Temporal Shift (Entangled Select Otherworld) by Nina Croft

thought of something—spit it out.”
    “I can’t get through alone, but maybe if there were more of us… I can join with others of my kind and multiply our power.”
    “Can’t you join with Callum? And there’s Skylar and me. Would we be enough?”
    Thorne looked them over and shook his head. “Most of our people were crew members on the Espera . They were changed almost as soon as we crash-landed here. They’re over ten thousand years old.”
    “And where are these people of yours?” Tannis asked.
    “On the planet, scattered for safety, but I can call them together.”
    “Let me guess—you’ll call them together at that place you wanted us to visit?”
    Thorne inclined his head. “The Keep is the one safe place on the planet.”
    “Very convenient. And if you do this to help us, what do you want in return?”
    “Nothing.”
    Saffira frowned at the word. Thorne should be taking advantage of this. She just hoped that if the Old Ones had taken control of the ship, they could somehow wrest it back. She needed this ship. “I think, if Thorne helps you again, the least you could do is listen to the Sisterhood.”
    “Child, we must not push them for more than they are willing to give.” Thorne’s tone was soothing. He was definitely up to something, but she couldn’t work out what. “They are not the sort who put themselves out for causes not their own. We must accept that.”
    “Hey, I think we’ve just been insulted,” Devlin said.
    “Not an insult, merely a truth.”
    “But they are the sort who pay their debts,” Saffira said. “And we’ll have saved them twice. We didn’t ask them to come here. They came for themselves. Now, they’ve awoken the Old Ones. Put us all in danger. The least they can do is listen. And then decide. If they still won’t help…” She shrugged. “We’ll have to accept that there’s nothing we can do.”
    Actually, there were a whole load of things they could do. But there would be time to think about those options when they were safely down on the planet. The vision was tugging at her mind, stronger than she had ever felt—pulling her from this time. She needed the safety net of her sisters. As she rubbed her forehead, she caught Devlin studying her, his brows drawn together as if he wasn’t quite understanding what was going on.
    Join the club.
    But she had to play this out. She flashed him her best innocent smile, and his frown deepened, his gaze darting from her to Thorne, finally returning to study her. She was so tempted to peek at his emotions, but that was against her rules. Besides, he wasn’t hiding them. Most of the time he didn’t bother, as though he didn’t care whether people knew what he was thinking or not.
    “So,” Tannis said, “how long will it take us to get from orbit to the planet?”
    Devlin shook his head and broke their stare. He tapped something into the unit on his wrist. “Twelve minutes, more or less.”
    “That means we’ve got fifteen left to explore other options. And if it’s ‘more,’ we’ll just have to hold our breath. Let’s go.” Saffira made to follow, but Tannis halted. “You two”—She waved a hand at Thorne and Saffira—“stay here. Daisy, you too. Keep them out of trouble.”
    “Are they prisoners?” Daisy asked.
    “No, I just want to know where they are.”
    Saffira watched until Devlin disappeared into the transporter bubble and the doors slid shut on him. A wave of weakness washed over her. Too much emotion. She wasn’t used to it. Up until now, any excitement in her life had been limited to her visions and was hardly stressful physically.
    “Are you okay?” Thorne asked quietly.
    “Just a little shaky.” She glanced at Daisy. “I don’t suppose there’s some ice cream? I might never get another chance.”
    Daisy grinned. “Why not?”
    …
    Already, the thin air strained his lungs. He kept his breathing deep and even, but his body needed more oxygen than it was getting, and he was