Page 57 of Midnight in the Garden of Okay and Meh
“I don’t think you’re a simple anything,” I said, looking at my mom. She still had the Sovereign mark on her forehead, and the way she’d dealt with the boggarts and Hashmallim said a lot.
“Thank you. I think.” She lifted a hand like she was going to pat my head, but pulled it back before doing so.
“It’s OK. You can pet me. I especially like belly scritches,” I told her, and moved over to sit between them, leaning on her as I rested my head on her leg.
Aisling sniffled, and accepted the handkerchief that Drake pulled from his pocket.
“Oh. Well, I do like animals ...” Parisi gave my head a couple of pats. I enjoyed watching her expression change from hesitation to embarrassment to a sort of grudging pleasure as she gave my ears a quick pat.
I turned to find Desi watching me with an indescribable look. “You really prefer this form?” he asked.
“Yeah. You upset?” I turned so I could look at him better.
He was silent for a moment, then shook his head. “When I was a child, I fancied being a horse, so it makes sense. Very well. You’re a demon dog. You live with the dragon?”
“That’s right, we haven’t done formal introductions,” Aisling said, and quickly went through them, including Ysolde, Christian, and Allie. “As Jim said, I’m technically its demon lord, but it is a much loved member of our family.”
Drake made a noise that resembled a stifled snort, but kept his face placid when Ash shot him a look.
“I see.” Desi turned to Parisi. “Are you happy with this situation?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked in return.
Allie had evidently had enough of our family time, because she said, “Can you help us putting this missing thane back in the Hour that holds him? Our nephew is lord of the Hour, but of course, he can’t leave it to help with the Thrall-wrangling.”
Desi shook his head. “If the thane you refer to is one of the foursome I remember, then there would be no problem in returning him to the Hour. That is, assuming I had my blood moon, but I no longer possess it.”
“What’s a blood moon when it’s at home?” I asked for Aisling, because I could see she was dying to ask it.
“My relic,” Desi said, his gaze on Parisi’s face. She looked mildly confused again, but somehow focused at the same time, as if she was trying hard to pin down her memories. At least, that’s what I assumed she was doing. “It was destroyed when Effrijim was born. Without it, my powers are limited.”
“You are still a demigod,” Christian said, his voice velvety and smooth, but there was a hardness in it that was kind of normal with vamps.
“I am, but one with limited powers,” Desi repeated. “Once the blood moon was destroyed, I was left depleted.”
“I don’t wish to be argumentative,” Christian said, “but even a demigod who lost his relic should have had enough power to escape the imprisonment.”
“Of course I could,” Desi said without so much as batting an eye.
“You could?” Parisi asked, her hand now in his, both resting on his leg. “Then why didn’t you leave?”
“Because I accepted the terms of my banishment,” he said in that same matter-of-fact tone. He had a bit of an Eastern European accent, but for the most part, he spoke English well.
“How come you speak English?” I asked. “Aren’t you from somewhere in the Balkans? That’s what Sally told me.”
For a moment, amusement flashed across his face, and he held up one arm. A big watch was on his wrist. “The boggarts. The last few years they all started sporting waterproof smart watches. Whenever they’d get close enough for me to grab them, I’d throttle them and take their watches and use them until they ran out; then I’d wait for the next boggart to swim past. Learning about the modern world helped pass the time.”
“Wow,” Ysolde said, and I noticed that she was now joined by Baltic. He wore his usual inscrutable expression. “That’s amazing that you did all that. I’m sorry if we were late and missed the explanation, but why did you allow yourself to be banished in such an appalling place?”
“Parisi was dying.” He looked at her, and for a moment, there was so much pain in his eyes that both my mom and I leaned into him. “She had childbed fever. The bleeding wouldn’t stop after the babe was born. The only way to save her was to send her to the Beyond, where she would survive.”
“I’m not who you think I am, but I am so sorry that happened to you,” Parisi told him, giving him—and in the process me, because I was still between them—a hug. “How very tragic that you should lose your wife to childbirth.”
He touched her cheek. “It was worth any sacrifice to know you and Effrijim were safe. I didn’t expect you to come after me, however.” His jaw tightened. “And now we must decide what to do to keep you safe again. The reaper could take you back to the Beyond, and as for Effrijim ...”
“Why does Parisi need to be kept safe?” Ysolde asked.
Aisling pointed to her image on the laptop. “What Ysolde said. And who is the threat to Parisi? As for Jim, I can’t think of anyone other than some imp clans that would like to harm it.”
