Page 78 of Discovered Magic
“What do you know of the Arcane Devourer?” he asked.
The Traveler’s brows shot to his hairline, and he shared a wary glance with his companion.
“Morcant?” Castor asked sharply. “He’s here?”
By his future friend’s reaction, the man wasn’t wildly popular. “I see you know of him,” Damian replied.
“Yeah, so do you. Later.”
“What the hell is an Arcane Devourer?” Jonas asked, reading the room correctly.
Damian hated instilling fear in anyone, but cautioning them against the fight to come was imperative.
“He is a powerful bastard who survives by eating the energy of those around him. The more chaotic and strife-filled, the better,” Wilder explained in his stead. Turning his attention to Damian, he asked, “What does he have to do with Abbie? There’s a connection, or you wouldn’t be here.”
“I believe she may be with him.”
The long list of expletives Wilder released would burn anyone’s ears, but it was Castor’s reaction that was the more interesting of the two. He paled and swayed.
If asked, Damian would’ve said nothing could faze the man, but of a certainty, the idea of Abigail in the clutches of Morcant did.
“We have to find her, right now. That monster, he…” The stark pain in the Traveler’s pale-blue eyes affected Damian strangely. A feeling of déjà vu struck him, though they’d never met before. “I know you don’t want me to tell you, Dethridge, but?—”
“Don’t. If you’re standing here, things turned out the way they were intended.”
“But if I can save you the grief?—”
“You have the potential to make things worse, Mr. Castor. Should I do the opposite of what my future self does to avoid an outcome, I’ve the potential to create an even worse ending.” He smiled. “But I thank you for caring enough to try.”
“Enough fucking around with chit-chat. How do we find Abbie and off the bastard?” Wilder demanded.
“First, you need to remove your shirt and lie down. I’ll finish what Evie began and heal your back fully.” So saying, Damian gestured to the bed. “My understanding is Morcant has been searching for the source of the power surges that sent six of you here.”
“Six!” Castor shook his head. “No, at most three. Abbie, Wilder, and me. No one else came through with us.”
“According to the Authority, they came through in the days before her, two years ago. Apparently, the portal ejected a total of four people during Abigail’s tumble through time.”
Wilder paused in undressing. “I don’t understand. We came straight through. It was morning on both sides of the portal. Granted, the day might’ve shifted, but the date should be the same, surely?”
“What was the date you left?” Damian asked.
Wilder and Castor exchanged a glance before he said, “Tuesday, September the second. Why? What is today’s date?”
“September the fifth. And if you’ve been here twenty-four hours, it means you arrived on the fourth, two days after you stepped into the portal.”
“It couldn’t have taken that long to cross the threshold. That’s not how travel works,” Castor protested.
“Yet it did. Based on the report, the time disturbance was a total of four days the first time. One for each person, it seems. The first was a female witch. Next, a male, followed by another male the day after, and finally, Abigail.”
“But Wilder and I arrived together.”
“We were touching. Would it have made a difference?” Wilder asked.
“Possibly. Damian?”
He gave it a moment’s consideration and finally nodded. “I agree. It may have been the difference between arriving separately or alone. But Abigail was the only one Stands-in-Shadow found.”
“So where did the others go?” Jonas asked. “Why haven’t we heard from any of them in two years?”
