Chapter 153: Oh, no...

"Yes," Nian said. "One thing, never ever say anything to anyone. Not even to your closest ones. Because it will affect you. Keep it a secret."

"Then I need to bring it to you?" Milo asked.

"Yes," Nian said. "You can come anytime you want. I can always sense wherever you are."

Milo looked down at the rope in his hands, turning it over one final time before finally nodding slowly. "So, I will come back later. And I don’t want to lift my protection right now, because I still need it."

Nian smiled, something knowing in the curve of her mouth. "I know Roderick is a nice person."

Milo rose to his feet carefully, tucking the rope into his pocket. "Thank you so much. At least, I’m not worried that I might bring bad luck."

Nian nodded, rising with him. "Your relative who set the curse might have done it just because of jealousy. But they needed someone to do it. The time you replace yourself, whoever set the agreement with the devil, the one who helped your relative, might die."

Milo froze halfway to the door. "You mean, he used a witch as well?"

"Yes, I’m sure," Nian said. "Because this kind of thing needs very powerful energy. Not everyone can do it."

Milo nodded slowly, the weight of everything she’d told him settling heavily in his chest as he turned toward the door. "Thank you..."

***

The drive to the hotel passed in near silence, Milo staring out the window with the rope already coiled deep in his pocket, his mind spinning through everything Nian had told him.

Salvatore kept glancing over at him.

"What did she tell you?" Salvatore finally asked once they were settled into the hotel room, the door clicking shut behind them.

Milo shook his head, sitting down heavily on the edge of the bed. "It’s fine. Just... a lot to think about."

"Milo," Roderick said, crossing his arms, "you’ve been quiet since we left. What happened? She didn’t tell us anything. So what can we do about your curse?"

"Nothing, really. I’m okay," Milo said, forcing something like a smile. "Really."

Salvatore studied him a moment longer, clearly unconvinced, but he let it go, exchanging a look with Roderick instead... the kind that said they’d try again later, once Milo had settled.

Dinner came and went with Milo picking at his food more than eating it, his mind circling back again and again to the rope tucked in his pocket, to Roderick’s fading time, to the terrible weight of a secret he wasn’t allowed to share with either of the men sitting across from him.

Every time Roderick laughed at something Salvatore said, every time he reached for his glass or leaned back in his chair, Milo found himself staring, wondering how many more moments like this were actually left.

He couldn’t tell him. He couldn’t tell either of them. But he also couldn’t just let it happen.

Later that night, after Salvatore had gone to shower and Roderick sat scrolling through something on his phone in the small sitting area, Milo finally worked up the nerve.

His hands trembled slightly as he pulled the rope from his pocket.

"Sir," he said quietly.

Roderick looked up. "Yes?"

"Can I—" Milo hesitated, then pushed forward before he lost his courage entirely. "Can you just... let me tie this around your wrist? Just for a second."

Roderick raised an eyebrow, glancing at the thin black rope in Milo’s hand. "What is that?"

"Nian gave it to me," Milo said, which wasn’t a lie, even if it wasn’t the whole truth either. "She said it’s supposed to help me. Something about the curse. I just need to do this."

Roderick studied him for a moment, clearly confused, but something in Milo’s face... desperate, pleading, though Milo tried hard to mask it... must have convinced him it mattered.

"Fine," he said, holding out his wrist. "Whatever helps."

Milo’s hands shook as he looped the rope around Roderick’s wrist first, tying it with careful, deliberate knots, then wrapped the other end around his own, pulling it snug.

The rope stretched about a meter between them.

Roderick looked down at it, tugging slightly, testing the give. "This is it? It can help you?"

"Y-yes," Milo said quickly, swallowing down the lump rising in his throat. "It’s supposed to help me."

Roderick shrugged, apparently satisfied enough with that answer, and went back to his phone, seemingly unbothered by the fact that he was now physically tethered to Milo by a meter of black cord.

It wasn’t until nearly an hour later, after Salvatore had come out of the shower and settled into bed with a low murmur about needing sleep.

Roderick shifted on the small couch where he’d apparently decided to sleep, then sat up abruptly, tugging at the rope connecting them.

"Milo," he said. "Can you please remove this rope? I need to go to the bathroom now."

Milo’s stomach dropped. He hadn’t thought this through at all! He hadn’t considered how two people tied together by a meter of rope were supposed to manage anything.

"I—" Milo fumbled, glancing down at the knot, his fingers hovering uselessly over it. Nian’s warning rang loud in his mind: once you tie this one, you can’t remove it before their time has passed.

If he untied it now, would it undo everything?

Oh no....

"Milo?" Roderick said again, more pointed this time, one eyebrow raised.

"You can’t—" Milo started, then stopped. "I mean, I can’t take it off yet. It has to stay on for... many days. For it to work properly."

Roderick stared at him, clearly unconvinced. "Many days?"

"Yes," Milo said, nodding a little too fast.

"So how exactly," Roderick said slowly, "am I supposed to go to the bathroom? Are you going to follow me everywhere?"

Milo’s face flushed red, his mind racing uselessly for a solution. He couldn’t untie the rope, but he didn’t want to follow Roderick into the bathroom like some kind of crazy man.

"I... I could just stand outside the door? With my arm through the gap?"

Roderick blinked at him for a long moment, clearly torn between irritation and disbelief, before letting out a short, exasperated laugh. "You’ve got to be kidding me."

"Please, sir," Milo said, something close to desperation slipping into his voice now. "Just trust me. Please."

Roderick studied him for a moment longer, something in Milo’s expression giving him pause. He sighed heavily, already standing, tugging Milo up along with him by the taut length of cord between them.

"Fine," he muttered, heading toward the bathroom with Milo trailing awkwardly a step behind, both their arms stretched slightly to accommodate the short leash. "But you owe me an explanation eventually. This is ridiculous."

Milo said nothing, following silently, guilt twisting hard in his chest with every step. He couldn’t tell him. Not yet. Not maybe ever.

But Salvatore didn’t like it. "Why, why are you going there with Roderick? No way. Come here, Milo."