“Maybe so. I wonder if Dad has any useful insight?”
“You should get back to Gehenna and find out. While you’re at it, pay the bill, and get a box. This paella is delicious!”
I laughed lightly and brushed his hand away, rolling my eyes. “You’re such a big help.”
Dad had his nose deep in his clipboard and was flipping through pages wildly when I entered the Inn. His tongue was sticking halfway out, and he was oblivious to the world around him, including the souls and Reapers that giggled at him from around the corner. Evris was dishing out some pastries she freshly made and spun on her ankle to welcome me with a loving kiss. “Good afternoon, my adorable little God of Death. How was your lunch?”
“Well, I think. I got to know her a bit better than I expected, but there’s room for more conversation for sure.” I sat beside Dad and poked his cheek twice to gain his attention. “What are your thoughts on this, oldie?”
“I like Isadora,” he retorted, eyes still fixed to his paperwork. “She’s disciplined. Odessa is reckless, chaotic, and much like her mother. I don’t think we need a repeat of that.”
“Isadora is fragile, though. She says she wants the job but also talks about wanting freedom from being a demon. I wonder if it would tie her down too much...” I added with a scowl.
Dad flicked his gaze to me finally. “Do you think she is too fragile? We don’t want someone who is going to quit in a few years because they feel caged by responsibility.”
“I can’t quite tell. She follows Odessa like a lost puppy. I think, without her sister, she would flourish, honestly. She’s much livelier when she’s on her own.”
“Hmm...” Dad tapped the edge of his clipboard as he pondered a response. “Odessa is controlling, and I don’t like that. Then again, we need a ruler who is. Evris, who do you like better?”
“Me?” she popped in between bites of a croissant.
“You’re a ruler of Gehenna, aren’t you? Every opinion matters to us,” Dad reminded her.
She set the pastry down and dusted her hands off on her pants. “I think Isadora would be easier to work with, sure, but Odessa is much more confident. You need to be strong-willed to run that kind of Layer, especially the deeper ones. Then again, Aloysius was quite timid when he got here and look how well he does. Maybe Isadora is a better option.”
“I take it you haven’t solved this Layer dilemma yet?” Decimus asked as he came into the room. With his new form, he looked quite similar to his Elemental self when he was alive, give or take the all-red eyes and his hair being a bit longer. He didn’t have the tattoos his original body had, but he had begun accumulating new ones to make the body feel more homely. I was yet to see his full demon form but was happy I didn’t have to right now.
“We’re discussing it now, actually,” I replied as he sat beside me and stole an eclair from the center of the table. Having him so close made chills run through my body, but I bit down on my tongue to keep myself in check. Dad noticed me clam up and nudged my leg to give me a bump of confidence and remind me that he was there if I needed him. I appreciated his support and leaned back into him for an extra dose.
“I like that spunky little brunette, the one with the beauty mark on her upper lip… Odessa, I think,” he said as he broke the eclair into three pieces. “She’s got some fire in her!”
“Of course you like the one with the temper issues,” I snorted with an eyeroll.
He flicked a chunk of his snack at me. “Cram it, Freckles.”
“On a serious note, we need to make a decision. They're waiting on us, and so is the Layer. We need someone to take over, asap, to relieve some of the stress on us. Dad, what’s your vote?”
“I pick Isadora,” he said firmly as he stirred cream in his coffee. “She’s obvious to me. I like how she handled the task. She was very collected, unlike her rabid sister.”
“I agree,” Evris added, stealing lumps of sugar for her tea.
“Do I even get a say?” Decimus moped.
“Yes, you do...unfortunately,” Dad hissed bitterly at the end.
Decimus shrunk under his comment and cleared his throat. “I like Odessa. She’s fiery, and a lot like her mother, which is what the Layer is used to. The Layer needs to have someone compatible to who ruled it for centuries. They don’t like change, so introducing such a harsh contrast to their environment is going to be jarring.”
“Valid point,” I commented before rolling my lips loudly. “Honestly, I like Isadora myself. I see what Decimus is saying, but I feel like Isadora is sounder of mind and temper. I know demons aren’t supposed to be ‘nice’ but I wouldn’t call her nice. She’s more, collected. She doesn’t fall to temptation, and that’s a huge requirement for me.”
“Then that’s all there is, then.” Decimus stretched his long limbs before flicking my forehead. “Mind sliding me her digits? She’s cute as a button, and I’d like to help her get acclimated to the job,” he wagged his eyebrows, “inallways.”
“You’re a pervert,” I scoffed, but he only laughed lightly. It was kind of nice to get along with him for the first time in a while. He did have a decent personality beneath the murderous anger and seeing him happy after what Pandora had done to him wasa relief. It made me a little more confident that we would work well together for the centuries to come, as we were now both confined by our roles in the universe, which meant we needed to coexist peacefully.
Aloysius and Peregrine, always together it seemed, entered the Inn next, their attire just as dated as the last time I saw them. They were handsome enough, though, and took their seats like butterflies fluttering down onto a flower petal. “Gentlemen: nice to see you,” Dad welcomed them.
“And you, your godliness,” Peregrine replied gently before waving to me with his spindly fingers. “It is nice to see you as well, our godliness-to-be.”
“Thank you for joining us for this task.”
