“It means…I have a special ability. I can shift into my other form, which is a bird about the size of a hawk but with long, colorful tail feathers.”
Again, she was trying not to react, even though she was silently wondering if he was completely crazy. But if so, why would he say she could check with his family? Did they humor him? Then Annette’s words returned to her mind. A few questions were in order.
“Can you fly?”
“Yes. My dad discourages it, because we age faster in bird form than human form. There are advantages, though. Even if we get old or if anything happens to us, we can reincarnate in fire.”
Her brows shot up. “Have you ever witnessed this?”
“Yes. It happened to Gabe…right in front of my face.”
She paused, mulling that over. “I see. So this ability includes everyone in the family?”
“Just my dad and brothers. My mom is human.”
Her eyebrows shot up. She couldn’t help it. “So, you’re telling me you’re not human. Are you from some alien world?”
He laughed. “No. Of course not. You’ve heard the legend of the phoenix, haven’t you?”
“Yeah. I think it’s a Southwestern Indian thing, right?”
“Not just there. Ancient Romans and Greeks had stories about firebirds. That’s another name for us.”
“Firebirds.”
“Yes.”
Dawn glanced around the dance floor, picking out Luca’s brothers and their dad. They were all somewhat similar in looks. Dark hair, olive skin, and except for Luca, they all had brown eyes. She’d learned that the name Fierro meant “fire” in Italian. She’d wondered about so many of them working for the fire department. If the legend was true, that would be a pretty obvious job. If it weren’t true, a job with the fire department could be something that supported a delusion.
Then she remembered. Shoot. I’ve been accused of being delusional too. That’s why she didn’t share her psychic abilities and photographic memory with many people. Luca just happened to catch her in the middle of a vision—literally.
With an expectant look on his face, he said, “Are you okay?”
“Um, I think so. You certainly surprised me, but I’m okay…not in shock or anything. I’m just processing.”
He let out a deep breath. “Good. You’ll need a little while to process, I’m sure. But like I said, if you want to talk to any of my family members, please do. They’ve all been through this. They don’t usually tell anyone they’re dating until they’re sure they can trust them, and I don’t know why I feel that way with you so quickly, but I do.”
“You’re a cop with good instincts about people. And don’t worry. I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone, and I won’t.”
He smiled and leaned in for a kiss. She imagined he was greatly relieved she didn’t run screaming from the reception hall. A part of her wanted to hold back her kisses until she’d had a chance to check out his information, but a bigger part of her knew he wasn’t lying.
She leaned in and met his kiss with her own. Suddenly, it was as if everyone melted away. It was just the two of them, sharing a warm, tender kiss—right on the dance floor.
A few whoops and hollers brought her back to the moment. She leaned away to see the two grooms surrounding them, smiling and applauding. Their wives were smiling too.
She gazed farther and saw Gabriella with her hand over her heart and tears in her eyes. But she was smiling too. Antonio put his arm around her and kissed her on top of her short, dyed red hair.
When Dawn turned back to Luca, he was grinning. “Maybe we should take a short walk, so you can tell me whatever you wanted to get off your chest.”
“Yeah.” She giggled. “Yeah, that would probably be a good idea.”
Out on the sidewalk, she began her story. “So there’s something I haven’t told you.”
“You’re a shape-shifting bunny rabbit?”
Dawn smirked. Now that she knew he was a shape-shifting phoenix, as were his father and all his brothers, she felt strangely elated. Her boyfriend was like some kind of superhero.
Boyfriend. That made her feel all warm inside. Was that what it felt like to have good karma? She’d have to talk to Lynda about it at her next session. Could you tell when your karma was shifting? Did you feel differently inside? Did good things start to happen? So many questions whirled through her mind. She wished she could ask Lynda about shape-shifting, but she had promised not to.
