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Which only worked when she ake "I' to confront him" I leapt from the bed

Aric swiftly rose to assist me "In time You need rest"

I grabbed ed 'condition'? I feel fine"

"Can we not discuss this first? I a you to wait Can you do that for me?" When I hesitated, he said, "Let me draw you a bath We can talk You can relax and contes"

"A bath?" Not a murder?

"You can confront hi anywhere Come, love"

If I was pregnant, I would definitely eviscerate Paul, and the red witch--o--would want to savor the kill Maybe I should wait for e a bit As my adrenaline waned, my weakness increased "Fine" For noould cooperate with Aric

I allowed hi docilely--just as I had whenever the nurses had steered me around the mental ward

As Aric filled the tub, the winds roared outside

"What's going on with this weather?"

"A blizzard blew in not long after we arrived back here We've had nothing but snow and lightning"

"What happened with Joules and Gabriel after I passed out? I'm sure you were all politeness when you kicked the I had in ive it to Aric after we'd returned home with Finn

"Alas, I ed zero politeness when I ejected them" He added"In et youno pains to elude them I have little doubt that they followed us Circe confir land on the next mountain over, just in advance of this blizzard"

I tied my hair into a knot above h when all of us had worked together to survive?

At the edge of the tub, Aric helped h, they will But should they somehow make it past Lark and Circe, they'd be thwarted by our home's defenses Not even the Flash could overcome our blast-proof doors and bulletproof s We'll keep the castle on lockdown" He took o Is the temperature acceptable?"

No I wanted to scour my skin I reached for the hot water lever, but he stayed my hand

"Too warht now" He rose to switch on the bathroom heater, then returned to sit beside the tub

"What are you talking about?"

"While you were unconscious, I did sonancy, but I scanned them all Excessively hot baths aren't recommended"

Oh, yeah That "I'm not knocked up"

"Then why do you think you lost consciousness?" He dipped a cloth into the water As he ran it over my back, my lids went heavy "Why do you think your nose bled? I read that both can be synancy"

Should I confess to hiht have? Or would Aric take that as proof that I was mental?

I hadPaul I needed to know if ic, Evie If Paul convincedthe truth about the shot, then I'd knohackadoodle enough to is--like Jack's voice If I decided that Paul was lying, then why should I not trust my own mind? Why should I not believe Jack lived?

Reason toldconfused History told me I'd had problems before, and I'd heaped tons of stress on myself But I needed to believe

I told Aric, "That truckexploding into do with my symptoms Or anxiety Even Paul said I probably had PTSD" That asshole I dunkedmy purple thorn claws "Have you spoken with Lark or Circe about this?"

"They've both heard you're with child, of course There's little they do not hear" Lark spied through her creatures, Circe through water

We didn't have a lot of secrets here at Castle Lethe, aka the castle of lost tiht've picked up on my conversation with Paul"

He shook his head "Regrettably, no"

"You asked them? Why couldn't you simply accept what I'd told you?"

"Can you say without any doubt whatsoever that he lied?"

After a hesitation, I s

aid, "No But I don't trust him" Unfortunately, I didn't trust myself completely either

Aric washed one of my arms, then the other "Until you have decided with absolute certainty, I will lock Paul in his rooms Will that make you feel better?"

"Why are you being so understanding with him?"

"Not everything is black and white in this situation" He paused with the cloth "This pregnancy does not strike e Yet your hair was turning red earlier"

"So, Paul will be acquitted because you don't think this is la with our lives" With my mind

"He has been a loyal servant toafter the Flash" Aric had once told rown up in this area After the apocalypse, he'd found Paul in the nearest town, treating others' injuries, sharing his supplies with them

Aric had hired hi--castle

"Well, he hasn't been loyal to me" I pulled my knees up to my chest "And where's your loyalty? I told you that I wasn't ready to have kids, that I didn't want to bring a child into a world like this" For a split second, I wondered if Aric had conspired with Paul My resentment simmered hotter and hotter I understood why the Fury Card spat acid I wished I could right now "You can't truly want a kid"

Seeain, Aric said, "I don't not want it Maybe your pregnancy was inevitable After all, a fertility goddess ies, the Empress Card has been associated with motherhood"