Deadly Designs (Design Series) by Dale Mayer

Go home. Paper there.
    Ah. Storey sat back, an idea firing in the back of her mind.
    "Why is it I don't think I'm going to like whatever you're thinking?" Eric's voice broke through her reverie.
    "Let's go to my house. There's paper there, beds and food. I have no idea about my parents. We'll deal with that when we get there. Hopefully we can be there at least long enough for us to restock, reevaluate and figure out what to do. It's obvious we can't stay here. We have to go somewhere, and if you don't want to go to her new dimension, or take us to your dimension, then that only leaves my dimension." She thought she'd been the voice of reason, but from the frown on Eric's face, it didn't appear as if he agreed.
    "And how are we going to get there? The codexes are on 'manual mode,' remember? Do you know how to program mine or your dimension on my codex so we can go anywhere?" he asked, the sarcasm thick on his voice.
    She flipped the paper over and held up the portals. "We still have these." Although, she'd written on the portal to Bankhead mine, the other portal that she'd used to travel Paxton's lab from her bedroom, hadn't been touched. "I can change this so we can portal to my bedroom."
    He closed his eyes and bowed his head. "It's not perfect, but it's better than staying in this hellhole. From there I can always go see Paxton and try to sort out the next step in this mess." With a nod toward the sleeping child, he said, "What about her?"
    Storey was already working on adapting the one portal entrance. Thankfully it was almost perfect for here. She lifted her head from the sketch. "We take her with us. Believe me, I'd rather take her to her dimension right away, but not without a fully functioning stylus and lots of paper, thank you. Not to mention having your codexes working properly again." Storey shook her head. "No thank you."
    "So, we hide away at your place until the stylus is stronger?" He cocked his head and waited.
    "Unless you want to hide away in your dimension, instead."
    "Paxton will see us. They've stepped up the monitoring of all crossings since the Louer invasion."
    "Exactly."
    "Fine. Let's go then. I don't know how we're going to keep her quiet though. That squeal of hers and her pet is going to cause a ruckus at your house."
    "Another reason to have the stylus get back to full strength and to have more paper so he can write messages to her. If she understands we have to be quiet to get her home, then maybe – and I'm only saying maybe – she'll listen. I do know she's expecting us to solve her problems now and that includes me feeding her. Do you want to tell her there's no food when she wakes up?" She raised an eyebrow at him.
    He stood. "Let's go now. I won't rest until we're out of here."
    ***
    Eric glared at the codexes. How was he going to fix them?
    Storey nudged his arm and pointed at the child who was starting to stir.
    With an eye roll, he said, "Let's go then."
    Bending over, Storey laid the paper on the floor. "I think this should work."
    "Think." He didn't like the sound of that. "What if it doesn't? Can't you draw a new one?"
    "Not really." She studied his expression briefly. "The stylus is not up to full power, remember? We can't overdo it."
    He couldn't believe how dependent they were on technology right now. He felt naked with his codex not working properly.
    "Let's go." Once again, he studied the girl and her pet. "Do we pick her up and carry her?"
    "It might be best. Except for her pet. It's liable to bite your hand off."
    "Yet if we wake her…"
    Storey grinned at him, that clear, honest, so open grin of hers. He couldn't help but smile back, his good humor rapidly returning. If nothing else, life with Storey was an adventure. "You're the ranger, remember. And you're the male here."
    "She's no lightweight."
    "So it's a good thing she isn't any older." Storey motioned toward the sleeping girl. "Now would be a good time."
    Eric took a deep breath and caught up child and rodent in one