Leaf, Erin M. - Appassionato (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Erin M. Leaf

  “Yes, okay,” Samantha answered in a shaky voice. “We’re in a warehouse somewhere, locked in an office or something. The windows are dirty, and I know we’re on the second or third floor because we can hear people beneath us.”

  Emma concentrated on the girl’s voice, sending her senses out into the city. She leaned against Duncan, unconsciously drawing on his energy and on Jake’s solid sense of where he was in relation to everyone else. She could see the auras of a few people in the city below her. As she looked east, toward the river, she felt a shock in her mind and an aura flared brighter than all the others, a quick flash of scarlet that pulsed and then was gone. She narrowed her eyes. That’s where Samantha is, she thought.

  “Ms. Bell, I have to go. I think someone’s coming,” Samantha hissed in her ear.

  “All right, Samantha. I’ll find you, I promise.”

  “Okay, just—please, hurry. Two of the girls are in a coma or something. I don’t know why, but I think it’s because they were kept from their bond-mates.”

  “I understand,” Emma said grimly. “I promise I’ll find you.” She sighed as the phone went dead. She hoped Samantha would be okay. She looked up at Jake and Duncan. “I think I know where to find the missing people.”

  Chapter 12

  Duncan rubbed his face, scratching his fingers through the stubble on his chin. He couldn’t believe that the vice principal of the school where Emma worked was part of the kidnapping. He supposed it made sense. She had access to newly bonded kids and a massive problem with alternative lifestyles. Of course, the idea of bonding would send the woman over the edge. Emma explained how, when Ms. Brown had interviewed her for the librarian’s position a few years ago, she expressed relief at the knowledge that Emma was single. She even questioned Emma’s beliefs about marriage and religion, despite the illegality of asking about such things in an interview. And she had a background in chemistry. Apparently the woman worked as a scientist for a pharmaceutical company for a while before she quit due to some sort of interpersonal conflict and turned to teaching. Emma didn’t know the details, but it wasn’t too far of a stretch for Duncan to believe that she would force others to conform to her extremely limited ideas about right and wrong. It made him feel sick to know that someone in charge of educating children could be so evil.

  He slumped further down into the seat. He was so tired. He knew Jake and Emma felt the same, though in her case he sensed her pushing past the exhaustion into mania. She blamed herself for not seeing through Ms. Brown before the kidnapping. She sat on the seat next to him, leaning forward to give directions to Dave who was driving the car. She was practically vibrating as she cast her senses out, reading colors on the darkness. Duncan couldn’t see them, but he could sense them through her. When he let himself slip into her mind he could almost see the faint dots of color here and there in the city. Impatience stole through his exhaustion. He wanted to go home with his lovers and sleep, but they were the only ones who could find the missing bonded couples. They’d talked to the cop who questioned them in the ballroom before they left the hotel, but just as Emma had predicted, the woman didn’t believe them when they explained what happened. She didn’t even believe a girl that young could be bonded. Her supervisor took one look at the rock star and his “groupies” and dismissed all three of them. So here they were, in his car, off to play rescuer.

  “There!” Emma exclaimed, pointing. “You see that warehouse? Pull over, so no one sees us. Here, turn down the alley.”

  Duncan looked at Jake, wondering where Emma’s instinct for this came from. The other man shrugged as she turned to look at them.

  “I watch movies, you know,” she said, smiling.

  Jake rolled his eyes. “This isn’t a movie.”

  Her face sobered. “I know. Believe me, I know.”

  Duncan sighed, then closed his eyes, pulling energy up from inside until it was close to the surface. He could create sparks or scrub organic matter off a body. He had no idea how any of this was possible. He opened his eyes and called a spark to his fingers, dancing it from one to the other playfully. He felt eyes on his hands and looked up to find Emma watching him.

  “That’s so cool.”

  Duncan smiled at her then closed his palms over the sparks. “I don’t know how I’m even doing it.”

  “I don’t know how I can see auras, but I can. It’s easy,” she said, grabbing onto the front seat as the car lurched to a stop. Her head flew up. She looked predatory, focused. Duncan loved her ability to change from a sweet, gentle woman into a hunter. He grinned fondly, but she didn’t see.

  “We’re here.” She scrambled back, sitting next to Duncan and Jake for a moment. She looked down at her sparkling shoes ruefully. “I wish we had time to change before we go in. My poor shoes.”

  Jake leaned over and grabbed her hand, squeezing it comfortingly. “It’ll be okay. We’ll buy you ten new pairs of sparkly shoes if these get ruined.”

  Emma laughed. “Okay, you know I’m going to hold you to that promise.” Then she sighed, the smile dropping from her face. “I know I pushed us hard to get here. I just have a feeling that we need to get in there and help as soon as possible. I should’ve known that woman was involved somehow.”

  Duncan smiled at her, tugging a strand of her hair off her cheek. She turned her face into his palm. “You couldn’t have known, Emma. Stop beating yourself up. Jake and I will do everything we can to keep this from happening to anyone else. The only thing we can do now is move forward.”

  Emma nodded and took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”

  They got out of the car, the three of them followed by Dave and Charlie. Dave kept muttering about how Lisa was going to kill him, but Duncan knew he was just trying to blow off some tension. He looked around, trying to spot any security cameras as they inched down the alley. The ducked down another side street and then yet another alley until they found the one that ran along the back of the warehouse. He didn’t see anything unusual. There was nothing there except stray garbage and graffiti.

  “Jake, can you sense anyone around?” Duncan asked.

  Jake shook his head. “The only people I can sense are actually in the building. I thought they’d post guards or something.”

  Emma shook her head too “I don’t see any auras except the ones in the building, not that it helps. There are a lot of unbonded people in the world.”

  “I guess we’ll just have to wing it.” Duncan looked for a door but there was no entrance on this side, then he spotted an open window on the second floor. “There.” He pointed.

  “How are we going to get up there?” Charlie whispered nervously.

  “I’m the tallest. I can boost everyone up. Then Jake can help pull me up,” Duncan answered. Emma nodded.

  “I’ll go first since I’ll be able to sense if anyone’s inside.” Jake cracked his fingers and stepped forward.

  Duncan spared a brief thought about the insanity of what they were about to do, then he laced his fingers together and boosted Jake until he reached the windowsill. The other man grabbed the ledge and Duncan helped guide Jake’s feet to his shoulders so he could tilt the casement window open far enough to crawl through.

  It’s all clear far as I can tell, Jake thought. Duncan held still, supporting Jake’s ankles as he worked open the window then slid through. When he popped his head back out, Duncan heaved a sigh of relief.

  “Take my hand,” Jake called down and Dave stepped forward. Duncan boosted him up, then Charlie went through the small space. Emma was next.

  “Don’t let me fall,” she whispered. “I hate heights.”

  “I won’t, sweetheart.” Duncan kissed her quickly then lifted her up to Jake. He shivered as he felt her slim legs step onto his shoulders, willing himself not to look up under her skirt. Now was not the time. Once she was inside, Jake slung his upper body out of the window, reaching down for Duncan.

  “Come on, Dave and Charlie have me. I’ll pull you up.”

  Du
ncan nodded and grabbed on, ignoring the spark of desire he felt at the sight of Jake’s gorgeously muscled arms. He grinned as Jake caught his thought. The bonding never really left them. Duncan found it strangely comforting as he tumbled into the dark room. He could sense where Jake and Emma were through their link but couldn’t see the other two men.

  “Do you think we could have a light?” Emma asked, voice low.

  Duncan smiled and brought the sparks to the surface again, the sudden illumination startling Dave and Charlie.

  “It’s okay. It’s just light. These won’t even burn.” Duncan reached out, instinctively sticking a spark on Jake’s sleeve. “You can cup your hand over it when you want to muffle the light.” Emma held out her arm and he stuck another spark on her. He looked at Dave and his bodyguard sighed.

  “Okay, okay, here. But just for the record, this is really weird.” Dave stuck his arm out and Duncan attached a spark to his sleeve.

  “Weirder than bonding with Lisa?” Charlie whispered, holding out his hand. Duncan gave him a spark and muffled a grin as Dave gave his friend the middle finger.

  “Do you know where they’re holding Samantha?” Duncan asked Emma.

  She frowned, concentrating. He watched her look around, slowly turning her head as though she was peering through the walls.

  I am peering through the walls, she thought, her mental voice amused. Well, sort of.

  “Hang on,” she said aloud and Duncan smiled. She looked gorgeous—hair mussed, her dress hugging the curves of her body, her sandals twinkling in the light of his energy. He felt another stab of arousal and she gasped, sensing it before he could control himself.

  Jake shook a finger at Duncan. “Dude.”

  Duncan held his hands up in surrender, ignoring the confused looks from Dave and Charlie.

  “Do you think if I linked with you more deeply I could help?” Jake said after another minute passed.

  Emma relaxed and looked at him. “It couldn’t hurt. I can see the auras, but they flare and swirl around so much I can’t really tell where they are. I know that they’re that way,” she pointed west, “but I can’t even pinpoint which floor.” She rolled her shoulders.

  “Here, give me your hand. Let’s see if we can combine my new telepathy thing with your aura sensing.” Jake moved closer.

  Duncan stepped forward as well. “I can probably feed your energy.”

  Emma nodded and the three of them clasped hands. Dave and Charlie stood by the door, alert to any intrusion. Duncan closed his eyes and concentrated on calling up the energy that seemed to dance under his skin. It was easy. Almost too easy, he thought as he fed it into Emma and Jake. He linked with them, sensing Emma’s consciousness spreading out and Jake following. To Duncan, it was almost like watching a map come to life in his head as they traced the locations of the people in the building.

  Ten in that room, Emma thought.

  Jake nodded. I sense two guards outside, one of them a woman. That’s probably Ms. Brown. I can knock them out when we get closer.

  Okay, eight in this room across the hall. I think those are the guys, Emma sent, grimacing.

  No other guards, Jake thought in response to Emma. I think the two up there are for both rooms. I can see five other people in the building, two in another spot on that floor and three downstairs.

  Why isn’t there an even number of guys and girls? Emma thought. Duncan felt her confusion. These are supposed to be bonded couples.

  Duncan grimaced. I think some of the women might have died. He felt Emma’s horror, then resignation, and wanted to kick himself.

  “No, I need to think about that. Samantha told me about the two girls who weren’t doing so well, and I deliberately blocked it out of my head because I couldn’t face the thought of it. Maybe that’s why we can’t sense them,” she said out loud, dropping his and Jake’s hands. She trembled, and he wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and protect her from all of this. The only reason he didn’t was because he knew that if he or Jake touched her, she would break down crying. He sent her comfort over their link and she smiled tremulously at him.

  “Okay, the couples are being held in two rooms across the hall from each other. There are eighteen all together,” Jake explained to Dave and Charlie. He drew in the dust at his feet. “They’re on the third floor, so we have to go up the stairs. There’re two more people in a room down from them and two guards outside the cells. Three more people are on the first floor.”

  “Ideally, it’d be nice if we could just knock out the two guards and release the prisoners,” Dave said, rubbing his chin.

  “Yeah, except how would we get them home? We have one car. And I think some of them are in bad shape,” Emma said.

  “We’re going to have to neutralize the captors somehow,” Duncan said. He looked at Jake. “If we get you close enough, could you do your mind-whammy thing, only make them pass out instead of doing a memory wipe?”

  Jake grinned. “Mind-whammy? Is that what we’re calling it?”

  “Shut up,” Duncan retorted, smiling despite himself. “You know what I mean.”

  Emma grinned and Jake nodded. “Yeah, I think so. I’m not sure if I can do everyone at once since they’re on different floors. It was easier in the ballroom because everyone was in visible range. I don’t know if I can do it through solid things like walls.”

  “And now is not the time to experiment,” Emma added as Dave nodded. Charlie looked apprehensive, but he also nodded.

  “We should take out the people on the first floor first. That way the guards outside the doors can’t call for help.” Duncan took off his suit coat and dropped it on the floor. He winced as he saw how dirty it was in the room, but he knew he’d be more comfortable without it. He unhooked his cufflinks and rolled up his sleeves, trying not to stare at Jake’s bare arms as the other man did the same. Jake is too good-looking for his own good, Duncan thought, looking up just in time to see his lover grin at him. He rolled his eyes.

  “Then we should take out the guards in the hall. It’d be better if we could neutralize the people in the room first, but I don’t think we can get in there without alerting the two in the hall.” Jake dropped his jacket on top of Duncan’s. “Are you going to be okay in those shoes?” he asked Emma.

  She shrugged. “Not much I can do about it. I’m more upset at the thought that Ms. Brown is part of all this than I am about ruining my shoes. I knew she wasn’t the nicest person, but I didn’t think she was evil.”

  Jake nodded in sympathy and started for the door. “I think the stairs are this way.” He gestured, and everyone followed him down the hall, trying not to make any noise. Duncan winced when the door to the stairs stuck, making a harsh noise when they forced it open. Luckily no one came to investigate.

  When they reached the first floor, Duncan damped the sparks a bit as Jake carefully eased open the next door, trying to keep the old metal from squeaking. Three guys sat at a table on the opposite end of the warehouse. It looked like this floor had been used as a garage. There were tools and carts strewn haphazardly across the open space and several tables with dusty equipment sat along the walls. The men were playing cards in the light of a single fluorescent lamp inset on the wall behind them.

  How are we going to get over there? Emma asked Duncan and Jake.

  We don’t have to, remember? Jake replied. Duncan felt him drawing energy through Emma and he opened up even more so Jake would have all he needed. Dave and Charlie crouched behind them, ready to dash across the room if necessary. One of the men at the table looked up, mouth open, but before he could shout, he crumpled. Another stood up then fell down, unconscious. Duncan frowned as the man’s head hit the floor, but then Jake grunted and the last man began to sprint toward them, pulling a gun from his pocket.

  This one’s giving me trouble, Jake thought. Duncan fed Emma more energy and suddenly the man went down as though someone had cut his strings.

  “That was close,” Emma whispered, shaky.<
br />
  Jake nodded, looking tired. “That was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I didn’t want to hurt them. It would’ve been easier to kill them than to knock them out.” He grimaced and Duncan put his hand on Jake’s neck, rubbing the tendons that had knotted up.

  “Will it be easier now that you know how to do it?”

  “Yeah. I think I’ve got the knack of it,” Jake responded.

  “We’d better get upstairs before anyone realizes what happened here,” Dave said.

  Duncan nodded and they eased back into the stairwell. He brightened the sparks and everyone started climbing. Duncan ignored his weariness, knowing that Emma and Jake felt just as bad as he did. They were almost to the third floor when suddenly the door above slammed open and a man with a gun aimed a flashlight down the steps.

  Emma flinched and fell back onto Duncan as the man squeezed off a round as soon as he spotted the intruders. Duncan’s energy instinctively flared into a shield, stretching out to cover the five of them. The bullet bounced off and hit the metal of the hand rail. Emma squeaked and he shoved her down as Charlie sprinted up the stairs.

  “Charlie! No! I can’t cover you if you get too far away,” Duncan shouted but it was too late. The gunman didn’t miss. Jake groaned as Charlie went down. The gunman fired again and another bullet bounced off Duncan’s shield.

  “Shit!” Emma tried to shove Duncan out of the way. “We have to get up there and help him!”

  Duncan held her down. “No! You’ll get shot too. Let me try something.” He concentrated on his energy, making a hot spark flare in front of the shield, then sent it up at the man. It hit him in the chest and the man went rigid then fell down, his gun clattering over the edge of the landing. It looked like he’d shocked the man with lightning, and Duncan gagged as the smell of burnt skin penetrated the stairwell.