“If you're unsure, Blue—”
“I'm not,” he cut me off. “I know I haven't been as accepting as your fiance, but that doesn't mean I want to give up on us. I love you, Vervain.”
“I love you too.”
Blue took me to the tub and set me down in the stone basin. I had screeched in delight the first time I saw his bathroom; it was as if he'd brought a forest waterfall into his home. There was a stone counter running down the left side of the room, with a rock wall behind it that was embedded with plant life. Across from this; glass doors were open to the jungle and grass flowed in from outside. At the far end of the room, there was a bathtub that looked like a natural pool; complete with a shower head that was more like a waterfall.
Blue turned on the faucet instead, and water began to fill the tub. I eased back onto a shelf, and he climbed in beside me. Around us, soft plants grew abundantly; some of them blossoming with fragrant flowers. I leaned back on the smooth stone and breathed deeply as the liquid warmth rose around me. It was perfect; just what I needed to relax.
“I'm scared,” Blue whispered.
“What?” My eyes popped open. “Why?”
“I don't want to lose this,” he said. “I believe you when you say that we were married; that our other time is better than this one, but—”
“But what if it isn't?” I asked. “Or what if we lose ourselves in our old selves?”
“It's hard to imagine losing the consciousness you have and replacing it with another.” He nodded. “Our experiences form us; that has never been more clear to me as it is now. And I don't want to lose this experience.”
“Me either,” I said softly. “But we're starting to remember that other time; it's coming back to us despite the past changing.”
“So, you think that this time will also return to us?” Blue asked.
I took a deep breath and told him what I hadn't told the others, “I'm experiencing memories that I don't understand. They contradict each other.”
“What do you mean?” Blue leaned forward; turning off the faucet absently.
He moved across the pool to where I sat and slid onto the shelf beside me.
“Alaric says that this is the third time that Aion has changed our past,” I said. “I don't think that all of my memories are from that original timeline.”
“You think that you're remembering other times that have been changed?” Blue's eyes widened.
“I had a memory of being married to Thor,” I said. “OnlyThor.”
“Thor?” Blue scowled.
“And I think I was having an affair with his father,” I whispered.
Blue gaped at me. “Did you just say that you were cheating on Thor with Odin?”
“I think that I may have been married to Odin in our original time,” I explained. “The pull he had on me was similar to those I've felt recently.”
“I don't know what to say to that.” Blue blinked in shock.
“I haven't told anyone else, Blue.”
“Why not?”
“Because I was afraid of seeing that look.” I waved to his face. “I was afraid that they would think less of me.”
“I don't think less of you.” Blue pulled me over to straddle his lap. “I was just shocked. I've worked with Odin before, and he doesn't seem like the sort of man who's interested in romance.”
“Oh?”
“I believe there was a tragedy in his past.” Blue shrugged. “To hear that he was drawn to you so passionately that he betrayed his son is shocking.”
“And I betrayed my husband,” I said. “That shocks me too. I don't want to believe that I'm capable of that kind of behavior.”
