“But I felt it too. I felt his heart mend when I healed him.” Even as I said the words, I remembered walking in on Thor, passed out in front of his TV with a sex video of him and me playing. There had also been pictures of us. A lot of them. But that had been before he knew about Ari. In fact, it was the day I told him about her, and I hadn't thought much about it since then. I guess I'd assumed the baby had helped him through his slump. It had never occurred to me that his heart wasn't healed.
“Mom,”—Brevyn took my hand—“I don't think you truly, deep down, wanted Uncle Thor to get over you. Your magic healed him only partially. You just took the worst of it from him.”
“What?” I whispered as I sank onto the bed. “No, I want Thor to be happy.”
“I know you do, but you loved him, and you're a love goddess. I don't think that kind of love just disappears. It affected what you did without you knowing.”
I shook my head. “You're awfully wise about something you haven't experienced yet.”
“I have experienced it. Not in this life, but whatever I felt before was strong enough that it's stayed with me. I remember it now; I've loved someone. More than one woman, but one especially. And she's waiting for me. I can feel it.”
I couldn't help it, I started to cry.
“Mom!” Brevyn hugged me. “I'm sorry. Don't cry.”
“I'm not sad, baby.” I hugged him back. “I'm happy for you. And for her. I should have let her visit more often, but I was afraid of her being too large a part of your childhood. I didn't think it would be good for your relationship.”
“Too large a part? She's . . . we've met?”
Oh, how strange it was to have this conversation with a young boy, especially when that boy was my son. But my son had lived a very long life before this one. A life full of adventure, laughter, and a lot of love. He had an ancient soul in his pre-teen body. The poor thing. Puberty was hard enough as it was.
“This can't be good for you.” I brushed his hair back. “To remember so much of another life so soon. I was a grown woman before I had to remember, and I wanted you to have time to grow up before you had to deal with such feelings.”
“It's okay, Mom.” Brev smiled. “I like knowing. It's kinda comforting.” He got up on the bed beside me. “Who is she?” Then he blinked, his gaze going distant, and said, “Kaitlin. Her name is Kaitlin.”
“Yes.”
“She has brown eyes and brown hair.” He looked at me. “I think that's why I didn't remember her visits to Faerie. My memories of her blended with you. But she doesn't look like you.”
“No.”
“Is she human?”
“Yes, but Thor gave her an Apple of Immortality. She has a century before she'll start aging.”
“She became immortal for me?”
“Temporarily immortal, but yes. Ull offered her an apple before he died, but she refused. She only ate the one Thor gave her so she could be with you again. Have enough time for you to catch up to her kind of thing.”
“So she won't eat another apple,” he said softly. “Maybe I shouldn't meet her at all. I don't know if I want that kind of love in my life, only to lose it.”
“Brevyn, people change.” I put my arm around his shoulders. “I didn't want to live forever either at first. Or at least, I wasn't sure about it. I used to tell Thor the same things that Kaitlin told Ull; that people aren't meant to live forever. Life and death are a precious cycle. Ull even agreed with her after he died. That's why you chose to come back as a new person, so that you could have a fresh start. You felt as if your life had become stagnant. But now you're remembering that life, and I don't think you'd do that if you didn't want to remember. I think you've changed your mind again. Or maybe adjusted it a bit. Now, you want a new life with pieces of the old one. Because having immortality isn't for everyone, but it works for some of us. I realized that after I became the Goddess of Love. I saw the benefits and how wonderful it can be. And if we can change our minds, Kaitlin can too.”
“But if she doesn't, I'll lose her.”
“Do you remember what I told you about love?”
“Yes, of course, it was just a few days ago.”
I snorted a laugh. “Then what did I say?”
“To never be afraid to love. My heart is the one thing that gets bigger the more of it I give away.”
“Yes.”
“But I already love her, and I think it's the kind of love that you and Dad have. Would you choose to be with Dad if you knew he'd die in eighty years?”
I froze.
