A Despair of Demons (Travelers, Book 1) Read online

  A petite woman with shoulder-length brown hair and warm brown eyes met her in the lobby.

  “Hi, Dr. Brown. I need full bloodwork, neurotransmitters, enzymes, tox screen, an EEG, and a PET scan as fast as we can.”

  “Everything’s set up.” Dr. Brown led the way to a cubicle separated from others by a sliding white sheet hanging from the ceiling.

  Liv sighed and tried not to touch anything white.

  She sat impatiently as Dr. Brown injected her with the markers for the PET scan and a medical drew blood from her arm.

  Dr. Brown left as another medical wheeled the EEG in on a cart. Liv sat still on the bed while the technician ran all the leads, but she could see in the first moments that it was normal. She sighed with relief. The technician finished, pulled all the leads off Liv’s head, and wheeled the cart out. Too bad everyone wasn’t that professional.

  Another medical came in and began a physical and neurologic exam.

  “I’m a neurologist,” she said. “I can tell you, all of these exams will be normal. It’s the bloodwork I need.”

  The medical smiled at her condescendingly. “Well, let’s just make sure, shall we?” He finished and chirped, “All normal.”

  She resisted the urge to snarl. How long had it been since she’d been injected with the PET markers? It would take an hour before the chemical became concentrated in her brain so that the PET scan could see the active areas and map them. If only she had her new scanner! It could read within minutes, but it was on special order from a military medical engineering lab and hadn’t arrived yet.

  “I’ll just let you relax,” the medical said, and left.

  “Wait,” Liv said. “I need a CT scan too. Might as well do it while we’re waiting.”

  “Dr. Brown has ordered it. We’ll be in to get you when it’s ready.”

  She took a deep breath, unclenched her teeth, and lay back on the white sheet covering the white bed. Fear stabbed her stomach. Words like permanent brain damage, and irreversible welled into her mind. What if she was unfit for duty?

  You’re fine, like always, she told herself. Shut up or they’ll flag you for high blood pressure.

  Finally, the medical returned and held out a paper gown. It was white. Of course. “Put this on.”

  Liv groaned. “Come on. Really? We’re just looking at my head.”

  The medical silently held out the garment until Liv took it, then stepped outside the curtain. Liv could still see his stupid shadow, hovering out there to make sure she changed like a good girl. She hated Medical.

  When she pushed through the curtain wearing her new gown, the medical said, “Follow me.”

  “I know where CT is.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  She followed him down the hall to the CT room, laid down on the table, and tried to hold still as it slid her slowly into the machine.

  Then she was led to the PET scanner, as if she didn’t work with it on a regular basis, and laid on another table.

  She fought to keep her mind on the Travel research project she was running next week, instead of the thought which refused to completely leave her mind: maybe research would be all she’d be doing for the DEPOT next week. She’d been a researcher before joining T36, but she loved field work, and she was damn good at it. She wasn’t going back to a lab.

  “You can get up now, Liv,” the technician’s voice said through the intercom. When she sat up, she saw her whole team standing in the viewing room, hovering over the technician’s shoulder.

  The technician pointed to a privacy screen in the corner, and Liv went over to check it out. Someone had thoughtfully dumped her uniform there. She scowled, shaking out the wrinkles, and dressed quickly.

  She took special pleasure in buckling on her knives and handguns. It was better to be armored.

  She walked into the viewing room. “Didn’t know I’d have an audience.”

  Jordan gave her a guilty grin as Ben threw his arm around her shoulders. “We had to come and see if you were ok, sis.”

  “And?”

  The technician said, “The radiologist needs to read these, but you had a normal neurologic exam and I see nothing alarming here, in either your CT or your PET scan.”

  She hid her wave of relief, focusing on the new problem. What had Elachai done to her? “Damn. We had to wait too long for the markers to concentrate. Whatever he did disappeared by the time I got scanned.”

  Jordan’s smile was warm. “At least you’re okay.”

  She allowed herself a quick grin. “Yeah, there’s that.”

  They headed out of Medical, took the elevator up to three, followed a meandering hallway, and finally reached the briefing room.

  General Mace, commanding officer of the DEPOT, was already seated at the head of the conference table. His buzzed salt-and-pepper hair gave him a look of authority and suited his barrel frame and square jaw. As the team filed in and took seats, he gave each of them a piercing look. When his gaze landed on Liv, he said, “Dr. Greenwood. You’ve been conditionally cleared. How do you feel?”

  Conditionally? What the hell does that mean? “I’m fine, sir. Medical said so.”

  His gaze lingered on her for a few seconds before he nodded and turned to Connor. “All right. Let’s hear it. L-634S.”

  Jordan said, “Liv called it Necropolis.”

  Connor glanced at her. “That’s apt. Okay, Necropolis: World of the Damned.” He launched into the report. He and Trent had searched to the north, and the most exciting thing they’d found was a semi-collapsed building emitting a rhythmic tapping noise. They’d slithered through the debris and dust to find that it was only a wind-driven whirligig attached to a back wall.

  Ben recounted his search with Gin, which had turned up nothing. Jordan added his and Liv’s findings of the newspaper and the library.

  He said, “I had time to read more while we were waiting for Liv’s tests. I was initially wrong about a contagion. It was actually a biological weapon. My guess, although I haven’t figured out the word they use, is that it was some kind of DNA-targeted toxin, which killed almost everyone.”

  Liv said, “That would explain why it hit so fast. Even a contagion would be hard pressed to take out everyone as quickly as evidence suggests it did. So they screwed up the DNA target?”

  Jordan’s mouth twisted. “I’m only guessing they had a DNA target in the first place. I need a day or two to finish translating.”

  General Mace nodded, giving his permission.

  “What DNA could we possibly share with demons?” Trent asked.

  Even though Liv wasn’t sure they existed, she didn’t like the thought that humans shared anything at all with demons. From the uneasy glances that went around the room, neither did her teammates.

  Connor continued the debrief, telling of his and Liv’s trip to the waterfront.

  Liv took over, describing what she could remember, and Connor helped fill in the holes.

  General Mace asked Connor, “Why didn’t you apprehend this man?”

  Connor shook his head. “He was too far away. When I moved in, I saw him for less than a second before he Traveled.”

  “What I’m really interested in, sir,” Liv said, “is finding out how he did what he did to me. Some kind of device? Chemical? There were no abnormalities on either PET or CT scan, so if it was something physical, the effect had dissipated by the time we got back. I’ll know more when the lab results are in.”

  “Do you have any theories?”

  “I’d prefer to wait until I see the lab work. I should have results in another hour.” She gritted her teeth. “If only my new PET scanner had come in! It might have been fast enough to catch an abnormality.”

  Ben grinned. “Hey, at least you’ll be able to figure it out next time.”

  General Mace, familiar with Ben’s flippant attitude about almost everything, simply sighed. “Hopefully there won’t be a next time. Anyone have anything to add?”

  “What about the d
emons?” Trent asked.

  “You don’t really think they exist?” Ben asked. “They’re a story teenage Travelers use to terrify newbies.”

  Trent glowered. “They exist.”

  Liv threw him a puzzled glance. “You have evidence?”

  Trent gave her a glare and said sullenly, “No.”

  What was wrong with him? Trent was so equable it was often difficult to tell what he thought about anything. He’d certainly never acted like this.

  “All right,” General Mace said. “You’ll go back Monday to look for the lab. Try to find proof of demons or this toxin.”

  “What about my experiment, sir?” Liv tried to sound inquiring rather than dismayed. She wanted to learn how their brains functioned in Travel, but now that Elachai was out there pushing people’s brains into what should be physiologic impossibilities, it was more important than ever to get that data.

  “Assuming you’re cleared by Medical, and assuming your equipment arrives, you can conduct the experiment as scheduled, before you leave.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “Anything else?”

  He received a chorus of “No,” and “No, sir.”

  “Dismissed. Have a good weekend.”

  General Mace rose and strode out the door. Liv rose as well and followed her team to the elevator.

  Ben flashed her a grin as he caught up to her at the elevator. “I’m going up.”

  “What?” But she thought she knew what he meant. Their offices were all on lower floors, but the cafeteria was on level two.

  “Just going to grab a bite while there’s time,” he said, confirming her suspicion.

  “But you’re done for the day,” Liv protested as he stepped into the elevator.

  “Yeah, but I heard there’s Bavarian cream donuts. Paperwork always goes better with Bavarian cream donuts. Know what would make you feel better?”

  “Not a Bavarian cream donut.” Normally, Ben’s taunt would have worked. She loved Bavarian cream as much as he did, but she couldn’t eat a donut without running for two hours to burn off the calories. Now, her stomach curled up like a hedgehog at the thought of eating. “I need to go get my results.”

  “You know where I’ll be when they come in.”

  And that was as close as Ben would come to saying that he wanted to know the results and would sit there worrying over his Bavarian cream donut until she reported to him. He stepped into the elevator and was gone.

  “I’ll be in my office,” Jordan said from her side.

  “I’ve got some reports to catch up on,” Gin said from behind her.

  “Trent and I will be in the gym,” Connor said, as he raised his eyebrow at Trent.

  Trent nodded.

  Liv was ashamed to feel tears welling up. Her whole team was going to wait around to make sure she was okay. “Thanks y’all.”

  Liv hurriedly swallowed the lump in her throat as the elevator doors opened again and they all stepped inside. “Connor, did you notice anything weird about Elachai before he vanished?”

  Connor ran a hand through his close-cropped hair. “You mean other than the fact that his hair looked like my sixteen-year-old niece’s?”

  “Yeah. Other than that.”

  “Nope.” His eyes searched hers for a moment. “Why?”

  “I just wondered if you could see what he was doing to me.”

  Liv felt Jordan tense beside her.

  “If he was doing something when I ran in, it was from a distance of at least twenty feet. I heard most of your conversation, and I doubt he ever moved closer.”

  Jordan relaxed.

  Liv abandoned all pretense. “But there was no chanting, or hand motion, or device, flashing lights, anything?”

  Connor’s eyes warmed and a hint of a smile played on his lips. “What do you think he did? Witchcraft? Voodoo?”

  Liv glared. “He took a chunk of my life right out of my head. That’s not okay with me. I just want to know how so I might find a way to reverse it.”

  Connor held up his hands in an I’m innocent gesture. “Sorry. I know it sucks Liv, but there was nothing. He was just standing there talking to you. And then—poof.”

  She nodded. She’d figure it out. Somehow.

  * * *

  Liv knocked on General Mace’s door.

  “Enter.”

  “Sir. I just got my results back.”

  “And?”

  “As far as I can tell, Elachai briefly affected my brain chemistry. Several neurotransmitters were abnormal, along with a couple of enzymes, but I’ve already been retested. Those results are now normal. Everything else was negative.”

  “So how did he affect you?”

  She sighed. “That’s my question. All I can tell you is what he didn’t do. He didn’t come close enough to touch me, he didn’t use any sort of detectable chemical, he didn’t appear to have a device according to Connor. The only thing I can think of is that he used some sort of hyper-amped, super-fast hypnosis. I just don’t know how, because Connor didn’t hear anything unusual, and all my brain scans were normal. Without knowing which part of my brain was affected, the other information is useless.”

  General Mace nodded. A casual observer might think he wasn’t interested, but Liv knew he was a very bright man. He actually encouraged thinking among his men, and did quite a bit of it himself. Which was one of the reasons he worked so well with the mix of military and civilian scientific personnel at the DEPOT, and helped them carry out their standing orders to discover and apply new scientific discoveries, including technology, weapons, and medicine.

  “Thank you, Dr. Greenwood. I’ve spoken with Medical, and you are cleared for active duty. Try to relax at least once this weekend. That’s an order.”

  Liv smiled. “Yes sir. Good night.”

  “Good night.”

  Liv headed back down to her office on twenty-seven. When she walked in, it wasn’t empty.

  Her team sat on her desk, lounged on tables, or leaned against the wall.

  “Well?” Jordan asked when she stopped short.

  She ran through it again for them.

  Ben threw an arm around her. “At least you’re clear.”

  “Sure.”

  “You’ll figure it out, Liv.”

  Jordan’s solid faith in her ability calmed her as nothing else had. She smiled. “Okay.”

  “Let’s get out of here.” Connor clapped his hands and motioned them out the door. “You too, Liv,” he said when she showed signs of staying behind.

  She looked around her tidy office and couldn’t think of anything else she needed to do tonight. “Okay.”

  “It’ll be here when you get back,” Jordan promised with a smile.

  “Come on,” Ben said as he threw an arm around her shoulders. “Let’s go watch a movie.”

  “Everybody?”

  “Obviously.” Gin grinned at her from the doorway.

  Liv’s heart melted. She loved movies, but most of her teammates couldn’t stand sitting still for long. And they were volunteering to, for her.

  Liv smiled. “My house, one hour?”

  “We’re there,” Gin said.

  “Thanks, y’all. I mean it.”

  Ben aimed his finger at her like a gun. “Next time, I hope the scary Traveler just attacks us.”

  Liv laughed. “Yeah, me too.”

  Trent said, “Watch what you wish for.”

  “Come on, Gloomy Gus,” Connor said as he closed Liv’s door. “Let’s go.”

  * * *

  Jordan leaned against Liv’s countertop and crossed his arms in an effort to avoid physical contact. She was wearing some sort of velvety shirt that clung to every curve, and since he’d arrived half an hour ago, he’d been fighting the urge to reach out and feel if it was as soft as it looked.

  The team was gathered in her small kitchen, talking over beers and finger foods, winding down after their particularly stressful day, and he’d been watching her closely to make sure she wa
s okay.

  She acted like her normal self. In his scrutiny, though, he apparently forgot the barrier that normally kept his mind firmly in the she’s my partner and we’re friends zone.

  She leaned around him to answer some joke of Ben’s, brushing his arm, and he felt an overwhelming urge to put his arm around her, hold her against him. He jammed his hands in his pockets.

  Finally, she said, “Who’s ready for the movie?”

  Gin and Ben raced for the living room, calling their favorite spots. Connor and Trent jumped for the couch.

  Jordan trailed Liv, who took the last armchair. Since he refused to participate in the seating melee, there were never a lot of options. He took his usual place on the floor and leaned back against her chair, trying not to touch her knee with his shoulder.

  The screen lit, and he focused on the movie.

  He’d thought it would be easier in the dark, but he hadn’t counted on her perfume. He tried not to feel her presence next to him, but she shifted in her chair and her sweet spicy scent hit his nose. He breathed deep and felt himself growing hard.

  Great. He tried to think about baseball, but he wasn’t very interested in sports. Aunt Betty. That should work.

  She shifted her legs, brushing against him with sensual softness, and he breathed her in again. The picture of Aunt Betty popped like a soap bubble and he grew hard again. He wasn’t very good at picturing people he hadn’t seen in years anyway.

  He tried to focus on the explosions on screen, but every time her perfume wafted past his nose, it sent blood straight to his groin. Thank God he’d worn a long-hemmed shirt. No one would notice in the dark, but he’d have to get out of here as soon as the lights went on. Or preferably, before they went on.

  The end credits finally rolled. Although he had no idea what they had just watched, much less any of the plot twists, he jumped up and said, “Great movie. I’d better get going. See you guys Monday.”

  He escaped out the door before anyone managed to get to the lights, which suited him just fine. He’d better get himself under control again before Monday or there would be some serious problems.

  His house was only a mile from Liv’s, so he got home in minutes. He decided that even though he’d taken a shower a couple of hours ago, another might be in order— a cold one.