will be okay, eventually.”
“How do you know that?” Kelara asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Because we’ve never let a small thing like death keep us apart for too long,” I retorted. “I know GASP, and I know my people better than you ever will. You heard my parents earlier. Tae and his crew are on Mortis already, about to speak to your boss. We’re not stopping until we find a way out.”
“And if you don’t? Would you feed your daughter false hopes?”
“No, I’d just… I’d just tell her that it’ll be okay, no matter what happens,” I insisted. “You gave your son away, Kelara. If you had an opportunity to say your last words to him, wouldn’t you? This is my daughter, for Pete’s sake. She’s a chunk of my soul, a piece of my heart, a reason for why I’ve fought everything that life and the universe have thrown at me since the day she was born. I just… I just need to see her.”
Kelara thought about it for a while, as River wiped her tears and rested her palms on the crystal casing above my head. The seconds that followed were the longest in my life. I waited, quietly, for Kelara to make a decision. I could feel her bending, ever so slightly, to my will. I was getting through to her, finally, so I had to be persuasive in my patience and not push her more than I already had.
Hope blossomed in my ethereal chest, but I kept a tight lid on it, unwilling to let it flourish unless Kelara said yes. She looked at me, warily. “If I let you see her for a bit, will you move on when it’s time?”
I blinked several times, wondering that myself, earnestly. Would I move on, if only to get a few minutes with my daughter, at least? Maybe. But was I out of options yet? Not so much. Still, the answer seemed logical at this point. I nodded.
“I would, yes.”
“Without opposition or bargaining or running off?” she asked.
That brought a new question to mind. Could I actually run off on her? Linger around like a ghost until I found another fae body, perhaps? Who’d give me a sweet deal like that again? The times had changed. No fae peddled souls and bodies like that anymore—not to my or GASP’s knowledge, anyway. Even so, I was too close to getting what I wanted from this Reaper, so I saved the question for later.
“Yes,” I said firmly.
Kelara bit her lower lip, her gaze fixed on Grace’s crystal casing. This is it. I can feel it. I am so close.
She exhaled and took out her scythe, whispering something against the curved blade. I heard my daughter’s name leave her lips. A gasp followed, but it didn’t come from her. Right next to Lawrence, Grace became visible, translucent and shimmering, like a wondrous summer night’s dream.
“D-Dad?” she managed, her lips quivering.
Behind her, a Reaper stood. Tall and stocky, wearing a black suit and white shirt like Kelara’s. He seemed angry, scowling at my Reaper.
“What the hell, Kelara?!” he barked.
Kelara sighed. “It’s just for five minutes, Malleus. Relax.”
“Dad, it’s you!” Grace exclaimed, lighting up like a firefly.
“It’s me, honey,” I said, smiling warmly at her. “It’s going to be okay, I promise you.”
“Oh, Dad, it’s so good to see you,” she murmured, her expression soft and burning with grief and longing. It mirrored my own state so well, I could almost feel her.
“Kelara, it’s against the rules!” Malleus snapped and moved around the crystal casing as he pointed his scythe at my Reaper. “You’ll pay dearly for this!”
Kelara stood her ground, though, narrowing her dark eyes at him. “Temporary rules we set in here. Nothing that goes against Death’s code, so lighten the hell up, Malleus.”
“No, if you do it, others will want to do it, and before we know it, it’ll be chaos!” he shouted and raised his scythe. I wasn’t sure what he intended to do with it, because it clearly didn’t scare Kelara. It startled Grace instead, who covered her mouth with her hands to stifle a gasp.
Kelara stomped her foot on the ground and tapped the blade of her scythe with her index and middle fingers. Before Malleus’s scythe could slash her, she ducked and brought the same hand she’d used to touch her blade up. She used it to tap Malleus’s wrist and whispered something. A triangular symbol lit up on his pale skin, and the sound of burning, sizzling