I took a deep breath, and like that, the images flashed through my mind, just as vivid and real as they’d been the first time. “Awhile ago . . . Nyx was here.”

He looked startled. “What, the mother of time and chaos?”

“Yeah. Long story.”

“What is it about this city?”

“Beats me. Anyway, she was preying on my energy and distracting me by sending me these dreams. They were so real, Roman. You can’t even imagine.” My voice was small as I spoke. “I was washing dishes in a kitchen, and ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ was playing. In the other room, there was this little girl sitting on a blanket. She hurt herself, and I came in there to comfort her. She was maybe two or three, and she was mine. My daughter. Not someone else’s. Not adopted. The daughter of my body. Aubrey was there too and this tortie and—”

“A what?”

“A tortie. A tortoiseshell cat.” I waited, but his expression was still blank. “It’s like a calico, but without any white. Just brown and orange patches. How can you be millennia old and not know that?”

“Because I don’t subscribe to Cat Fancy magazine. And I can’t believe you remember things like cat breed and background music.”

“It was so real,” I said quietly. “More real than my own life. I remember everything.”

Whatever snarky retort was on his lips disappeared, and he turned serious again. “I’m sorry I interrupted. So, what happened then? With you, the girl, and the cattery?”

“We were just all there together, warm and happy. Then a car pulled up outside, and I carried the girl out to look. A man was getting out, and he was the one. My lover, my husband, her father. The one my life centered around.”

“Who was he?” Roman asked, face intent.

I shook my head. “I don’t know. I couldn’t see his face. It was dark out, and it was snowing. I just know that I loved him, and that he and the girl completed my life.”

Roman didn’t answer right away as he turned my words over. “But it was a dream.”

“I don’t know. Nyx can show the future . . . she showed others theirs. She claimed this was mine, but it’s impossible. I can’t have any of that. And yet . . .”

“. . . and yet, you secretly hope it might be true.”

“Yeah. And when this whole stasis thing happened, I thought maybe . . .”

Again, Roman completed my words. “. . . maybe it could be true. After all, you could suddenly touch Seth. Maybe you could have a kid too?”

He’d guessed my secret hope. “I didn’t know. I still don’t. Maybe I can get pregnant. I mean, my body is kinda sorta human, right?”