Page 53 of The Devouring Time

The hotel restaurant is doing a brisk business, and no one spares us so much as a glance when we sit at an out of the way table. I choose the pork loin with mashed turnips and applesauce, and Adrian the beef tenderloin with paloise sauce and Parisian potatoes. I wish desperately for a bottle of wine to go with it, but thanks to Prohibition have to make do with tea.

Once we have our food in front of us, Adrian says, “We need to figure out what to do next.”

I would prefer to eat my dinner, then go upstairs and sleep for at least twelve hours straight, if only to escape thinking for a while. Except of course my dreams are haunted by what have turned out to be terrible memories.

“We can’t exactly go to anyone else for help,” I say as I lift a bit of pork to my mouth. It’s delicately flavored and buttery with fat, but I find it hard to appreciate at the moment. “The police, your employers, the army…any of them would think we’re lunatics and send us right back to Danvers.”

A line of concentration springs up between Adrian’s brow as he eats a potato. “The cult that tried to kill us, whoever they are, must know what’s happening. They want to stop the Timekeepers.”

I stare at him in disbelief. “As you said, they’re trying to kill us!”

“No, they’re trying to kill the member of the Swarm who possessed you,” he corrects mildly.

“Which presumably would have left me stranded somewhere else in time, in the wrong body, if they’d succeeded!”

“The point is, they want to stop these creatures. I’m not saying they’re our friends, or even our allies. Only that they could be, if we can convince them you’re, well, you now.” He ponders another moment, then shrugs. “But we don’t know where they are, and I’m certainly not using you as bait to draw them out.”

“Thank you.” I take a spoonful of the applesauce. Not enough cinnamon.

“Why did Swarm-You go to Widdershins before it switched back, I wonder,” he says after a few minutes of silent eating. “The letter you found in Forgotten Folios was from a Dr. Dane at the university there. Damn, I wish I’d thought to keep it. Do you remember when it was dated?”

I cast my mind back. “Mid-September, I think. Of this year.”

“So only a little over two weeks ago.”

“And when did, er, Swarm-Me go to Widdershins?”

“September 23. I was following him, it, but I won’t swear it didn’t somehow slip away and go to the university without my noticing.” He pauses, then adds, “The other cult might have been trying to kill it before, I can’t say for sure, but the first time I know of was the day we met.”

“They could have their base of operations there, then?” I guess. “Maybe they know how to spot people who’ve been taken over?”

He shrugs. “I haven’t the slightest idea. I don’t have any contacts in Widdershins, but I can call my office tomorrow morning and find out if any of my fellow investigators do.”

I try to think of anything we might be overlooking and come up empty. “I don’t have any better ideas. Do you suggest approaching Dr. Dane first, or searching for this other cult?”

He considers for a few bites of dinner. “Dr. Dane, I think. It seems like the safer course, and it might help us figure out what these creatures want. They were looking for specific books—why? What knowledge do they need, and what do they intend to do with it?”

A shudder goes through me. “They’re drugging people to suppress their will. Whatever they intend, it can’t be anything good.”

“No.” Adrian’s expression switches from thoughtful to grim. “No, it can’t.”

Once we’re finished with dinner, we retreat back upstairs to our room, and Adrian throws the bolt on the door. A shiver of anticipation runs through me—I want to go to him, take him in my arms, and…

A jaw-cracking yawn interrupts my fantasy.

Adrian brushes the back of his hand gently down my cheek. “You should go to bed.”

I want to go to bed with him. But with my belly full, my body seems to have decided it’s had all it can take for one day. “I’m sorry,” I mumble.

He leans in and kisses me, lips tender against my own. “Sterling, you’ve had an unimaginable shock today. Your mind is surely exhausted, your emotions wrung out. Given that, I don’t think it would be a good idea to do anything tonight, even if you weren’t yawning your head off.”

He’s right, as usual. I shuffle off to the washroom down the hall, then return and strip down to my underwear, sparing a wish for my silk pajamas back in my Greenwich apartment. Will I ever see them again?

Adrian watches me remove my clothes with an appreciative look in his eye. My skin heats in response, and he grins. “I love how you blush all over.”

“Well now I’ll never get to sleep.”

He chuckles, the sound sending a bolt of desire through me. “I’m going to sit up a while and think.”