Dangerous Designs Read online

CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Storey followed as Eric hurried toward the trees ahead. He'd gone from standing around to full speed. Weird.

  She made it seconds after him. Still gasping at the unexpected pace, she grabbed his arm, barely slowing him down. "What's the panic?"

  He twisted to look down at her, that sideways grin slid her way. "I just remembered that people could be looking for us. Here we are, standing around like ducks in hunting season."

  A horrible comparison. She shuddered. At least she now knew they had ducks and a hunting season.

  Brushing back the green overgrowth, Eric trotted ahead. "We'll enter the city by the back gates."

  "Aren't they guarded?" She hurried to catch him. His long legs ate up the miles, leaving her sputtering in shock. Normally, she let other people eat her dirt.

  "Not by people," he said.

  Wincing, she decided not to ask. She'd find out soon enough. "How much further?"

  "Half an hour, give or take." He headed off again at a quick clip. "Or less, if you'd move a little faster."

  After that comment, she half ran to keep up. Focused on trying to maintain his gruelling pace, she slammed into him when he came to a sudden stop.

  "What's wrong," she gasped, staggering back several steps to bend over and catch her breath. She closed her eyes briefly. Damn, she’d developed a stitch in her side. Eric wasn't even out of breath.

  "We're here."

  Thank heavens for that. Straightening, she surveyed the immediate area. Where was here? What could he see that she didn't? Thick evergreens clogged her view. Not big fat trunks of an old growth forest, but thousands of skinny trees. Other than the stunted sticky-looking trees, there didn't appear to be anything here. No building. No fence. And certainly no gate. "What am I looking at?"

  "A forest?" Again that superior amusement. It was really starting to piss her off. Glad he thought her ignorance was so funny. Not.

  She shot him a disgusted look. "Yeah. I can see that. What about your gate?"

  "It's on the other side of this group over there." He pointed out the trees in question.

  "Is your codex telling you that again?" She shielded her eyes from the bright light to stare where he pointed. It didn't help.

  "And the fact that I've been here before." He walked toward the invisible gate, a happy bounce to his step.

  She wished she had the same endurance. This last leg had tired her. The stitch in her side still irritated. Several steps later, she slowed as the blinding sun darkened. Now the air had a static emptiness to it, a weird sense of something missing. Shivers slid down her back. "Hey, Eric. What's with the change in light?"

  "It's a standard gate warning for anyone approaching. We're here."

  "Warning? I don't like the sound of that."

  "Normal for here and not a big deal if you follow the safeguards."

  "Whoa. What safeguards? What are you talking about?" She cast a quick look behind her. She couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. "Hey, wait up."

  "I'm here."

  "Not here enough." The blackness swirled around her, making her choke with the thickness of it. She reached out for Eric. He reached back, pulled her closer. She gasped and pressed tight against his side. "Don't you dare let go. I hate this."

  He chuckled. "No worries. Stay close."

  She snorted. "You think?" She twisted around, that eerie sensation crawling up her back again. Tugging, she tried to get him to move. He planted his feet and resisted.

  "What is your problem?" he burst out in exasperation.

  "Something is watching us."

  He stilled. "What are you talking about?"

  Peering up at him through the deepening mist, she tried to understand the odd flatness in his voice. "Don't you feel it?"

  "What? Feel eyes on us?"

  "Yes." She searched the suffocating blackness. "As long as I can't see them, they can't see me. Right?" she joked.

  "In theory, besides we're in the gate. Nothing can get us in here." He wrapped his arms around her to pull her close. She huddled in his arms, her eyes darting in all directions.

  Her stomach was in knots. So were her nerves. "What kind of animals do you have over here?"

  "All kinds of them." His grin flashed in the dark.

  "That's not helping. Animal predators?"

  His warm chuckle lifted the hair at her temple, sending a different sensation down her spine. "You're really spooked, aren't you?"

  Lifting her head, she stared up at his laughing blue eyes. She sighed. "Am I overreacting?"

  His chest rumbled against her. "No, not when it's all new to you."

  She dropped her forehead against him for a moment, then she asked, "Is the gate like the one in the mine?"

  "Sort of."

  "Why can't you give me something other than half an answer?" She'd barely finished when a scream sounded next to her. She half climbed Eric's tall frame. "What the hell was that?"

  Clasping her tightly to his chest, he whispered into her ear, "Shhhh."

  She stilled. Her heart in her throat, her nerves quietly shattered while her eyes stared into the damn soup. Her nose quivered.

  "Just another minute more." This time the warmth of his voice wafted against her neck. She shuddered. Eric almost made her forget her surroundings. He squeezed her tighter. Going on instinct, she snuggled closer.

  This was his world. She had no way of defending herself. She didn't even know what dangers existed. She'd never felt so helpless before in her life.

  "Hmmm."

  Regret nudged her when she realized Eric's arms were loosening. She lifted her head and looked around, hoping for the blue sky again. Not happening. Black cloying night surrounded them. She swallowed loudly. "Didn't it work? Is this where we're supposed to be?"

  Eric stared down at his codex. "I'm not sure. The codex is flashing that we've arrived."

  "Arrived where? It doesn't look any different from before." She waited for the dense fog to clear. It didn’t. "Is your codex broken?"

  "Not likely. It worked fine up until now."

  She studied the confusion on his face. The silence around them had a muffled sensation to it. Not a clear air type of silence, more of a padded chamber type of thing. "Did it though? You said you'd been here before. Did you though? Have you physically been at this gate before?"

  He didn't answer.

  "You haven't, have you?" She couldn't believe it. He'd duped her. "So how do you know if any of this is right?" she exclaimed, frustration stiffening her backbone.

  "I've seen pictures of this place. I've studied the area and the gate itself." He tried to pull her closer. She resisted, wanting to read the truth in his eyes. "This should have passed by now. But then all gates take a different amount of time. This one could be slower."

  "It's not slower." She knew it, and again had no idea how or why. "Something is wrong."

  "Not yet it isn't."

  "If... something has gone wrong, where would this wrong be?"

  "Huh?"

  "Where would we be if the gate didn't work?"

  He frowned. "I don't know. It's never happened before."

  She disengaged from his grasp, turning to look around at the heavy charcoal mist. Better than cloying blackness, but not by much. She wafted the mist around, hoping to clear some of it. "Never? Or never to you?"

  "Never that I know of."

  "What are the probable things that could go wrong with your codex?"

  "Like dialing the wrong number you mean? No. Each is a preset code." His eyes widened. Reaching out, he grabbed her hand. "Stay close."

  "Could the number have been changed? Like by Paxton?"

  He frowned. "I don't know. The codes are old. Well before his time."

  "But it's possible. And if, I'm just thinking aloud here, is it possible that we're in some kind of middle zone? No man's land? A different dimension again?"

  "I really don't know." He spun around to look behind him, then turned back to face her
. "We could be at a different gate. Lost between gates even. Like I said, it's never happened before."

  "Well," she suggested, "why don't you dial your codex and take us back to Stanshor Mine and we'll try a different, more traveled route."

  Understanding brightened his eyes. He lifted his wrist. No lights flashed. Nothing glowed. Grim-faced, he tapped several buttons. "Now, it's not working at all apparently."

  Her stomach sank. Of course it wasn't. They weren't meant to go back. "Could Paxton have done this on purpose or could something have gone that would change the codes?"

  "What could go wrong? Nothing goes wrong in my home."

  They stared at each other, puzzled. Then it hit them.

  "The Louers!" they cried.

  Storey's mind went blank, just for a moment, then raced ahead. The possibility that they'd arrived in the middle of a war was too much to contemplate. "First things first. Do you have a way to get us out of here?"

  Glaring down at the codex, Eric's frown deepened. "I don't know. Outside of trying to walk out of this."

  "Which may or may not work. So..." She pulled out her sketchbook and stylus. "Where should we go? To my world or deeper into yours? Are we thinking Louers have invaded? Or are we thinking Paxton did this to stop you from going home?" She stared up at him. He stared back, an odd look on his face. "Hey, are you in there?" she snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Pull it together. We're in trouble here, in case you didn't notice."

  "Let me reset my codex. Could be just a glitch?" He tapped a series of buttons again while Storey watched. Frowning, he studied his codex and the unchanging air. "What's the chance it needs another minute?"

  She snorted. "Get a grip. The gate is either not functioning or this is the destination. Either way, I'm not impressed." She plopped cross-legged on the ground. It didn't look like dirt or tile, more like black compressed nothing. Refusing to dwell on it, she opened her sketchbook and flipped to a new page. Her mind raced, searching for possibilities. After her one horrible encounter with Louers, she'd hate for the same nightmare to take over Eric's world. Just because his father was an asshole, that didn't mean everyone else was.

  "What are you doing?" He squatted down beside her.

  "I'm trying to figure out where we should go. What if the Louers have entered your world? Do you want to help your people? Haven't you imagined them tearing into your friends' homes and attacking your family?" She stared down at the sketch forming under her fingers. The stylus had warmed, heating with an urgency all its own.

  "I don't have any friends." His voice held a cool indifference.

  She looked up, startled. "What?"

  "I said I don't have any friends. I have teammates, coworkers, associates. No friends. Everyone in my world is part of my work."

  "Girlfriends?"

  "No." Short and curt. Hmmm. Some history there, but not her place to ask. "Didn't you make any friends through work? And if not, why not?" How could that be? Most people made friends with their coworkers. After all, that's where most people spent the bulk of their waking hours. It only made sense that strong friendships would form during this time.

  "My father."

  "Yeah, I can see how he'd put a damper on things. I have to admit my mother and her little candle shop have certainly brought me grief." She returned to her drawing. Her mind a muddle of remembered grievances with the townsfolk. Her poor mom was harmless. So what if her store was new agey and her religion was different. He had no friends? Yeah, well, she could relate.

  "He's not all bad."

  "No one is." She could feel his stare and ignored it as the picture emerged from the sketchpad. Paxton's lab. She sighed. Talk about walking back into a lion's den.

  Eric studied the picture taking shape. "Paxton is a good man. He's a government man who cares about my people. About me. He's trained me for the last decade, longer even."

  "Decade?" She shot him a questioning glance before returning to her picture. "Sounds like he's been more of a father to you than your own father."

  "In a way that's true." He reached across and tapped the paper. "You're thinking to go back to Paxton's lab? Did you forget there's a death sentence on your head?"

  She sighed. "No, I haven't forgotten that. I hate to say it, but I'm thinking they may have more important things to worry about now."

  "If they do, they might consider you responsible."

  She stared at him in dismay. "See, that's the problem with you guys. You just don't want to accept responsibility for your own actions. This isn't all about me. This is about you and your people. Remember, I didn't sneak into your world and leave you an innocent-looking bomb to play with."

  He grinned and shook his head. "I can see your point. However, just because I might understand, doesn't mean the others are going to be so open. "

  She snorted. "Well, they damn well better be. This is a result of their actions. The buck stops with them." Her hand stopped. She studied the finished picture with a critical eye. "I suppose that's close enough. I suggest we do a second picture. I don't know. Possibly of the same mine again, so that we can step into Paxton's lab and check out the climate, then if the Louers are trying to take the place over, we can use the second picture as an escape route."

  He nodded, apparently content to just watch. "That was the original plan anyway, right?"

  "Kinda." She sketched quickly, her hand a blur, until she was satisfied with the second drawing. She had to admit that the stylus had improved her artistic ability tenfold. "That should do it. Now let's go."

  He stood up and held out a hand for her. "You first."

  "No, I think we'd better go together."

  "We won't fit. You made complete doors, not partial ones that suggest bigger ones."

  "True, but, as I'm learning, it's more about what you're thinking than the actual size of the drawing.

  He stared at her, dumfounded. "Huh?"

  "Don't worry about it. Come on."

  She ripped off the first page. "How can I go through and take the paper with me?"

  "Like I did in the lab. Just grab it on the way through."

  She placed the sketch on the ground and motioned for him to step onto it. As soon as he'd disappeared from sight, she knelt on the paper keeping a firm grip on the corner with her hand. She fell through.

  Tumbling into Paxton's lab, she groaned as she smacked into the hard white tile. Kneeling wasn't a good idea. Then again, as she surveyed the paper in her hand with satisfaction, it allowed her to bring the gate with her.

  "That wasn't very graceful." Eric's voice was still a little fuzzy.

  Struggling to her feet, Storey turned to face him. "It also gave me a hell of a headache."

  "You've crossed through a lot of doors recently, some damage is possible."

  She shot him a worried look. "What kind of damage?" Shaking her head, she added, "Never mind. Tell me later." She spun around, realizing that the room was empty. "Is this Paxton's lab? If so, then where is he?"

  Eric walked around opening doors then closing them after checking the rooms on the other side. "I don't know. He's always here."

  "Where does he live? Surely he eats and sleeps somewhere else?"

  "Yes, but he lives here most of the time." Eric fisted his hands on his hips. "He should be here."

  Storey understood. War, and all that it entailed, wasn't part of Eric's thought process. He'd never encountered it. Didn't live with the possibility every day, like her people did. He had no idea of what was going on here. There was no point explaining things to him. He'd have to sort through this on his own - eventually.

  It wasn't for her to tell him that his peaceful world was under attack.