Dark Dream’s Trap

by I. T. Lucas

  Ella threw her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her, savoring the ferocity of his kiss. His mouth was hard on hers, taking, demanding, and beneath her his erection prodded her through his jeans.

  God, she wanted him. She was ready, and even if it wasn’t going to be perfect because of the baggage she was bringing along, she didn’t want to wait any longer.

  Except, that was a lot of empty bravado when she knew nothing could happen between them tonight.

  With an effort, she pulled away and put a hand on his chest. “Next Wednesday, Julian, we are going to celebrate Mr. D’s capture. The Guardians can bring him back here and we can stay in Washington for a few days. We will go to see all the monuments, eat in fancy restaurants, and spend our nights together.”

  Julian shook his head. “Don’t.”

  “Don't what?”

  “Make victory plans.”

  “Are you afraid to jinx it?”

  “It’s not about that. Don’t rush things because you feel bad for me.” He smirked. “When you’re so ready that steam is coming out of your ears, then we will revisit your proposition.”

  Smiling, Ella clapped her hands over her earlobes. “I think it’s happening already. I can feel the steam billowing out.”

  “Not yet, but it will. I guarantee it.”

  “I believe you, and I love you.”

  “I love you too, sweetheart.” He lifted her off his lap and helped her stand. “I don’t want to go, but I should.”

  Stretching up on her toes, she kissed his cheek, then the other one, and last she kissed his lips. “Good night, Julian. Call me when you get settled in Washington.”

  “I will.”

  She opened the door and went in, but before closing it, she stood there for a long moment and watched him walk away.

  The next five days were going to be difficult but doable, with plenty of video calls and long talks into the night.

  Yawning, Ella closed the door and tiptoed through the dark house to her room. Five minutes later she was in bed and hugging her pillow.

  Showering could wait for the morning.

  A soft kiss on her lips woke her up, and then a hard male body pressed against her, strong arms wrapping around her and pulling her closer. Smiling, she wrapped her arms around Julian’s neck, her fingers stroking his hair.

  Except, something didn’t feel right. His hair was shorter, and coarser, and his body was leaner than she’d remembered. This didn’t feel like Julian at all.

  Gasping, she opened her eyes and leaned away.

  “Did I scare you?” Logan asked. “You were smiling a moment ago. Did you expect someone else?”

  Crap, she was in her room, in her own bed, and Logan was there with her, which meant that he was seeing into her mind. That was bad, really bad.

  “I didn’t expect to find you in my bed. Usually you take me somewhere nice.”

  “My apologies.” He snapped his fingers, transporting them to a different room.

  “Where are we?”

  “My bedroom.”

  She looked over his shoulder, but it was too dark to see. “Can you turn on a light?”

  “I can do better than that.”

  As the ceiling disappeared, revealing a starry night, Ella gasped with delight. It was magical. If only she knew more about the constellations, she could figure out where they were, but regrettably her knowledge was limited to their names. She couldn’t discern the patterns in the sky.

  Turning on her back, she crossed her arms over her chest. “This is beautiful, thank you. But you really shouldn't have taken such liberties. I told you that I’m not that kind of girl.”

  He leaned over her, caressing her cheek with his finger as he regarded her with his intense dark eyes. “I’ve done exactly what you’ve told me. I’ve taken you on walks in beautiful places, and I’ve behaved like the perfect gentleman. Then you explained to me how modern girls don’t play games and hook up with anyone they want. I thought you were hinting at something.”

  “I also told you that I’m not ready to hook up with anyone.”

  “Don’t you find me attractive?”

  “I find you disturbingly so.”

  He arched a dark eyebrow. “What does that mean?”

  “You’re a dangerous man, Logan. You admitted as much. I should be afraid of you, not attracted to you.”

  Smirking like the devil he was, Logan rubbed his finger over her lips, the small touch sending goosebumps all over her arms. “Let me tell you a secret, little Ella. Women are attracted to dangerous men. Have you ever heard the phrase like a moth to a flame?”

  “I have. And that’s exactly how I feel.” A slight exaggeration, but there was enough truth in it to sound believable.

  His other hand smoothed over the curve of her hip. “It’s a dream, Ella. You’re in no danger from me or anyone else in here. You can have some harmless fun in dreamland.”

  She took his hand and moved it off her hip. “I’m not ready for fun. Not after what I’ve been through, which was not fun at all. In fact, I started seeing a therapist.”

  “And how is that working for you?”

  “It’s good. I only had one session so far, but I think I made some progress.”

  A grimace spreading over his handsome face, Logan turned on his back and crossed his arms under his head. “Americans and their shrinks. Do you really think some bobbing head knows better how to heal your mind than you do yourself?”

  She couldn’t agree more. “I’m giving it a try. If it helps, fine, and if it doesn’t, I’ll quit.”

  “You are a smart girl, Ella. You don’t need the shrink or anyone else to tell you how to feel.”

  Damn. How did he know all the right things to say? Was he reading her mind after all?

  “What if I feel sad?”

  “It’s okay to feel sad and angry and frustrated. This futile pursuit of feel-good and happy is a very Western sentiment. Suffering is part of the human experience.”

  She turned on her side and looked at him. “Are you suffering, Logan?”

  “Every goddamned day of my life.”

  That was surprising. “You don’t look like you do.”

  “Because I don’t dwell on it. I plot and I scheme and I act. Instead of lying on a couch in a shrink’s office and complaining about my troubles, I fix them.”

  “What if you can’t fix something?”

  “Then I put some work into searching for the right tool until I find it.”

  Reluctantly, she liked his attitude. A lot.

  “I’m tired and I need to sleep, Logan. For real. Can we continue this conversation tomorrow?”

  “On one condition. I want a kiss goodnight.”

  Oh, boy. This wasn’t good.

  “Not in bed. How about you take me to some romantic location and we kiss there?”

  He didn’t look happy about her request, but he did as she asked anyway. Snapping his fingers, he had them standing at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

  “Is that romantic enough for you?”

  “Oh, yeah. Thank you.”

  Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he chuckled. “In reality, it’s not as romantic as I made it for you.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  “I removed the metal grid and replaced it with glass panels.” He glanced down at her. “You didn’t notice the change in attire either. How do you like the gown?”

  With the magnificent view all around her, Ella hadn’t paid attention to anything else. Now that he called her attention to it, though, what she had on didn’t feel like the nightshirt she’d gone to bed in.

  He snapped his fingers again. “Here is a mirror.”

  The gown was indeed beautiful, and she appreciated Logan’s good taste, but with him standing next to her, it was difficult to concentrate on her own reflection.

  Regal was the word that came to mind. Right after dangerous and sexy as sin. Logan looked like the prince he was. Correction, the grandson of a god.<
br />
  Lucifer had nothing on him.

  24

  Amanda

  “Master Parker.” Amanda ruffled the kid’s hair. “I came to check on your progress. Have you been practicing your powers?”

  Vivian chuckled. “He’s been tormenting Ella, and he even tried it on Scarlet.”

  “Did it work?”

  “Nope.” Parker shook his head. “She’s cute, but she’s stupid.”

  Amanda affected a scowl. “I hope you are referring to the dog and not your sister.”

  He grimaced. “Ella is not cute.”

  Exchanging glances, Vivian and Amanda burst out laughing.

  “What?” Parker threw his hands in the air. “She might look cute, but she’s not. Sometimes she’s really nasty to me.”

  “She’s not.” Vivian motioned for Amanda to take a seat on the couch. “Can I offer you some coffee?”

  “No, thank you. I’ve had too much already. But I’ll take water. Do you have something cold and carbonated?”

  “I’ll get you a Perrier.”

  “Perfect. Thank you.”

  Amanda waited for Vivian to come back before turning to Parker. “Come sit with your auntie and tell me about your compulsion experiments.” She put the Perrier bottle on the coffee table, crossed her legs, and rested her hands one on top of the other on her knee. Her teacher’s pose.

  “I figured out why sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.” He sat on the other side of the couch.

  The kid was still uncomfortable around her, but that would pass. She liked him, and hopefully in time he would feel the same about her.

  “Do tell.” Patting the spot next to her, Amanda motioned for him to get closer.

  “There are several things I need to do at once, and it’s not easy. First, I need to concentrate and visualize what I want the person to do, then I need to really want them to do it, and finally I have to use the voice.”

  Up until the comment about the voice, it sounded a lot like thralling.

  “Can you demonstrate?”

  He frowned. “You’re an immortal. It’s not going to work on you.”

  “I know. I just want to hear that special voice you use.” She pulled out her phone and pressed record.

  If this had to do with sound waves, William could analyze it. Although on second thought, it would be better if Parker came down to the lab and they recorded him using proper equipment.

  Still frowning, Parker shook his head. “I can’t think of anything I want from you. It can’t be something I’m not really interested in.”

  Remembering his transition party demands, Amanda reached into her purse and pulled out her wallet. “If I detect something special in your voice, I’ll give you a twenty.” She pulled the note out of the wallet and waved it in front of Parker. “Do you want this?”

  He nodded. “Then ask me for it.”

  Parker nodded, took in a deep breath, closed his eyes for a moment, opened them and leveled his gaze at Amanda. “Give me the twenty dollars, please.”

  “Here you go.” She handed him the note.

  Snatching it, he quickly put it in his pocket. “Did you hear anything in my voice?”

  She hadn’t, but it was important not to discourage him. The more confident Parker felt, the better he would do.

  “I’m not sure.” She glanced at Vivian. “Can he practice on you? I want to see him in action.”

  “Give me a moment.” Vivian got up and rushed into the kitchen.

  A moment later she came back with a small packet of roasted almonds. “Those are like catnip for Parker.”

  The kid’s eyes widened. “I didn’t know we had any left.”

  “I hid them from you because you weren’t eating anything else. Try to get me to give them to you.” She dangled the small package from her fingers.

  Amanda could almost feel the vibration of Parker summoning his powers, but then again, she wanted to feel something, so she could have been sensing what wasn’t there.

  Lifting his hand high in the air, he commanded, “Throw the almonds to me.”

  Vivian’s hand shook as she tried to resist the command, but it was no use. The pack went flying straight into Parker’s raised hand.

  “What did you feel, Vivian?”

  “It’s the weirdest thing. It’s like he took command of my arm and it did what he told it to do. My own body betrayed me.” She looked up at Amanda. “What if it’s a placebo effect?”

  “Let’s see how Ella reacts. Is she home?”

  “She is in her room with Sylvia. They are working on editing the first two videos she shot at the sanctuary.”

  “Congratulations. I didn’t know she’d already started. How is it going for her?”

  Vivian sighed. “She lost Tessa. The girl couldn't stomach it. Sylvia volunteered to take her place.”

  “That bad, eh?”

  “I don’t know. Ella didn’t let me see any of them. I’m afraid that I’ll have to wait for her to upload them to YouTube first. She thinks I can’t handle it.”

  Amanda lifted the Perrier and unscrewed the top. “Perhaps she’s right. It’s one thing to listen to a stranger’s horror story, and another thing entirely to hear your own daughter recounting her nightmare.”

  Glancing at Parker, Vivian shook her head, indicating that they shouldn’t talk in front of him. It was her prerogative as his mother, of course, but Amanda didn’t believe that a teenager Parker’s age couldn’t handle some nasty.

  “I’ll call her,” Vivian said.

  For a moment, Amanda expected her to pull out a phone, but when Vivian just gazed at the direction of Ella’s room, she was reminded that mother and daughter had a more direct way of communicating.

  She heard the door open, and then Ella’s light footsteps as she rushed into the living room. “Hi, Amanda. Mom said that you need me for something.”

  Amanda nodded. “I want Parker to show me how he compels you to do something that you don’t want to do.”

  “Great.” Ella rolled her eyes. “Just do it quickly and don’t embarrass me. I want to be done with those three videos tonight.”

  Vivian didn’t look happy. “I thought you were only working on the two you filmed on Tuesday.”

  “I also have mine from Monday.”

  “Please don’t put it up. What if Gorchenco can recognize you? You were his wife, for God’s sake. He can probably detect every inflection in your tone, and he knows your body language.”

  Ella waved a dismissive hand. “Once we are done with editing, I’ll let you watch it and you’ll tell me if I’m recognizable. After all, I was married to the Russian for only a few days, but I’ve been your daughter for eighteen years.”

  That seemed to mollify Vivian. “Promise?”

  “Yeah. Now. Let’s get on with the compulsion.”

  While they’d been talking, Parker had time to prepare, and he was ready with his demand. “Make me a sandwich exactly like the one you made me yesterday.”

  “Crap.” Ella tried to shake it off, and then headed to the kitchen. “I don’t understand how it works,” she said as she pulled the ingredients out of the fridge. “I know he’s about to do it, I brace to resist, and then I have to do it anyway. It’s like he’s taking control of my body. But when he did it unknowingly, it felt different.”

  “How so?” Amanda asked.

  “Since I didn’t resist, I didn’t feel as if my body was obeying a command. I thought that I decided to humor him, that it was my decision.”

  Fascinating. Apparently, compulsion was undetectable unless the compelled knew it was coming. Amanda wondered what happened when the command went against the compelled one’s moral code. Did they try to fight it, or did they convince themselves that they actually wanted to do what they were compelled to do?

  It seemed that compulsion worked a lot like hypnosis, just with more muscle behind it. Resisting it was more difficult.

  It could explain how otherwise sane people could be turned int
o a murderous mob by a charismatic leader. The question was whether those types of leaders used mass hypnosis or were gifted with the unique ability to compel.

  It would be interesting to introduce Ella and Vivian to a powerful hypnotist and see if hypnosis affected them similarly to compulsion, and then ask them to compare the two.

  25

  Julian

  “Is this also a clan-owned hotel?” Julian asked as their van pulled up to the building.

  “Not this time.” Turner slung the strap of his duffel bag over his shoulder and opened the sliding door. “I have many friends in Washington. Or rather acquaintances who owe me favors. This place is reserved for special operations. There are several of them scattered throughout the city. Different sizes and different levels of concealment.”

  Julian followed him inside. “Are we going straight to the campus? I wouldn’t mind stopping somewhere for a bite to eat.”

  Turner smirked. “We are going to enjoy the cuisine of the student cafeteria.”

  “I don’t miss that.”

  “We don’t have time.” Turner slapped his back. “The campus is sprawling and we need to get familiar with it while not attracting attention.”

  The clerk at the hotel’s front desk was clearly not trained in the hospitality business. With a nod of acknowledgment, he handed Turner a bunch of plastic entry keys with sticky notes marking the room numbers attached to them.

  Was he an agent? And if he was, which department did he work for?

  “Thank you,” Turner said as he took five and handed the remaining ones back. “The rest of my crew is arriving shortly.”

  The clerk nodded again.

  “Are we sharing a room?”

  Turner lifted a brow. “Do you want to room with someone else?”

  “I was hoping to have one to myself. If everything goes well, Ella and I might stay over and do some sightseeing. We can come back on a commercial flight.”

  “No problem. We have rooms to spare.” Turner turned around and went back to the front desk. “We will need one more room.”

  The clerk grimaced as he handed him the key. “I’ll have the cleaning crew prepare it for you.”