Charmed By The Fox's Heart: Superhero Reverse Harem Romance (Cosmic Guardians Book 1), стр. 15
I shrug. “Try being the one who dreams she’s the woman that is dying.”
His eyes snap up to meet mine, his gaze full of concern as he reaches out to cup my cheek, gently brushing the soft pad of his thumb across my skin. “That must be so awful for you.”
“It is.” A slight shiver runs through me at the memory, and he hugs me even tighter.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers into my hair. “If my part in it is bad, I can only imagine how terrible it must be for you to dream that you are her.”
“But I am her,” I counter. “At least, according to Astra and Lynx.”
His brows knit together in contemplation. “And I’m him. Or… maybe I’m not.” He shakes his head as if frustrated. “I don’t know because Aris has the same dream. And we can’t both be that same person.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” I say, more to myself than to him.
“Does any of this?” He gestures to the sky and the forest around us. “This is all so… much more than I thought it would be.” He pauses. “For so long, I’ve searched for answers but have yet to find any. The only thing I’ve ever found before now is Aris and Lynx.”
“You and Aris sound like you’re really close.”
“We’re like brothers.” He pauses. “And he understands me. Both of us grew up without our parents. They died when we were young. We know what it’s like to be alone.”
I open my mouth to speak, but he beats me to it.
“I’m not complaining. I mean, I know there are worse things in life, and at least I had a roof over my head, but I never really had the one thing I always wanted.”
“And what was that?”
“A family.” Staring at the sky, he releases a soft sigh. “So, now Aris is my family, and I’m his.”
My heart clenches, and I hug him a bit tighter. “I’m sorry you had such a lonely life until…”
“You don’t need to feel sorry for me.” His lips quirk up at the edges in a ghost of a smile. “I’m fine, but you should probably get some sleep. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.”
I realize he’s changed the subject to avoid discussing something obviously painful, but I don’t press any further. Instead, I agree and rest my head on his shoulder again.
“What about you? Are you going to sleep?”
He nods. “I’ll stay awake for a bit just to make sure everything’s okay.”
“I could take the first watch.” I offer, knowing that instead of sleeping, my mind is probably going to be replaying everything that happened today.
He shakes his head. “According to Lynx, I’m your guard, remember?” he says with a sly smirk. “So, I need to stay awake… guarding, don’t you think?”
“Fine. I’ll sleep while you guard me. By the way,” I tease, “do you even know the first thing about guarding?”
He shrugs. “It can’t be that hard.”
“Oh, really?” I arch a brow at him. “What makes you so sure?”
He flexes his opposite arm, showing off a very impressive bicep as he gives me a teasing grin. “Who would dare try to mess with this?”
I laugh, and his expression falls.
He narrows his eyes, but I note the faint smile that tugs at his lips. “You know, you’re not exactly building my confidence here when you laugh at me like that.”
“Sorry.” I chuckle. “You’re right. Anyone would be intimidated by you.” I lightly squeeze his bicep for mock emphasis, and I’m astonished by the thick, corded muscle beneath his shirt. He’s right. People should be intimidated by him. He’s really built, his entire body a solid wall of muscle. I should know—I’m snuggled up against it.
My thoughts turn to our familiars. “Do you think Lynx and Astra will find us?”
“I’m sure of it. Lynx is nothing if not persistent. He always manages to talk me into making him bacon with every meal.”
I laugh as I think of the sassy fox. “You two are really close, aren’t you?”
“Yeah.” A wistful smile crests his lips. “He and I argue, but it’s mostly playful banter. I mean, you met him. You saw how he is.” He laughs, but his expression quickly sobers. “To be honest, I miss him. He’s family to me. Just like Aris.”
I take his hand in mine as we lie staring up at the night sky.
“I may not remember everything, but this,” he looks to me, gently squeezing my hand. “It feels familiar somehow, doesn’t it?”
“It does,” I agree.
What I don’t tell him is that it bothers me. It’s unsettling to have these emotions and not really understand where they come from. I know Astra and Lynx say they’re from a past life, but they still feel like a dream instead of something I actually lived. I look to Cael. “How much do you remember about your past life?”
“Only bits and pieces. It’s like a—” he stops, his brow furrowing deeply as if searching for the right words before finally saying, “a heavy fog is surrounding my memories. I know they’re there, but I can’t seem to access all of them.”
I sigh. “I feel the same. I get these fleeting images and then… they’re just gone and I can’t get them back. I don’t even really know where they came from. It all still feels like some sort of strange dream.”
“Maybe we’ll find the answers in this place,” he offers.
“I hope so.”
A thought occurs to me and I turn to face him. “When did you start having the nightmares?”
“A little over five years ago. You?”
“The same,” I reply. “What about Aris?”
“His started then too.” He frowns. “It’s like some sort of clock, isn’t it? Like each of us suddenly started getting these memories all around the same time. How strange,” he murmurs, and I realize he’s speaking more to