“Aye. I even managed to carry a note to myself through the stones, so the past me would know to move you from the tower. But the canceling hinges on two identical selves.”

“What are you saying?” Drustan demanded, hands clenching on the arms of his chair.

“When I went back, not only didn’t the future me cease to exist, neither me did. I watched myself through a window for hours before fleeing again. He never disappeared. I might have strolled in and introduced myself.”

“’Tis wise you didn’t. We must be ever wary of creating paradoxes,” Drustan said uneasily.

Gwen gaped. “That’s not possible. According to the laws of physics, one of you would have to cease to exist”

“You’d think after all she experienced with me, she wouldn’t be so hasty labeling things possible or impossible,” Drustan said dryly.

“How could it be possible?” Gwen demanded.

“Because I am no longer the same man I was. I’m different enough now with these ancient beings inside me, on some elemental level, that my past self did not conflict with who or what I’ve become.”

“Oh, God,” Gwen breathed. “So even if we sent someone back, and they changed the past . . .”

“I doubt it would have any effect on me at all. What I am now, seems to exist beyond the natural order of things. ’Tis possible it may cause some negative effect we can’t even imagine. There’s too much we doona understand here. I fear creating multiple moments in time for no good purpose. Nay, my only hope is the old lore.”

Drustan and Gwen exchanged an uneasy look.

“’Twas a clever idea,” Dageus reassured them. “I can see why you considered it. But I’ve given this matter endless thought and my only hope is to discover how they were imprisoned in the first place, and reimprison them. ’Tis why I came. I need to use the Keltar library. I need to examine the ancient texts that deal with the Tuatha Dé Danaan.”

Drustan sighed gustily and raked a hand through his hair.

“What?” Dageus’s eyes narrowed.

“It’s just that we were so certain our idea would work,” Gwen said miserably.

“And?” Dageus pressed warily.

Drustan rose and began pacing. “Dageus, we no longer have those texts,” he said in a low voice.

Dageus lunged to his feet so swiftly that the chair clattered to the floor. Nay—it couldn’t be so! “What? What say you? How can we not have them?” he thundered.

“We doona know. But they’re not here. After reading Da’s letter, I decided to research the Tuatha Dé Danaan to discover aught I could about the mythic race, in hopes of discovering a way to cast them out. That’s when Christopher and I found that we’re missing a great many tomes.”