Astra shrugs. “What was I supposed to do? Be rude and not say anything to him?”
Speechless, I stare at her in astonishment a moment before I stand. Moving quietly, I make my way down the hallway. Soft jazz, mellow and discordant notes, drift through the room.
I walk into the living area. It’s finely furnished with a long L-shaped sofa, thick, plush green cushions, and a piano that sits in one corner of the room. It’s connected to the kitchen, separated only by a long black granite counter. Cael’s back is to me, his sleeves rolled up his forearms, as he stands before the stove, cooking bacon in a pan over the heat.
The white fox sits on the counter beside him. As if sensing my presence, it turns, and its bright blue eyes meet mine, then it leans toward Cael and whispers in his ear.
Cael spins to face me, greeting me with a wide smile.
“You’re awake! Thank goodness.”
“Um… what am I doing here?” I ask the most obvious question.
“I brought you here after you fainted in the café. Aris would have come too, but it was right before the morning rush, and he knows the ins and outs of the café much better than I do and—”
I lift my hand in a bid to allow me to speak. “What I mean is… why did you bring me here?”
He gives me a concerned look. Moving the pan off the burner, he walks over to me, and his teal eyes meet mine intently.
“I promise you I would never do anything to harm you in any way. I just wanted to take care of you, make sure you were all right.” He gestures to Astra, then back to the fox. “When I first met my familiar, it was a shock for me, too. Aris as well,” he adds. “So, I thought it would be good to bring you here to meet Lynx.” He gestures again to the fox. “I’ll do my best to answer any questions I can. I was hoping you might have some answers for me as well.”
“Me?” I ask incredulously. “What kind of answers?”
His brow furrows softly. “When you found Astra, is that the first time anything… magical has ever happened to you?”
“Magical?” I blink several times as I process his words. “Yes. I don’t recall having encountered any magic before…” I gesture to Astra.
“Okay.” He smiles. “How about a cup of coffee, and we’ll talk about all this?”
“I…” I open my mouth to protest, then decide to just go with it. If I’m going to go crazy, I might as well go all in. “That would be great.”
He nods and moves back to the kitchen. I notice he has a machine similar to the espresso maker they use at the café. The delicious, rich smell of coffee fills the air as he prepares our drinks. When he comes back to the living room, he hands me a steaming mug.
“Careful,” he warns. “It’s hot.”
I make sure to grab the handle to keep from burning my hand. I lift it to my nose and inhale deeply, drawing in the smell of cinnamon, chocolate, and caramel.
He smiles. “It’s similar to what I gave you yesterday.”
I take a small sip, releasing a low throaty hum as the warm liquid rolls across my tongue in a decadent burst of intense flavor.
He arches a brow. “What do you think?”
“It’s wonderful. Thank you.”
He leans toward me a bit, and my breath hitches. For a moment, I think he is going to kiss me. Instead, his eyes flick to my mouth before locking with mine.
“You’re surprisingly calm about all of this.”
I sit back in the chair and take another sip of my drink as I shrug. “It’s just a dream, right? So I might as well just go with it.”
He frowns. “Is that what you think this is?”
My brow furrows. “It’s… not?”
“It’s real, Kyra.” He gestures to Lynx and Astra. “They’re real too.”
I take another sip of my coffee, allowing his words to sink in.
Astra jumps up on the chair beside me and places her paw on my hand. “I’m sorry this is all so shocking for you, Kyra.”
Lynx dips his chin in a subtle nod. “I am as well.” He looks to Cael. “I am glad you have finally found each other.”
Cael narrows his eyes at Lynx. “What do you mean? What have you been holding back from me?”
The fox purses his lips. “What I have withheld from you has been for your own good. There are things you must discover on your own.”
“Like what?” I ask, desperate to make sense of all this.
Astra steps forward. “You,” she says, looking at me, “were a queen thousands of years ago in the Otherworld, and you,” she adds, looking at Cael, “were her guard.”
Even as she says it, I remember what happened when Cael’s fingers brushed against mine in the café yesterday. A flood of images moved through me—specifically, the ones of the man holding me as I die in my nightmare. I reached for his face, telling him he was not to blame for my death, but there was something else this time. Something more… intimate. My heart ached, not because I was dying, but because my death meant I would leave him, which was the last thing I wanted to do. But why did I feel that way?
Instead of asking that, I choose a safer question. Besides, I don’t want to bring up the images I saw or the feelings attached to them until I understand a bit more about what we’re dealing with.
“What is the Otherworld?”
Lynx turns to me. “It is called Lunaria. A world parallel to this one but different in that it is controlled by magic.”
“So, what does that have to do with us?”
Lynx gives me a solemn look. “All of the recent earthquakes lately… they are happening because the God of Destruction has escaped his prison and is looking for revenge. He wants to bring devastation and ruin to this world and to Lunaria.”
“What?” I stare at him in disbelief. “Assuming this is all somehow real… what does that have to do with me?” I glance at Cael. “With us?”
“I was getting there,” Lynx sighs heavily. “Now if you will kindly allow me to explain.”
“I’m listening.”
He continues. “Thousands of cycles ago, you were both Guardians of the God of Creation. It was your job to protect the five gemstones that controlled the elements. You used them to maintain the balance between this world and Lunaria.”
“But there are only four elements,” Cael interjects.
Lynx shakes his head. “There are five. Fire, Spirit, Earth, Water, and Wind. And if the God of Destruction gets ahold of them before we do, he will bring devastation and ruin to both worlds. It will be unlike anything ever seen before.”
“Lunaria and Earth are linked together by a magical bond that was forged thousands of years ago,” Astra explains. “Long ago, the first Queen of Lunaria opened a portal to Earth. She created a treaty between the two worlds by marrying Earth’s King.”
I give her a puzzled look. “When did Earth have a King that ruled the entire world?”
“Long before your written history,” Lynx interjects.
Cael leans forward. “So what does this have to do with us?”
He looks to Cael. “You were a guard in your past life. A knight sent from Earth, in a gesture of friendship and peace, to help guard the future queen of Lunaria.” Lynx shifts his gaze to me. “That was who you were, in your past life, Kyra.”