place is there, with the angels. But there is a way…” The old Fate’s lips curved a fraction, in something almost like a smile. “There’s always a way.”
Kristof stepped forward. Before either of us could ask, she moved to the edge of the dais. Then, with a lift of her fingers, she levitated to the floor. One stride and she was beside me. I blinked. She was so tiny, not even reaching my shoulder. She laid a hand on my arm. Her bright eyes looked up into mine.
“You said this feels like a punishment. Do you really think we’d be so cruel, Eve? Yes, we wanted you to join our angels, but when you refused, we accepted that. What you did down there, the sacrifice you made…I won’t say I underestimated you, because I’ve always known what you were capable of”—a sly smile—“with the right prompting. But this sacrifice none of us expected. When you made it, we decided we’d do all we could to make it easier on you.”
“So I get to stay—”
“In the ghost world? No. That, I’m afraid, is impossible.” She returned to the dais, but stayed in front of the wheel. “If there’s one thing you clearly understand, Eve, it’s the nature of a bargain. You give and you take, in even proportion. That’s what we can offer.”
The child Fate appeared. “Do you know the story of Persephone and Demeter?”
“A Greek myth to explain the seasons, I think,” I said.
“That’s right. Hades, Lord of the Underworld, wanted Persephone for his bride, so he stole her away. Her mother beseeched the gods for help, and they made a deal with Hades, that Persephone would spend summers on earth and winters in the underworld. How does that sound?” Her pretty face scrunched up. “Well, not exactly that, but something like it.”
Before we could answer, her middle sister took over.
“You now have a job to do, Eve, and we expect you to do it. You also have another life to lead, and we want you to do that. Half the year you will be with the angels, and half you will live here, with Kristof, as a ghost.”
I looked at Kristof. He smiled.
“We’ll take it.”
Epilogue
THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT GOD CREATED THE EARTH IN a week. I don’t know much about religious history, but I do remember that one. As for whether it’s true, I’ll leave that to the scholars. All I know is that a lot can happen in a week. You can go from being a ghost pining for your daughter to a heavenly bounty-hunter on the trail of a demi-demon killer. And you can go from reluctant crusader to full-time angel, locking yourself into an eternal contract as a protector of justice. And other times, the transition isn’t so obvious, but in its own way, just as life-altering.
It had been a week since I brought in the Nix. I was still in the ghost world—the Fates had given me one more month here, as I prepared for my passage to the angel world. I still didn’t know what to expect. I’d already sat through two days of orientation crap, but most of it had consisted of a list of rules too long for anyone without a full-blooded angel’s perfect memory…or, at least, that was the excuse I’d use when I started breaking them.
At the end of the week, the Fates gave Trsiel and me our first assignment. Nothing tough—just a routine rousting of some haunters, but with definite possibilities for fun. Before I embarked on that, though, there was something I had to do.
Kristof accompanied me as far as Lucas and Paige’s backyard. I stood in that yard for a while, looking up at the house, remembering what it had smelled like, what it had felt like to be there, really there, committing it all to memory. Then, slowly, I released Kris’s hand and headed for the back door.
When I stepped inside, Lucas and Paige were in the kitchen, Lucas’s back against the counter, a dish towel over his shoulder, Paige leaning against him, holding his hands, face raised to his as they talked in murmurs.
“Hey, guys,” I said softly. “Just came by to say thanks. I know you can’t hear me, but I wanted to say it anyway. Thanks for everything. You’re doing a great job with her. An amazing job.”
Lucas chuckled at something Paige said, and brushed a curl off her cheek.
The back door banged open.
“Anybody home?” a voice shouted, loud enough to shake