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"She's fine."
"And the Nix. Did it work? Did I catch--"
"You did. She's back where she belongs."
I stood there a moment, struggling to take it in. When I did, I remembered the price I'd paid for this victory.
"I'm an angel now, aren't I?" I whispered.
She nodded.
"And you can't undo that, can you?"
A slow, sad shake of her head.
I shook off the terror and grief settling into my gut, pulled myself up straight, and looked her in the eye. "I owed you a favor, but I went way beyond repaying that. I gave up everything I had in this world to repay it. You said I have to leave this dimension, that I can't stay with Kristof, but I don't understand--"
"You will," she said softly. "Everything will change for you now, Eve. An angel can't stay here. It's not an arbitrary rule. It's a necessity. You are an angel now, so you must live in their world."
"Then I will, too," said a voice behind me.
I turned to see Kristof there. I stepped toward him, but hit a barrier. I wheeled back on the Fate.
"So this is it? I can't even go near him? Goddamn it, I don't deserve this! Maybe I did some awful things in my life, but I do not deserve this."
"This is not a punishment, Eve."
"Well, it sure as hell feels like one."
Kristof cleared his throat. "You said she can't stay here. That's fine. I'll go with her."
The elderly Fate appeared. "You will, will you? You'd have no place there, Kristof, no more than she'd have here."
He crossed his arms. "She made her sacrifice, now I'm making mine."
"Very noble, but the answer is no. We need you here."
"For what? To play ghost lawyer? There are thousands of--"
"Don't question us, Kristof. We have our reasons, and our plans. And your place is here." She turned to me. "And your 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."
