Page 388 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

Strike true before the moon comes due, then mortal dawn shall rise for you.

But should the guilty heart slip free, then Wrath shall take thy soul to keep.

By blood and moon the truth will sear, eight swords in earth till eight bells clear.

INSTRUCTIONS

Perform at night. No other may be present.

Draw a circle with your own blood to sit within.

Enter the circle and recite the Bind.

Write thy full and true name below.

Let thy blood fall upon it.

Do not leave the circle.

Do not break the line.

Await the guide.

THE BIND

I, LACHLAN TANNER, enter this contract of my own free will.

I name those taken from me:

JULIAN PENHALXY, JESSAMINE PENHALYX

My blood seals this agreement.

My name binds me to it.

It cannot be changed or withdrawn.

Kade reads it several times, more carefully than he did when he first glanced at it last night. Able to now recognise Lachlan’s handwriting, he sees where he filled in the blanks. The photocopy rendered the paper dark, suggesting it was old and textured.

‘The top part is the poetry?’

‘Yeah.’

‘So it’s the demon that came and gave you the actual terms, then?’

‘Correct.’

‘A demon, huh?’ Finn asks excitedly.

‘Pretty inconvenient that we only have actual terms given verbally when you were, by your own admission, drunk at the time,’ Kade says, scouring the top part.

‘But it’s all there,’ Cole says, enlarging the top part. ‘Borrowed power for the purpose of vengeance lasting until the full moon wanes. The memory taken will be restored on the night it all comes due, tonight. If he does what he set out to do, he’ll become human again when the sun rises. But if he fails, then his life is forfeit.’

‘I don’t think it’s his life,’ Finn argues.

‘There’s no living without a soul.’

‘I’m not disagreeing, but I think in this context, the soul element feels more like indentured servitude than death. Anyway, carry on.’