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"One eternal soul," he whispers The very quietness of his voice cuts me, as it’s meant to "Only one self, across the countless dimensions of the multiverse, and we all have to answer for each other’s sins Which means, to you, I’m still the Theo who helped kidnap your dad, and framed Paul for murder The one who betrayed you When you look at me, that’s all you see"

I want to say, No, that’s not true But I can’t Still, when I look at Theo, I feel a flicker of doubt

Only now do I realize that I’ to see him for himself, to respect the choices he’shim this very second

"That Paul isn’t our Paul," Theo says By now he’s so hnoticed "Just like I’ an entirely different Theo did, and I won’t blauerite, I’o, why can’t you?"

He rises to his feet and shoves his chair to the table Apparently the grand duchess will dine alone tonight

Theo continues, "Believe what you want to believe Doubt rave;cle Paris if it makes you feel better But if you won’t save Paul, I will"

With that, he stalks out of the private dining rooht I lost Paul three times over--when Lieutenant Markov died in this dimension, when Wyatt Conley splintered his soul, and when I saw Paul shoot Theo Now I’ve lost Theo, too

Never, in any world, have I been so alone

21

WHEN DAWN BREAKS THE NEXT DAY, I HAVEN’T SLEPT MORE than a few hours Exhaustion weighs down my body and paints dark circles beneath nancy At least I assuet up to pee about every two hours

I thought babies only kept you awake after they were born

Mostly, though, uilt The itated, and as soon as I’ve set one aside, another bubbles up to take its place

I got the grand duchess pregnant The worst thing I’ve ever done Hopefully the worst thing I’ll ever do How et?