Page 95 of The Devil She Knows
Daphne didn’t laugh. “What were you thinking? Yoursoul was on the table, Sam. You could’ve lost it, and for what? A few years with me?” She shook her head. “I am not worth that. No one is.”
“Yeah, well, I couldn’t stomach the thought of you spending the rest of my life getting picked apart by harpies. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself.” She rubbed her hand across the top of her chest. “What good is a soul if you’re not going to do the right thing with it?”
Daphne pursed her lips. “I still think you’re a reckless idiot.”
“As long as you’re alive, I can live with that.” Sam exhaled shakily and slipped her thumb under the loose hospital bracelet on Daphne’s wrist, stroking over her skin. “Did you have any idea that when you got your soul back you’d—”
“No.” Daphne leaned her head back against the pillows. “No clue.”
She felt a little less guilty that it hadn’t crossed her mind knowing that it hadn’t crossed Daphne’s, either.
“What about the, uh, hold harmless clause? Did you know about that?”
Daphne frowned. “I knewofit, but like I said, no one I’ve bargained with has ever made a purely selfless wish before. Even the ones that seem benevolent on the surface, like saving a loved one, contain some kernel of personal gain. You’d wish to save a loved one, at least in part because you don’t want to lose them, and that’s not purely benevolent. I won’t lie and say it didn’t cross my mind to encourage you to wish for something like world peace, but I didn’t want to risk it not working, and you’d have wanted to know why, and … I think it only worked for us because neither of us knew it would.”
“For whatever reason it worked, I’m just glad it—”
Another knock sounded against the door.
“You can come in,” Daphne called out when no one immediately stepped into the room.
“Eithrig.” Of all the faces Sam might’ve expected to see, hers was not one of them. “Hi.”
“It’s Effie.” She stepped into the room and shut the door. “If you don’t mind.”
“What are you doing here?” Daphne demanded, glowering from the hospital bed. The monitor beside the bed beeped noisily and they all watched as her heart rate spiked.
“I mean no harm.” Effie held up her hands. In one she held a pale pink folder. “I just wanted to bring you this.”
Daphne frowned. “What is it?”
“Here.” Effie approached the bed slowly and handed the folder to Daphne. “I didn’t know if you had a plan in place, but I thought this might come in handy in case you didn’t.”
“What is it?” Sam leaned over, careful not to bump Daphne’s middle.
“It’s … it’s papers,” Daphne said. “For me.”
“Everything’s there that you could possibly need. Birth certificate, social security number, school transcripts.” Effie’s lips quirked. “Even health insurance. I figure the last thing you wanted to immediately contend with was a shit ton of medical debt.”
“This is—” Daphne jerked her head up, eyes wide. “Cooper?”
Hesitantly, Sam took the paper from Daphne’s hand and read it herself.
It was a photocopy of a passport.DAPHNECOOPER, thename on it read. Sam was glad she wasn’t hooked up to any heart rate monitors, because what her heart did couldn’t have been healthy, stopping in its tracks before tripping all over itself in some desperate attempt to beat out of her chest.
Effie shrugged. “I didn’t know if you had a last name, but she was willing to sacrifice her soul for you; I figured it doesn’t get more romantic than that. I guess I assumed you’d be headed to last name sharing eventually.”
Daphne traced the letters of her name, a small smile playing at the edges of her lips. “He’s going to punish you for this. Helping me.”
“He will.” Effie sighed, sounding resigned to her fate. “But it will have been worth it to have had the pleasure of seeing the look on his face when he realized he’d lost his best and his brightest. That he’d been bested by a little human, no less.” She shot Sam an apologetic look. “No offense.”
Sam shrugged. “None taken.”
“I should get out of here,” Effie said, backing slowly toward the door. “He’s going to be less than pleased when he learns you didn’t kick the bucket.”
“Assuming he doesn’t already know,” Daphne said, eyelids looking heavy. “Thank you. For this.” She shut the folder and handed it to Sam. “For whatever it’s worth, I won’t forget it.”
“Have a nice life, Daphne Cooper,” Effie said, tipping her chin. “You, too, Sam.” She smirked softly. “Even if you were a pain in my ass there for a minute.”
