Broken Protocols (10 page)

Slipping around the corner, she stopped. There was another bathroom. A monster-sized room and different from the last one she’d used. She used it, then after washing her hands, she stared into the mirror and shuddered. God, she looked pathetic. Even seeing that, she straightened her spine and tried to put a smile on her face. That looked better. She took a couple of deep breaths and smacked her cheeks lightly to put some color on them. Having done what little she could do, she opened the door and shrieked.

“Whoa. Take it easy.” Levi reached out to stabilize her. “Come on, let’s get you back to bed.”

“I need clothes and food. So does Charmin,” she whispered. “I’m so hungry.”

“I’m preparing food. Wait a second.” He disappeared, only to reappear with a long flowing robe. He quickly dropped it over her head. Immediately, her body warmed.

“Now, hold onto my arm and I’ll take you to the kitchen. After you eat, it’s back into the pod.”

“I do feel better and warmer. Thanks for the robe.” She gave him a small apologetic smile. “Just not that much better.”

“The pod will do its job, but it’s going to take some time.”

“Like a lifetime?” She stumbled forward, every step a triumph.

He laughed. “Shouldn’t be that bad.”

“I hope not.” She managed a tiny laugh. “Thanks for helping.”

“Not an issue. I’m just sorry that you’re hurting.”

By the time he’d finished talking, he was helping her into a chair at a table. She stared around and realized the kitchen was more or less normal-looking. After Milo’s talk about shakes and nutrients, she was scared to imagine what food he’d come up with. “I’m just so hungry. I wonder if it’s a side effect of the time travel,” she said.

“Maybe. You need it for healing.” He opened a section of the wall before she had a chance to see what he’d done. “Is that a refrigerator?”

He turned to look at her. “It’s a cooler.” He placed a clear plastic jug with eggs and something resembling cheese on the counter. Her mouth started watering. “Could I have a piece of cheese?” she asked, her voice faint with hunger.

He brought a thick slice over for her. As if he knew she had food, Charmin started meowing steadily from the back room. She winced, feeling guilty over her cheese. “Is there any chance you have something for him?”

He grimaced. “I don’t have anything resembling cat food, but there is some ground chicken in here.”

“Ha,” she said. “He’d love that.”

And he did. Instead of taking the food to the pod, Levi brought Charmin to the kitchen table. Charmin howled pitifully the whole time. Once at the table, Dani wrapped her arms around him, trying to keep him calm until some food arrived. But he wouldn’t be calmed. He definitely wasn’t living up to his name.

Finally, Levi brought a bowl of minced chicken over. “Will he eat it raw?”

“I think he’ll eat your hand as well if you don’t give that bowl to him.”

Levi lowered the bowl and Charmin damn near jumped into it. Dani was actually embarrassed. “Sorry, he’s usually better mannered.”

Charmin stopped eating and turned to look at her. “Get over it. I’m hungry.”

Her gaze whipped over to Levi to see what he thought of Charmin’s speech abilities. He took a step back. Then a second step and a third until he’d come up against the counter. His gaze went from Charmin to her and back again. “Did he just talk?”

“Oh, I’m so glad you and Milo can hear him, too.” She grinned happily. “I was afraid I was going nuts.”

Levi stared at her in shock. “Are you serious?”

“Oh, I’m serious with being happy I’m not the only one who can hear him.” She leaned forward and said in a conspiratorial whisper. “He’s only been able to do this since Milo’s little trip. This cat could never talk before.”

Charmin snorted and shook his head, spraying flecks of raw chicken across the table. “Yes, I could. You couldn’t hear me.”

She raised one eyebrow and stared at Levi. “Is that possible?”

“What? That the cat talks? Hell no.”

She grinned, enjoying herself. “No – that I’m the one that is different. And you two are more advanced – maybe that’s why you can hear him? Or did the trip through time make him able to speak?”

“Or both. If one of you has a change like that, then it’s quite likely that both will.” He ran his hand through his hair, leaving it looking wonderfully tousled. And damn, she wanted to go and run her hands through it, too. Her stomach growled again.

And didn’t Charmin start to inhale the food faster, as if he thought she was going to get close and eat his food?

She leaned closer on purpose. “Hey. Don’t worry. I won’t be eating your chicken.”

“Oh crap.” Levi straightened, staring at the eggs. “I forgot about your food.” He exhaled sharply. “I’ll make a cheese omelette.” He grabbed a bowl and cracked two eggs.

She coughed. “Uhm, I don’t suppose you could make that a big omelette, could you?”

He raised his gaze to stare at her, as if asking if she was serious. At her hopeful look, he cracked two more eggs. “I think your eyes are bigger than your stomach.”

“No problem. I’ll help her.” Charmin sat on the table cleaning his paws. At the odd silence in the room, he looked up to find them both staring at her. “What? I’m still hungry.”

While Levi whipped up an omelette, and she was amazed to know that they were still making omelettes this far in the future, she found a cloth and wiped up Charmin’s mess. She had been afraid they’d replaced food with pills. And to a certain extent, they might have. If she could take a pill and make her stomach feel like she’d eaten a roast chicken with all the trimmings, she’d swallow a half dozen and maybe feel like she was back to normal. Right now, her toes were so empty she was pretty damn sure she wouldn’t make the walk back to the pod.

Just when she was thinking she’d actually start crying from hunger, a plate was placed in front of her.

Melted cheese filled the inside of a golden omelette. She could taste it already. Cutting up a section into small bits to cool, she forked up the first bite and closed her eyes and moaned. “Oh, that’s good.”

She opened her eyes to find Charmin whacking at the piece closest to him. He caught it in his paws and dragged his prize toward him.

“You get that piece because you got it covered in raw chicken, but that’s it. No more.”

Charmin ignored her as he tried to eat, but the piece was too hot. He meowed and batted the piece a couple of times, then tried to bite it. Whining, he gobbled it down anyway.

“Geez. Aren’t you full yet?”

Charmin stared, his gaze never lifting from her plate. “I’m hungry.”

“Oh man.” She cut him another piece and slid it toward him. “That’s it. The rest is mine.”

She wrapped her arm around the plate protectively. She glared Charmin into backing up.

Levi laughed, a refreshing, open laugh.

Dani ignored him until she’d finished her plate. Unfortunately, she was still hungry. She turned woeful eyes to Levi. He stared, switched his gaze to her empty plate, then back up to her face. “Really?”

She nodded.

Blowing out his breath, he turned back to his kitchen and brought out a loaf of thick crusty bread. Her eyes lit up at the sight of it. “Now that would be great.”

He cut two thick slabs and brought it over for her, then went back for cheese and butter. She munched happily as Charmin worked through a chunk of cheese. “That feels so much better,” she said when she was done.

An odd sound rang through the apartment. She stiffened. It sounded like an alarm. “Is that a fire alarm or something?”

“I don’t know what it is.” With a sharp look in her direction, Levi said, “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

He disappeared. Dani looked at Charmin, but he’d taken off. She didn’t blame him. Feeling scared and hating being alone in a place she knew nothing about, she retraced her steps to the healing pod as fast as she could. And sure enough, she found Charmin hiding between the layers of blankets.

“Good idea. Maybe we can hide away in here until this calms down.” The noise was horrific enough to hurt her ears while in the kitchen but as soon as she crawled back inside the pod and closed the lid, the noise disappeared. “Oh, thank heavens,” she murmured as the assault on her ears stopped. Just as she started to relax, the lid lifted. Milo, his face twisted with urgency, said, “Come. You have to leave. Now.”

She was dragged out of the pod. At the last moment, she snatched up Charmin before she was shoved ahead of Milo. “Where am I going?” she whispered. “I have no place to go.”

“Levi has a place for you. Hurry.”

Within minutes, she was being hustled into a room she’d never seen before in one of those weird tubes she hated and spinning at a speed her body couldn’t stand – upward.

“Where’s Levi?” she asked angrily.

“He’s coming.” Milo chewed on his fingernail and shifted on his feet anxiously.

“Not good enough. If you think to dump me somewhere and hope I’ll take care of myself, you’re sad—”

“Dani. I’m here.” Levi appeared on the other side of the glass. Then while she watched, the glass between them disappeared. Damn, she wished she knew how that worked. “What is going on, Levi?”

“It’s a security inspection. My system warns me when trouble is coming.” He pushed her ahead of him. “Milo, go back and let them in. Be natural.”

“Got it.” Milo took off.

“I don’t think I like your world,” she said.

Levi tugged her forward, making her hurt as she tried to move faster then she could. “Stop pulling on me.”

Spinning to face her, he stopped at the look on her face. “Please hurry.”

Looking at the worry in his face, she realized this was big. Dangerously big. If anything happened to separate her from Levi, she’d be lost. And with Charmin having his unique ability to speak…he’d be taken away from her, too.

Ignoring the pain, she started to run.

*

Thankful that Dani
finally seemed to understand the urgency of the matter, Levi followed just slightly behind. He didn’t want her to collapse when she ran out of energy. And if she did, he wanted to be there to catch her.

The pod appeared to have been working as she held the pace steady. He slipped past her to open a door. Inside was the rooftop elevator. With the three of them inside, he sent it to the top beside Johan’s place. He kept a worried eye on Dani. She was breathing hard and her color was pale, but she was still standing.

Charmin looked up at him. Levi glanced away, still not able to reconcile what he’d seen and heard. A talking cat. Holy crap. He couldn’t even begin to think about the ramifications of that. If the cat talked as a result of the time travel, he could just imagine what the scientists would say. And what they’d want to do to him.

It would be disastrous for society at large.

And this feline gave him the creeps. Those huge green eyes seemed to see into his soul. And who was to say it didn’t? If it could talk, what else could it do? He shuddered inwardly. He really didn’t want to know.

At the rooftop, he could hear loud music at Johan’s. Should they blend into one of his constant parties or try for the private rooftop garden that, in theory, the others didn’t know about? The only problem was that the garden was damn small. It was a space he used when he needed a few moments away from everything. It would be a tight squeeze for the two of them. And he was almost looking forward to that.

His gaze caught sight of Charmin.

Okay, the three of them.

But given the sudden raised voices at Johan’s and the now silent music, he’d take a squeeze over trouble. Dani couldn’t be seen yet. He led the way quietly around the rooftop garden to the back maintenance section. Slipping around several large vents, he stepped out onto his tiny private deck.

Dan gasped and spun around. “Oh my! You can see the whole city from here.”

He smiled. “Not quite. I do like to come up here. It’s pretty spectacular.” Levi stood by Dani’s side. “I guess this doesn’t look like what you are used to?”

She stood, shocked, and stared out at the city. It was a replay of what she’d first seen after escaping the office. Oddly shaped dome buildings that stretched out as far as she could see. Gemstone colors glowed off the sides of some walls with multiple green spots dotting the area…and the air traffic…she shuddered at what appeared to be loads of air traffic. Her gaze flitted from one thing to another. “It’s beautiful,” she said, “But it’s so…so…foreign looking.”

“In what way?” Levi asked, looking at her.

“It’s surreal, like a science fiction movie set. Foreign. Alien.” She shifted Charmin in her arms. “It’s nothing like what I’d expected. Huge buildings in weird shapes and colors and lights.” She shrugged. “It’s just so bizarre to think that I’m actually here.”

Levi grinned. “It is. Don’t tell Milo, but it’s also great.”

She stared at him. “We’ll see. That he managed to do what he did is pretty amazing. I’m not sure I appreciate it still, but I do understand the genius required to make this happen.”

He stood in front of Dani. “You aren’t afraid of heights, are you?”

She shook her head. “I’m fine,” she murmured. “It is pretty spectacular. Scary but beautiful.”