Page 87 of Illusory

“Morning,” greeted Trace, his baritone voice sweeping in across the kitchen floor and then up my legs and into the hollow of my chest.

He was sitting closest to the window, sandwiched between Dominic and Gabriel while Tessa sat across from him doing what she did best lately.Eating. Somehow the seating arrangement didn’t seem like a coincidence, especially after how the three of us had left things off last night.

Despite all that, I smiled back at him, relieved to finally see him out of the basement and back in the land of the living. For a while there, I wasn’t so sure that day was ever going to come. “How are you feeling? You look a lot better today,” I noted but remained firmly rooted by the entranceway of the kitchen, too afraid that I might set him off and ruin all the progress he’d made if I got too close before he was ready.

“I feel a lot better actually,” he said, his dimples pressing in as he stared back at me through vibrant, impossibly blue eyes. The kind of deep mosaic blue that I wasn’t even sure came from this world.

“We’re still going to be taking it one step at a time, though,” added Gabriel, looking at Trace meaningfully as if to remind him of an earlier conversation they’d had.

“Right,” agreed Trace with a tepid nod. “One step at a time.”

“Still, this is seriously amazing,” I beamed, smiling back athim. “You should be really proud of yourself.”

The stark contrast from last week was enough to steal my breath. It was something I hadn’t even allowed myself to dream about because it felt so far out of the realm of possibilities, and now here he was, sitting and conversing like it was nothing, and I knew we only had one person to thank for that.

My gaze shifted to Dominic and my heart promptly slipped out from my chest and sank to the ground in a puddle.

He was staring down at the glass he had cradled in his hands, his elbows resting on the table and his somber eyes downcast. Despite what he was doing for Trace and all the progress he was making, I knew there was sorrow in his heart because every forward step for Trace was a backward step for him. One that would inevitably lead me out of his reach completely.

“In case you were wondering, she didn’t answer any of my calls from your number either,” informed Tessa, momentarily capturing my attention. Her voice seemed a lot less stressed than it was earlier, now that she was sitting in front of a mountainous plate of food.

I honestly wasn’t sure where she was planning on putting it all seeing as her waist was basically the circumference of a grapefruit.

“It’s going straight to voicemail now,” she went on.

Hmm. Like mother like daughter, I thought tartly, but kept the dig to myself.

“Her phone’s probably just dead,” I offered instead, going with the most probable scenario. “She probably just lost track of time last night doing…you know, whatever it is she does, and had to find someplace to crash for the day. I’m sure she’ll call us back just as soon as she charges her phone.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re so lax about the whole thing,” shesaid, apparently not appreciating my take on it.

“I’m notlaxabout it. I’m just not assuming the worst and having a mental breakdown about it like you.”

She whipped around to glare at me. “Do I need to remind you what happened the last time she went missing while the Roderick sisters were in town?”

The Roderick sisters?

Fuck.

All the blood rushed from my head and suddenly the room felt as though it had become animated under my feet. I hadn’t even put the two things together until Tessa mentioned it. Because, you know,NO COFFEE.

I shuffled forward. “You don’t think…” I couldn’t even finish the sentence.

“I don’t know what I think, but I don’t like it. She’s never gone somewhere andnotcome back and now suddenly she’s out all night and not answering her phone. You have to admit it’s weird timing,” she said, her last statement directed at Gabriel, who responded by running his hand along his jaw in quiet contemplation.

“What the hell would the sisters want with her anyway?” I asked, my voice slightly elevated as I glanced around the table at everyone, trying to find an unworried face to settle on. “The only reason they even came back here in the first place is for the baby, and they already have Nikki. Ithasto be a coincidence,” I decided because the alternative was just too goddamn much to deal with first thing in the morning.

“And if it’s not?” she tested, glancing at me from over her shoulder again.

“If it’s not then…then the fuck if I know. I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” I said, irritated that we had yet another thing to contend with. I mean, we were already going after the Roderick sisters as it stood. What was I supposed tosay? That we would go after themharder?

“Jemma’s right,” said Gabriel, trying to calm Tessa and be the voice of reason. “She hasn’t even been missing 24 hours yet. Let’s not assume the worst until we’re sure there’s even a problem.”

“Exactly.” I nodded, much preferring his summary over mine.

“I guess so,” said Tessa, still sounding unconvinced as she finished off the last bite on her plate and then set her fork down, already eying the one next to hers. “I’m telling you, though, something doesn’t feel right.”

“It’s probably just indigestion,” I mumbled under my breath.

---