Dangerous Designs Read online

  ***

  "What is she doing?" Eric tilted his head to study Storey's sideways crab imitation in front of him, a frown crinkling his forehead. He'd rushed into the lab at Paxton's panicked cry, only to come to a halt in front of the wall size screen that show Storey inside a crossing.

  "I have no idea," Paxton retorted. "She wouldn't be doing even that, if you'd kept an eye on her."

  "Hey," Eric protested. "That's not fair. You didn't even think she could do something like this. How was I to know?"

  The harrumph beside him was his only answer.

  "So now what?"

  "We watch."

  Shooting a sideways glance at Paxton, Eric struggled not to scrunch up his face in disgust. "Uhm, like isn't that a little mean?"

  Paxton beetled his brows. "Mean? How are we going to know what she can do if we don't watch her and find out?"

  "I don't think she has any idea of what she can do. Look at her. She's afraid she's going to run out of floor and fall off."

  "And she might. If she created that."

  The younger man gave him an incredulous look. "You can't possibly think she did this on purpose? She's not like that."

  "Right." Paxton shook his head in that old I taught you better than that way.

  "Honest. I've spent days watching her. She's a good artist, yes, but she creates mindlessly."

  "Then how did she create a portal?"

  Eric paused and chose his next words carefully. "I think it's the stylus."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "I think it's bonding with her."

  Complete shock rendered the old man silent. "Good God. How is that possible? Do you know for sure that she has it? You've actually seen it in her hand?" He spun around to study Storey's movements in the tunnel. "It can't become soulbound to her. She's not one of us"

  "I think that's what I saw. She wouldn't let me take a close look. This," Eric waved at the monitor, "proves it. It's the only way she could open a portal."

  The older man shuddered. "This is not good."

  "I'm assuming the stylus is trying to come home?"

  At the gasping cough, Eric stared at the red splotches appearing on Paxton's face. "Are you okay?"

  "No. No, I'm not," he snapped. "This is terrible. Something has to be done. She can't come here. She's one of them." He almost spat the last word.

  And? Eric didn't see that they had a choice. The stylus had latched onto Storey and appeared to be coming home whether Paxton approved or not. In fact, according to the monitor, the two of them had almost made it.

  Eric watched as Storey bent once more to the floor and crabbed her way forward. "We have to do something. This is painful to watch."

  The older man pivoted. "This can't happen. That the stylus was lost in the first place is unacceptable. That one of those otherworlders should have picked it up is worse...that the stylus is accepting...even strengthening the bond is..." Paxton stopped talking, overcome by emotion. He pressed his trembling fingers against his temples.

  "It might change things if we assist her, you know." Eric gestured at Storey. "Chances are she'd appreciate the help."

  A calculating look brightened Paxton's slate blue eyes. He rubbed his hands together. "Yes. Yes, that might work. She already knows you. You could cross over and let her out on her side of the veil."

  Eric considered the logistics. "She hasn't exactly welcomed me so far. A rescue could do a lot to help that."

  Paxton nodded. "She can't be allowed to find out the power of the stylus. Get it away from her."

  "It might already be too late. If she's soulbound already, we can't separate them. You know that," he countered.

  The old man wrung his hands, a calculating gleam in his eye. "Sure we can. We have to. The stylus is too powerful. It's too dangerous. First things first. Get her out of the crossing and retrieve the stylus."

  Eric shook his head. "I'm not going to participate in anything that will cause her death."

  Paxton straightened to his full height and stared down his long nose at Eric. "Then go. The longer the two are together, the harder it will be to separate them. Get the stylus now and she lives. Don't get it and she dies. Either way that stylus has to come home."

  With that order, Eric adjusted his soulkey, tapped into his codex and shifted dimensions.