He only knew his housemates were. How comforting. I’d had my doubts about Zan being a part of the actual murder. The ghost was far too squeamish. “Everyone else has, Zan. I know for a fact Kirin and Waylon have. Abby and Bennett are likely candidates too.”
“It’s really hard to explain.”
Yes, lying would be hard for the ghost who didn’t know how to. I sensed the half-truths and lies in his upcoming explanation, and he hadn’t even started speaking yet. He needed time to gather his thoughts to explain away the whole mess, so I gave it to him. I was a little irritated at myself for caring, but if I pushed he would break down and cry. If I thought his tears would bring me information, I might try it, but him crying from the stress would only make my heart clench painfully in my chest.
“Felix wanted us to help with your test,” he said finally, gently bouncing up and down and averting his eyes from me. “He needed to make sure you were smart enough to figure out how to escape the house on a limited timeline. And that you could deal with pain and pressure and facing your fears.”
“What fears were those, exactly?”
Zan cringed. “He said you didn’t like ghosts much. He didn’t tell me you were terrified enough to have panic attacks, or I never would have agreed.”
I believed him. His avoidance of me hadn’t been because of a general wariness around humans, after all. He wanted me to be more comfortable, despite Felix’s ridiculous master plan. “And what did he offer you in exchange for helping with this test?”
“We didn’t need much convincing. Nothing else exciting happens around here.”
It seemed like a stupid reason, but I could see how it might be the truth. I’d spent less than two months in the confines of this house, and I was going bonkers. And that was with a specific task to accomplish, on a limited amount of time every day.
I wasn’t completely buying it, though.
“And you have the ability to turn back time?”
“Yes, it was one of my specialties when I was alive. It’s part of the reason I was placed in here. I was deemed… dangerous.”
Messing with the timeline of our world was precarious, so for once I couldn’t fault Felix’s weird fanatical organization. Ironic, how they’d turn around and ask him to bend it for them once he was locked up. “Why does it need to be tonight that I do the spell? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to not bother with turning back time, and wait for the next full moon?”
“He said there’s something special about this one.”
“Did he perfectly plan the timing of his own death so I would come here on this specific date?”
Shrugging, Zan didn’t have a solid answer. “I wouldn’t put it past him.”
We lapsed into silence. I didn’t trust him, and my heart hurt. If I’d been thinking, I never would have trusted him, but I lost my brain somewhere along the way. I didn’t know the underlying plan beneath all the lies and deception and murder, so I couldn’t tell him what I’d discovered in my time here. All the tidbits I’d learned about Uncle Felix and the secret basement and Dex Moran were things I’d have to keep to myself, in case knowing gave me an advantage later.
“How many more times can you turn back time?”
His grimace told me all I needed to know.
My time was close to up. I had the tools I needed to release myself from this prison, and I’d have to handle whatever popped up on the other side or risk dying for good. “I’m running out of energy fast. Maybe ten more times? More or less, depending on how far back I have to turn it every time. That’s why they usually kill you before the evening is up.”
Not enough days to come up with another plausible plan. Fuck. Going ahead and continuing to play Uncle Felix’s game when I didn’t know his end goal left a unpleasant taste in my mouth. My only other choice at this point was to die in this place.
It dawned on me the dying part hadn’t been explained. “Wait. Why do they have to kill me? Time-bending doesn’t require someone to die.”
“I’m so sorry,” Zan said, the words tumbling out of his mouth. “We didn’t have to, but it makes it easier for me, I swear. If someone’s on the brink of death, the realm practically begs me to save them. The spell flows easier and feels like it expends less energy.”
“It is so extremely fucked up that you twisted that into needing to kill me.”
“Be— Felix is the one who made the suggestion.”
He didn’t quite catch himself before I heard the truth. Bennett. Huh. I couldn’t say I was surprised. He read strategy books and was the type of person who would utilize an asset. Even a borderline unethical one.
Actually, fuck borderline. Killing me every twelve hours as part of a testwasunethical.
“Can’t you turn back time enough to bring me back outside the house?” I asked. “You can’t think it’s fair Felix has been playing these games with me from beyond the grave.”
“Honestly… I would if I could,” he admitted quietly. “But it’s not an option. When they locked me up in here, the seal was adjusted to prevent my power from being able to do that. They knew I would try. My attempt didn’t end pleasantly.”
My heart fluttered at the fact that he was open to the idea. It shouldn’t have.
