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“And our negotiator speaks up,” the bartender says. “Loopholes are his specialty. Financial and legal ones, that is. How about money. Are you going to offer me money, Ray?”

Raymond opens his mouth, and the bartender waves. “That’s a joke, obviously. I have no need of money or anything else you could offer, which means this is beyond your ability to negotiate.”

Noemi steps forward. “Is there a way out?”

“No,” Maggie says quickly.

The bartender chuckles. “Liar, liar, pants on fire. Afraid of losing your job, Maggie?”

She looks up then, meeting his gaze. “I already quit.”

“Maybe you’re having second thoughts.”

She snorts at that.

“So there’s a loophole,” I say. “Is it that she has to finish the job? Kill us. We still die, but quickly?”

“Nope,” the bartender chirps. “Too late for that. You will die slowly and terribly, and she will watch. As for a loophole…” He makes a face. “You might just want to skip that part.”

“Anything that lets us live—” Henry begins.

“Only one of you can survive this.” The bartender’s gaze sweeps over us. “Did you hear what Maggie said? About quitting? That means there’s a job opening.”

“Someone takes her job?” Henry says. “Is that the price?”

“It is.”

“I’ll—” Raymond begins.

The bartender cuts him off with a lifted finger. “Not so fast. To take her job, you need to finish her job. Kill the other three before whatever’s out there”—he motions to the window—“does it for you.”

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. Same as the others. We all jump in to say something and nobody can.

“I’ve silenced you all to make this easier,” the bartender says. “You will each get a chance to answer. We’ll go in order of seniority—who’s been wrongly alive the longest. That means we start with Ellie. Now, before we begin, let me sweeten the pot. If you manage to do Maggie’s job for her and kill all three, you can choose to lead the life you should have had instead of immortality. You’d live to a very ripe old age, and you’d no longer be forgettable.”

He leans on the bar, looking at me. “Your life would be reinstated in full. For you, Ellie, that means within a week you’ll have an exciting job that values you and you’ll meet a man you’ll want to spend your life with and who’ll want the same back. You’ll make up for lost time in every way, and to get it, you only need to grant these three a swift death, which is a blessing, really. Then you’ll take Maggie’s job, but it’s not particularly onerous, maybe a death every few years, mostly people you won’t mind killing. Oh, and as a bonus, your family won’t have to worry about you anymore.” He meets my gaze. “They’ve worried so much, and you feel the weight of that. The guilt of it. I know you do. Imagine if their little girl finally got her life sorted and they could move on with theirs.”

Henry makes a noise, clearly ready to jump in as that last part hits me in the gut.

The bartender swings onto the bar and sits on the edge, feet dangling. “What say you, Ellie?”

“No.”

His shoulders slump. “Could you have at least taken two seconds to consider my offer? Fine. Next in seniority is sweet Noemi. Same deal. What say you?”

She hesitates. “I’d get Caleb back, right? Alive and well?”

“Uh, no. Too late for that, but you’ll meet someone new and—”

“No.”

He tilts his head. “That was the deal-breaker? If I said Caleb would come back, you’d have done it?”

Her cheeks heat, and she ducks our gazes. “I don’t know.”

“But without that, it’s a no.”

“It is.”