Lupi 04 - Night Season

gathered carefully around her to keep her from touching any of the slime the assassins had left behind. Good. She wasn’t completely stupid. Fear and joy and anger vied for control of her face…such an expressive face. Those tattoos she hid behind had never concealed her from him. “Why did you Change? You can’t afford to waste your power that way. You need it to heal.”
    â€œGot rid of the poison,” Cullen pointed out in the whisper that was all he could manage. Whatever was on him—clothing, blood, poison—couldn’t follow him through the Change.
    â€œOh. Right.” Her breath shuddered out. “God, but you scared me.”
    Scared himself, too. His eyes were trying to close. Sleep sounded like a fantastic idea, but first…“Steve’s here?”
    â€œYes. He held them off with his gun so they didn’t…we thought you were dead. Your heart had stopped.”
    Tell me about it. “Need to tell him something.”
    Hurt flashed across her face, but she motioned. A moment later Steve’s face hovered over him. “Yeah, buddy?”
    â€œThey were after Cynna,” he whispered. His eyes were trying to close. “Targeted hit.”
    â€œDon’t worry,” Steve said grimly. “I’m on it.”
    Okay. Good. He’d just rest his eyes for a bit…

TWENTY-THREE
    A hand stroked the hair back from Kai’s face. A warm hand, warm as the body propping her up…Nathan. She lay on the ground, her back against his front, her legs curled to one side. She heard one of the horses stamp, a tail swish.
    The last time she’d checked in with her body, she’d been standing up.
    â€œAre you all right?” he asked, voice low and worried.
    Kai nodded. “That was…intense.”
    She didn’t move or speak for a few moments. Nathan didn’t, either. He must have had questions, plenty of them, but he was more patient than she was. Once assured she was back and okay, he relaxed, content to wait until she felt ready to talk.
    â€œThat’s the longest I ever stayed in fugue,” she said finally. “Not counting when I was little and got trapped there. This wasn’t the same. I knew I could get out.”
    â€œWhat happened?” he asked softly. “Your warning worked. I could see that much.”
    She and Nathan had been ready to turn in. She was getting used to sleeping rough, though she had wistful thoughts of mattresses most nights. Their sleeping bags were excellent quality, but the ground did not remind her much of a bed.
    Something had alerted him, some sound or stray scent—he hadn’t been sure what. He’d gone to the river’s edge to stare out at the barge.
    They’d gotten slightly ahead of it before stopping, knowing the barge would pull well ahead while they slept. Couldn’t be helped, and they hoped to make up the time tomorrow. The river bent around some low, rocky hills up ahead; they’d be able to go straight and meet it around the bend. So the barge had still been upriver of them, but not by much.
    He’d seen or sensed the assassins. So had Kai—but her seeing wasn’t like his. Or anyone else’s. She’d seen the shapes and colors of their thoughts. She was, she reflected, becoming too familiar with the way the intent to kill shaped thoughts.
    She’d told Nathan she was going to warn the people on the barge, and she’d fugued.
    And now she didn’t want to tell him what she’d done. He hadn’t freaked over her other abilities, but this…“I guess I’m freaked by myself. I did something I could have sworn wasn’t possible.”
    He waited. Nathan wasn’t one to use words unnecessarily.
    â€œThose—what did you call them? Obab? They went for the woman. You were right about the sorcerer. He’s a lupus. I guess you saw that?” She hadn’t exactly seen it happen. Unlike Nathan, she didn’t have super-duper night vision, and the glow from a single mage light at a distance wasn’t enough for her to make out much. But she’d seen his thoughts change.
    â€œThey killed him,” she said flatly. “Or as good as. I’ve seen animals die. I saw the dondredii die a few days ago. I know what it looks like—the way the thought bodies start to fade, to break up…I hated it! I couldn’t just let him die, could I?”
    Nathan was startled. “You had a