TrackingDesire (13 page)

Julian nodded and stroked his finger delicately over her
cheek.

“I know. But we have forever, remember?” he reminded her.

Liv grinned and looked naughtily at him.

“We do, and this time
I
can make it up to
you
.
I promise.”

Julian kissed her, nipping lightly at her full lower lip. He
echoed her words from the time before. “I’ll hold you to that.”

Liv laughed and waved a hand around her home.

“Feel free to pry. I don’t think I have secrets, but I
really,
really
love a man who can cook,” she reminded him with a smirk.
“I’ll be as quick as I can, but I figure I’ll be at least fifteen minutes,
maybe twenty.”

“Take your time,” Julian replied patiently. “It will be
easier if we do this right the first time, so don’t rush on my account. From
the very faint glance I cast over your bookshelf from here I could easily pass
an hour or two here and not get bored. Go and do your thing. I’ll be here when
you’re ready.”

Not for the first time, Liv mentally blessed the man for his
patience. There was a lot to be said for being with a man who knew how to
protect someone and not be constantly pacing and struggling to go-go-go.
Tenderly, she stroked the side of his face, then left the living room to
prepare herself for the job ahead.

Liv stripped in her bedroom, drew on a soft, clean white
robe and lit a few candles. For the first time ever, she truly hated having to
force such happy thoughts out of her head to focus on work.

Before meeting Julian she had always put her career first,
her friends and family second and everything else afterward. On the rare
occasion when something big was occurring in Kelly’s life or with one of her
family members, Liv had found she had to meditate before starting a job to
clear her mind of all her extraneous worries. But never before had she been so
consumed with a man that he invaded every particle of her brain to the
exclusion of all else.

Julian was giving her a whole bunch of firsts. This one,
however, had been worrying her until he’d admitted his love for her. She
wondered if it was normal, having a man in part of her brain during every
waking moment. Was it healthy? With a deep breath, she sat cross-legged in the
middle of the bed and tried to focus on the flame of the candle. Even when she
was trying to empty herself to meditate, she was thinking of him.

Liv started a simple breathing exercise, one of the first
she’d ever learned when meditating as a child. Simple, easy and as comfortable
as a pair of well-worn jeans. It wasn’t until a few minutes had passed that she
realized she still held a tiny piece of Julian in her mind. Curious, she probed
for why it was so difficult to let him go. Then she realized what she had just
asked herself. Clearing her mind temporarily of everything except the item she
needed to Retrieve was not letting Julian go, it was just something she needed
to do to perform her work properly.

Julian
wanted
her to do this service for him, as did
Will and the others. She wasn’t betraying him by fully focusing her attention
on something else. She was not letting him down or cutting him out of her life
or heart. She was simply setting him aside so she could do her job to the best
of her ability, and not harm herself or her magic by having her attention
divided.

With a silent apology and final mental message of true, deep
love, she let Julian out of her mind and almost instantly felt her focus snap
back to attention inside her. Everything became clear and sharp in her mind.
She could still feel love for Julian deep in her heart, but her mind had
reverted back to the professional, focused laser it had always been.

Part of Liv wondered if she needed to cleanse her body at
all now—the ritual usually took around ten minutes to enact. To be safe she
decided to go through with it even though it might not be necessary. With
Julian by her side for this task, her attention might be tempted to wander, and
Liv knew she needed to be in top form.

Leaving the candles lit, she climbed from the bed, stripped
off the robe and went through into the bathroom. Quickly, she turned on the
shower faucets, modified the temperature and turned to open the cabinet under
the sink and rummage around. Finally, she pulled out a new bar of soap from its
individual wrapper and carefully sniffed it.

A specially blended soap only available from select witch-
or wizard-owned apothecaries, it had been hand-crafted to exacting standards.
Made with honeysuckle, jasmine and sea-salt that had been dried and left under
the full moon for twenty-four hours, it helped to purify Liv’s body and focus
her mind when she struggled with too many burdens.

The ritual was one she had been taught in her early teens.
Many students were taught it by their parents for school projects and grueling
exams. While intricate and needing focus, it was deceptively simple. Liv
actually found it comforting.

Ten minutes later she was drying her body, having carefully
dried and re-wrapped the bar of soap and replaced it under the sink. Liv
dressed quickly but with care and soon returned, refreshed and renewed, to the
living room and the delicious smell of eggs and sausages cooking on the stove.

Liv walked through the living room, interested to note that
Julian had started reading one of the latest releases by her favorite thriller
writer, and entered the nook off the side of the living room. The archway
separating the two rooms was discreetly to one side to give some privacy, and
she leaned against it and watched her lover turning a few crispy strips of
bacon, link sausages and scrambled eggs in her big frying pan. With his back to
her, he didn’t notice her, and Liv eyed his ass appreciatively, enjoying the
view for the moment.

Ruining her impression that he didn’t know she was there,
Julian spoke to her without even turning his head. “How well-done do you like
your eggs?” he asked in an amused tone of voice.

Liv shook her head and snorted. “If I’m not cooking them, I
like them any way I can get them,” she answered happily, liking the way he
looked in her kitchen, cooking at her stove, far too much.

“Excellent,” Julian replied as he carried the pan over to
where he had laid out two plates. “Then breakfast is served.”

Liv watched as he plated up large servings with a deft hand.
She pulled cutlery from the drawer and carried the plates to the table set up
in one corner. Julian filled the pan with water and detergent as she poured
glasses of orange juice. Julian finished readying the pan to sit and soak
before joining her.

Clinking their juice glasses together, they toasted each
other before digging in to the delicious meal.

A short time later, Liv found herself back at the police
crime and forensics lab where she and Julian had started their day. Unlike
earlier, they remained outside. The brick building appeared innocuous in the
mid-morning sunshine. Had she not known for herself the speedy, bustling
cleanup that would be occurring within those walls, it would have been
impossible to guess from outside appearances.

Situated on a long, quiet road only one block away from a
main arterial road, the lab was perfectly positioned to be easily accessed by
the assorted law enforcement agencies that used their services, without giving
the appearance of being hectic or over-crowded. Many similar structures lined
the street, each with discreet but visible signs to indicate which building
housed which service.

A blood bank was visible halfway down the road, the state
mortuary between the laboratory and the blood bank, the fire brigade’s arson
investigation laboratory on the other side. Liv realized with a little surprise
that this would not be an easy road to create a disturbance on. All branches of
the emergency services must spend copious time on this street, and they would
viciously protect their own.

Whomever she was following would be in a world of trouble
when she found them. And Liv was absolutely determined to bring them to
justice. Julian stood next to her and even his silent presence tugged at her
senses. She took a deep breath before pushing her awareness of her lover out of
her mind.

She had work to do—work that it was important she get right
the first time. Will, Julian and she had no real idea whether time was
critical, so Liv chose to err on the side of caution and believe it was. With
another deep breath, she jacked up her senses and for one disorientating moment
the world around her bombarded her mind with information.

The sun burned brighter and hotter on her head, as if a heat
lamp had spotlighted her. The air around her carried myriad scents, each more
bewitching and tantalizing than the next. She could smell jasmine, roses,
carnations and irises on the air, planted nearby. Even though she could scent
all those flowers—and many more—they were not mingled into one messy mixture.
Each scent was distinct and each available to her should she choose.

The world blossomed around her and as always it felt almost
as if she had been walking around with her eyes closed all this time and only
now had she opened them.

Liv dug a hand into the pocket of her jeans and brought out
the tiny centrifuge tube of powder. She heightened her focus on the piece of
plastic and with a single finger popped off the tightly sealed lid. Sniffing
delicately at the powder—being careful not to inhale any by accident—she studied
it thoroughly.

When Liv was satisfied she knew its essence intimately
enough, she pressed the plastic cap back on very tightly, sealing the tube from
any damage, and handed it back to Julian without a word. With newly opened eyes
and senses, Liv slowly walked around the outside edge of the brick laboratory,
searching for a faint trail of the essence she sought.

As if she were on a leisurely afternoon stroll, she walked
an ambling, circular route around the brick structure of the laboratory and the
surrounding gardens. Julian remained beside her, seemingly lost in his own
thoughts as he too scanned the area thoughtfully.

Liv found herself unable to
not
be aware of Julian’s
presence and nearness, but at the same time she was able to keep her mind under
control enough that she didn’t wallow in his nearness or let it distract her.
Or not much, anyway. Time passed, although Liv didn’t really notice or pay
attention to it. Lost in her own world, she searched diligently for the essence
she was after.

After a while, small things distracted her and she knew soon
she would either need a break or to find something. It was incredibly hard to
keep one’s senses this jacked-up for extended periods of time, not to mention
draining. The fact was that her mind was wandering, caught by the loud buzzing
of a bee as it flittered around some flowers or the way the sunlight glinted on
a particularly pretty daisy. Things that would not normally drive her to
distraction were starting to push her onto tangents she didn’t want or need.

It was as she found a pretty, tiny patch of lilac-colored,
bell-shaped flowers that she found the essence of the drug. Even though her
eyes could not see the particles of powder, she knew without doubt that they
were there. The thieves had spilled a minute amount of the substance on this
very patch, and Liv rushed over to the place to make absolutely sure.

Peering at the grass, Liv crouched on her hands and knees
with her face so close to the ground that a few of the longer strands of green
tickled her nose and cheeks. Had she thought about it, she would have realized
what a fool she looked. None of that mattered, however, because she knew
without a single doubt that she’d discovered the essence of the drug the
criminals had stolen after trashing the lab.

Liv sat up on her haunches, then leaned back with her legs
tucked under her. Her ass rested on her heels as she closed her eyes, breathed
very deeply and slowly re-opened her magical gaze. Turning her head as far in
either direction as she could manage without putting a crick in her neck, she
surveyed the entire area in slow, painstaking detail so she wouldn’t miss a
thing.

With excruciating slowness, she turned her head barely a
degree at a time as she looked with eagle eyes as far as she could see. Her years
as a Retriever had taught her many things, and one of the critical items was
that this point was a crux. If she moved too quickly, leaped into action before
she was certain where to move, she would waste time, effort and most
importantly her magical energy on a wild goose chase, only to end up right back
here later on to start again.

Julian, bless the man, stood a pace or two behind her and
waited patiently. Any fool could see she had discovered something, but instead
of asking endless questions or crowding her, he stood back, watching the
area—and her ass, she noted with a cheeky grin—and protecting her. Liv firmly
pushed away the warm, gooey, utterly feminine thrill it gave her and focused
even harder on discovering the direction in which the essence would take her.

She knew it had taken a while, for the sun had started to
warm her and flush her pale skin when she spotted the next molecule of essence
over by a large oak tree. Liv quickly dug a hand into her pocket and withdrew a
slender canister of spray paint she always carried with her while Retrieving.
Two or three feet away from the minute amount of antidote she had discovered,
she sprayed an asterisk on the grass. The symbol was far enough away not to
contaminate the sample but close enough that should they need to return—or
should anyone need to follow in her footsteps—they could easily discover her
starting point.

With the star sprayed on the green grass, Liv jumped up and
started to run in the direction of the oak tree, right along the edge of the
block next to the sidewalk.

“They went this way,” she indicated to Julian, and his head
snapped around to look in the direction she was pointing, as if they would
still be standing there waiting for someone to apprehend them.

“Do you know where they are?” Julian asked, his voice deep
and rumbling with his own brand of energy.

Liv could see how seriously he took his work and how good he
was at his job.

“Not yet,” she replied. “I needed to get a fix on them
first. These first few steps are crucial. If I start us off in the wrong
direction it could take a while for us to discover the error. I don’t want to
risk being wiped out before we even get a real hit on them. When I have a
firmer hold on their signature, and maybe even more than one essence to follow,
then I can try to open myself up to a broader spectrum while I search for them.
Assuming I’m not about to burn out.”

“Do
not
burn yourself out over this,” Julian insisted
firmly, his tone rich with authority. “Yes, we need these guys. I don’t deny
it. But we don’t need them at the expense of harming you or your talent.”

Liv threw a cheeky grin over her shoulder as she went up to
the tree she had found. “You only love me for my Retrieval abilities,” she
taunted him, her eyes alight with laughter and mischief.

Julian snorted and at first she thought he might not even
deign to answer her teasing. “I’d love you just as much if you were as human
and common as I am,” Julian replied with such strength of feeling that she knew
he spoke the utter, honest truth. He grinned, his face lightening and seeming
younger and almost playful. “Now if you lose that ass,
then
you might
have cause to be worried, babe. I might love you to distraction, I might adore
the way you tease and tempt me, but I have a depth of passion for that ass of
yours that words cannot begin to describe.”

Liv threw her head back and laughed, delighted and utterly
captivated by this sexy, wonderful man. A week ago she
never
would have
believed he could tease her and be so playful with her. The man continually
surprised and delighted her.

Julian nodded to the tree as he tried to repress his
answering grin and laughter. After a moment of collecting himself, his face
returned to its more common, serious façade and he again searched their
surroundings. What, exactly, he thought he’d find, she had no clue. Liv thought
it highly unlikely that masked bandits or evil wizards out to steal their souls
were hiding around a corner, but she knew it was his job to watch her, to
protect their team, and she was not about to question him performing his job.

He trusted her to do her job to the best of her ability and
she couldn’t imagine doing less for him, regardless of how paranoid she might
privately think it. Besides, Liv silently acknowledged that it would be a good
bet that one day she’d think something similar and it would be Julian—and his
faint obsessiveness—that would save her life. She wasn’t going to look such a
delicious gift horse in the mouth.

“You let me know if you need a break,” Julian said
insistently. “I mean it, Liv. If you’re a shaking puddle of exhaustion before
you tell me you need a pause, I’ll be
very
displeased. And when you’re
able and it’s safe to get that big picture you were talking about, let me know
that too. My cell is turned off but I’ll feel happier when we can check in with
Will. With only the two of us I feel a bit twitchy about someone getting the
jump on us. Having someone know what information we’ve been able to collect and
where we’re heading will make me feel more secure.”

Liv nodded, slightly distracted. This close to the oak tree,
the antidote’s essence was almost overwhelming. Liv remained a step or two back
and looked up and down the oak tree with her heightened awareness. Slowly, step
by step, she circled the tree and after only a few paces she found what she was
looking for. Caught on a piece of half-shredded bark was a tiny, barely visible
amount of the antidote.

Unable to hazard a guess as to whether the powder had
spilled onto one of the thieves and left the bread crumb trail they were
following, or perhaps the beaker or baggy of antidote had not been properly
sealed, Liv had to grin in triumph at their good luck.

“There’s probably less than a gram of the powder here.” Liv
indicated to Julian with her finger. “But it should be enough if the
technicians are careful when they collect it. If we continue to collect such
tiny amounts, they might end up with something they can use.”

“Oh, Liv.” Julian beamed at her, his face filled with pride
and love. “You are the most amazing witch ever. Johanne will just
love
you for this.”

Before he’d even finished speaking, Julian pulled out his
cell, switched it on and watched as the battery light flickered slightly. “Damn
magical essence screwing with my phone,” he muttered half-seriously.

Liv caught the look of mingled irritation and resignation he
cast her before shaking his head and laughing.

“Between Blade, Flame, Matt, Sage and now you and Kelly, I
suppose I ought to be grateful my phone has lasted as long as it has,” he
admitted. He huffed a relieved breath when the phone switched on. Quickly, from
memory, he dialed Will’s number.

“Will? Yeah, it’s me. Look, we’ve found traces of the
antidote outside the lab. If you get Johanne or one of her better technicians
out here, they might be able to recover some of it.”

As Julian spoke into his cell, Liv shook her canister of
spray paint and drew a circle around the area where she had found the drug. The
paint was supposed to be fume-free, but in her heightened state she could still
smell it. She slipped the canister back into her pocket and stepped away from
the oak, deciding it was time to try to trace the drug back to wherever it
currently was.

“Nah, we’re talking a minute amount—I couldn’t even
see
it in the grass, but you can see the tiny flakes of ochre powder caught in the
tree,” Julian said. “It might not be enough to test, but every bit helps,
right?”

Julian paused again, then nodded at something Will said.
“Exactly. I’ll update you when we know more. Oh, and my phone is dying—can you
requisition another one for me, please? I don’t like the chances of this one
living through to see the other end of the mission. Yeah, I know. But it’s a
small price to pay. Catch you later.”

After Julian had hung up, Liv tried to mentally pull back
and see the entire scene from a bird’s-eye view. It took a bit of effort and
she could feel her energy beginning to drain as her mind slowly disengaged from
her body and the scene came further apart. Liv felt the faintly disjointed
experience of her spirit soaring above her body and she looked down upon
herself, Julian standing protectively only a pace or two away from her.