Maddison, Karly - Time Slip [The Xephon Alliance 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Karly Maddison

stopped.”
    “Should I be grateful?” He glanced over at her.
    “Do you want me to undo the knot in your hair?” she asked.
    He regarded her as if she offered him some malevolent trick.
    “You can try.” He released her, and she crossed back to him again. He went back to working on the device that so easily absorbed all of his attention.
    She experienced an unreasonable desire to be more important than the machine. Gently, she picked up a matted piece in a long lock of his hair and slowly worked to untangle it. He ignored her, but somehow she knew he was secretly pleased.
    Still playing with his hair, she watched as he fiddled with wires.   “Do not get too close,” he warned.
    “Why?” She stuck out her hand and poked the damned piece of rubbish. A flash of white light erupted.
    “Sorry,” she said quickly, dropping the lock of hair she was playing with. Why did he look like that, as if he was about to be sick?

Chapter Seven

    Kash disappeared so quickly he was stunned. He experienced a rush of nausea. Hands shaking, he turned off the experimental device he’d stupidly brought into the room. Sweet Mother Universe, he’d just sent her two days into the future, and he didn’t know how to bring her back. She remained there ahead of everyone else until she fell back in time like the rat and the apple had. Tinny shook slightly from the shock and horror as he stumbled to the couch. He might be having a panic attack for he suddenly found it hard to breath. He put his head down into his hands and tried to suck air into his lungs. Breathe, breathe, breathe, he told himself.

    * * * *

      Why was Tinny ignoring her? Had she offended him by calling his contraption rubbish? Why did he act like someone having a heart attack? She went up to him on the couch and leaned down over him.
    “Why aren’t you listening to me? Are you okay?” She stuck her hand out to shake his shoulder, but his heaviness made her action ineffectual. Why did he ignore her? Was he dying?
    “Can you hear me, Tinny? Can you hear me?” She touched his face, watching with growing fear as he scratched his cheek where her hand lay, brushing her fingers aside as if he felt an itch.
    “Tinny?” Why wouldn’t he speak to her? “Tinny!” she shouted.
    He got up, sending her sprawling with surprise, took several quick long strides to the door, and left the room. Kash stared after him then back at the contraption he had switched off. Had he…? Had she…? She shuddered and raced after him.
    Other people came down the hall toward her. She touched them, and they shrugged her off like a mosquito. But no one, not a single one, heard what she said to them. Horrified, she realized she had no effect on anyone around her. She was semi-stuck amongst them all in some bizarre way, not quite real in their time zone as they went about their lives.
    Tinny’s deplorable machine had sent her somewhere strange. Fear clawed at her belly as she ran through groups of people shouting for attention. They were all deaf to her. Some seemed to feel her, but it was as if she were a rush of air or an itching sensation on their skin. Kash stood still and screamed and screamed.
    She followed Tinny down to the captain in the present she had left behind, yet still seemed linked to. She scooted up to him and listened to the conversation about what he had done.
    Unfair to take the blame, she thought. He’d told her not to touch. He’d warned her to keep back, and she had completely ignored him. Now she was paying the stupid price for her rash action. She sighed heavily and listened to the drone of their voices. After a while, they switched to their own language without much thought, and she lost track of the rest of their conversation. The words blurred to an unfamiliar sound. It seemed like a language she would never be able to learn. Once again she had to admire them for picking up her own language so effectively.
    She noted by their body language that the conversation seemed