Chapter Six

“May I come in?” She asked when she reached the doorway.

Devon looked up sharply as if stunned to know that there was someone else in the building with him at this time. “Oh, hi, Erin,” he said a bit absently. “Please, come in.”

As she walked into the wide office, he stood up to greet her. “Good to see you again, Erin,” he said with a grin. “I completely forgot about our meeting.”

“It’s not exactly a meeting,” she said self-consciously. “Just me coming to get some instructions on how to use the oh-so-powerful dream stone.”

Devon chuckled and propped a hip on the edge of his desk. “I was even more skeptical about it when I first heard of it a few years ago. My cousin, Eli, had been in possession of it before then, but he’d never been curious enough to find out if the stone was what legends claimed it to be or not. I, on the other hand, decided to humor myself and test the stone to prove to myself that the story behind it was a mere fabrication, but now I’m a believer.”

“I see,” said Erin. “And now, you are about to make a believer out of me?”

He shrugged. “Take out the stone from the pouch and put it under your pillow before you sleep tonight. Think about what you want to know about your past or future, or me.”

“You?”

“I claimed to be your mate, remember?”

“Right. That’s it?”

“Yes, that’s all there is to it. I’d love to know what your visions are when you wake up.”

“You seem to be so sure that this thing will work,” Erin said, trying not to giggle.

Devon smiled. “Good night, Erin. I can’t wait to hear your candid review about the stone tomorrow.”

Erin couldn’t help but admire his confidence despite how ridiculous the situation looked. First, he boldly claimed to be her mate, then he tells her a plain little stone in his possession had the power to take her on a time travel adventure where she will discover her past and future, and maybe get confirmation that he was indeed her mate. And here she was, going along with the craziness? Shoot me right now, she thought humorously.

“Ok, then. Good night, Devon,” she said and left his office.

As she drove home, she wondered if she should share this wild tale with her parents, or wait until after she has had the time to ‘use’ the stone and verify that this was just a hoax and Devon was just trying to get a good laugh at her expense. She couldn’t even understand why she was entertaining this sort of thing, but her curiosity just wouldn’t let her ignore it. What if Devon wasn’t lying? What if the dream stone was indeed a thing, and what if it had the power to reveal whatever she wanted to know about her past and future to her? And what if her new boss was indeed her mate?

The ‘what if’ questions kept buzzing around in her head until they were nearly driving her crazy. She needed to put all her doubts to rest once and for all, and all she had to do was put the darn stone underneath her pillow and get a good night’s sleep and wake up to see that Devon had simply pranked her.

Erin couldn’t remember the last time she looked forward to going to bed as she did tonight. Even her mother was surprised when Erin announced that she was going to bed at 8 p.m. sharp.

“Do you think she’s coming down with something, maybe?” She heard her mother asking her dad as she climbed the stairs.

“She looked fine to me,” her dad had replied.

I’m also eager to find out if I’m right in the head or not, she thought. Once inside her room, she took out the stone from its pouch and placed it under her pillow, directly at the center, where she would lay her head.

“Ok, dream stone. Do your thing,” she said aloud and lay down to sleep. As soon as her eyes closed, she began to drift into sleep. Her last coherent thought was her wondering if past lives were indeed real and what hers must have been like.