Devil's Due: Epic Urban Fantasy (Overworld Chronicles Book 19) by John Corwin

Author:John Corwin [Corwin, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Raven House
Published: 2020-09-12T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

"No, this can't be true." Adam put a hand on his forehead and walked in a circle. "We're missing something. Maybe the blink stone didn't leave a scar. Maybe we can use Serena's equipment to replicate the process."

Nightliss raked the beam of Clarity around the area once more but found nothing. Her shoulders slumped and tears pooled in her eyes. "I can't believe they're gone."

Something caught my eye where the beam struck the ground. "Wait!" I dropped to my knees at the spot. "Aim the clarity here."

She did. It looked like almost nothing, a thread of spider web on the ground. I tried to dig with my hands, but the fingers were stiff and unresponsive. Shelton knelt next to me and clawed at the dirt. We found it just beneath the top layer, a long, ragged scar.

"Yes!" Adam raised a hand.

Xanos watched us with a furrowed brow, obviously confused by the feelings we had for other people. This was a foreign language to someone who'd never loved anyone except herself.

The panicked pounding of my heart slowed even though I knew this didn't mean Conrad and Ambria were still alive. There was no telling what waited on the other side of the portal scar. During a blink, there was a single heartbeat of absolute nothingness. They might be trapped there, dead in a vacuum.

It didn't matter. We had to open it and get them out. But we had a problem. Opening a portal scar required two people. One revealed the scar with Clarity while the other froze it with Stasis so it could be pried open with Murk. Powerful as she was, Nightliss couldn't manage it all on her own. Once it was opened, it had to be held open or it would shut immediately.

Nightliss stopped channeling Clarity and the scar vanished. She wiped sweat from her forehead. "I had forgotten how taxing that is."

I looked down at my hands. "I'm useless right now. We need help."

Nightliss nodded. "Alysea, perhaps?"

"Yeah, your mom could do it," Adam said. "And it'd be nice to have some powerful backup in case things go to hell."

"Amen to that." Shelton plopped his hat back on his head. "I've had enough of almost dying for one day."

Adam chuckled. "Nearly dying is one of those things that doesn't get old no matter how many times it happens."

"That's why I keep a fresh pair of underwear handy when I'm on an adventure with Justin." Shelton patted his pocket. "Shitting your pants is just another Tuesday with him."

Everyone burst into laughter except Xanos, whose forehead pinched into a confused V.

Shelton noted her expression. "Hey, Apocryphan take dumps, right?"

Xanos frowned. "If by that you mean defecate, then yes, we do. We eat, we expel waste."

"I'll bet they were some mongo sized craps," Shelton said.

"At my normal size, an ordinary defecation would be about your size."

Adam snickered. "I think she just called you a piece of crap, Shelton."

Xanos blinked. "I meant no such thing. Each one of you is close in size to—"

"One of your turds?" Shelton guffawed.

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