by Sarah Noffke
“Thanks,” he said, reaching into the metal tray and jerking the ticket from the lady. Then he headed for the exit. Kaleb had to get to the woods on the far west side of the city where he could run. Feast. Be wild. He used to play in that forest as a child and knew it well. After the “attack,” he’d return to Salt Lake City one last time before his trip. He had one thing left to do before he traveled south.
Chapter Thirty-Four
“Past-self interaction is also forbidden when time traveling since it can cause a schism in a person’s consciousness.”
- Lucidite Employee Manual
Mika sneered at the cage in the corner. Drake didn’t have good news, he knew that by the look on the old scientist’s face rather than by dipping into his thoughts. Drake had become practiced at sheltering his thoughts from Mika, which only meant that the German had something to hide. Mika had learned the practice of shielding from his mentor, who had disappeared a long time ago. He’d only spent one summer with Charles Knight and that was immediately after he’d gotten off the plane from Finland. It was Knight who had convinced him to take the trip, telling him over online chats that he could teach him, train him to use his Dream Traveler powers in a way that surpassed his parents’ knowledge. At age eighteen, he wasn’t naïve like most during that young adult stage. He’d made Knight verify himself, and their late-night conversations proved to be chock-full of a vast knowledge Mika had never heard of.
He knew at that young age that he wanted to be great, powerful. And he knew that wasn’t going to happen if he stayed inside the comfort of his family. They’d never understand his thirst for evolution, for success. But Knight understood it, which was how the two had found each other in a strange underground chat room. That’s why Mika took the large inheritance his grandparents had left him, which had been dispersed to him upon turning eighteen, and traveled to America. Knight met him when he disembarked from the plane and he almost couldn’t believe how strange the man he’d spoken to for weeks looked. He was at least seven feet tall, bald, and had eyes that looked made of knives. However, he delivered on his promise and taught Mika things about his skills and Dream Traveler abilities that he never knew he didn’t know about. And when his training was complete, according to the hoarse-voiced Knight, he took the amount of money Mika had promised him and left. Mika hadn’t seen the strange man since, but he thought of him often. Thought of how even though he was only a few years older than Mika that he was so wise. With the powers he learned from his mentor and his grandparents’ remaining money, Mika went on to start Parantaa Research, his first company. He made his first million dollars later that year, by the time he was nineteen.
Mika realized he hadn’t been listening to his director of security in the last few minutes. His mind had trailed back to those bizarre three months when he had learned everything Knight had promised to teach him. He didn’t trust Knight. This wasn’t a man who inspired trust. However, he respected him more than anyone he ever met. Wherever Knight was now, he was doing great things.
“Our best guess is that he’s going to try and flee the city,” Grant said, his hands pinned behind his back. Mika could hear, using his super hearing, the man’s fingers rub together, a result of nervous tension. If he was better at his job then he wouldn’t be so nervous, Mika thought.
“I actually think for once in a long time that you’re right and maybe using your brain,” Mika said, pausing and turning to the uniformed man. “Put surveillance on all train and bus stations. I want eyes on all hitchhikers. Put every single man you have in Salt Lake City. We have to catch Kaleb Magner before he gets away, otherwise he might be gone for good. And if that happens then you’re out of a job. Do I make myself clear?”
“Absolutely, sir,” Grant said, his throat hesitating to swallow.
“And send Morgan to the Magner family residence. He still might return there one last time,” Mika said, and then he turned, dismissing Grant without a word. Morgan was his best chance of catching the werewolf. He wasn’t as strong as any of the twelve men he had converted, but he had an advantage on them.
Mika strolled forward, his eyes on the contents of the cage at Drake’s side. “So what went wrong?”
“Don’t you mean, what went right?” Drake said, a sneaky grin hiding under his brushy mustache.
“Don’t patronize me with ridiculous questions,” Mika said. In front of him two lemurs lay lifeless in their cages, blood dripping from their wide eyes and out of their gaping mouths. However, in the corner of the steel cage, a single lemur sat hunched over, its clawed paws clapped to his head.
“Watch,” Drake said, pointing a pencil in the direction of the only living lemur.
“The others are dead. That one looks close,” Mika said, realizing he was that much further from achieving teleportation. This experiment had failed more than any others.
“Oh, he’s going to die for sure, just like the others. But guess what they did right before they died?” Drake said.
“I don’t guess,” Mika said, his words sharp. “Tell me what happened before they died.”
“Well, they teleported, naturally,” Drake said, looking proud, his old eyes lighting up, bringing more wrinkles into view as they did.
“Fantastic. I can achieve teleportation, but it will kill me,” Mika said dryly.
“This is a step in the right direction. We’ll perfect the process,” Drake said, his eyes focused on the lemur.
“Didn’t you say you were going to put them in a room with clear dividers to test teleportation? Why are they in the cage for assessment?” Mika said.
“Because they started teleporting before I had a chance to finalize the assessment area. I didn’t expect it to take so fast because it never did in the prior experiments. Apparently they wanted out of the cage and that’s when the first one teleported,” Drake said, watching the lemur who was now trembling.
Mika pursed his lips at this. The dumb creatures wanted out of their cage, not realizing that they were helping science to achieve greatness. One day he’d engineer a way to talk to animals and then they wouldn’t be so resistant to his efforts to use them for advancements.
The lemur in front of him flickered, like an image on a computer screen. Mika blinked at the scene and then the animal was gone. In his peripheral the lemur appeared. He turned to find the lemur on the ground just before him. Just as he went to reach for the animal, it disappeared again. And then an explosion rocked the cage in front of him. A spray of liquid and debris assaulted his face, but he shielded himself in time to avoid the major blast of it. However, looking at Drake, he realized that the old scientist, who didn’t share his super senses and reflexes, hadn’t been so fortunate. Blood and bits of the lemur covered his face and were caught in his hair and beard.
Mika yanked the white silk handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiped it across his face. “That’s what you wanted me to see,” Mika said, realizing nothing recognizable of the lemur was in the cage.
“Well, each time it was different, but that subject made it farther than the other two. That’s probably the reason for the explosive result,” Drake said, reaching for the paper towel dispenser on the wall and wiping his face at once. The animal’s blood smeared on his skin before wiping away. “This is progress, I promise.”
“Perfect the protocol. I want three more subjects ready for testing by next week,” Mika said, eyeing the cage that was a disgusting mess of dead animals and blood and guts. Science wasn’t a pretty business, but it was lucrative and worth the momentary failures.
Chapter Thirty-Five
“Taking sick days is discouraged. Employees displaying symptoms are expected to go to a representative at Parantaa Research and pay for a medicinal remedy so they can return to work as soon as possible.”
- Olento Research Employee Manual
“He’s going home,” Zephyr said, tapping the pencil riddled with teeth marks on the file in front of him. It was a new habit he’d just acquired.
“
Oh, look, the dog talks to himself,” Rox said to Adelaide, from her place perched on top of the table.
Adelaide pursed her lips freshly covered in balm at the other girl, not looking impressed. “You mean Kaleb?” she said in Zephyr’s direction.
The discharged captain flipped through the file. “Yeah,” he said, absentmindedly, his eyes scanning the words on the page.
Adelaide let out an impatient sigh. “You want to elaborate?”
Zephyr thumbed quickly through the file. “First there was the disturbance reported at the ‘Free Meat Festival,’” he said.
“Which wasn’t on the city’s event calendar. It looked like the event sprung up out of nowhere,” Adelaide said.
“Mika’s doing,” Rox said, popping up slightly with enthusiasm.
“Duh, Nail Polish,” Adelaide said, not looking at Rox.
“That was in downtown, which is roughly…” Zephyr pulled the map of Salt Lake City from the file, “twenty miles east of where the shop owner supposedly spotted Kaleb in the alley.” He then slid the pencil from the downtown area to a spot a half inch to the right. “The altercation with the store clerk happened on the west side of town.” With a look covered in an epiphany Zephyr pulled his chin up. “He’s working his way home,” he said and then circled a district on the far side of the city, right next to Wasatch-Cache National Forest.
“Well, you didn’t really have to pretend to have tracking skills to figure that out. That’s exactly what you did as well,” Rox said.
“No, I visited my parents every morning. I lived on the other side of town, but watched them every day. Kaleb’s activity suggests he’s been trying to stay as far from them as possible, but his inhibitions are waning,” Zephyr said.
“Why return to his hometown at all then?” Connor said. He’d been quiet during the brainstorming session, exhaustion heavy in his eyes. He was still recovering and would need much more rest before he was strong enough for regular activity.
“Because it’s what he knows. My guess is that most of the werewolves are going to travel to their hometowns, just as I did. It’s in the wolf’s instinct to return to their original pack,” Zephyr said, his voice calm and not a hint of condescension in it.
“Well, it looks like we were right to pick you as the alpha dog,” Rox said, sliding off the table and standing.
“Why was he elected the alpha?” Connor said, a crease placing itself between his green eyes.
“Because he’s got great hair,” Rox said, pointing at Zephyr and then circling it like cutting out a picture of his head.
“Don’t do things that make me throw up,” Adelaide said and Zephyr just caught a hint of power in her voice, something suddenly different about it.
“Don’t try and use mind control on me. And really, what a broad request. I fear everything I do will make you queasy because I’m not a prude,” Rox said to the girl.
Adelaide narrowed her eyes at Rox, a new anger boiling in her expression.
“Did you just say ‘mind control’?” Zephyr said, looking at Rox and then Adelaide. “Is that your gift?”
“My gift is tolerating wankers like you all,” Adelaide said.
“You are a saint among us demons,” Rox said. “Well, come on, Zeppy. Looks like you and me need to go to Salt Lake City.” She waved Zephyr forward.
“Hold on a second. Who do you think you are? I call the shots on this case,” Adelaide said, bolting to a standing position.
Rox gave a tired sigh. “Cool. Go ahead and order us to go to Salt Lake City so we can be on our way. And I want to take that GAD-C transport you mentioned because flying sucks.”
“You suck,” Adelaide said, turning her attention to Zephyr.
“Although that’s technically true, let’s not discuss that here. And go ahead and admit that Zeppy and me going to bring Kaleb in is the best choice. We’re both trained for these types of missions, whereas you’re more of an administrator,” Rox said.
“I’ve got plenty of field—” Adelaide paused, her face shifting to a calmer expression. “You know what, yes, my little soldiers, please go do the dirty work for me. I’m going to sit in the big girl’s seat and determine our next step in the project, which obviously is too complex for your brain which has suffered from inhaling too much hair dye. Bring me my werewolf while I dig into Olento Research.”
“Yes, master,” Rox said, bowing slightly.
“However, you two aren’t going tonight,” Adelaide said, which produced a confused expression on Rox’s face.
“What? Why?” she said.
“Because if my calculations are correct based on what Zephyr told me, then these dogs,” she said pointing at the two guys, “are due to change into werewolves.”
Zephyr nodded, his hands already in his hair. He dreaded the change. The loss of control. “It’s true. We change at least once a week. It will probably happen tonight,” he said.
“Looks like we get to lock you puppies up and watch some fun,” Rox said, rubbing her hands together.
“Z, take Connor to the safe room where we held you last time. You and FBI-hoe-bag will leave first thing tomorrow. Aiden will teach you how to use the GAD-C for transport to Salt Lake City,” Adelaide said.
Zephyr only nodded, his eyes briefly meeting those of Connor, who complied, although he looked reluctant. Maybe it was a reaction to the change approaching, Zephyr thought. Or maybe it was the strangeness of the Lucidite Institute.
When the door for the strategic department slid closed Adelaide spun around to face Rox, who was much taller than the other girl, especially in three-inch heels.
“Let me make myself clear. I’ve allowed you on this case. Trent encouraged it. However, if I throw a big enough fit then he will have you pulled. You’re new here, but I have a certain control that’s unique, and I don’t mean my mind control. What I say, Trent will do,” Adelaide said, her words already hot with the anger she’d been suppressing. And in truth, she did have a power that no one else owned at the Institute. Unfortunately, it was given to her simply by the fact that she was Ren Lewis’s daughter. He was the most respected Dream Traveler to ever live and by connection to him she could have anything she wanted. And she’d only allowed Rox to stay because of the strange message from the book, which she’d absentmindedly picked up and held in both hands.
“So what are you getting at? Where is this threat going?” Rox said, blowing a bubble with her gum. It made a soft popping sound before she pulled it back in her mouth.
“I said before, but you obviously need it repeated. These men are under our supervision. They are not potential love interests. So if I find out that you’ve so much as batted your fake eyelashes at one of them, especially Zephyr, then I’m throwing your ass back to the fucking Pentagon where you can crouch under desks, like you’re used to doing,” Adelaide said, her cockney accent strong due to her emotion.
“I’ve just got a flirty personality. Don’t read into things,” Rox said.
“Good. Then let’s shake on this deal, that you’re going to remain professional at all times, especially when out in the field,” Adelaide said, extending a hand to the girl.
Rox eyed it for longer than Adelaide liked, but then reluctantly she extended her own and they shook hands.
That brief touch was enough for Adelaide to determine what she already suspected. From popping into Rox’s head, she knew the girl had lied and she in fact harbored a strong attraction for Zephyr.
“He doesn’t like you,” Adelaide said, pulling her hand from Rox’s. “Read his file. You’re not his type because he doesn’t have one. Zephyr is committed to the job, and currently he works for me,” she said and turned and left.
Chapter Thirty-Six
“The medical well-being of employees is the top priority of the Lucidite Institute. The Healing department is there to assist all employees.”
- Lucidite Employee Manual
Morgan stood leaning against a giant oak tree on the Magner family lawn. He lurked
in plain sight. Usually a person on a stakeout would be more inconspicuous, especially since it was early morning and Mr. Magner was leaving the house for work. Through the front window, Morgan had watched the older man load up his briefcase at the kitchen nook table. But neither Mr. Magner nor anyone else could see Morgan. They didn’t know he hadn’t brushed his long brown hair and was wearing a loud red shirt, also not the typical dress for a covert mission. However, none of the rules applied to Morgan, since like his twin sister, he was invisible. Calling about that strange advertisement had been the best thing he’d ever done. In a sea of newsprint the words soared off the page. “Test subjects needed for trial experiments. Participants will be paid.” That was an understatement. Not only had Olento Research paid each of them ten thousand dollars in cash, but now he and Kris could become invisible at will. Morgan’s sister had been reluctant about the idea, but Mr. Lenna was intrigued when he learned Morgan had a twin. He’d offered to double the five-thousand-dollar payment if she agreed to participate in the testing. Apparently, their genetic similarities made it easier to experiment on both of them. And now Olento Research had two invisible people who could spy and steal for them.
Kris was slender and nimble, which made her the perfect thief. Months ago she’d waltzed into the Pentagon and stolen records. Apparently that’s how Mr. Lenna had determined which men to recruit for the werewolf project, Project Canis Lupus. Morgan only knew that because his invisibility made it easy for him to spy and his curiosity made it impossible not to indulge in that activity. Mr. Lenna compartmentalized all parts of his projects, but they were too fascinating for Morgan and Kris not to dig up details. She’d been just as curious as him about what was going on at Olento Research behind the curtain.
And now he was in Salt Lake City spying for the strange company, on the lookout for Kaleb Magner. Morgan worried about an altercation with this half man, half wolf. However, he was strong and it was difficult to fight what one couldn’t see. He just had to get close enough to tranquilize the guy, then he could call in Grant’s team.
