Page 46 of Discovered Magic
But Wilder did.
She tore her adoring gaze from the back of his tense shoulders to meet Draven’s searching look.
“Yes,” she said, hoping he got what she was trying to relay.
He surprised her when he winked. “I said I would see you safely home, Marie, and I will.”
What she viewed as protection, Wilder took as an affront. His body tightened, vibrating with what she suspected was the desire to strike. Pressing her palm to his back, she said, “No… Wild Man.”
He froze.
His hopeful expression was painful to witness.
“You remember?”
Although she hated disappointing him, she shook her head and snatched the writing materials from his hands. Crossing to the vanity by the window, she scribbled: Draven is no threat. He protects me.
Wilder eyes skimmed the note, and for the longest moment, he was silent, as if processing. Finally, he placed the paper in front of her and nodded.
“Returning to our earlier conversation. What did you intend to say?”
They told me the Guide, Stands-in-Shadow, said that I came through the rock. Is this true?
“The best Castor and I can tell, yes.”
What happened?
He inhaled deeply, exhaling heavily as he sat down on the bed. “You and I work together. We teach inexperienced people how to mountain climb. It consists of rope techniques, cam placement, and other safety measures for equipment.” Looking out the window, Wilder shook his head. “We were on our own that day, pushing the limit to reach the peak. The adrenaline rush was what we lived for.”
Pain contorted his face, and the sheer agony displayed on his visage tightened her chest, feeding her anxiety.
“The weather turned ugly and dangerous. I asked you about going back, but you wanted to continue. I knew it was a bad idea,” he said gruffly. “Felt it in my soul. Then the rock you were on broke loose, tearing the cam from its mooring. I braced for impact, but the granite cut right through the rope.”
“Merde!”
Mary jumped. Enthralled by Wilder’s tale, she’d forgotten all about Draven.
“What happened next?” he asked, seeming as invested as she was.
“Abbie fell.”
Two words, weighing as heavy as a death knell.
Is that how I ended up in the rock? She held up the paper.
“The best we can figure is that you possessed latent Traveler magic. It activated due to the high-stress situation, transporting you through time.”
“You claim you didn’t know Marie?—”
“Abbie,” Wilder stressed.
“Abbie,” Draven allowed. “You claim you didn’t know she was alive until you met her father.”
“That’s right.” Ignoring him, Wilder looked straight at her. “My family and I searched for months, but we never found your body. If I’d thought for one second you were alive, I’d have come for you immediately.”
Gripping the pen tighter, she wrote, Why didn’t you ask my father sooner?
“I had never met Castor before he showed up to save my brother’s girlfriend. The instant I saw him, I guessed who he was and explained the situation.” He shrugged. “My brother and I tossed around the idea that you might be alive, based on something his girlfriend once said. When we got to the base of the mountain, a portal appeared. It wasn’t there before. If it had been, I’d have stepped through.”
