TrackingDesire (14 page)

The oak tree was the center of her attention but in an
inexplicable way Liv could see so very much farther than just the tree, while
still being able to grasp all the intricate details. The antidote remained
within the city limits—that much she could detect almost immediately.

She tried to open her senses more fully, not an easy task
while technically separated from her body. Information came to her in broken
bits and pieces that she struggled to put together into a coherent whole. She
could tell the drug was inside, not out in the open or buried in the earth
somewhere. Scents assailed her nostrils—acetone and other solvents, the faintly
sterile scent of a hospital or a clinic, perhaps another laboratory. Even her
spirit form, Liv felt the dots connect and her head whipped around to face in
the right direction, not unlike a dog on point.

However hard she tried, Liv could not
see
exactly
where the drug lay, but she knew beyond a doubt its direction. As she slowly
made her way back toward her body, Liv let her bird’s-eye gaze wander down the
block and almost a mile farther, on to the horizon. Beacons of the drug glowed,
seeming to her like the lights on an airport runway, signaling where the plane
was safe to land.

With a huge indrawn breath, Liv entered her body once more
and felt her legs wobble from the effort and mammoth amount of energy she had
just used to press her magic to its very limits. Bordering on exhaustion, Liv
shook, and only the fact that Julian wrapped his warm arms around her and held
her steady stopped her from collapsing onto the hard concrete of the pavement.

“What the hell did you just do?” he asked, curious and
slightly angry. Too tired to argue, Liv shook her head and breathed oxygen into
her starved system.

“I projected myself to see the big picture,” she said after
a minute when she had managed to catch her breath and stop panting like a dog
after a long run. “I warned you it would take a lot of energy. I’m fine. I just
need to catch my breath.”

Liv cracked one of her green eyes open to look at Julian’s
face. He appeared drawn, worried and still slightly frustrated with her. She
tried to grin but wasn’t sure she quite managed to pull it off.

“You projected?” Julian repeated slowly, looking for all the
world as if light were dawning. “Like, astrally projected your spirit? Cut
yourself off from your body? Liv, isn’t that dangerous?”

She shrugged, privately pleased to feel the warmth of the sun
shining on them and the solid, alive feel of Julian behind her, supporting her
as she sat cradled between his legs on the sidewalk.

“I’ve been trained to do it properly,” she hedged. “But it’s
not the least risky of magical tricks. You knew we needed to do this, and I’m
here, resting and not pushing myself, aren’t I?”

Julian’s lips pressed into a tight, thin line of clear
disapproval, but thankfully he didn’t argue further with her. Instead he
brushed her hair gently from her face and tenderly stroked her cheek with his
fingers.

“What do you need? A drink? A break? Name it and I’ll get it
for you, love,” he told her, his voice soothing and filled with love.

Liv sighed, wishing for a brief instant that she could
indeed just sit here for an hour or more and cuddle with this man. But she knew
they had to get moving and already she could feel her energy beginning to
rejuvenate. She was tired, true, but she had not burned all her magic and they
had to keep pressing the advantage they had.

“Get the car, Julian,” she suggested. “My bag is in there
and everything I need is with it. Plus I now have a good idea where they are.”

Turning her head slightly, Liv nodded farther down the road.
“Down there, heading toward the outer limits of Chicago. It’s inside a
structure. It smells of solvent and sterile antiseptic. Possibly a hospital, a
clinic or maybe a medical facility. Or, I think more likely, another
laboratory.”

“You’re positive you don’t need a break?” Julian insisted.
He rubbed his hands in delicious circles as he massaged her shoulders and neck.

Liv let herself relax for just a minute in his arms, the
feel of his touch absolute bliss, before she forced herself to sit up and tear
herself from the warmth of his chest and support.

“I’m positive. Please, Julian—we need to move on this in
case they’re moving periodically to keep someone like me from discovering them.
Call Will on the way back, give him an idea of where we’re going and bring the
car around here—I’ll wait and rest a bit more and you can pick me up.”

Julian reluctantly stood up and stared down at her. Liv
brought up the brightest smile she could muster and it appeared to be enough to
convince him. Shaking his head with a sigh, he pulled out his cell again, along
with his keys, and went to retrieve the car.

Liv closed her eyes in the beautiful sunshine and let the
warmth soak into her skin and help her to regain some of the energy she had
lost. She’d packed granola bars and a thermos full of heavily sugared black
coffee in her backpack. Usually she drank it straight, but when she Retrieved,
the sugar hit helped to keep her energized when she needed a boost. And right
now, Liv knew, she needed an enormous boost to keep going after this drug.

The more time passed, the more urgent it became. Liv only
hoped she could last the distance and not let her friends down.

Julian drove his car as if it were simply an extension of
his body. Liv had not noticed how smooth his motions behind the wheel were, but
in her tired state she found herself focusing on the small details while she
recovered some of her magic. She had devoured two granola bars and half the
thermos of coffee before she’d even been able to think coherently. Julian had
waited patiently until she’d put her items away and begun to direct him.

Initially they had moved quickly, Julian gliding the car
around corners and distancing them from the laboratory as Liv pointed firmly in
this direction and that. The farther they traveled, however, the more intricate
the twisting path became and after a minute of hesitation Liv had to call a
halt.

“You’d better pull over,” she said reluctantly.

Julian cast her a quick glance but obeyed almost instantly.

“Is everything all right?” he checked.

Liv nodded quickly before speaking. “Oh, yes, I’m fine. It’s
just that this is where the trail begins to get murky for me,” she explained
honestly. “I’d rather we pull over now and I recheck the direction we’re
heading in, instead of continuing on instinct and having to backtrack.”

“You need to project again?” Julian replied.

For the first time since they’d met, Liv couldn’t tell
exactly what his tone of voice indicated. She hazarded a guess that while he
wasn’t going to argue or forbid her, he wasn’t precisely pleased either.

“I hope not.” Liv frowned in slight consternation. “There
are only so many times a day I can handle the intensity of astral projection.
And the more times I do it, the quicker I’ll burn through my energy.”

Liv unbuckled her belt as Julian pulled into an empty place
at the side of the road. They opened their doors and circled the car as they
moved to the sidewalk. Liv looked around and could see the faint trace of
essence directing them. Some of the tension released from her shoulders. She
hadn’t stopped Julian too late after all.

“They were going this way.” She indicated and walked to the
end of the block. From the corner, she gazed down the right-hand intersection
and saw that the trail continued that way. Hedging her bets, she decided to try
to see just a little farther. Standing still, she pulled herself away from her
body only slightly and extended her sight just a little.

The trail blazed in front of her astral gaze and,
thankfully, she saw after a winding trek the building she had only partially
sensed back in front of the police labs. With a jerk, she hastily scrambled
back into her body and swayed. Once again Julian’s warm hands held her steady,
his voice somewhat grave from his worry and irritation. “I thought you said you
wouldn’t need to do that,” he said.

Liv shrugged a little lethargically. “I said I hoped I
wouldn’t, but it paid off,” she quickly informed him. “I’ve found the site.
It’s a brick building about five miles away. Give me a second to recover myself
and I’ll direct you there.”

Liv melted into Julian’s embrace as he pressed a kiss to the
top of her head and muttered darkly under his breath about “stubborn-ass
witches” and how he was a “damn fool for a redhead”.

This time, as she had exerted much less energy having
traveled less distance out there on the astral plane, it only took a couple of
minutes for her to bounce back. Still feeling tired and drained but determined
to see this through, Liv indicated that she was ready. They slowly headed hand
in hand back to Julian’s car.

When they had climbed back in, buckled their seatbelts and pulled
back onto the road, Julian retraced their steps and turned in the direction Liv
had indicated, keeping his speed very slightly below the limit as she continued
to lead him along a winding, twisted path through the inner city streets.

Eventually they pulled up outside a large brick building
that looked remarkably like the police forensics lab where they had started.
For a brief moment, Liv felt an unnatural flare of panic, wondering if she had
made a mistake.

“Look.” Julian pointed to a sign half-hidden under a bunch
of vivid-green bushes set out at the front of the building near the sidewalk.

Bell and Turnball Private Research Laboratory Facility
,
the sign read.

Instantly, Liv felt relief course through her body as she
realized she had the right place after all. She exchanged a grin with Julian,
who looked her over carefully.

“You look tired,” he commented, worry in his tone. “Really
tired. Are you sure you’re up for this? We could call Will, get him to send in
the others now you’ve Retrieved the position for us, babe. We could go home and
you could get some rest.”

Liv shook her head firmly, her curls bouncing around her
face.

“No,” she insisted. “Definitely not. At least not until we
go in there ourselves and verify whether the antidote has been brought here and
is being worked on. I don’t want to have made a mistake and have egg all over
my face, especially not when I’m still the newbie on the team.”

“You don’t have to prove yourself, Liv,” Julian insisted
softly.

Liv waved her hand dismissively. “Maybe not, but I still
don’t want to have Will deploy a bunch of teams and find out I’ve made a huge
error. The idea of such a clusterfuck is enough to bring me out in hives. I’ll
be fine, I promise.”

To prove her point, Liv undid her seatbelt, opened the car door
and climbed out. Dizzy for an instant, she quickly recovered herself and
privately admitted to being pleased that she wouldn’t have to burn much more
energy. She still planned to jack up her senses and Retrieve the final position
or hiding place of the antidote once inside the lab, but that wouldn’t be
anywhere near as draining as astral projection was.

Straightening her spine, Liv walked confidently toward the
footpath leading to the private research lab. Julian caught up with her after
only a few paces and dropped a brief, chaste kiss on her cheek.

“You don’t fool me for one second, Olivia Congreave,” he
chided her.

Liv cast him a quick, sideways glance and saw the smile
twitching at the edge of his mouth. She slowed her pace and moved more
naturally.

“Oh well, it was worth a try,” she half-laughed. “Honestly,
I don’t need to project anymore. When we get in there, I’ll just figure out
exactly where the antidote is, finish the Retrieval, and then I’ll rest
properly. Promise.”

Julian stopped them by tenderly taking her chin between his
fingers and tilting her face so she looked directly in his soft gray eyes.

Liv kept her gaze locked with his, knowing he’d be able to
see the truth of her words reflected in her green eyes. With a brief nod, he
released her and dropped a kiss to her lips.

“Okay, we’ll finish this then call Will while I take you
back to my place,” Julian said as they entered the facility. “Good thing you
packed that change of clothes.”

Liv didn’t have time to comment, only to smother her laughter
as they came to a receptionist’s desk blocking the way in between two corridors
leading in opposite directions. A perky blonde woman with large white teeth and
a cute, short crop of curls grinned at them as they entered.

“Welcome to the Bell and Turnball Facility. How can I help
you?” she greeted them.

Liv cast a quick glance at Julian before responding. “Hi
there. We’re from the Enforcers and we have just a few routine questions to ask
the laboratory manager here about a case we’re pursuing. I wonder if he could
spare us a few minutes of his time, please?”

The blonde’s smile wilted for a moment before she recalled
herself and amped it back up again. “Um, of course,” she replied less than
confidently. “Let me just see if he’s available for you. What are your names,
please?”

“Olivia Congreave and Julian Sherwyn,” Julian answered with
a polite smile.

The receptionist nodded, her curls bobbing, picked up a
phone and pressed a single digit.

“Yes, good morning, Dr. Mason—it’s Sydney here, out in
reception. I have two Enforcers here who have some routine questions for you to
answer in relation to a case they’re working on.” There was a pause for a
moment while the blonde listened intently, then all but sagged with relief at
his reply. “Yes, sir, I understand. Thank you. I’ll let them know.”

“Dr. Mason will be right out to meet with you,” she informed
them, her earlier tension gone as she hung up the phone. Sydney waved a hand to
indicate a row of aluminum chairs lined up against a wall with a low table with
half a dozen well-thumbed gardening and sports magazines neatly piled in one
corner.

Julian and Liv thanked her before taking their seats. They
waited patiently for five minutes before a tall, well-built man in a white
laboratory coat strode down one of the corridors. His white hair had receded to
the point where there was just a wispy halo circling the back of his head from
ear to ear.

He entered reception and looked startled for a moment, as if
he’d forgotten why he’d entered the room. When he caught sight of Julian and
Liv, who had stood as he entered, an almost visible mental light bulb went off
over his head and he strode confidently toward them, his palm out to shake
theirs.

“I’m Dr. Mason. You must be the two Enforcers Syd told me
about.”

Liv silently shook Mason’s hand and let Julian do the
talking as she slowly opened her senses once again. Julian took Mason’s hand
and shook it vigorously before they set off back down the corridor Mason had
come from.

“Yes, I’m Julian Sherwyn and this is my partner, Olivia
Congreave,” Julian began. “We’ve been following the trail of a new drug called
Jolt, which has magical essence contained within it. Apparently a new technique
has been used to imbibe the synthetic drug with essence, and—”

“Ah!” Mason interrupted, and nodded his head. “Now I
understand. You’re not upset with us in the least. You’ve just heard about our
research and want to know how we made such a stunning breakthrough. Well, young
man, I must warn you that much of what you probably seek is held under strict
confidentiality agreements and gag orders, but I will help you however much I
legally and morally can.”

Liv exchanged a puzzled glance with Julian, but left him to
question the doctor as he felt best. As they passed room after room, Liv
searched for traces of the antidote and attempted to feel and see where it
might be kept. Unfortunately, they were soon hustled into what was obviously
Dr. Mason’s working office.

“The bare bones of the facts, which I don’t scruple to boast
to you about, are— Oh, please, both of you, sit down.” Dr. Mason walked around
his desk and took a seat as Liv and Julian sat on the other side of his desk in
chairs set out for that purpose.

“A private grant was bestowed on us about eighteen months
ago to help us finish a project that many had given up on,” Mason began. “This
allowed us to replicate and validate our new procedure for distilling and
removing essence from a magical person and instilling it in another object. The
medical research alone is proving invaluable in many areas and there’s a lot of
interest in our new procedure. I must admit that the journal articles alone are
keeping me run-off-my-feet busy, but I do still keep my hand in with the
laboratory work now and then. We have great hopes that many maladies will be
successfully treated with this new procedure, as might many long-term illnesses
where the life force or magical energy has wasted away in those too sick to aid
themselves. It’s a very exciting time for us.”

Again, Liv and Julian exchanged a look. As there was no sign
of the antidote here in the office, Liv closed down her senses and decided to
join in the conversation.

“Could you please tell us who these last-minute benefactors
were?” she probed.

Dr. Mason shook his head with slight regret.

“I’m very sorry, Miss, but no, I can’t. It was explicitly
laid out in the confidentiality agreement. Being sued would be the least of my
problems if I divulged such information.”

“Is your research still ongoing?” Julian asked when a
silence fell between them.

Mason lit up like a kid on Christmas morning.

“Oh, my word, yes!” he beamed. “The breakthroughs we’ve made
have immense potential in numerous other medical and psychological industries.
Now we can distill essence, we have great hopes of being able to research what
makes magical people magical. The age-long question of whether humans could
become magical if essence were instilled in their systems and a whole host of
other projects could be more thoroughly explored. Questions like what makes
some people have more innate talent and others less, or whether one’s magic
could be restored after burning out, or whether a normal human could be made
permanently magical or even temporarily in control of magic infused within
them. Really, the possibilities are limitless.”

“Don’t you feel as if this pushes the boundaries of what we
mortals should know and understand?” Liv asked cautiously, not wanting to
insult the doctor. “Some things are best left alone, and truly, I would have
thought the research you’re discussing falls into that category—the ability to
manipulate and control things we’re not meant to.”

“If we aren’t meant to, then why can we discover the
answers?” Dr. Mason parried tartly.

“We were given the answers to the Ebola virus,” Liv pointed
out in her most placid tone of voice. “We’ve discovered the answers of the
hydrogen bomb and splitting the atom, pestilence and other atrocities that go
beyond the realms of our understanding. That doesn’t mean the knowledge we
found was good or right. Some things really are best left alone.”

“Possibly.” Dr. Mason waved Liv’s concerns aside as if they
were utterly unworthy of his thought. “But this is completely different. If we
understood how magic and essence work, there are millions who could benefit
from our knowledge. The good we could bring about would far outweigh any bumps
in the road to greater glory.”