Frost appeared, wielding the extinguisher and covering me in cool foam.
"Is there time,” I asked. “Can I, is it too late?"
"There has to be time."
Frost scooped me up by the parts of me that weren’t burned and off we went, disappearing into the night.
~
Lysander
"—don’t call this number again."
The line went dead.
I crossed off the last name on my list and sat back in my chair with a defeated sigh. None of the legitimately accredited mediums I contacted took ‘theoretical’ questions about supercharged and exploding spirits very well.
Only one hadn’t laughed, cursed at me, or hung up immediately when hearing my questions. He had hypothetically suggested thatperhapsa being whose primary state involved a stable spirit form could exist. And that, if it were capable of generating energy or power just by thought, it might have more flexibility and potential than both our corporal or spirit forms combined. But our spirits were not that versatile whether human, shifter, mage, or anything else. Most of us here in the real world needed a bodyandspirit to be at our best, so removing one element made us weaker, not stronger.
Then he told me I should get a better hobby than harassing mediums and hung up.
Ultimately, none of it helped.
Max hadn’t really given me an answer on what we should do yet. Given that time seemed to be of the essence I figured having a plan lined up sooner was better than later. Not that I had any luck. I’d consulted our files at the DSA to see what information we had about angels. There wasn’t much and I didn’t get very far before I got a text message from Frost telling me all that information was false.
All my ideas yielded zero results. If Max had doubts, I couldn’t ask him to join his soul to mine. Even to save him, he’d never forgive either of us. So I needed a plan. Any plan.
As I tried to figure out where to turn next, Frost appeared.
“Max needs you,” he said.
We were already moving before I had a chance to respond. He brought me somewhere outside and completely in the dark.
"Where the hell are we?"
"Far away from others in case this goes wrong."
"It’s pitch black." Foxes were nocturnal, so my sight did adjust, but a desolate outdoor location and the smoky odor failed to clue me in.
"What part ofremoved from civilizationdo you not understand?"
"You transported me to the middle of nowhere! I’m going to have questions."
Frost groaned. "You have shifter vision and a cell phone. Figure it out."
"Will you two cut it out? I’m focusing on not exploding over here.”
Max’s voice. I thought I smelled him but wasn’t sure. He was just past a barren hill, sitting on the ground. Was he injured? He summoned a smile as I rushed to him.
“Don’t worry, Lysander. I’m not going to fall apart right this second. I mean, I probably shouldn’t be making plans for tomorrow, not in this state, but there’s a little time left.”
“You’re hurt?” I filled in. “Burned?”
“Yeah, Kyle and I had a super fun time.”
“Heburnedyou." Rules be damned, I’d kill him. Now I understood how certain hot-headed wolves felt the urge to claw first and ask questions later.
"I wanted him to," Max said.
