“I just love the night.” My gaze drifted to the wide steps that led down to the pool area, all illuminated by strategically placed lanterns. “In the summer, I like to go outside and catch fireflies. Isn’t that silly? A grown woman like me, chasing after bugs. Have you ever seen one up close?”
Atticus took my hand and helped me down the last step. “I can’t say insects hold my interest.”
I approached the edge of the pool and gazed at the lights beneath the water. “They’re black little critters with a red head. They remind me of sunflower seed shells. If I saw one in the daytime, I wouldn’t go near it. But at dusk, half their body illuminates. How can something so ugly be so beautiful in the dark?”
“Because of magic. Science explains everything, but in exchange for knowledge we’ve abandoned the mystery of life.”
I drew in a deep breath and smiled. “My wolves would love running on a night like this.”
“How do they decide who comes out first?”
I was amused by his question since no one had ever asked me that. “Bess is always the first even though she’s the submissive one. Maybe Gypsy thinks it’ll make her happy.”
“You named them? That was the old way. Long ago, Shifters would name their spirit animals, especially ones with opposite personalities from their human. Now it’s uncommon.”
“With two, I needed a way to tell them apart. They’re very different.”
When I stroked my belly, I pondered how maternal I’d been behaving today. While knitting earlier, I’d found myself humming nursery rhymes and talking to the baby. I’d never done that before.
“I’ve always wondered what it would be like to share a body with an animal,” he admitted.
“Which animal would you want to be?”
He gazed up at the sky. “Maybe a bird of some kind.”
“Like a bat?”
He rocked with laughter.
“Sorry,” I said playfully. “The Vampire jokes write themselves.”
“Bats aren’t exactly birds, but a night creature is an interesting idea. Maybe an owl since I’d rather be a predator than prey. If you had your choice, would you still be a wolf?”
“I couldn’t imagine anything else.”
Atticus took my hand and held it. “You’re cold. We should go back inside.”
“A little chill never hurt anyone.”
While that was true, I was also wearing a short nightie, so my legs were barely shielded by the satin robe, which kept opening whenever I turned and the wind caught it.
This place was so romantic, and as Atticus led me up the steps by the hand, I suddenly froze.
He turned. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. Just a strange sense of déjà vu.” I shook it off and continued toward the door. “What do you think aboutthatmystery?”
“I met a woman who said we dream our entire life before birth and forget everything during infancy. What you call déjà vu, she called dream flashes. That’s why some of them happen at the most irrelevant moments. It’s like dropping a cookie on the floor but forgetting to wipe up a few tiny crumbs.”
Once inside, I rubbed my arms to warm them while Atticus closed the door and shutters. “That would be terribly sad to see your whole life. What a disappointment for some.”
He slanted one eyebrow, and I was struck again by his patrician features. “Maybe the unborn only see the highlights. Or maybe we’ve lived past lives and those were far worse, so the hardships we’ll face pale in comparison.”
I stared down at my stomach and wondered about past lives. “What do you believe?”
Atticus put his phone in his pocket. “I do know thereissomething. Gravewalkers see spirits caught between worlds, but those who stay behind were on their way somewhere. That intrigues me, and I’ve often wondered if everyone goes to the same place or if it’s like a train station, and some of us are bound for another life.”
I studied his black eyes and the way they glittered in the dim light. “If you were born into another life, would you choose to become a Vampire again?”
