"It'd better," he said. Again, he tried to sound threatening, and again, his voice just sounded small and anxious when it exited him. Angie talking about buying time was giving him a fresh wave of panic that he had left her alone even for as little time as he'd been gone already. It couldn't have been more than 20 minutes, all told, but what if it made the difference?

"I need to get her to a healer," Ben said, shoving his hands through his hair. This was hardly news to either of them, since they'd both said as much already, but his brain was only working as fast as his mouth was at the moment. Saying it made it feel more real.