Ted could not control his own body anymore. It occurred to him that if the god was willing, it could make him snap Eknie's neck like a twig. While he would have not killed himself over something like that, the woman was far too useful for him to lose her.
"DISGUSTING," the deity continued and sat down on the edge of the vanity table.
"Disgusting thing. I loathe you."
The animosity was dripping from its words and the voice was so sharp that Ted wondered why his ears had not started to bleed yet.
"What do you want?!" he managed to ask. "Anything…just leave me alone!"
"I want your soul. Your life. Give it to me. Be mine…"
The last sentence ended in a raspy sound that echoed unpleasantly from the walls.
Ted shook his head. At least, he thought he did so, but still, he felt the presence of the deity pushing itself further into his mind.
"I want souls…yours or hers."
"No, no, take anyone else, don't take us!" Eknie yelled. She was huddled up in a fetal position in the corner, apparently trying to reach the doorknob.
"Then the price will be higher," the god snarled.
It seemed like this was, in fact, a solar deity. Its presence warmed up the room, but in a bad way. It was like the flames of some eternal hell were heating up all the metal surfaces in the restroom, making them radiate with this strange and hostile witchcraft. The light in itself was bright enough that when Ted turned his gaze away, he saw a residual image that did not resemble any creature known to man.
Ted gasped for air. He had to get rid of this thing. Of the banishing of gods, he only knew that it was best to do whatever they asked.
"I will do anything," he croaked.
"Then…"
From what little could be seen of the head of the supposed deity, it showed signs of listening to Ted.
"What can you offer to me?"
"A thousand souls in twenty years!"
Ted was dead serious. He did not care for random people, he never had. He had watched three people die. None of them had moved his heart in any direction. He did not think he had the capacity to be concerned about the fates of a thousand drunkards and paw addicts.
"Too little. Too much time," the voice of the god said, and there was no hissing and growling that would have made it familiar and comforting to Ted's ears. Everything, every syllable was like a knife.
"Ten thousand in twenty years!" Ted tried to bargain, but this was such a desperate attempt that he regretted it the moment the words left his mouth.
"Ten thousand…ten years. A thousand per year, if you collect three every day for ten years…you will survive, and so will the female. You could become a musician…draw my mark on them and see it that they keep it on. Touch the mark with fire and the sacrifice will be complete. But you have to light all the fires within a single day, in the rays of my holy sun…"
The sun deity swirled and turned around itself, causing the reflective surfaces in the room sparkle and glow in its sinister light.
Now there was a rattle in the voice of the deity, a sort of licentious raspiness, and it did not comfort Ted at all.
Eknie's eyes darted from the mirror to the doorknob.
"Deal," Ted breathed. "I will do it. Anything else?"
"They have to be willing…ripe…I care not for anything else. Give me ripe souls…ones that will give themselves to me, you can…convince them a little…I do not mind a little manipulation and deception. The means are yours to decide…ten thousand ripe souls…"
Ted breathed in and noticed that he was now able to move.
The sun god retreated back into the mirror. The light disappeared, leaving only an ominous aftertaste in the restroom and its dark green and maroon velvety surfaces.
Eknie got up. Someone banged on the door.
Ted pulled his friend close to his body.
Eknie seemed to understand what he was going for.
"Go away!" she cried in such a theatrical way that despite his anxiety, Ted chuckled at her talents in acting.
"We are in here! Do not come!"
"Oh, darling!" he added loudly. "Is the door locked?"
"It won't be too long! Licentious oaf!" a man shouted from outside the restroom. "I need to relieve myself!"
Eknie unlocked the door, pretending to fix her hair and the ruffles of her dress.
"All right, all right," the familiar-looking man in a fancy shirt said and averted his eyes.
Ted and Eknie slipped back into the common space. He noticed quite a few people giving her sour looks. He didn't feel upset by that. She knew what she was up for, being an unmarried woman, spending so much time with an unmarried man. She had to be aware of the consequences. At the same time, Ted did not feel bad about using this to his advantage, though. He knew exactly when to tentatively touch her hand and when to push her away in order to maintain the tension in her lovedrunk mind.
They pulled a couple of chairs to sit right next to the bartender for easy access to refreshments.
"That was not nice," Eknie whispered. "We have so much work to do."
"I thought I would start right away, in this wretched saloon." Ted got himself a coffee, as strong as a smoker's cough, and fondled the dice. He winked at his friend and shrugged.
"The god did not say the sacrifices can't be drunk…"
Eknie sighed. "It will be risky."
"I'll show you risky…oh, wait, everything can be lethal in right amounts."
"I will guard the door again."
"No." Ted drew in a deep breath through his perfect, pearly white teeth. "I will do it right here."
"Aether, lightning, death, rebirth, furnace, bring them all to me," Ted whispered and rolled the dice.
They did not seem like they wanted to stop rolling at all, skipping the position to summon the Devil of the Crossroads and skipping the next possibility, too.