Page 48 of Vexed
My voice catches in my throat. “Would my dad be in there?”
He looks away, then nods slowly.
My breath hitches. I haven’t seen him since I was 12. A longing so intense it’s almost physically painful slams into me.
“I want to see him,” I say, my voice barely a whisper.
“Lily, no,” he says, his voice surprisingly firm. “This place is already draining you. Going into Ethereal will only make youweaker. Maybe even…” He trails off, and I know what he means. It could kill me.
“Please, Vex,” I plead, grabbing his arm. “Just for a few minutes. I need to see him.”
He stares at me, his expression unreadable but I can see the concern warring with something softer. Finally, he relents.
“Fine,” he says, a hint of exasperation in his voice. “But you can’t stay long. We need to get you out of here.”
We head towards the Ethereal door. As we get closer, I see a Reaper standing guard, his dark cloak billowing in the nonexistent wind.
“We need to distract him,” I whisper.
Vex glances around, then picks up a small rock and tosses it to our left.
I stare at him, completely unimpressed. “Really, a rock?”
He shrugs. “It worked, didn’t it?”
And surprisingly, it did. The guard actually moved a few steps to investigate the sound. Vex grabs my hand, pulls me forward, and we sneak past him to the door.
Just before I reach for the handle, I stop and turn to Vex, a frown etched on my face. “You’re not coming?”
He shakes his head. “Only souls can enter Ethereal. I’m a Reaper, Lily. I don’t have a soul.”
His words hit me harder than they probably should. I always forget that about him. He isn’t human, no matter how much he acts like it sometimes—or how much I want him to be.
“Don’t be long,” he says, his voice a little gruff. “And Lily… be careful.”
I nod, my heart in my throat. Then, taking a deep breath, I push open the door and step into the swirling mist of Ethereal.
Honestly, the name is spot on. It was like someone cranked up the brightness, but in a good way. Everything was clean, almostblindingly so, but the air felt happy. Like a constant, gentle hum of joy.
I took a few more steps, my shoes making no sound on the pearly white ground. People strolled past, laughing and chatting like they were at some eternal picnic.
I kept looking around, my eyes darting everywhere, trying to take it all in. This was it. This was where all the good souls went after they died. A place of peace and endless smiles.
After a couple of minutes of aimless wandering, a laugh cut through the gentle murmur of the Ethereal. It was a sound I hadn’t heard in so long, but it shot through me like a jolt of lightning.
My head whipped around, and there he was. Standing by a shimmering fountain, laughing with someone I couldn’t see.
Dad.
Tears welled up instantly, blurring my vision. “Daddy,” I whispered, the word catching in my throat. It felt like a prayer, a desperate plea to make sure this wasn’t some cruel trick of the light.
I took a shaky step forward, then another. “Dad?” My voice was barely audible, a fragile thread of hope in the vibrant air.
He turned, a confused frown creasing his forehead. He looked exactly as I remembered him, maybe a little younger, a little… lighter.
“Excuse me,” he said, his voice a warm rumble that tugged at my heart. “Are you lost, dear?”
“Dad,” I said again, the word stronger this time, laced with an urgency I couldn’t control.
