“As is the law of Ordinary,” Bathin went on unrelentingly, “when one bridge dies, another of the Reed family will rise and take their place. As is the agreement made with the previous bridge of Ordinary and Death himself,” Bathin said, “Robert’s soul has been here, within the borders of this town, housed within me. I am alive. And therefore Robert is very much alive. He can take Ordinary upon himself again, through me as his conduit, or he can give it to his daughter, Delaney when she returns to her body. You, Mithra, have always been too late to stake your claim to this land.”
I blinked hard. Shook my head at my dad. I thought he’d died. When I’d made that deal with Bathin, I thought my father’s soul had gone onto death.
Not so, my child,Death whispered in my mind.It was not his time. But now…yes, soon.
Mithra glared at the demon, at my father, at me. Then finally, at Death. “You allowed this?”
“A favor owed to a friend of mine.”
He meant my dad, not the demon. I was sure of it.
“I could destroy this land,” Mithra said.
“You would have to destroy the original gods who created it first,” Death said. “One stands before you.”
Mithra scowled. Then his face, well, Ryder’s face, cleared. He nodded once.
“Checkmate, Thanatos,” he said. “I concede this match to you.”
Death is patient. And Death always wins.
The light in Ryder’s eyes dimmed to the normal, beautiful hazel I knew and loved. He looked confused, pale. He couldn’t see me. I wasn’t even sure if he could see the room around him as he lowered himself to the ground, exhausted.
“Dad?” I asked, moving toward my father.
“Ah-ah. No.” Bathin’s words stopped me. “There is no more time.”
Dad mouthed something, and I could hear it like a sigh on the wind,“I love you.”
Death held his hand out. Dad’s eyes were so bright. His smile became a grin as he accepted Death’s hand. His soft laughter filled the air as he became a single spark of light in the swirling cape full of lights that surrounded Death.
“Oh,” I said, because it was the only sound I could make. He was gone. This time, I knew, he was truely gone.
“Reed Daughter,” Death said. “I think you’ve had quite enough of resting here. It is time for you to return to your heart.”
My heart. Ryder. Myra. Jean. Ordinary, and all the people within it.
“Just so,” Death agreed.
The world hitched, a giant machine catching on the gear that ground it forward through the universe.
And then everything began again.
“Wait,” I said.
My words echoed back to me, time crashed on and on, seconds, minutes, all too fast, all too loud, and I inhaled a ragged breath.
Pain. So much pain.
“Damn it, Delaney,” Myra sobbed. “Keep breathing. I’m going to kill you, so keep breathing.”
There were sirens, voices, hands. Too many smells, colors, sensations. I tried to reach for them all, hold them all, cling tight to them all, because I knew it was life, this messy mix of pain and hope and joy and heat and tears.
I saw, briefly, Myra’s face, streaked with tears, splotchy cheeks against paper-pale skin, eyes red and glassy. “You are such an idiot. Keep breathing. Just keep breathing.” She tried to smile and it made it all worse. “Everything’s going to be okay.
~~~
Someone was watching me.
