I take a deep breath, steeling myself for whatever the fuck is about to happen next. "Guess we're about to find out," I mutter, reaching for Dani's hand and lacing my fingers through hers.
I stare into the pool, my own reflection staring back at me. But then, suddenly, the image shifts, rippling and changing like a movie reel. I see Dani and me in a home I don't recognize, looking happy as hell. Dani's laughing, her head thrown back in pure joy, and the sight of it makes my heart clench.
The scene shifts again, and now Dani is in a room, sitting in a rocking chair with her back to me. I move closer, my footsteps echoing in the stillness until I'm standing right behind her. She's holding something close to her chest, singing a lullaby in a sweet voice that makes my eyes sting. When she looks up at me, the love in her eyes is so fucking intense it steals the breath from my lungs. She pulls the blanket down, revealing the most perfect, beautiful baby I've ever seen. "Say hello to your daddy, Rhylica," she whispers, her voice so soft it's like a caress.
The baby opens her eyes, and I'm lost. They're just like Dani's, a swirling gold with flecks of silver that seem to see straight into my fucking soul."Rhylica?"I breathe, the name feeling like a prayer on my lips.
Just as quickly as it appeared, the scene vanishes, leaving me staring at my stunned reflection again.
I feel Dani shaking me, her voice urgent in my ear. "Rhyland. What did you see?"
I turn to look at her, my eyes misting over with the weight of the incredible vision I just witnessed. I open my mouth to speak, but before I can get a word out, the voice booms out once more."Your reflections are worthy; you may enter, Saviors."
Saviors?As in more than one? Either I need to get my ears checked, or I'm losing my fucking marbles.
"Rhylica? Who the hell is Rhylica? I heard the name in your thoughts." Dani looks at me, her brow furrowed in confusion. "Aww, babe..." She reaches up, her thumb brushing gently over my cheek, wiping away a tear I didn't even realize had fallen.
I never fucking cry. I'm the big bad alpha and supposed to be strong and unshakable no matter what. But that vision... it hit me like a goddamn freight train. My heart is lodged so far up my throat I can barely breathe, and I don't know what to make of what I saw.
Was it real?
A glimpse of the future?
Orjust my own fucked-up brain conjuring up fantasies of a life with Dani that I know can never be?
I take a shuddering breath, trying to get my shit together. "I saw you, and me, and..." I pause, swallowing hard against the knot in my throat. "A baby," I whisper, the word feeling like a prayer and a curse all at once.
Dani's eyes go wide, her mouth falling open in shock. "A baby? Like,ourbaby?" She shakes her head like she can't quite wrap her mind around the concept. "But that's…impossible. Vampires can't have kids. Right?"
I shrug, feeling just as lost and confused as she looks. "As far as I know—it's unheard of our kind. But that's what I saw. You were holding her, singing to her. And she was perfect. So fucking perfect." My voice cracks on the last word, and I have to look away, blinking hard against the sudden burn of tears in my eyes.
This has to be some sick, twisted joke. A fucked-up mind game that this goddamn pool is playing to mess with my head. Our kind can't have kids. It's just not possible. It's never fucking happened in the history of ever. So to see that vision, to see Dani—the woman I love more than my own goddamn life—my mate—giving me the one thing I want most in this world? It's like a sucker punch straight to my fucking balls, a knife twisting in my heart.
I feel like I can't breathe, as if the walls of this cave are closing in on me. My chest is so tight it feels like it might crack open from the pressure, spilling out all the desperate, aching hope that I've kept locked away for so fucking long.
Because that's what it is, isn't it? Hope. The kind of hope that's so fragile, so dangerous, that I've never let myself even consider it before.
But now, with that vision seared into my brain like a brand, I can't shake it—can't stop thinking about what it would be like to hold my child in my arms—our child—to watch Dani's belly swell with new life, to build a family and a future together. It's everything I've ever wanted and never thought I could have.
And the worst part? The part that makes me want to roar with fury and fall to my knees all at once? It's not fucking real. It can't be. It's just a cruel illusion, a taunt from the universe to remind me of everything I'll never have. All the dreams that will never come true, no matter how much I might wish for them.
It's a bitter pill, a reality check I never asked for. But as much as it hurts and makes me want to rage against the unfairness of it all, I know I can't let it break me. I haveto be strong for Dani if nothing else. She needs me to keep my shit together, to be the rock she can lean on when things get tough.
Dani's hand finds mine, her fingers twining with my own. "Hey," she says softly, waiting until I meet her gaze. "Whatever it was, whatever it meant... we'll figure it out together. Just like we always do."
Dani steps closer, her arms winding around my neck like a lifeline. She pulls me down into a kiss, her lips soft and warm against my own. I cling to her like a drowning man, pouring all the pain and hurt and desperate longing I'm feeling into this kiss. Even if I could never have that vision and that perfect little girl would never be more than a beautiful dream, I still have this. I still have Dani, this incredible, amazing woman who loves me with every fiber of her being, just as I love her.
When she pulls back, her eyes find mine, holding my gaze with an intensity that steals the breath from my lungs. "For whatever that was, Rhylica is a beautiful name," she says softly, her lips curving into a tender smile.
I can't help but smile back, even through the ache in my chest, because she's right. It is a beautiful name. A perfect name for the perfect little girl, with Dani's eyes, my smile, and a bright future that hurts to imagine. Even if she'll never be more than a figment of my imagination, a bittersweet glimpse of what might have been, I know I'll carry the memory of her face with me for the rest of my days.
Dani's hand finds mine again, her fingers lacing through my own like a promise. "Come on, babe," she murmurs, tugging me gently toward the pool's edge. "Let's see what other surprises this magical puddle has in store for us."
So I take a deep breath, shoving all that pain and longing deep where it can't touch me. I square my shoulders, set my jaw, and turn to face whatever fresh hell this fucking pool has in store for us next. Because that's what I do. That's who I am. And no matter what kind of mind games the universe wants to play, that will never change.
"What about you? What did you see?" I can't help but ask, still reeling from the mind-fuck of my reflection, or vision, or whatever the hell that was.
Dani glances back at the pool and then meets my gaze with a smirk. "I saw the future of the realms," she says like it's no big fucking deal. "And let me tell you, babe, it looks pretty goddamn epic."
