Dark Dream’s Trap

by I. T. Lucas

  Hopefully, by then they would get rescued.

  Both she and Ella still had the hairpins in, which meant that as soon as Turner realized that he was watching a loop, the Guardians would come after them.

  The problem was that the Guardians would be chasing after more than one signal, following the trackers Lokan’s man had taken and most likely distributed among several of his comrades. Which meant that they would have to split up.

  Vivian’s gut clenched. What if Lokan had a large force with him and each tracker led the Guardians into a trap?

  Supposedly, they were better trained and stronger than the Doomers, but that wouldn’t help them if they found themselves vastly outnumbered.

  46

  Ella

  Ella felt like an idiot. She’d been naive and full of herself, and Julian had been right about her being no match for Logan. The only secret she’d managed to keep from him was the real identity of her rescuers.

  So far.

  She prayed that they would get rescued before he had the chance to figure that one out too.

  Supposedly, Doomers weren’t aware of the fact that Dormants possessed special ability in a much higher percentage than the general human population. That was what Dalhu claimed. But Logan wasn’t an ordinary Doomer, and he was probably privy to information kept from the simple soldiers.

  He was smart and seemed well-educated, which also differentiated him from the average Doomer. He could’ve figured out stuff on his own, and once he discovered that Ella and Vivian were Dormants, all his gentlemanly promises would be forgotten. He would either throw them into the Doomers’ breeding program or keep them for himself. His own little harem of mother and daughter.

  Talk about gross.

  “You should actually thank me for freeing you from your government’s clutches,” Logan continued his villainous mastermind monologue. “Once you complete the mission that I need your help with, I’ll set you free with new identities and enough money to last you for the rest of your life.”

  Right, it was just as true as the scholarship he’d promised her. Once again, he was blowing smoke up her ass, but this time she wasn't buying it.

  “Naturally, it would be best if you don’t return to the States and opt for settling somewhere in South America. You’ll be much harder to find, and your money will buy you a more luxurious living.”

  As if he was ever letting them go. All his promises had one goal. To ensure their cooperation. What she wondered, though, was if he’d be satisfied with dangling the carrot in front of them or was he going to also introduce the stick?

  Which would be extremely easy for him. All he would have to do is threaten to hurt one of them for the other to agree to whatever he wanted. Come to think of it, he wouldn’t even need to do that. He could just compel them to do what he told them. They would be like puppets on his strings.

  Glancing at Ella, Logan smirked. “Except for me, of course. I might need you to perform more services for me from time to time. You have no idea how valuable your mind-to-mind communication is. It’s completely undetectable.”

  Damn, the guy knew how to sound convincing. She could visualize herself lazing on a beach somewhere in South America, only having to do favors for Logan from time to time to keep the money coming. From his point of view, and given what he believed Ella and Vivian’s situation to be, Logan’s plan seemed like a win-win.

  “You are going to live like queens, and I probably won’t need your special services for more than several days a year.” He smiled. “That’s one hell of a compensation package for very little work.”

  Was he playing her again, just from a different angle?

  This new Logan seemed like a completely different person from the one who’d shared her dreams, and he was treating her as if she was a tool to be used in his schemes and not someone he desired.

  Evidently, Turner had been right about that too, and Logan had faked his infatuation with her the same way she’d faked hers with him.

  All along, they’d been playing each other.

  What she wanted to find out more than anything else, though, was whether he’d compelled her attraction to him. Would he admit to it if she asked?

  They’d been walking for at least twenty minutes when they reached another fork in the tunnel.

  “This way, ladies.” Logan motioned for them to go ahead of him.

  The short offshoot terminated in a brick wall, but as Logan grabbed one of the bricks that was sticking out and pulled, some kind of a pulley mechanism was activated and the wall started moving back.

  On the other side was nothing but a staircase leading up, and Logan motioned for them to take it. Four stories later, they exited through another door and onto the roof of a parking structure.

  Except, instead of a car, there was a helicopter waiting for them.

  Crap. Where was he taking them? What was the helicopter’s range? And more importantly, was it shorter than the trackers’?

  47

  Magnus

  Magnus switched from watching the feed coming from the waiting room to the one coming from the interviewer’s office. “It’s taking too long.”

  Arwel stretched his legs in front of him. “Are they still watching the documentary?”

  “The thing drags on and on. I don’t know how they are not falling asleep.”

  “I think they already did because I’m not picking up anything. There was a brief moment when Vivian tensed, but after that nothing. The professor must have said something to upset her.”

  “What about Ella?”

  Arwel shook his head. “I told you. She’s blocking everything. I can’t sense her at all.”

  “Is there a timer on the feed? Because the movie seems longer this time around.”

  “There should be. Tell Turner to check. He has the full display.”

  Taking a quick glance around to make sure no one was listening, Magnus tapped his earpiece. “Turner. I have a feeling that the movie has been running longer this time than during the previous interview. Can you check the timer?”

  “It’s just your perception,” Arwel said. “What do you think could be happening in there? We are watching all the entry and exit points, and the interview room has only one door that opens to the reception area.”

  In his ear, Turner said, “You’re right. It has been running for about two minutes longer. It might be a different version of the documentary.”

  “Something doesn’t feel right. I’m going in.”

  “Stay where you are. I need the entrance to the building guarded. I’m sending Julian in.”

  “Okay.”

  The doctor wasn’t a Guardian, and therefore hadn’t been assigned any guard duties. He was the more logical choice.

  Magnus was still watching the feed and waiting for Julian to enter when he heard him in his earpiece.

  “There is no one here! The fucking movie is playing and they are not here!”

  Magnus leaped up and started running. “Where the fuck are they? Who is watching the door to the reception room?”

  Behind him, he heard Arwel’s boots pounding on the pavement.

  “I’m activating the tracking,” Turner said in his ear.

  Inside, all mayhem broke loose, with Guardians piling into the waiting room, and the receptionist watching them with wide, terrified eyes.

  “I got this,” Arwel said and walked up to her.

  Rushing into the interviewer’s office, Magnus joined Julian and Turner in their search for a hidden exit.

  “We are wasting time. Let’s follow the trackers,” Julian said. “It doesn't matter how they were taken. Only that we find them before he takes them beyond the trackers’ range.”

  “I’ve already dispatched the Guardians stationed closest to the parking lot. The trackers are moving in four different directions.”

  “Fuck.” Magnus kicked a chair, sending it toppling to the floor. “He was on to us the entire time.”

  “It would seem so.” Turner
removed a bunch of books off a shelf and peered inside the space he’d made. “I just hope he didn’t find all of the trackers and that some are still on Ella and Vivian.”

  “Let’s go, Turner,” Julian insisted. “I know you want to find out how the bastard did it, but it’s not important right now.”

  Ignoring Julian’s suggestion, Turner kept moving books. “There is no point in us going after them until we know which direction is the right one.”

  Throwing his hands in the air, Julian headed for the door. “We are not going to find that out by staying in this room. I’m going to pick a direction and follow it.”

  “Don’t be an idiot, Julian,” Turner barked in a rare show of irritation. “We will get moving once it is clear which of the trackers are on Ella and Vivian. Guardians are already in pursuit and there is nothing more we can do at this point.”

  Groaning, Julian turned away from the door.

  The damn movie was still playing in the background, and with the sound on, it was clear that it was on a loop. Except, Magnus wasn’t sure he would’ve noticed that even if he’d been watching the feed and listening to the monotonous, droning narration.

  It all sounded the same and was annoying the hell out of him, but he didn’t want to waste time looking for the remote to shut it up while the Doomer was getting away with Ella and Vivian.

  Magnus was losing his ever-loving shit.

  Vivian had told him about putting a tracker in her underwear. If the bastard had stripped her naked, he was going to tear out the Doomer’s throat with his bare fangs and watch him bleed out.

  “I found it,” Turner said.

  Reaching into a gap he’d made between books, he pressed or pulled something. There was a subtle click of a mechanism engaging, and the bookcase started moving.

  “That’s how he got them out. We were watching a loop of a recording taken in the first minutes of the documentary playing, and none of us paid attention to the screen.”

  Magnus would have felt like a total idiot, but the fucking Doomer had outsmarted even Turner.

  48

  Ella

  The helicopter wasn’t big, and aside from the pilot, there was only enough space for the three of them. Hopefully, that meant that its range wasn’t long.

  Without much preamble, Logan lifted Vivian into the chopper and then reached for Ella. There was nothing sexual in the way he handled her. Just a quick and efficient lift.

  After he had them both seated inside, he got in and sat next to the pilot. Turning the chair around, he locked it in place and handed them each headphones. He then donned a pair himself. “You can talk now.”

  Whoop dee doo. Should she tell him how much she despised him?

  Not a good idea to antagonize the enemy, especially if she wanted him to clarify some things.

  As the chopper took off, Ella’s stomach rose up into her throat. The feeling passed when it reached its cruising altitude.

  “Can the pilot hear us?” Vivian asked.

  Logan motioned for the guy to remove his headphones. “Now he can’t. So what do you want to ask me?”

  Before her mother had a chance to say anything, Ella blurted the question that had been troubling her for so long. “Did you compel me to feel attracted to you?”

  He smirked. “It didn’t require much effort. All I had to do was to eliminate your fear of me, and the rest was all you.”

  Did she believe him? Ella wasn’t sure. “What about compelling me to ignore other guys?”

  He chuckled. “You have a poor memory, my dear Ella. Remember when I told you that you’d be sorry if you let anyone else touch you?”

  Crap, he had said that.

  “What did you think I meant by that?”

  “I thought it was an empty threat.”

  “It was a simple compulsion. Every time you tried to get close to another man, you would be assailed by guilt.”

  Wow, that explained so much.

  “I also told you that we were meant for each other, and that no one could give you what I could, making it clear that I meant sexual fulfillment. If you tried to get intimate with someone, male or female, I’m sure that it wasn’t very satisfying.”

  Ella felt tears of relief pooling in the corners of her eyes.

  This was huge. If despite Logan’s compulsion she’d managed a few moments of strong desire toward Julian, it meant that her attraction to him was so powerful that it had overridden the Doomer’s command. It would’ve been off the charts without it. They were indeed each other's true-love mates, with everything that implied.

  Logan reached to wipe her tears away. “I’m sorry. I know that you hate being manipulated like this.”

  It was the second or third time he’d apologized, but Ella doubted Logan felt any real remorse. He was just being polite.

  “But you’re guilty of the same, Ella. You were pretending to warm to me, so I wouldn’t suspect anything. Before you came up with the college idea, and I realized that you were orchestrating a trap for me, I had to find a way to ensure that you would want to meet me face to face.”

  It was a poor excuse for what he had done, but she wasn’t looking for a real apology from him. However, his misinterpretation of her tears of relief for tears of frustration had given her an opening for the most important request.

  “Can you please remove the compulsion? I can’t stand having my mind under your control. It’s a horrible feeling.”

  “I’m sorry to disappoint you, my dear Ella.” He shook his head.

  Ella’s heart sank.

  “We were not meant for each other,” he continued. “Not that you’re lacking in any way. Despite the pink, messy hair, you’re still a beautiful young girl, and I even find you surprisingly intriguing, but I like my women a little more seasoned.” He glanced at Vivian. “And more voluptuous.”

  “Thanks,” her mom said. “You’re not my type either. I like my men honest and law-abiding.”

  Logan laughed. “Touché.”

  At first, Ella had panicked, thinking that he wasn’t going to grant her request, but then she realized that this had been his way of releasing her from that particular compulsion. Except, there were two more parts to it that he’d conveniently forgotten to address.

  “What about being sorry if I let anyone touch me, and the other thing about no other man being able to give me what you can?”

  “Very good, Ella.” He nodded his approval. “It’s important to be precise with compulsion. I still don’t think anyone can give you what I can, but since I’m not going to seduce you, you are free to fornicate with whomever you please.”

  “Do you really need to be so rude?” Vivian asked. “What you are putting us through isn’t bad enough?”

  “My apologies.” He bowed his head. “English is not my native tongue, and sometimes my choice of words could be better.”

  He was so full of shit. Logan was very eloquent, and if Ella didn’t know who he was and where he came from, she would’ve never suspected he wasn’t a native speaker.

  “Let me rephrase.” He looked her straight in the eyes. “Ella, you are free to feel anything you want toward whomever you choose and enjoy it to your fullest capacity.” He turned to Vivian. “Better?”

  “Much. Thank you.”

  Ella wasn’t sure. Had he really released her? She’d expected a major change, an unfurling of her metaphysical wings that would lift her up on clouds of desire, soaring toward Julian.

  But none of that happened.

  She still found Logan devastatingly handsome.

  Except, when she imagined kissing him, nothing happened either. There was no tingling of excitement and no butterflies in her stomach. If anything, she felt slight nausea. Then she thought about kissing Julian, and everything inside her ignited as if she’d thrown a match into a puddle of gasoline.

  It worked! It freaking worked! She was free!

  Except, she wasn’t.

  As the chopper started its descent, she looked out the window
and all of her excitement vanished. They were landing in an airport.

  Which meant that their final destination could be as far as the Doomers’ island, and there was no way the trackers would work once they reached jet plane altitude.

  We are royally screwed.

  The irony was that Ella recognized the place. It was the same private airport they’d arrived in.

  49

  Turner

  Julian’s pacing and seething were getting on Turner’s nerves, and if that wasn’t enough of a distraction, the waves of anxious energy he and Magnus were emitting definitely was.

  “Magnus, can you take Julian out of here? I need to concentrate.”

  Julian plopped into a chair. “I’m not moving from here until you’re ready to go after them.”

  For the past ten minutes, Turner had been monitoring the four different tracker groupings as they spread out and away from the city in four different directions. He was trying to figure out which of them was the odd one out. They were all moving very fast. Using the freeways, the vehicles were all exceeding the speed limit by at least thirty percent.

  At some point, they would have the police stop them, which would slow them down only for as long as it took to thrall the officer and keep going, but in the meantime, they were making sure that those chasing them couldn't close the gap.

  The Doomers had at least half an hour head start and were pushing the pedal to the metal.

  One grouping was moving slightly faster than the others, though, and he was willing to bet this was the escape vehicle. It was either a fast sports car or maybe even a chopper. His bet was on a helicopter. It seemed to be following the freeway, but that along with the moderate speed was most likely done to make it inconspicuous.