Page 205 of A Sanctuary from Shadow
Pete sneered Morus’s way. “My search could finally be at an end if someone would simplytellme where—”
“I can’t do that, and you ken it well,” Morus snapped. “Kobolds aren’t renowned for our honor, but we follow a code where portals are concerned. Besides, knowing where the portals are would do you little good, friend. Even if you managed to breach one, you’d never manage to navigate the time tunnels as we can. You’d get lost in the abyss between realms.”
“Not if I found myself a chronopath as a compass,” Pete retorted. “You ken they’re out there.”
“Rarely,” Morus returned.
Pete gestured his mug in my direction. “Shorty has kin that manipulates time, Morus. How else would she have gotten to Earth ten years in the past?”
The Kobold glowered, licking his protruding tooth.
So far, the debate had only amused Myrrdin. On the matter of time manipulation, however, his interest showed.
So, he does know who the chronopath is.I jotted a mental note to discuss that further—after I dealt with my sudden heartache about Pete’s argument with the Kobold.
“You’re looking for a way home, aren’t you?” I asked Pete, my throat clenching. “Back to your family? Your own time?”
The atmosphere between Pete and I tightened like a bow string.
Eagerness to flee back to a life he’d never wanted to leave, back to the people he belonged to, lurched through Pete’s gaze. Along with a hearty dose of doubt. Because to leave the world that had chewed him up and spit him out like gristle, to find his ultimate freedom, would mean turning his back on all the other Forgottens suffering the same atrocities he had. Would mean turning his back on the friends he’d made in this world. Would mean turning his back on me.
At last, Pete cleared his throat, glanced down at his mug. “It’s merely a pipe dream, Shorty. I’ve never found a chronopath, no matter how hard I’ve looked. Likely, it may never happen.”
Myrrdin hummed. “You’d be wrong on that account, Pete.”
Both our gazes bulleted to the prophet, his tranquility smacking of smugness.
“Why do you say that?” Pete’s voice rustled in the hush.
Shrugging, Myrrdin flipped up an elegant hand. “Because you’ve been speaking to one.”
I almost choked on my tongue.
“And you’ve been traveling with her for weeks.”
The revelation was a gut punch.
“What? I’mnota chronopath.” I really didn’t want to be. Not now that I knew I was in danger of losing Pete. “I—I don’t even know how I’d know if I was.”
“That’s simple, Amy.” Myrrdin empathized with me, I could tell, yet he ran his mouth anyway. “As Pete so aptly put it—how else would you and your family have gotten to earth ten years in the past?”
I gaped at Myrrdin. Pete gaped at me. Myrrdin just folded his hands in his lap and waited for his bomb to sink.
“Wait a goddamn minute.” I raised a hand. “You’re telling me thatI’mthe chronopath who took my family to Earth?”
Myrrdin pursed slender lips, lending a concise and startling, “Yes.”
Thirty-Three
“Iwasfourwhenwe crossed the portal!” I exclaimed. “How the hell could I have transported myself to the past, let alone all those other Dananns?”
Myrrdin shrugged. “Because your powers were as immeasurable then as they are now.”
I bristled. How could he have measured my powers?
“You transported the royal entourage to Earth, Amy. I watched you all disappear into that oak’s hollow.”
No fucking way! This has to be a joke.
