Lupi 04 - Night Season

boots. “You okay?” she asked.
    McClosky just shook his head. Another body fell, this one thirty feet off. The gate was moving away from the trees, she realized. Thank God. It would be bad to come down on top of them.
    Timms hit and rolled like he’d practiced falling from the sky a dozen times, coming up on his feet with his weapon clutched in his hand and his eyes wild.
    â€œDon’t shoot!” she called, starting toward him.
    He was making a slow turn. “Where the hell are we?”
    â€œNot hell. Edge, I think.”
    â€œOf course it’s Edge,” Gan grumbled. “Though with the way that sorcerer messed with things, I don’t know—”
    â€œSorcerer?” Timms yelped. “The gnome is a sorcerer?”
    â€œNot the gnome.” Cynna looked at Gan. “That’s a secret, too.”
    â€œDid you bring the chocolate?”
    Thirty feet away, Ruben fell from the sky.
    Too high. That’s all she could think, panic shooting her into a run as he landed. The gate had moved higher as well as farther away, and Ruben had landed hard. He was fragile, physically. She skidded to a stop and dropped to her knees beside him. “Ruben.” He lay mostly on his side, eyes closed, one arm pinned beneath him. She put a hand to this throat, hunting for a pulse. “Ruben, dammit—”
    He blinked. “I fell.”
    â€œYeah, it was a gate. That goddammed gnome made a gate, not a shield.” She found his pulse. Obviously he was alive, but his heartbeat seemed too fast and not all that strong. “Where are you hurt?”
    â€œMy wrist is broken. I suspect the left tibia is, also.”
    His voice sounded so much as always—calm, matter-of-fact—she almost burst into tears.
    â€œIt’s moving higher,” Gan said. “That’s not going to work out well. Humans break too easily.”
    â€œWhat?” She looked up. A small, dark heap marred the snow at least a hundred yards away. “Is that someone? Who is it? Timms—”
    â€œI’m on it.” He took off running.
    McClosky had made it to his feet. He looked like he might throw up. “We’re in another realm.”
    â€œYeah. You okay? I mean, are you hurt?”
    He just shook his head, not moving. Shock, Cynna guessed, but she couldn’t deal with him now. She turned her attention back to Ruben. “It’s your left wrist? And your leg, possibly. I don’t know what to do. Cullen would. He’s claims to have gone to med school, so he’ll be able to set it if…when he gets here.”
    â€œYou might support my wrist while helping me roll onto my back.”
    She did, and he hissed in pain, his face turning the color of the snow. She started to shrug out of her coat. “You can’t lie on that cold snow. That can’t be good.”
    â€œThe tibia,” he said in a thin but steady voice, “is certainly broken.”
    â€œIt’s Ms. Wright,” Timms called. “She’s unconscious. Heartbeat’s thready. I don’t want to move her. Could be a neck injury.”
    Shit! “McClosky, come here.” She had to say his name again before he heard, but he did start moving. “I need to get my coat under Ruben. It will give him some protection from the cold and damp. His leg’s broken. So’s his wrist. I need you to help me move him.”
    Being given a task steadied him. “Yes. Yes, he shouldn’t get cold. I’ll take his shoulders.”
    No more bodies fell while they shifted Ruben onto the slight protection the leather offered. Fear kept trying to get her attention. Not now , Cynna told it. “I’m going to see what I can do for Ms. Wright,” she told McClosky. “Stay with Ruben.” She took off.
    The snow wasn’t deep, but it was slippery. She jogged carefully, wondering what in the world she could do. She wasn’t a healer. She could, with difficulty, make fire, but she needed something to burn. And heat would just melt the snow, leaving them lying in mud.
    God, but she hoped—oh, another one fell! And this one was naked. And male.
    Cynna switched direction. “Gan!” she called. “Go curl up next to Ms. Wright!”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œYou’re supposed to help us, aren’t you? She needs your body heat.”
    â€œHumans are so puny.” But the little former demon did start trudging in that