatures once they’re free?” continued the yellow-eyed man, oblivious to Enzo’s suffering.
“I—Contain it? I thought it would go away after the, uh,requirementswere met.” Something wet dropped from Enzo’s cheek onto the sheet. Jack was afraid to look too closely. Carla made a sound of despair and buried her face in his shoulder. “You know, so many, uh,hits.”
“That could take years,” said the yellow-eyed man. “The temporal loop affects a one-hundred-mile radius. That’s over one million people who must be consumed. Over one million people who cannot escapeno matter what they doonce they are exposed.”
Jack’s stomach plunged into his shoes.Thatwas why they hadn’t outrun the time loop. Theycouldn’t. Leaving didn’t matter. Distance didn’t matter. They were trapped here, victims of a temporal loop, doomed to eventually be consumed by that awful, awful creature.
He started to shiver and couldn’t stop.
“What is it, then?” Enzo snapped. “What the fuck is it?”
“An energy drain. Akin to a vampire, you might say.” The yellow-eyed man shrugged. “It traps its victims in a temporal loop and slowly absorbs their essence. When its prey grows weak, it consumes them. Nothing left. Not even a soul, as you might say.” He made a show of examining his fingernails. “Which is why it’s a serious crime to summon one. Not to mention the insidious… requirements of the spell.”
Jack tensed.
“If it’s such a serious, uh, interdimensional crime, then why didn’t ya do something sooner?” A pale sheen crossed Enzo’s face. Boris’s fingers tightened on Jack’s arm.
“Because there are worse crimes out there,” said the yellow-eyed man. “And we’re short-staffed. Tell me, what was her name?”
“Whose name?” Enzo demanded. His gaze darkened. Barely suppressed rage burned in his stare.
“Your sacrifice. The one I presume you buried in soil under the full moon. Or did you skip that part? I’d assume not, since the instructions were sostraightforward.” There was a nasty glint in those yellow eyes, something cold and vicious and vengeful. Jack was suddenly grateful that they weren’t locked on him.
“Oh, uh, the sacrifice. Right, right.” Enzo scratched at his nose. A piece of skin flaked away, but he barely seemed to notice. “Well, uh, she had it coming, but, uh, I can’t say I know her.”
The yellow-eyed man shook his head. “The sacrifice must be an intimate partner, as per the guidelines.” A pale brow raised. “Don’t try to tell me otherwise.”
Shit.Jack exchanged a horrified glance with Boris, then Carla. “The body in the woods?—”
“Wait a minute. How the fuck do you know about that?” asked Enzo, glowering at them. He’d begun to flush a strange shade of purple.
“You didn’t exact hide the burial site,” Boris said, scowling. “It’s right off the main trail.”
“Hey, burying a body’s a lot of work. Normally, we haul ‘em out to sea, but—” Enzo stopped, realizing he’d said too much.
The yellow-eyed man waved a hand. “Incriminate away,” he said. “But do remind me: her name?”
“Why do you need that?” Enzo’s face wasn’t turning purple from shortness of breath, realized Jack, terror writhing in his gut. No, it was from the way his veins grew more prominent, like they were inching closer to the surface of his skin…
“Wait,” said Jack, nearly choking on the saliva that pooled in his mouth. “Wait, wait. This is—you’re gonna kill him.”
“Yeah!” said Enzo, nodding enthusiastically. The tip of his nose dropped free, plopping onto the rug like pigeon shit onto the roof of a car. Blood poured from the hole in his face. “You’re gonna kill me.”
