Free Deadly Designs (Design Series) by Dale Mayer Page B

Storey how that process would go? "Are the codexes really broken or are you looking for a way to avoid taking us back?" Not that she'd blame him if he was. She might pull that very trick if their positions were reversed.
    He snapped, "The codex problem has nothing to do with her. They worked originally, then there was a set of weird musical commands that I didn't, and still don't, understand. The last thing was a message in Toranee code that I finally understood to be your name. But before I could understand what or why, you were there, standing in front of me."
    "The stylus. It probably contacted your codex to let you know my location."
    Eric frowned. "Is that possible? Did he ever contact my codex before?"
    It was Storey's turn to frown down at the codex. "I know it's tracked your codex, because that's how I found it when you lost it in the basement that time. But I don't know if the stylus ever tried to contact it directly. Then again, who knows."
    Eric bent his head to the codex again. Once more he typed in Paxton's lab and once again, nothing happened.
    "I wonder if the stylus did something so you couldn't go back without me. So I wouldn't be left here."
    He glowered at her. "Then you'd better ask it."
    With a soft groan, she pulled the stylus out of her pocket and grabbed the one piece of paper she had at her disposal. "Stylus, are you getting stronger?"
    Yes.
    She smiled triumphantly at Eric. "See. It even feels stronger in my hand."
    "Yes, but is it ready to go? We need to get moving." He pointed out the sleeping pair at their feet. "We're going to have enough trouble when she wakes up. And communicating is going to be one of the biggest problems. Not to mention she'll expect us to help her and we don't even know what the stylus wrote in the message to her."
    "Then let's start there with the questions." She twisted the paper so that she had a clean corner to write on. "Stylus, what did you tell the Louer girl?"
    Her hand wrote quickly. That she is safe now and that you were going to take her to her parents. And that she should trust you as you'd see her safely home.
    Eric groaned. "Why would it say that? We don't even know how to help ourselves at this point, let alone getting her home."
    Storey stared at the words she'd written. "Maybe because that's how I felt." She gazed at Eric soberly. "The connection between us has deepened. It's almost as if I know what it's going to say. Maybe it has the same impression of my feelings?"
    "That doesn't make sense. Why would it deepen when you'd been separated to the point where it almost went to sleep?"
    "Maybe that's exactly why. To keep the connection there, to save the Louer souls inside from becoming a nothing shell like the other styluses that were outgrown, packed away and forgotten."
    Storey studied the stylus in her hand. The connection did feel different. It was a little hard to explain but it felt deeper. Odd, but not unpleasant.
    "Stylus, are the other styluses asleep like you were?"
    Like I was in the process of becoming, yes.
    "But there are souls in each one?"
    Yes, especially the broken one.
    She frowned. "What can we do for them?"
    Nothing at the moment. Keep them safe.
    "And later? Is there something we can do later?"
    Yes.
    Good. Glancing at Eric, she asked. "Stylus, did you do something to Eric's codex so that he couldn't leave without me?"
    No. Had to change his codex to old programming to tell him you were here. His codex works but it needs to be programmed manually.
    From the look of horror on Eric's face, she assumed the news wasn't to his liking.
    "Stylus, can you revert the process on Eric's codex or reprogram it so we can return to Paxton's lab?"
    Yes. But it takes time and energy.
    Back to square one. The stylus wasn't fully up yet. Shit. The more she asked it to do, the more it wore down. And she was almost out of paper. Storey frowned. "Is there more paper here, Stylus?"
    No.
    "So, I have to go back to Paxton's lab to get something to write on?"
    No.