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“Please stop.”
“What happens in Rome stays in Rome, you know?” Annie went on.
“Or, rather, Victorian countryside. You know what I mean.”
“Just stop,” Ben implored.
Upon deaf ears, apparently.
“Do you want to talk about it? Are you nervous or something? You can talk to me. We’re friends, right? I know all about the female anatomy, you know, being one of the species myself. I can be your secret font of knowledge.”
She peeled into a burst of giggles at her own wit.
Yup, she was definitely drunk.
“I’m not talking about this,” Ben muttered, face still down on the table.
“To you or anyone else.”
“But why not?” she asked, putting her face on the table too, so that she could have an intimate and literal tête-à-tête with him.
“Do you suppose it’s your old Pure soul holding you back? Was there some long-lost love in your history? I hear Pure Ones have a tendency to have those. Someone they loved who didn’t love them back. And then they died in the terrible Decline over thirty excruciating days.”
“I don’t know,” Ben said. “I’ve never thought about it.”
The latter statement was a lie. Occasionally, he had thought about it.
There was definitely an elusivesomeonein his soul’s past life. Every time his mind wandered there, a stabbing, breathtaking pain would fill his chest.
Whoever they’d been, they’d made him suffer. Or perhaps he suffered simply because they didn’t love him.
Annie might have inadvertently stumbled upon the truth.
Had his previous incarnation died of the Decline? Had he given all of himself to someone who didn’t or couldn’t love him back? Was this why, despite his present joys and love of life, despite being surrounded by family and friends, an unknowable sadness lingered beneath the surface.
As if he was haunted by a ghost that he could never shake. A terrible memory he didn’t want to recall.
At last, the food and drink arrived, saving him from contemplating unpleasant things.
As if the servers felt the palpable change in his aura, the weight of memories he didn’t have access to, they didn’t try to flirt this time, leaving him and Annie alone once more.
There was only one sliver of carrot cake, which Annie pushed in his direction.
“Here,” she said, her eyes sober as she gazed sympathetically at him.
“I think you need the sweetness more than I.”
~ * ~* ~ *~ * ~* ~ *~ * ~
Brigid had never been this excited to go to bed before. And it wasn’t even because of the anticipation to dream.
Oh no, she wanted to be wide awake for this.
Maybe she’d even stay awake the whole night. How could she possibly sleep with Sai lying in bed next to her? Even if they were separated by a pillow down the middle, he was rightthere!
So close, she’d be able to touch him if she just extended her hand. So close, she’d hear him breathing as he slept. So close, no doubt she’d feel his body heat.
For a creature borne of water, he certainly radiated a good amount of heat. Every time they touched, however briefly, fiery sparks danced upon her skin.
