"I'm so jealous," Jedao confirms, a little bit of wry lightness in his voice; he's gotten better at laughing at himself. "I'm so jealous I could eat his heart and liver."

Like the old ghost he was supposed to be.

"And the jealous part of me keeps yelling about how he doesn't deserve to be so important to you, as if that makes any sense at all. You can't earn people. And I should be glad he is kind to you. Usually I am. That's wonderful. But also I want to gnaw on all my knucklebones about it sometimes."