Page 153 of Illusory

I knew Seers could communicate with the Spirit Realm, but I’d never heard of anyoneactuallytraveling there. You know, without being dead first. And while I very well may have been a dead girl walking on more than one occasion, I was fairly certain that still didn’t qualify me as one of the recently deceased.

“Technically, no. You can’t port to the Spirit Realm.”

I was more confused with every word.

“Unless you have this.” He slipped his hand into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a strange-looking black rock, balancing it in the palm of his hand. The moonlight hit it just right, making it shimmer eerily in the darkness. “A Veilbreaker Stone,” he announced, as though that explained everything.

I reached for it instinctively, but he snatched it back before I could touch it. With a teasing smile, he leaned in close, his breath brushing against my ear. “Trust me, you don’t want to do that.”

I pulled back just enough to meet his eyes. “Why not?”

“Because it’ll send you on a one-way ticket to the Spirit Realm.”

I looked from his hand to his face, then back to the stone. “But you’re touching it.”

“Yeah, but I’m a Revenant,” he explained, his dimples pressing in as if he was going to frown—but the expression never came. “I’m not exactly alive. At least, not the way you are.”

He paused for a moment before continuing, his voice more serious. “Veilbreaker Stones have been used for centuries to help tortured souls cross over. People cursed with long, drawn-out deaths. Souls trapped in rotting corpses by demons. But it’s a one-way ticket for mortals.”

“But not for you.”

He shook his head.

“Because you’re a Rev,” I said, still trying to wrap my head around it.

He nodded. “It doesn’t have the same effect on me, but it’s more than that. As a Reaper, I can use it as a conduit to allow me to bridge the Veil just enough to get us into the Spirit Realm without trapping us in.”

“Wow,” I murmured as everything slowly started to click into place. “So…I’m going to see my dad in the Spirit Realm…and…” I narrowed my eyes. “He’s going to know who I am?”

Trace nodded, his gaze steady.

“Will he know everything that’s happened since he died?”

He hesitated, reading my emotions before answering, “He will.”

I bit my lip, my thoughts racing. What would he think about everything that had happened since his death? About the choices I’d made and the things I had done?

I couldn’t even begin to count the number of times I had wished for just one more moment with him—just one more hug, one more chance to ask for his advice, to hear him tell me I was doing the right thing. And now I could. I would know exactly how he felt about all of it, and suddenly, I was petrified.

What if he was disappointed in me? What if he didn’t recognize the person I’d become?

What if…he didn’t like me anymore?

“Hey,” Trace’s voice broke through my thoughts as he gently lifted my chin, his eyes searching mine. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I lied, but then shook my head, deciding to just be honest with him. “It’s just...I’m not sure how he’s going to feel about me.”

Trace smiled softly, his thumb brushing over my cheek ashe spoke. “He’s your dad, Jemma. He loves you.”

“I know but…I’m not the same girl I was back then. What if he doesn’t like who I am anymore?”

“That’s not possible.”

“Trace,” I reproached, shoving him gently. “I’m being serious.”

“So am I,” he answered, his voice firm. “Look at you, Jemma.” His eyes softened with that familiar fairytale version of me, the one he always saw when he looked at me. “Look at how far you’ve come—at how many people you have in your life that love and care about you. Even after all the awful things that happened to you, all the prophecies and people calling for your death, you’re still here—fighting with more love and light than I’ve ever seen one person carry. He’ll be proud of you, Jemma. I know he will.”

I tried to let his words sink in, to find some comfort in them, but they wouldn’t settle. Sure, I had done some good things in my life, even saved a few people’s lives, but I’d done a lot of bad things too. Maybe even the kind of bad things that some people would find unforgivable.

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