Page 50 of Kiss Across the Universe
“Clearly. I thought the food you’d pack would be…I don’t know. Something with dense calories. Like jerky.” Every competitor she knew raved about the value of packing jerky.
“We’ve got protein.” He pointed to the bison leg over the fire, which was dripping fat that hissed when it met the flames.
“Yes, but you don’t walk around with bison steaks in your pocket every day.”
His smile was fleeting. “There is a whole smorgasbord of protein all around us.”
“Oh, hunting. Right.”
She opened the packet of cheezies. She didn’t like them terribly much, but shewasstarving.
Kit prodded the bison with the point of his knife, testing. Then he pushed the knife into the earth so it stood upright, and picked up his phone.
“You have reception?” Alannah asked, amazed.
“Cell phone tower, about half a klick away,” he said, his head down, his gaze on the screen. “We’ve been heading toward it all afternoon.”
“Just to make a call?” she asked, as he raised the phone to his ear.
“Just for that,” he agreed.
She stared at him, amazed. She had walked and stumbled and cursed the mosquitos. While he had been laying down plans over plans, over plans. “What else do you have planned?” she demanded.
He lifted his chin. “Yeah, it’s me,” he said into the phone. “I’ve got her. She’s safe.”
Aran, Alannah realized.
Kit frowned, listening. Then he shook his head. “You can give up the dance around the truth. I know about the time travelling.” Then he winced and pulled the phone away from his ear. His gaze shifted to her, and Alannah knew that Aran was swearing about her telling Kit the truth.
She stared back at Kit. She’d had no choice. Kit had figured out most of it himself. What was she supposed to do? She couldn’t have kept up the bluff. Kit was too intuitive.
Kit put the phone back to his ear. “Done, man?” he asked mildly. He listened, then lowered the phone. “He wants to talk to you.”
“I bet,” Alannah said grimly. She knew she was about to get even more of an earful than Kit had just got.
Kit tossed the phone to her. Alannah lifted it. “Hey.”
“You’re really alright?” Aran’s voice was harsh with concern.
“I’m really alright,” Alannah said truthfully.
“There was some fracas at the new Hilton. I saw it on the bulletin board.”
“That was us,” Alannah confirmed. “There’s a guy…a vampire. I think he’s from the future. Tall, slender, iron grey hair but young features. Black eyes, full white beard.”
Aran drew in an audible breath. “Shit, Kit is listening to…” Then, “Why on earth did you tell Kit? Why did you expose us like that?”
“I didn’t have a choice,” Alannah said flatly. “He figured out most of it himself. I just couldn’t keep up the bluff anymore without coming off sounding stupid. Concentrate, Aran. This dude, Iron Grey…he’ll head back into town to try to find me. He’ll check the house, first thing. And he might find you a good substitute for me. You’re a better jumper, and he might know that.”
“Yeah, I figured,” Aran said, his tone grim. “That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. I can’t see you on the timescape, Alannah. I haven’t for hours. Not since about an hour after Kit left here.”
Alannah held still, her thoughts racing. The coolness of the timescape—she knew it had something to do with this. But…how?
Instinctively, as she had been all afternoon, Alannah reached out mentally to the timescape. The same coolness she had experienced before brushed her mind now. It brought her comfort because of its sheer indifference. The timescape wasn’t human, didn’t have emotions or feelings, or judged mere humans. It simply was.
“Alannah?” Aran prompted.
“I’m thinking. I’ve been feeling something different on the timescape all day,” she confessed. “Let me try something. Hang on.”
