“I need to know if the contract is void. I know the phrase. I can summon him at Tyler’s grave.” Greg swallowed. “If he comes, I’ll tell him I’m not a reaper anymore. Then I’ll see what he says.”
Dustin was quiet for a long moment.
“You’re asking me to drive you to a cemetery in the middle of the night so you can summon the demon who bought your soul.”
“Yes.”
“And this can’t wait until morning.”
“I can’t sleep without knowing.”
Another silence.
Then Dustin exhaled through his nose, long and resigned.
“Give me five minutes.”
The cemetery was quiet.
They walked to Tyler’s grave together. The headstone looked exactly as it had two nights ago, the infinity symbol pale in the moonlight.
Greg’s burned hands throbbed beneath the bandages.
“Okay,” Dustin said. He stood close, tense from head to toe. “You’re really doing this?”
“I have to.”
“And if he disagrees?”
“Then we’ll have a conversation about it.”
“Great plan.”
“I didn’t say it was a plan.”
Dustin shot him a look.
Greg took a breath and spoke the phrase.
“I have more to lose.”
Nothing happened.
The air didn’t change. The cemetery stayed quiet. Somewhere in the trees, a bird called. The flowers on Tyler’s headstone stirred in the breeze.
Greg frowned and said it again.
Still nothing.
“Maybe he’s busy,” Dustin said.
Greg opened his mouth to reply, but then he felt something else.
Not the dark, skin-crawling presence of the demon.
Something lighter.
Like he was being watched by someone who wasn’t trying to hide it.
