49
Day 512 A.F.?
"There she is," Aric said when I blinked open my eyes. He sat beside me, stroking my hair.
I was in our bed? So foggy.
Why did Paul have a blood pressure cuff on my arm? "Everything checks out," he told Aric. "I'm sure the posttraumatic stress from that attack didn't help things."
Aric said, "Thank you, Paul."
With a "Get some rest, Evie," the medic left.
My eyes went wide as memories returned. Matthew, answer me! I bolted upright, growing dizzy again.
Aric grasped my shoulders. "Easy, slow down. What's wrong, love?"
That buzz in my ears was back. I shook so hard my teeth chattered. MATTHEW, please answer me! I'm begging you. Is Jack alive?
Matthew had never actually said he was. The Fool might have been channeling something Jack had said before he'd died. Maybe Matthew was trying to drive me crazy. If so . . .
Kudos, the plan's a success.
I rubbed my temples, muttering to Aric, "I-I don't know." What if I'd imagined Matthew altogether? Imagined Jack's voice?
Oh, God, of course. I'd been remembering a detail about Jack, and then his voice popped up?
In a solemn tone, Aric said, "There is something we need to talk about, sieva."
Now what? I could've been out for days. In that time, he might've uncovered something new and dire.
So why was he looking at me so strangely? Almost like I was nuts.
Maybe I . . . shouldn't tell him what I thought I'd heard. Not until I knew more. How exactly would I put the revelation anyway? Jack's alive, but apparently he kept that little detail secret. Ah, but Matthew spilled the beans! Buying myself time, I waved Aric on.
I was scarcely listening as he began talking about Paul, of all people. How the EMT had grown worried when I'd been shut in with my grandmother for so long. How I had lost weight and become listless. The man had pleaded with me to get a checkup, even offering to source contraception after Aric and I had started sleeping together.
Wait. I glanced up. "After?"
Aric nodded. "He said you told him you had no need of contraception."
The hell? "I went to him and got a shot prior to us getting together. I told you about it."
"As I told him in turn, but he swears that never happened."
Real? Unreal? Had I . . . imagined my meeting with Paul? I'd already feared gaps in my memory; Gran had told me things that I'd had no recollection of. Was I now inventing memories?
Had I invented Jack's return?
In a soothing voice, Aric said, "I'm not angry, love. Just talk to me." He wasn't the first person to look at me as if I'd gone insane, like I was trouble with the possibility of rubble.
Won't be the last.
No. I refused this. I had heard Jack, and I had gotten that shot. "It did happen, which means Paul's a liar." But why would he lie? "I'm going to confront him." In time. Right now, all I wanted was to hear from Matthew again.
Yet I frowned as a thought occurred. "Why would you be talking to Paul about contraception?"
Aric tucked my hair behind my ear. "Sieva," he said gently, "do you not know you're pregnant?"
Tick-tock.
Stay tuned for
THE DARK CALLING
Book 6 of the Arcana Chronicles
Coming Spring 2017
DAY ZERO
Available now!
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How Death first explained the basics of the game to Lark.
Why Jack shudders at the memory of removing his mother's rosary.
How Lark's wolves got to be so big and scarred.
Why Zara is such a skilled pilot and markswoman.
How Gabriel learned to fly.
Why Circe's wedding day ended in heartbreak.
How Sol, Joe, and Bea planned to celebrate their anniversary.
Plus ten other DAY ZERO stories from your favorite characters.
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The Priestess (II)
Circe Remire, Ruler of the Deep
"Terror from the abyss!"
"Then you'll know you're the father."
He laughed. "You give as good as you get. God, I'm ready to get this wedding business sorted, so we can get back to us."
"I know. I feel as if I haven't seen you in weeks."
"I don't like sleeping in different beds. Custom or not, if you have another nightmare, you need to come get me."
"I will," I lied. I'd had several each night since that package's arrival. Yet those nightmares had felt more like . . . memories. Maybe I was losing my mind. "You know how much I love you, right?"