Page 155 of Illusory

More tears welled in my eyes as he pulled me into another embrace. We stayed like that for a long time, neither of us pulling away, as though we had all the time in the world. As though we could freeze this moment and stay in it forever. It was always like that with my dad.

“Are you disappointed in me?” I asked him after my sobs slowed enough to speak. I’d made so many mistakes since moving to Hollow Hills, failed and fallen so many times. I needed to know how he felt about me, after all the sacrifices he made. I needed to know if he was still as proud of me as he was when we lived back in the Cape.

“I could never be disappointed in you, Jems. Never. You’ve been my greatest joy in life. No mistake, no misstep could ever make me love you any less than completely,” he said, tapping my chin. “I’ll always be in your corner, no matter what you do, or how many times you fall.”

I squeezed him tighter, holding onto his words with all my might, burying them deep inside my heart where no one could take them away. “I don’t want to go back,” I admitted softly. “I want to stay here with you.”

He chuckled. “It’s not your time yet, baby girl. There’s nothing here for you.”

“You’re here,” I said, feeling like that was more than enough after so much time spent without him. “I’m scared Iwon’t see you again.”

“You will,” he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder as he walked us along the barren path, the fog rising up to meet us as if to keep us company as we walked. “All roads eventually lead here, but only when the time is right. You still have a lot more road to travel before that time comes. Your story isn’t finished yet.”

My brows pulled together as I looked up at him. “Do you know how it’s going to end?”

He shook his head. “I know pieces of your journey the way a river knows the mountain it flows from. But rivers carve out their own paths and so will you. The end isn’t fixed, it’s shaped by your will.”

I frowned. “But I thought everything was fated.”

He glanced over his shoulder as though he were afraid that we were being listened to. “Fate may guide your steps, but it doesn’t bind your feet. Every breath, every moment, everychoiceyou make shifts the story. You have more power in your hands than you realize.”

Chills broke out against my skin as I let that sink in for a moment. I’d always suspected as much seeing as we had changed the outcome of everything from Timelines to visions of the future. But hearing it from my dad made it feel more real. More powerful. Maybe we weren’t all just pawns in some game we didn’t understand.

“Am I doing the right thing by not going after the Son of Perdition? The Horsemen can’t do anything without the Power of Four, so we’re just laying low, waiting for this baby to be born. But I don’t know if I’m making the right decision,” I said, hating how unsure I felt about everything. “The Order says the baby’s evil. That he’ll be the end of us all if he’s allowed to live, and that I need to kill him before he takes his first breath, but…”

“But you don’t believe them.”

Swallowing, I shook my head. “All they’ve ever done is lie to me. Why should this be any different?”

“Unfortunately, I cannot see the future any more than you can, nor would I be permitted to intervene if I could. Only you can walk this path,” he reminded me. “What is your heart telling you?”

“It’s telling me not to trust them. That I can’t trust a single word they say. But it’s more than that. I feel this strange connection to the baby, like I’m supposed to…I don’t know. Protect him.”

“It seems you’ve already made your choice then.”

“Maybe,” I said. “But I don’t know if it’s the right one. I don’t know if the connection I feel is just me projecting my own feelings onto him…or if there’s something deeper.” I glanced down at the fog, watching it swallow my feet, making us look as though we were floating in nothingness. “What if I’m letting my feelings cloud my judgment? What if I’m making a huge mistake by doing nothing, and it costs us everything?”

“Every choice carries a consequence. There is no path without risk, Jems,” he said, stopping and turning to face me. “Find a way to listen to your heart, no matter how loud the noise becomes, and remember you’re not alone in this. Trust in the ones who stand beside you. Trust in the ones who carry you in their heart.”

“You mean Trace and Dominic?”

“You have loved them in many ways, and in many lifetimes, baby girl. The Timeline may have converged this time, but providence remains.”

My heart raced as I tried to grasp his words, struggling to make sense of them, yet knowing they were sacred. “I don’t understand what that means.”

He gave a small smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling with affection. “You will,” he said softly. “In time.”

Tears welled in my eyes again because I knew that he was leaving me again. I knew that our moment was coming to an end. I could feel it in my soul.

“Can’t you stay a little while longer?” I pleaded, my voice trembling.

“If I could, I would stay forever,” he said, pulling me back into his arms. My tears broke free once more, flowing down my cheeks like a river with no end. “I love you to the moon and back, baby girl.”

“And I love you more than all the stars in the sky.”

He placed one last gentle kiss on the top of my head before pulling back to look at me. “This life is your story, Jems,” he said softly. “Write it in bold letters, with courage and conviction, and never let anyone else hold the pen for you.” He gave my chin another light, loving tap. “Happy birthday, baby girl,” he whispered, before fading away like vapor, disappearing right before my tear-filled eyes.

I stared at the spot where he had been, willing myself to walk away from it.

---