He checked his phone, then turned to me. "It's almost dinner time. How about I go talk to Draven about Oz's prosthetic, and we'll meet back up for dinner?"
"Sounds good," I said, figuring I'd make sure there was no work pending from my day of playing hooky.
I'd just returned to my office when the door slammed open and Rei hurried in, her eyes wide and downright terrified.
"What's wrong?" I demanded as I jumped to my feet, my gaze shooting to the door as if whatever had chased her would follow her in. Never mind that nothing could get into the Sanctuary without alerting me.
"I'm forgetting it all!" she exclaimed as she hopped up onto my desk, and I sank back into my chair as I gazed up at her, my heart still thundering in my chest.
"Forgetting what?"
"Everything! All my lives! Well, I still remember the first one, the one where we met. But the lives since, I remembered them all before, but now they're disappearing. I don't know why!"
I chewed on my lip as I processed what she'd said, then tilted my head. "Maybe you'd remembered so you'd know you were looking for me? But now that you've found me, you don't need those memories anymore?"
Rei thought about it for a moment, and her shoulders slumped. "That makes sense. I don't care about most of it. There were some yucky memories I'd be glad to be rid of. But I had some good ones too."
"Why don't you tell me the ones you don't want to forget and I'll write them down for you?"
Her eyes lit up, and she settled on the desk, apparently ready to narrate. "Really? You'll do that for me?"
"You looked for me for centuries. It's the least I can do," I murmured as I patted her head, and she gave me a sparkly-eyed look.
"Okay. Let's do this!"
Keoni
While getting to know everyone in Tarquin's herd had been fun, this was where I felt at home. This was my family.
"Please stop crying," Khush begged as he rocked little Reign in his arms, his hair in disarray and his tank top covered in spit-up stains. Babies were messy. And loud. Also, freaking adorable.
"Want me to take her?" Dustin asked as he stroked Aspen's back, who was calmly hanging around his dad's neck as Dustin ate dinner.
"Nah, you need to eat. We'll be fine. Won't we, Reign?"
I smiled at the sight of my once grumpy and gruff friend. He looked absolutely besotted as he gazed down at his daughter and talked to her in a low voice. I was so happy for him.
Everyone from the forest except Silas and Touya were at the table. They'd gone out for a date night since Touya had to take care of Zephyr's work as well as his own during the day. They'd probably be home late at night.
My eyes slid to Liam and Haruto, who sat with their chairs pressed together. They were practically in each other's laps, their hands linked on the table as they ate with one hand and chatted in a low voice, completely unbothered by the chaos around them.
Diego and Shade were the same, lost in a world of their own. Shade could be in a light a lot longer now, and he'd started having dinner with us more often now. It was nice having him here, and I knew he loved being here with everyone, even if at this moment, he was busy trying to suck Diego's soul out from between his lips.
Though that was more Zamir's speed, who leaned against his mate as he chatted with Draven on his other side. Nolan and Zephyr were discussing something about the Sanctuary, though his arm was wrapped around Zamir's waist, his fingers hidden under Zamir's shirt.
And Zephyr? Zephyr's side was flush against mine, his focus split between his conversation with Nolan and me, so much so that he'd been ignoring his food for the last few minutes.
I speared a piece of chicken on my fork and held it up to his mouth. He took it automatically, and a moment passed before he glanced over at me, a sheepish look on his face.
"You don't have to do that," he murmured, and I shrugged.
"You looked like you were talking about something important, and I didn't want your food to go cold. And I kinda like it."
Zephyr's cheeks went a little pink at my words, and he quickly glanced away, making me smile.
I proceeded to feed him the rest of his dinner, and he didn't complain once, showing me he liked it too.
After dinner, Zephyr asked me if I could check on Sagar and see if he needed anything.
