Page 62 of Illusory

“So, are we finally asking Trace for help?” asked Tessa, assuming that would be our next move.

She assumed wrong.

“Actually, I found some info on a couple Macarthur relatives in one of the journals. An aunt and a cousin. Ben was going to help me track them down yesterday, but then, well, you know.” I tried not to draw too much emphasis on the whole almost-getting-myself-killed-again thing, hoping they wouldn’t either. “We can try again today if Ben’s up for it. I’m hoping at least one of them would be willing to help us.”

“And if they’re not?” inquired Dominic, finally speaking up. His tone was flat and unbothered, like he didn’t care about the answer either way, but I could tell by the sharp look in his eyes that he did.

“They will,” I said definitively, even though I really wasn’t sure of it myself. This was the one andonlyidea I had at the moment, and it needed to work. In the meantime, all I could do was pray they’d be willing to help me, and that was assuming Ben would even be able to track them in the first place.

“Then you have no contingency plan in place,” he surmised and then glanced around the table like he wantedeveryone else to know it too. “What a foolish way to waste the already limited time you have.”

“Dominic,” warned Gabriel, but it was already too late.

Anger slashed at my insides, scorching my skin as though there was a live fire-breathing dragon living inside of me. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I forget to consult you on this,Osensei?” I snapped back, my sarcasm dial turned all the way up. “It must have slipped my mind since you were, you know,nowhereto be found. But please, Johnny-Come-Lately, by all means, tell us all about your better idea.”

“The better idea would be to use the perfectly capable Reaper you have at your disposal,” he shot back smugly as Gabriel threw smoke-signals at him by way of his eyes.

“Youreallyshouldn’t have said that,” muttered Tessa under her breath, obviously remembering the last time she’d tried to get me to use Trace for my own personal gain.

“No, no. It’s totally fine,” I said, even though everyone could clearly see and hear that it was anything but fine. “It’s not his fault he doesn’t know. He hasn’t been here. He wasobviouslybusy with more important things than to bother to come around here before today. Right, Dom?”

Tessa and Gabriel exchanged confused glances.

“Are we still on this?” asked Dominic, sounding bored as he set his glass on the table and leaned back in his chair.

“I guess some of us move on from things much faster than others.”

“Or perhaps some of us are simply choosing to be petulant and unreasonable.”

“Well maybe some of us would be less petulant and unreasonable if other people would stop being dickholes,” I offered not even bothering to hide my contempt for him.

He huffed derisively. “We’re resorting to name calling again then, are we?”

“I’m pretty sure I didn’t say I was talking aboutyou, but I guess if you feel like the shoe fits...” I shrugged. “Wear it, baby.”

“Okay—what in the world is going on with you two?” asked Tessa, her brows knocking into each other as she looked back and forth between the two of us like we were a couple of body-snatchers parading around the kitchen.

Even if I’d wanted to answer her question, which I didn’t, there was way too much to unpack to even attempt to explain what was going on with Dominic and me. Especially since I wasn’t even sure of it myself.

“Tell me, angel, have you even bothered to ask Romeo if he’d be willing to help you with this or are you simply too busy getting in your own way to even bother with such a remedial detail?”

“A remedial detail?” I repeated, half-laughing, half-raging. “We can’t even be in the same room anymore without him wanting to rip my neck open! How the hell do you expect me to have an actual conversation with him?”

“By fixing the problem.”

“That’s exactly what I’m trying to do!”

“How so?” He blinked lazily.

“By giving him time and space to adjust to everything.”

“And therein lies your problem. He doesn’t need either one of those things.”

“Oh really? Then what exactlydoeshe need, Mr. Know It All?!”

“He needsyou.”

That shut me up almost as abruptly as it had stabbed at my heart. Squaring my shoulders, I gave him the world’s coldest glare. “He doesn’t want anything to do with me. You’d know that if you had bothered to be here,” I said and then started to turn around to leave the kitchen.

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