Lupi 04 - Night Season

shapes flowing into a new pattern, then another, each elegant and enticing, fascinating…
    A sharp pain in her cheek made her gasp—and brought her back, dizzy, into the world of the senses. A world different from the one she’d been in only moments ago. Snow whirled through the night air, damp and cold on her skin. She looked around, but could see neither buildings nor road, only the endless, muted white of the storm.
    But Dell was warm beside her, gloriously excited and urgent. Nathan stood before her, worry tilting his brows down. “I’m back,” she said, “though we really need to find something other than pain to get my attention.” The hot sting in her cheek suggested he’d had to slap her out of fugue this time.
    â€œWe need jackets. Gloves for you.” He unzipped the duffel.
    She hugged the sleeping bags close. “I was expecting something more inhabited.”
    â€œThere’s a village or holding east of here.”
    Relief swept through her. “You know where we are, then.”
    He found a smile, this one apologetic. “No. I smell wood smoke. Here.”
    They shuffled burdens between them so both could don their jackets. Hers was quilted, hooded, good to subzero temps if she added the lining. She didn’t. It was cold, but not much below freezing. She’d warm quickly once they started moving. “Dell’s hungry. Can I—?”
    â€œYes. Don’t worry.” The last was addressed to the cat, not Kai. “I’ll watch out for her.”
    In spite of her eagerness to hunt, Dell studied Nathan a moment. Kai could feel the big cat considering whatever communication she’d received from him—not the spoken words Kai had heard, but something. Then she vanished into the snow-blurred night.
    Kai tugged on her gloves. Dell considered her too weak to survive on her own. In this place, she was likely right. “Can you tell if the others have come through yet? The ones we’re to follow?”
    Nathan tilted his head as if listening, though she had no idea what sense he was actually consulting. “We have two or three weeks, I think. I stepped somewhat backward as we came through.”
    â€œBackward?”
    â€œTime isn’t entirely congruent between Earth and Edge. There’s enough flex to allow me some choice. Forward would be tricky, but it wasn’t so hard to slide it back a bit.”
    She stared. “You can adjust time?”
    â€œNo.” He was patient. “But when two realms aren’t time-congruent, time becomes one of the choices I make when crossing.”
    He thought that made sense. Ah, well. She had a great deal to learn about him still. They’d been friends for two years, but lovers for only six days.
    And now they were supposed to rescue this world—or play a part in its rescue, anyway. If she could make her Gift work. “We’d better get moving.”

ONE
    I T looked like a digital thermometer. There were two little windows in the plastic casing, one showing a deep purple the other, a pale teal. Cynna tilted it, squinting. Maybe the light was fooling her.
    Still purple. Not the pretty teal she’d been praying for. No matter how hard she stared or squinted, or what angle she used, it stayed purple.
    The knock at her door made Cynna jump. She dropped the tester, scowled at it, and left it lying on the floor. She slammed the bathroom door as she hurried to the other door—which was only steps away. Hotel rooms always put the bathroom right off the entry door.
    â€œComing, dammit. I’m coming.”
    No, she wasn’t. Not now, but she had last month. Three times. Which was why the color of doom had showed up on the godforsaken tester.
    Cynna checked the spy hole, unlocked the door, and swung it open. “Hey,” she said with frantic cheer. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”
    The woman at the door was a full head shorter than Cynna. Her hands were tucked into the pockets of a long sweep of coat as black and perfect as the shorter sweep of her hair, and a small frown was tucked between the arch of her brows. Her eyes were dark and steady. “You need a coat,” Lily Yu said, not moving. “It’s February, so you need a heavy coat. And maybe your wallet? If we’re going to shop—”
    â€œOh, yeah. Right. I’ll get them.” Cynna started to shut the door in her friend’s face, but stopped herself in