“So why did he give up Dad’s soul?” I asked, bringing us back to that conversation.
“Because he saw something he wanted more.”
“We went over that. He wanted to get into Ordinary.”
Rossi turned his head, just a fraction. Enough that the shadows dug beneath his sharp cheek and jaw. Enough that I could see the unholy fire of the undead in his eye. “He didn’t want Ordinary, Myra. Not exactly.”
“All right. I give up. You tell me what he wanted when he traded my Dad’s soul so he could possess Delaney’s and become the only demon ever allowed in Ordinary.”
“Love.”
I laughed. “Of course! That’s exactly what the demon was after. That’s why he tricked my sister out of her soul and hasn’t given it back while he makes her miserable and probably does irreversible damage to it. He decided he wanted to fall in love.”
“How did you get so much more cynical than your sisters?”
“Practice.”
“Bathin spent years with your father trapped as they were together between life and death.”
“And?”
“Your father was a very convincing person. Strong. He had an almost unlimited capacity to love and forgive.”
“I know how to forgive.”
He smiled. It was the look someone who was very, very ancient might give a very young girl. “I know you do. I wouldn’t be in this town if you and your sisters couldn’t see beyond a person’s flaws.”
Delaney temporarily dying had been very much his fault, but he had been trapped in circumstances beyond his control. We knew that. I’d been angry at him for months, but Delaney had sought him out, stuffed the blue llama of penance in his hands and, with that, made it square between them.
“She’s better at forgiving than I am,” I said. “Delaney. Jean too. Delaney isn’t even angry about Bathin taking her soul.”
“And you are?”
“Furious.”
“Ah. That’s going to make what you have to do more difficult.”
“What do I have to do?”
“Maybe you should try yoga. I’m thinking of reopening the studio soon. Having a Reed there always attracts an interesting crowd.”
“I have to do yoga?”
“No, I said you could try yoga. What you have to do is forgive the demon.”
“I don’t forgive assholes who hurt my family and break rules to get what they want.”
He cleared his throat. “You might want to remember who you’re sitting next to.”
“You’re…well, basically family. You’ve earned forgiveness. He hasn’t.”
“If he gave Delaney back her soul, would you forgive him?”
There it was. The question I didn’t want to face. The possibility I was fighting for, with the outcome I didn’t know how to navigate. What if Bathin gave her soul back? What if he apologized? What if he signed a contract and agreed to follow Ordinary’s rules?
What if there was no reason for me to tell him to leave?
The wind shifted, bringing with it a lick of heat from the fire, followed by the cool exhalation of the ocean. I shivered, unmoored from the safety and order of the world.
