Page 217 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

‘OK. So it’s probably tied to the Death Knot, then.’

‘Same time, yes. It makes sense.’

‘Lachlan’s ritual has two days left for us to figure out how to honour it and keep him alive. And you,’ he says very gently, looking at Riley, ‘are my brother.’

He leaves out the not human part.

Wants to ask Riley about that when they’re alone.

He thinks it might be tied to something he knows about Riley.

‘Tanner. Your ritual,’ Riley says. ‘Tell me about it.’

‘Why?’

‘Do you need a reason? We’re trying to figure all this out.’

‘I don’t need to help you figure anything out, Harker.’

‘Then help him.’

Lachlan looks at Kade, relenting instantly.

‘Three days before I entered your Tower, I accepted that I couldn’t reach Troy without being killed. Blaire came to me and gave me an old book. She told me to turn the pages until an animal made me stop. I stopped when I saw a kestrel. The page contained a ritual.’

‘You took all this at face value?’

‘I mean, I was drunk off my ass.’

‘What did it require?’

‘A circle drawn in my blood. I sat inside it, spoke the words and signed my name. The price was one memory.’

‘Which memory?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘How can you not know?’ Kade can’t help but ask because it bothers him enormously. ‘You must feel something missing.’

‘A happy memory was a small price to pay for what I wanted,’ Lachlan says determinedly. ‘The circle lit up and something appeared wearing my face. A demonic version of me. It asked what I wanted. I said I wanted to kill everyone responsible for what happened to Jules and Mimi. It touched my chest and the tattoo appeared.’

‘Then?’

‘I woke the next morning. Cuts closed, bones reset, bullets pushed themselves out. The numerals drop each night. Far as I know, until the full moon wanes, any damage I take will heal instantly.’

‘And after that?’

‘If I’ve killed everyone responsible, the task is fulfilled. If I haven’t, my life is forfeit.’

‘Who decides who was responsible?’

‘It wasn’t specified and again, I was really drunk.’

Riley studies him. ‘So you don’t know what memory was taken, you don’t know how this demon defines responsibility or whether death is the ritual’s only remaining cost should you fail.’

Lachlan gives Riley a facetiously enthusiastic thumbs-up.

‘Nailed it, champ. Your fucking scumbag father is the one responsible for what happened to Jules and Mimi, even if it was an accident. He executed them at point-blank range and he’s already dead, so my deal was invalid from the get-go, but I don’t care because I managed to make it in here and see my boy again, and that’s worth everything.’