Deadly Designs (Design Series) (12 page)

Paxton started working a series of keys. She wanted to go over and see what he was doing, but she suddenly became aware of Jendron's horrified stare.

"Eric."

Eric turned from Paxton's side to look at her, a question on his face. She nodded toward Jendron. Eric glanced over, then followed the direction of Jendron's gaze.

He sighed. "Jendron. Report to the Council that we are searching for the Councilman. As we are currently involved in a separate issue of the State, it is imperative that you speak of nothing you have seen here. That includes Storey's return at this time."

Jendron tore his gaze away from Tammy and her pet. His mouth opened as if to speak but Paxton glowered at him, effectively silencing any comments.

In a quiet voice, but one that brooked no arguments, Paxton said, "If you are unable to follow these orders, you will state so now, and work in another part of the government will be found for you. Do you understand?"

The huge Adams' apple in his long throat bobbed repeatedly. Finally, Jendron nodded. "Yes. I understand. My apologies."

He backed out of the room. As he went to close the door again, Storey called out, "Thanks, Jendron. It's good to see you again."

His grin flashed her way before the door shut.

***

Eric walked over. "You shouldn't encourage him. He won't understand."

Storey looked at him in apparent surprise. "Is letting him know that I'm happy to see him encouraging him? I was just being friendly."

The clacking of keys came to a dead stop. Paxton turned in surprise. "What are you discussing?"

"Eric was just warning me not to be too friendly to Jendron." Her cheeky grin widened at Paxton's expression. "Guess you really wouldn't like that either, huh? No permanent residence here for me."

Weird noises came from Paxton as he continued to stare at her in dawning dismay.

Eric frowned. "Paxton are you all right?"

But Paxton's eyes were wide with shock. "It can never be. You know that, right?"

Walking closer, Eric reached out to his old friend. "It's okay, Paxton. Jendron knows the score. I just don't want anyone to get the wrong impression of Storey. She's unique. Brilliant actually. Of course the males are going to be interested."

He shot Storey a warning look as her snicker reached him. It was Paxton he was worried about. Obviously the fact that Storey was an attractive, dynamic female hadn't occurred to him or the potential problems that could arise. Eric didn't know what role he wanted her to play in his life; he just knew that he wanted her there. Only time would tell how strong the feelings were.

Life with Storey could never be boring. The relationships he'd seen between Toran mates were so peaceful and quiet that he didn't understand what kept them going. Did people talk together? Did they do anything outside of meal times? He didn't know. Paxton lived alone. His father lived alone. His peers were all like him. Young and single. The few married couples he'd met were on Council.

The decline in formal marriages might have had some effect on the declining population. He couldn't imagine being a father. Yet, he'd watched Storey with Tammy and she'd been a natural mother. He didn't think of any of the women he'd gone out with that could have handled the situation as easily.

Storey had definitely made him rethink what he wanted in a mate. And everyone looked drab and pale beside her color and energy.

"Eric?"

Shaking his head, Eric turned back to Paxton. "I'm here."

Paxton's gaze locked him in place. "Make sure you're here one hundred percent. Don't split your energies…or your loyalties."

Was that a warning? If so, of what? And why?

"W
e need to get Tammy home," Storey said. "And soon."

"That's what I'm trying to make happen here." Paxton snapped. "We need to find the Councilman and you need to return that…that thing to her new home."

"That thing has a name – Tammy." Storey pointed out Tammy to the men. The little girl had curled up asleep on the floor. She never asked for anything and appeared to be comfortable without any creature comforts. Then, when she remembered the lack of luxuries in the Louer dimension, Tammy probably wasn't used to much more. "At least that's the name we've been calling her." And that was pretty arrogant of them. Pulling out her stylus, she asked, "Stylus, do you know the name of the Louer child we have with us?"

Louers' names are based on their parents' names.

She shrugged. "Does that mean you don't know then?"

I would need to know her parents' names.

"Are you feeling better, Stylus?" Storey got up to check the sleeping child for markings. Nothing visible. Walking back to the table and her paper, she said, "Tammy doesn't appear to have any marks on her."

Tammy? If you have her name why do you ask me for it? Yes, I am feeling better.

Storey chuckled. "Because it's not her real name, it's just a name we made up." She turned toward Eric. "The stylus says he's feeling better."

"Good. Can we go then?"

"Stylus, are you now strong enough to locate this child's family so we can return her to them?"

Yes.

"Woot! Okay. How do we take her home?"

I can give you the location of where their portal landed.

"All of which is good news." Storey started to collect the few items she'd pulled from her bag in preparation for the upcoming journey.

"Can you give us the coordinates for Eric to program into the codexes?"

Yes
. The stylus rattled off a series of numbers.

"Stylus, is there something I should know about trying to return Tammy to the Louers?"

A humming sound filled the air again. Just the sound perked her up. The stylus could make sounds but not speak. Knowing how and why would make her life easier. Then again, so would so many other things.

Her hand jerked so she put the stylus to paper and watched the words form.
They will not appreciate what you've done. Neither will they thank you.

Great, so not fun. "Is there a way to deliver Tammy without upsetting them?"

No.

"Would they accept it easier if I went alone?

No. Once they understand that it was you and Eric who sent the other Louers back during the skirmish then they will capture you and keep you imprisoned.

"And their punishment would be what?" She didn't really want to hear this, but figured it was better to know what they were dealing with. Maybe it wasn't so bad.

Death.

She rolled her eyes. Of course. Eric placed a warm hand on her shoulder. "Sounds almost familiar, doesn't it?"

"Sure does." For all the seriousness of the mission and potential outcome, she appreciated Eric's grounded humor. "I
can
go alone. There's no point in both of us getting caught."

"And that's enough of that. I should have taken you home last time. There's no way I'm letting you go blindly into something like this. We need to deliver her and get out. Fast."

"Sounds good to me." She stood and gazed into his eyes. "What's the chance of that happening?"

He frowned. "Not much, but we're not without resources. They won't understand what we're doing or that we're only trying to help, so there's no point in trying to make them."

Eric's words sounded good, but like her, he knew how much could go wrong. "Let's get started then."

***

For all their good intentions, it wasn't a fast process. Eric needed to do a couple of trial runs with the codexes. Paxton couldn't find the coordinates given by the stylus and Storey needed to give Tammy more food. She'd tried to explain that they were taking her home to her family but Tammy just stared blankly.

Eric spoke up. "Why don't you get the stylus to write a note to her again?" He stood, hands on his hips watching as the stylus wrote a message in a language his own people didn't know. Paxton, once he understood what was happening, raced over to try and read the message himself.

He glanced at Eric, a question on his face.

"No, I don't understand it either." Eric explained, "It's the same language that's written on the side of the styluses."

Paxton pulled his stylus out of his pocket to study the faded markings on his. "I'd never noticed."

"According to Storey, it has meaning as to the souls inside."

"Like the names of those soulbound?" He frowned and walked back to his desk. From the look on his face he was planning on researching any connection to his stylus he could find.

Eric finally turned back to Storey. Her bag was packed and Tammy bounced beside her, obviously happy with the message the stylus had given her.

"Is there any reason why the stylus can't write a message to the Louers and explain what we're doing and why?"

The look of surprise on her face irritated him. "I do get some good ideas, too, you know."

She flushed. "Sorry. It's a great idea." She dropped her backpack and pulled out her sketchbook. "Stylus, can you write a note for us to give to the Louers to explain why we have Tammy with us and that we are only trying to get her home. Would that work?"

It might.

"Good. We'd want her to have such a note anyway, as an explanation of how she'd arrived there."

The stylus scripted out a long message on the paper. After it was done, Storey carefully stored it in the outside pocket of her backpack for easy access.

"Okay, let's go." She picked up the bag and grabbed Tammy's hand. "We're ready."

Now if only Eric was. He couldn't help thinking this mission was a bad idea. Only there was no doubt that Tammy needed to go home. Damn. What happened to his old, boring life? Now look at him. Saving a child. Helping a damsel to fulfill her quest. This was the stuff of heroes.

And he was going to be the hero.

"Eric? You can change your mind."

He grinned. "No way. I'm not going to miss out on any adventure available to me."
I don't want to go back to life like it used to be. It will happen soon enough. I'll take all the memories and store them away for the long future ahead of me.

She looked up at him, admiration and pride washing over her pretty face.

Warmth spread through him. It felt right.

"Paxton, old friend, we're leaving. Please keep the lines open and your stylus on you at all times. This could be the worst mission ever."

Paxton's wrinkled face twisted with worry. "Are you sure you should be doing this?"

"No, but it's got to be done. Tammy needs her family and we need her away from here."

Eric held out a hand for Storey.

She placed hers in his. Trust. His back straightened. He grinned at her. "Ready?"

***

Storey took a deep breath as she waited for the black mist to rise up around her. Doing the right thing didn't always feel good. There was no doubt what they were doing was right for Tammy, but for herself and Eric, well…

A small hand crept into hers.

Another piece of Storey's heart melted. She looked at Tammy as she squeezed in between Eric and herself. Skorky, the name Storey had given the pet, sat comfortably on Tammy's shoulder. For all her inability to communicate, Tammy got her message across just fine. Outside of her couple attempts at speech, she'd stayed quiet – except for the horrific sounds that came out of her mouth when she was upset.

Squeezing the small hand, Storey found herself wishing she could hold Eric's hand. As soon as she'd dismissed the concept, Eric wrapped both arms around the girls. Tammy grinned and laid her head against Storey's chest. There was no sign of Skorky now. Oh there, it had slipped into Tammy's hood, its leash secure in Tammy's hand. Storey shuddered. She so didn't want that thing near her, but it would be worse if it escaped again. Paxton would have a fit.

Not to mention Tammy's reaction.

The blackness rose higher, making Storey's stomach heave. She'd been getting better at portal travel but this trip was unnerving to begin with. Still she'd made as many preparations as she could. Knowing they could end up in the middle of a group of angry Louers and have everything stolen again, she'd fashioned a chain with an odd piece of material that was similar to string, only more plasticized. With the stylus safely secured, she'd hung it around her neck to rest close to her heart. Just to be sure, she'd also folded several pieces of paper, stuffing them into her different pockets and hiding places.

The last thing she wanted was to lose her one advantage to getting home. The other styluses were safe with Paxton. He'd held them with such reverence; she knew they'd be safe with him.

The codexes had been preprogrammed to come to Paxton's lab. As long as she remembered to enter the numbers in the correct sequence. Eric had explained all that, but she'd only paid attention when he added it was a safety precaution in case they became separated.

Getting separated was
not
in her plans, but should anything happen…

Eric's fingers squeezed her shoulder. Storey realized her eyes had closed and she'd tucked her head against his shoulder. She hated that nerves were eating her alive this time.

"It'll be okay, Storey. We can do this."

Her spirits lifted. When his gaze caught hers, she grinned. "You're right. We can. I just wish we already had."

The mist dropped away.

Her breath gushed out.

They were in a meadow. Brilliant clear skies shone above them. Warm fresh air filled her senses. Spectacular. No smog. No pollution. No Louers.

She turned in a circle as a thought hit her. "Do you build houses with your hands?"

Out of the blue and totally unrelated to anything – yeah, real smooth Storey. She sighed at the strange look on his face and explained, "I thought I'd created a copy of my world but maybe I created a copy of the original – without human interference. Although, given the vegetation, they must have an ecosystem of some kind. Hopefully that included wildlife."

"Really. We're here in the new Louer dimension, potentially facing grave danger and you want to know if I can build a house with my hands."