“Yes.”
My heart was thrumming a heavy beat. I didn’t know where, exactly, we were physically right now. I mean, I remembered coming to Jame’s house, but the green fog around me made anything more than a few feet away hazy enough I couldn’t make it out.
This was either some kind of spell I’d triggered when I’d picked up the stone, or I’d fallen into some kind of between space. Time did weird things when it collided with supernatural happenings. The world around me might be running either really fast, or really slow, or not at all.
None of those possibilities made me happy.
The only thing that made me happy was seeing Dad. Even though he was scowling, angry at the demon and maybe a little angry at me too, for considering the demon’s offer.
But then, he’d done more than just consider the demon’s offer. He’d taken him up on it.
I suppose the one big difference was that Dad had been dying.
And in his dying moments, he hadn’t used a deal with a demon to save his own life. He’d given up his soul to save Ordinary. To keep us safe. The people and the place he loved.
I understood why he didn’t want me to make a deal. I would forbid Myra, Jean, and anyone else I loved from making any deal with any demon.
But right here I had a choice. I could set my father free or leave him trapped. Tied to this demon for all time.
The bite on the side of my neck burned cold, shivering down deeper beneath my skin.
“Delaney,” Dad said, “you will not do this. Please. Your life. Your heart. You can’t do this, baby.”
“He won’t have my heart. Just my soul. Is that right?”
The demon inclined his head. “It is what I said.”
What was worth the price of my soul? My family’s safety? The safety of my town?
Ryder.
I could ask him to break the tie between Ryder and the god, Mithra who had claimed him. I could ask him to bring my father back to life, although I thought that was probably outside his scope.
“Can you bring the dead back to life?”
“Can I?” He opened his hands. “I could make it happen. It would be…messy.”
“No,” Dad said firmer now. “That I absolutely forbid. I’ve made peace with my decisions, Delaney, and I will not have you throwing away your soul for my life.”
That hurt, the ache turning in my chest. The need to bring him back to life was the need of a child who didn’t want to face the hard decisions alone anymore. Still, it was very, very tempting.
“Ask,” the demon whispered. “You know what you want. You know I can give you your desires.”
Wow. When he turned on the charm, it was sort of stunning.
“He won’t,” Dad argued. “That kind of resurrection, this long after my death would take the agreement and direct involvement of gods and demons. Of Death, at the very least. And convincing him that I should be breathing again…. He won’t do it, baby. Not for me. The favors between us are too great.”
But would he do it for me?
For a fleeting, wild moment, I thought yes. Thanatos seemed to be, if not fond of me, at least amused by me. I might be able to talk him around to seeing my side of this, to maybe even team up with a demon to save my dad.
“How messy?” I asked Bathin.
“Gods and demons….” He grinned, full-blast charm. “Oil and water. There is no good way to mix us without a lot of agitation, and even then the mix is temporary. Imperfect.”
So that was off the table. I exhaled, shaky. Fatigue was setting in, though it shouldn’t make me tired to just stand there with a stone in my hand.
“What about vampires?”
