Zoe’s really talented in the nonverbal communication department. When she shoots you one of those looks when you fess up to something and then clam up, you’d better start talking again fast.

“Please understand,” I weakly began, fumbling around for words. “It’s just that…well, you know how you can’t undo the past without changing the present?” She made to speak, but I just kept yammering on. “Well, Latrodecta’s past is in the future, and there’s no telling what’s going to happen if I undo my past in the future before it has a chance to instigate my past again.” I paused a moment. “Anyway, when the time came to do the deed, I got cold feet, and that fight-or-flight response I learned about in the In-Between kicked in, and I was catapulted back here. Now I’ve got to wait…what if this happens again?”

Zoe said nothing for a few seconds, then straightened up. “We decided that we were a team, right?” she inquired.

I nodded.

“Then we’d better bar down,” she declared. “We’ve got a black widow to shoot up.”