Taegér frowned. “In this weather? It’s not advisable. Ah, I get it. Plan to spy on us, sweet Leya?”
“Would you just do as she wants?” Aerén snapped. “So I can get them out of this damn icebox before the weather worsens.”
“Eh, much as I hate to agree with Prince Charming here,” Taegér smirked, “he’s right. It’s gonna be a killer soon. And you’re both human. Maybe later?”
“No, now. Just a few minutes over the mountains, please?”
Snow settled on Taegér’s shoulders and hair, and like Aerén, he only wore a leather jacket. “Why?”
While she didn’t believe she possessed psychic abilities, since nothing further occurred after the key incident and the so-called telekinesis, her sixth sense seemed to kick up, and she couldn’t ignore it.
“I’ve been having dreams of a man being tortured, and the place is fraught with snowstorms. I have to see if I can feel a pull here, recognize something, anything…” She rubbed her prickly gloved palm to her chest and the heaviness there, but was so aware of Aerén still holding her other hand. “It gives me no peace. It haunts me. Please.”
Taegér’s gaze slid back to Aerén.
“Just do what she wants,” he said, voice flat.
A slow nod. “Okay then, follow me. C’mon, Carbon Copy.”
“No. Just me. I’ll go with you,” Leya said quickly.
Taegér cut her a quick look, then nodded, his usual baiting humor nowhere in sight. He drew her close, and Aerén released her hand.
A blast of agony flooded her, and the feeling would have had her sinking to her knees, but then it shut off. Her gaze rushed to Aerén, but he’d turned to her sister.
Taegér held Leya close, his warmth spreading through her. Her eyes stung with tears as he dematerialized them.
In their invisible state, Taegér swept them over the mountains. She didn’t need sight, just her senses to feel.
Time slipped past as they coasted over the vast landscape of mountainous terrain. Leya let the innate part of her, where the dream thread dangled, free, hoping it would somehow connect to the place as she searched for anything that tugged at her…
She had no idea how long they were in the air, but then they were reforming in the blistery winds once more, near the sea with its slo-mo waves spitting out bits of ice.
Aerén and Hana appeared seconds later, Aerén’s expression like the storm.
Hana grasped Leya’s other hand. “Anything? she asked, her eyes dark and troubled.
Leya shook her head. Whatever her dreams revealed, this place didn’t feel right, despite the snow. “I can’t sense anything here.”
“Where now? Back to Earth?” Aerén asked.
“No, Cidéra.”
He stared at her briefly, a nerve pulsing on his jaw, the howling winds whipping his hair from its tether.
Without a word, he handed Hana to Taegér, to give her warmth, and moved away. He lifted his hands, opening another portal.
As Aerén stepped through, probably checking out the other side first, Taegér walked them to the gateway.
“You need saving, just say my name to the winds, and I’ll be there.” Taegér winked…at her sister.
“Not in this lifetime.” Hana yanked free and stepped through the portal.
He laughed, but his expression sobered as he glanced at her. “Take care, Leya.”
“Thank you for your help.” She tried to force a smile and failed.
He didn’t say anything, just gave her a little half bow. As she removed her hand from his, the chill blasted her. She shivered, the snow stinging her face, and she scurried through the gateway.
