A Return to Forever

"Janette, could you stay with Nat and make sure she is safe? There is an outside chance, if these people are untrustworthy, that they will stoop to using her against me."

Janette made a face. "Nicola, this may not work. If they know what we are, they may be prepared for us. Staying with Natalie may only put her in more danger."

Nick sighed. "Janette, I know of only one other place that would be safe for her, but who would protect her against LaCroix? No, I think the only safe system in this case is the buddy system. I will be investigating these people from the other end, but I can't do it here, and I need to make sure they don't know I'm doing it. That means I need you two in a safe place, together, so I can work alone, incognito."

"And what if they check out, Nick?" Natalie rubbed her arms, thinking of the possibilities. "What if the reason they reproduced this room so completely was to prove to me that what they are doing is truly possible, and they are interested in you only because you are their main hope of actually succeeding? If you go through with this experiment, what then?"

"I'm afraid," said Nick, "we will have to cross that bridge when we come to it. If I seem skeptical, Nat, it's because too many have offered me miracle cures in the past. All too often, they act like faith healers, blaming the victim when the experiment goes wrong because he or she 'didn't have enough faith.' I will do what I must to become a mortal again, but I don't want anything to happen to you.

"A better question is 'what if LaCroix is involved?' " Janette added. "If he knows of this experiment, and it sounded like he had when you were talking with him at The Raven, we may find something has happened to the two scientists you contacted. You had best be careful, Nicola, lest you are caught between LaCroix and these mortals."

"Point well taken," Nick said. "I need to go now, before someone notices I dropped in. We need to keep any planning meetings short, and discreet. I'll talk to you later, when I can."

With that, he was gone, leaving only a slight breeze behind. Janette shook her head. "I used to be able to move like that," she said wistfully. "Becoming mortal and then once more becoming a vampire was like starting over. I will stay with you until your shift is nearly over and others are beginning to come in, but I must be gone before dawn. It will be hard enough to explain my absence to LaCroix, without having to call and tell him I am spending the day somewhere else. I do not wish to make him more suspicious than he already is.

Nat merely nodded. She had too much on her mind to think of a good response.