I sagged into my chair, weak with relief and exhaustion. Pain still throbbed between my ears, but my skin hadn’t burned off yet and we were both alive, so I counted the experience a plus.

An impossible, amazing, mind-bending plus. Shifting slightly, I touched my pinkie finger to his knuckle. I think you almost died.

And then somehow I’d brought him back. Brought us both back.

How? Did you know you could…? Tair rubbed the heel of his free hand against his forehead.

No idea. Headache? My traitorous pinkie wrapped around his finger. After watching Tair bleed out, his headache shouldn’t faze me, but after what I’d just pulled him through… Who knew?

The consequences were only starting to occur to me. I could’ve broken him.

I could’ve broken time.

The worst. He tilted his head to the side. You too? A flush held onto his cheeks and his eyes shone too bright, like warm caramel. Leftover adrenaline? Maybe his body was having as hard a time as mine was snapping back to the present.

The worst, I agreed. Plus a sheen of sweat and a few touches of nausea and dizziness to balance it all out. Only the place where our fingers bumped felt right.

And crap.

The cameras. The present. Actual reality.

Darren was probably watching from next door, livid, and wondering why we were standing frozen. He wouldn’t guess the truth, but he’d definitely get suspicious, and I’d never realized how close he was to snapping. And how much he hated Tair.

Until we understood what’d just happened, we couldn’t afford another mistake. I bumped Tair’s finger one more time. We’re acting weird. Fake it through the morning and we’ll talk in the hallway.

Agreed. He drew away.

I winced, ready for timeghosts to snap back and overwhelm me again, but nothing.

Actually, nothing nothing. Not even a stray wispy figure waltzing around.

Was that normal? What was even considered normal now?

I couldn’t remember. Meeting Tair had blown whatever I called normal right out of the stratosphere. I’d actually thought I understood my powers and their limits.

Not even close.

Tair sat on the other side of the table and flipped the lid off his tray, but his posture wasn’t as perfect as usual. His shoulders hunched and his forehead pinched as he stared at his blackened bacon.

I opened my own tray, but the smell of the yogurt and pancakes…

Blergh.

How was I supposed to force down food when all I wanted to do was hash this out with Tair? He poked his runny eggs with his fork, obviously on the same page.

Then Tair’s gaze snapped up.

All the unsaid things sparkled in the air between us.