Page 15 of Christmas Past
And he went over to where she stood so he could knot his fingers in hers once again.
This time, when the world blurred around them, he felt something go wrong even before they reemerged from that other-when between milliseconds. The transition was rougher, almost jarring, and when reality reasserted itself, he was nearly knocked off his feet by a wall of oppressive heat.
Sunlight blazed through the windows with an intensity that made him squint, and the air was thick and stifling. Even inside the bungalow, it felt like an oven.
“Oh, hell,” Devynn muttered.
Seth looked around the bungalow for another newspaper, but he didn’t need one to know they’d overshot their mark. The brutal heat, the angle of the sun, the way the light fell across the familiar furniture — this was summer. Deep summer, from the feel of it.
“July 1927,” he said after a quick glance into the kitchen, where a calendar had always hung. Other details about the bungalow felt wrong, though, like the curtains at the windows and the pillows on the sofa, and it hit him.
That would have been a year after he disappeared. By then, his cousin Margie would have already moved into the little house. It didn’t look as if she’d replaced the furniture — probably because she couldn’t afford it — but she’d apparently changed whatever small details she could.
“Well, crap,” Devynn said, her voice weaker than ever. She swayed slightly on her feet, and Seth quickly moved to steady her.
“That’s enough,” he said, making sure he sounded firm enough that she wouldn’t argue with him. “You need to give yourself a chance to rest.”
Where, he had no idea. Sure, his cousin didn’t appear to be home at the moment, but she could come back at any time. And if she found the two of them there….
Well, that would require a lot more explanations than he currently had the energy for.
“No.” Devynn shook her head, although she put a hand up to her temple, as if even that simple movement had hurt. “I can do one more. We have to get out of here.”
Seth wanted to argue, but he could see the determination in her eyes. And more than that, he could see the fear. They were trapped in the wrong time, and she feared she might not be able to take them to the correct one.
“All right,” he said reluctantly. “But if the next jump doesn’t work, we’ll have to find a place where we can wait this out. You need time to recover.”
She nodded, though he wasn’t sure she was really listening. All her attention appeared to be focused inward, gathering what remained of her strength.
The world dissolved around them, and Seth could almost feel Devynn’s gift falter halfway through the transition, sense the way reality seemed to stutter and skip around them like a broken phonograph record. For a terrifying moment, he thought they might be lost completely, trapped between moments in some gray limbo.
Then they crashed back into the world with enough force to send them both stumbling.
At least the light seemed right this time — the bright afternoon sun of the Christmas Day they’d left behind. But Devynn collapsed onto the sofa, her face ashen and her breathing shallow.
Oh, hell. Seth sat down next to her, wondering what he should do. Call the healer, probably, but he really didn’t feel up to explaining to Helen exactly what was wrong with Devynn.
“I’m okay,” she said. The words came out in a breathy gasp, contradicting that claim. “Just…give me a minute.”
Seth reached over and touched her forehead with the back of his hand. The skin was fever-hot despite the cool air in the bungalow.
“This is insane,” he said. “You can’t keep doing this to yourself.”
“Like we have a choice?” Her voice was hoarse, barely more than a whisper. “If we don’t leave soon — ”
She was right, and they both knew it. But seeing her like this, so obviously depleted and struggling, Seth could feel his resolve waver. Was getting back to the twenty-first century really worth risking her health? Her life?
Before he could voice those thoughts, Devynn struggled to sit up.
“What time is it?” she asked.
Seth checked his watch again. “Two-thirty.”
Two and a half hours until they were expected at the prima’s house. Two and a half hours to make their final preparations and say goodbye to a life he’d already abandoned once.
This time, though, he would try to leave some kind of words behind, something to let everyone know this was something he’d chosen.
“We need to go soon,” Devynn said. “Before your parents come looking for us.”
