CHAPTER EIGHTY SEVEN

"My mum!" I said, startled to realize that since I had sent her the little letter, I hadn't given her a second thought.

As I whirled around to face Aric in a state of terror, I could hardly get the words out.

I choked out the words, "I have to get to her!" "I don't want her to learn from anybody else about what happened to me.

I pleaded with him, "Please, Aric," as tears filled my eyes.

He reached out to wipe the tears from my face as he said, "Of course, my darling. We can board the plane and be there in forty-five minutes."

When I heard the word "plane," the recollection of the last time I had been on a plane with Lord Lothaire caused my legs' knees to weaken.

When I started shivering because of the recollection, Aric grabbed me about the waist and held me close while he seemed to understand that he had made a mistake.

Despite Januarius's gift of peace, the recollection horrified me. All the atrocities I'd been forced to endure at Lothaire's hands rushed through my mind as though th