She’d agreed; Ben felt a rush of relief. He’d been worried that she would want answers before moving, and he still had no idea what he was going to tell her. And he didn’t know whether this was going to work, still — he didn’t know exactly what had happened, and he didn’t know that it wouldn’t happen if he took her away from the Abbott house. It was possible that this was somehow wrapped up in fate, that there would be no escaping it no matter how far he ran, but — he had to try.

“Do we have to take Nora?” he interjected, catching her wrist before she could leave. He hadn’t expected Melody would want to bring her — stupid, in hindsight, because of course she would. But if this didn’t work, if something did happen and Melody did die, Ben wasn’t sure he trusted himself to handle Nora’s grief on top of his own. “It’s just until tonight. She’s safe here, isn’t she?”

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