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it?”
    She looked down at the spot he gestured toward.
    Among the gray and black earth was a tiny spot of color. Two green leaves framed a delicate white flower that looked too fragile for such harsh surroundings.
    Maggie’s face fairly glowed as she looked up at Declan’s. “New life,” she whispered. “Lava kills, and yet that small plant managed not only to grow but bloom amid the desolation.” Tears sparkled in her eyes as she smiled at Declan, who smiled back. She tipped her face upward as he leaned down. She then straightened up when the air around them turned to a gray mist. “Uh, is this supposed to happen?”
    Declan sighed and said with regret, “Sweet dreams, Margit.”
    “Dreams? That’s what we’re—”
    ***
    “—having now,” Maggie was still saying as she shot up in bed . “Lights.” She looked around the bedroom, finding herself alone in bed.
    “Do you mind?” Elle mumbled sleepily from her spot. “Some of us need our beauty sleep.”
    Maggie climbed out of bed. As she did, she realized she felt a pull in her leg muscles as if she’d been… been hiking up a mountain. She shook her head, trying to convince herself it was nothing more than a very realistic dream as she changed into pajama pants and a tank top. She crawled back under the covers and pulled them over her head. She whispered the lights off.
    She lay awake in the dark, aware of a hint of sulfur on her skin. When she shifted in bed, she realized there was something hard under her. She reached under her body and picked up an odd-shaped piece of lava rock.
    ***
    Declan paced the length of his bedroom. His skin felt tight and ready to combust, while his erection only added to the pain straining his body.
    His dreams were infrequent and usually included blood and suffering. A few times, a portent of things to come would visit him during his sleep, but never had he had a dream like this.
    He had brought females into his dreams before. They were always beautiful, knowledgeable in the sensual arts, and eager for the prestige of mating with a fire demon—even a half-breed. Some were rejected; others he accepted because they happened to show up when he felt lonely and wanted the surcease only a woman’s body could offer, even if only in a dream.
    The only problem was that his loneliness returned the moment he banished them from his dreams, and the sex was nothing more than an unsettling memory.
    This time, there was no seduction. Just a normal conversation! Something he wasn’t used to in the dream realm or real life.
    “Too bad we couldn’t have had that kiss before we woke up, Maggie O’Malley,” he whispered. “I think you owe me one.”

Chapter 3
    “Whoa, what’d you do last night?” Meech asked as he used the tip of his knife to pick his jagged teeth. Something that resembled a wiggling Cheeto was stabbed on the tip. “You look like shit. I hope the guy was worth it.”
    “Gee, Meech, tactful much?” Maggie practically chugged her espresso, waiting for the high-test caffeine to hit her system with all the subtlety of a Louisville Slugger. A past-dawn bedtime meant she hadn’t woken up until midafternoon, and she knew her usual peppermint tea wasn’t going to do the trick.
    Her body clock was seriously out of whack. She could feel the weight of the small rock she’d tucked inside her pocket. “I’m going to tell your mate you said that, and she’s going to cut your heart out with a spoon.”
    “That’s nothing new.” His usually sunny-natured blue face looked forlorn. “Reesa told me if I even looked at her funny, she would put a knife through my dick. Pregnancy hormones are a bitch.”
    Sybil’s wings fluttered as she glided over to the table with a large cup of warm honey and nectar held firmly in one hand and a muffin in the other. “He told Reesa that perhaps her age might be the reason she’s so on edge lately and that he was positive she’d feel more like her old self once the babe was