Capturing Today (TimeShifters Book 2) by Jessica Keller, Jess Evander Page A

front because they saw a nurse coming to assist a doctor. But wandering around the trenches alone? Near where I last saw Shades?
    A shiver works its way up my spine.
    It’s not long before I spot Eddie’s outline cutting toward me. He’s running. Seriously,  he’s lightning in man form.
    “Gabby?” Stern lines cross his handsome face.
    “Walk with me?”
    “Of course.” He offers his arm, so I take his elbow. “Would you mind if we walk in the direction of the trenches?”
    “Do you need to get back?”
    “I’m assigned to night watch. I shouldn’t have left, but I know what you do is important and could impact everything. So I came.”
    I give him a nod, letting him direct us toward the trenches again despite the way my stomach twists at the thought. “How much do you know about the shifting world?” I keep my voice low, so no one passing us will overhear.
    “Everything. I think.” Then a smile. “Well, you know how much Lark likes to talk.”
    “I read somewhere that the average woman says twenty thousand words a day.”
    He whistles low. “Then my Lark says about eighty thousand.”
    “Point taken.”
    “What is it?” He stops walking and looks me full in the face.
    “I’m assuming you know about Shades?”
    “Creepy buggers who hate mankind and take pleasure in destroying our lives?”
    As the Shifters describe them, yes. “That sounds about right from what I’ve heard.”
    “From what you’ve heard? The way Lark tells it, you have the most to fear from them.”
    “Well, fear or not, they’re here.”
    “As in, right here?” He cups his hand over mine where it rests in the crook of his arm and then glances all around us. Squinting, like he might be able to spot one.
    “Not here , here. But I saw a bunch of them in No Man’s Land earlier today. I have to believe that means something. Mind you, I have no clue what that means, but I felt like I should warn you they’re there.” Did I have a leading? Is that what it feels like? I wish I knew. “Or at least, they were there earlier.” Maybe this whole conversation is pointless. They’re probably gone. I’m wasting time. Following the wrong trail and risking Michael’s life in the process.
    “What did Michael say about it?”
    “Michael doesn’t know. He’s really sick.”
    “Why don’t you bring him through the Portal?”
    I drop Eddie’s arm, stopping in my tracks. “Wait. There’s a Portal?”
    He turns back to face me. “Michael told me a while ago there’s one nearby.”
    “Did he happen to tell you where?” I speak through my teeth. Keep calm. It’s not Eddie’s fault that I feel like wringing someone’s neck. Someone whose last name rhymes with Ace. How could Michael be so foolish? The stubborn mule let himself fall sick when he could be in Keleusma.
    “No. They wouldn’t be much help to me. He only said something last week because he was debating using it. But that would have meant abandoning his mission. Which …” Eddie shrugs.
    Michael would never do. I finish his sentence in my head.
    Well, I’m here now. And I can force him to leave. Thankfully the presence of a Portal eliminates the whole Erik option. “I need to—”
    Gunfire near the trenches stills my words. Eddie takes off toward the sound. I should run away, run back to Michael. But my feet move of their own accord. I’m right on Eddie’s heels.
    “Raid!” The call comes loud and clear as we get closer.
    My mind stumbles over the word. Raid. Michael mentioned the other side had been sneaking over at night undetected and killing as many people as possible.
    I crash into Eddie’s back.
    “Are we secure?” He hollers to a man down the trench.
    “We killed the three men who ambushed us. It doesn’t look like more followed.”
    He swings back around, grabbing my elbow. Hard. He marches me a few feet away from the entrance of the trenches.
    And he doesn’t let go. “The man who took my post so I could talk to you is dead. Just over