Everneath Compassion and Forgiveness Quotes

Mary—the crazy old lady who comes to eat at the soup kitchen—asks Jack if he's forgiven Nikki yet. Um, what? How does Mary even know they have a history? It's a little jarring to have a complete stranger ask if you've forgiven your girlfriend who ditched you mysteriously… but then again, there's more to the story than meets the eye here.

Nikki has this conversation with her dad later in the book, and it shows that they've worked on some of the earlier problems in their relationship. Nikki is explicit about making amends, and her dad accepts her apology. That's a good start, right?

When the Tunnels come for Nikki, she fully intends to meet her fate and accept the consequences of her earlier actions. Then Jack figures out that he can take her place. This makes Nikki angry—she says she'll never forgive him if he does it. But guess what? In the end, she doesn't really have a choice, not if she wants to help him maintain a sense of self in the Tunnels (since they need a two-way emotional connection to do that).