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

by Erin M. Leaf

  Drop down! Let your feet go! he urged and she obeyed unthinkingly as a flash of light sparked in the room, blinding her. As she fell, the gun scraped the side of her face then went off and pain exploded in her ear. She fell to the floor and gripped her head, sure she’d been shot, but wouldn’t that mean she was dead? People who were shot in the head usually didn’t survive, and yet she felt Jake leap over her body to tackle Eric. When she pulled her hands down they were clean. She looked up, wincing at the pain in her neck. Duncan stood over her, hands spread, a ball of light crackling between his palms. Jake had his hands against Eric’s face, and suddenly she was right there with him as he drilled into Eric’s mind with his telepathy.

  I didn’t think we could do that, she thought, confused, remembering her recent wish that she could use telepathy on the vice principal, Ms. Brown. Emma’s eyes met Duncan’s and she realized that he was with them too, with Jake as he dove into Eric’s brain. Duncan held his crackling ball of energy as though it were nothing. She looked at him, trying to think past the pain in her neck, then Jake pulled the information he wanted out of Eric’s mind. Eric fell down, twitching, and Jake swallowed, looking like he wanted to throw up. Emma felt Jake let go of the man’s mind with relief.

  He stood up, then helped Emma to her feet as Duncan let the energy between his hands fade as well. The people around them backed up, still silent. In the distance, Emma heard sirens and realized someone must have called the cops.

  “He wanted your blood,” Jake said, voice rough. “They’re capturing bonded couples and using their blood to formulate a drug that gives people the ability to read minds. Or, at least, sense other’s emotions.”

  “Jesus,” Duncan breathed, reaching out to haul Jake close. “That’s horrible.”

  Jake nodded, prodding Eric with his toe. “I don’t think he’s going anywhere.”

  Emma rubbed her face, trying to ignore the throbbing in her ear. She couldn’t hear very well on that side, and it was making her dizzy. The crowd of people suddenly surged closer and she backed up into Jake, still trying to wrap her brain around the sudden powers her two men were manifesting. Jake could read people’s minds? And what about Duncan? She glanced at him, sensing the energy crackling just beneath the surface of his skin. Clearly, a triple bonding manifested more abilities than just telepathy.

  “Whoa, hold on people,” Duncan warned, holding up his hands. Emma saw a bunch of them flinch away. What had he done that had them so spooked? She closed her eyes and tried to sift through his memories, walking through his brain until she found what she was looking for. He pulled her against his side and let her in, willingly accepting her inside his mind. She melted against him as the love he felt for her lit her up, then she found what she was looking for. He could generate energy fields with his brain. And Jake was telepathic, not just with her and Duncan, but with anyone he wished. She realized that the fear for her safety had broken some barrier, pushed all three of them past what they thought they could do. She opened her eyes and swept her gaze around the room, picking out bonded couples as well as those with potential bonds and people who didn’t have any aura now but would in the future. She lifted her hand, wanting to touch all the colors she saw, then dropped it abruptly. The missing students!

  “Yeah,” Jake said, catching her thought. “That’s what happened to Jonathan and Samantha. There must be some sort of organization snatching them, manufacturing this drug.” He pursed his lips. “I knew I saw something outside of your house the other night! I bet Eric was following us.”

  Duncan nodded, dropping his hands as the crowd began to drift off but Emma didn’t care. She wanted to know what happened to her students.

  “Were you able to tell if they were still alive?” Emma asked, urgently. She gripped Jake’s hand, willing him to remember.

  “His brain was a mess.” He sighed, swaying a bit on his feet. Emma realized that what he’d done had taken an enormous amount of energy.

  “Here, sit down,” she pulled away and dragged a chair over from one of the tables. The crowd around them had dispersed a little, some of them sitting on the floor and others leaving, but some still watched them warily. Emma knew the police would probably want to question everyone and she frowned. How were they going to get out of there? They were the only ones who knew what was going on. The police would only hold them back at this point, even if they believed their story about kidnapping and drugs and bonding.

  “Here, drink this.” Duncan shoved some punch at Jake. He took it and downed it in one gulp. Emma saw his color improve as the sugar hit his system.

  “Thanks.” Jake shoved his hands into his hair. “We need to make them all forget.”

  “Forget what?” Emma asked, confused. She was still thinking about how to find her students, but she could feel Jake’s brain going a million miles an hour.

  “If people find out that bonded triples have this kind of power, everyone is going to freak.”

  Duncan stared at Jake, then looked down at his hands. Tiny sparks danced from finger to finger for a moment, then he clenched them into fists. “Can you do that? Make them forget?”

  Emma shook her head, the realization of what Jake intended growing inside with her horror. “Jake, no, you’ll hurt yourself trying to do that!” She grabbed his arm, terrified, but he shook her off.

  “I’ve got to do it now while their memories are fragile.” He looked at Duncan. “Maybe your ability to manipulate energy can help. Do you think you can feed it to me?”

  Duncan looked worried. “I’m not sure. I can’t feel your telepathy. Can you sense my energy?” Jake shook his head, frustrated.

  “You can’t do this,” Emma repeated, but she knew Jake wasn’t going to listen. Both men avoided her eyes. Much as she wanted to deny it, Emma knew they needed to do this too. Reports about bonded couples were already dropping off the information grid. If people got wind of what a triple bonding really entailed—she shook her head, steeling herself for what she was about to offer. She instinctively knew that she was the catalyst for the trio. If the men used her, they could work together and access triple the amount of energy for Jake to do what he needed. “Okay, I think I can help.” Both men turned to look at her. “Both of you are part of me. If Duncan sends the energy to me first, I can filter it to Jake as he needs it. I can feel Jake’s telepathy and Duncan’s energy. Can you feel it in each other?” Both of the men shook their heads. “Well, that’s that, then. Dammit.”

  “Emma, you don’t have to do this,” Jake said and she laughed, tense.

  “Yes I do, and you know it.”

  Duncan didn’t even speak. He sat down on the floor and rested his head against Jake’s knee, resigned. Emma sat down next to him. “Ready?”

  Jake nodded shortly and closed his eyes. Emma felt Duncan begin to draw power to the surface and she grabbed his hand, absorbing it into her body instinctively. She smiled. This is part of what the bond is for, she thought and felt them agree. She leaned her cheek into Jake’s thigh and started to feed him the power, sensing his mind opening up, spiraling into the crowd. He grinned at the rush, and she couldn’t help but smile back at him, even as she concentrated. Jake riffled through their surface thoughts first, trying to find out how much each person saw. Then he concentrated, drawing more and more of the energy from Emma. Duncan held onto her, feeding her the crackling power and she bit her lip, trying to keep the wild energy under control so Jake could harness it. Duncan sparked wave after wave of the energy into her mind but after a minute, she realized that working with it felt just like smoothing out auras and she relaxed, finding it easier and easier to spin threads of it out and into Jake.

  Finally, after what felt like hours, Jake slowed his work, then pulled his consciousness out of the last of the people in the ballroom. He looked down at Eric and abruptly Emma realized the man wasn’t breathing. Was he dead?

  “Yeah,” Jake said tiredly. His eyes were red and Emma could feel the bone-deep weariness in him. She didn’t feel mu
ch better and Duncan groaned agreement.

  “You don’t think the cops are going to think you killed him, do you?” Emma felt a prick of worry worm its way inside her.

  “I can remove all traces of us from him.” Duncan raised his arms and called some sparks forth. He sent them to the body and Emma watched as they danced around, presumably scrubbing all traces of Jake and Emma’s DNA away. Emma stared at him.

  “I didn’t know you could do that.”

  “Neither did I until just now,” Duncan said, letting the energy fade as he slumped against Jake. “It wasn’t hard. It would’ve been easier if I wasn’t so damn tired.”

  “How did you know you could do that?” Emma asked.

  He shrugged. “I just knew. Instinct, I guess.”

  Emma sighed and looked away, feeling overwhelmed with everything that had just happened. “We have to find my students.” Emma tried to stand up but couldn’t.

  Jake pressed down on her shoulder. “We don’t have to do it right this second. Give it a minute. We should eat something.” He looked around then spotted the buffet table near the wall. “There. Let’s get some food.”

  Emma leaned against him for a moment, trying to relax even as her worry for Jonathan and Samantha grew. Then Duncan staggered to his feet and helped Emma up. Jake grabbed onto Duncan’s arm and the three of them lurched to one of the tables that had a cheese and fruit tray. They sat down and Duncan passed a grape to Jake. Emma smiled as Jake opened his mouth and let Duncan feed it to him. She took a piece of cheese for herself. At least the food seemed to be helping her headache. The throbbing in her ear was almost gone. They ate in silence for the next few minutes as Emma watched the police come into the ballroom and start methodically questioning people on the far side. She could see several of them pointing towards Eric. She was glad they’d managed to make it to a table a fair distance from the body as she realized some cops were coming over, presumably to keep everyone away from the scene of death.

  “We have to get out of here,” she muttered, shoving another piece of cheese in her mouth. She grabbed one of the untouched waters on the table and drank the entire glass. “If they start questioning us, the memory wipe will be for nothing and we’ll never find Samantha and Jonathan.”

  “We can’t just leave, Emma,” Jake said. “Look, they’re letting people go as soon as they take their statements. We’re nothing more than another three guests. They’ll talk to us and then let us go.”

  Emma narrowed her eyes at the officers spreading out in the room. She hoped Jake was right. One cop looked at them, then pulled out a notebook and walked over.

  “Hello, folks. I need to ask you a few questions and then you can go.” The woman pulled out a pencil and flipped open her notebook. Of course it’s a female officer, come to drool over Duncan. She watched the woman looking Duncan up and down and wanted to growl at her. Emma wondered if the woman found the uniform uncomfortable since she seemed to be adjusting the top quite a lot, then realized she was probably just trying to get Duncan’s attention on her boobs. Emma flushed slightly as she felt Duncan laughing at her in her mind.

  “I need your names and then if you could tell me what you saw, it’d be really helpful.” the cop said, clearing her throat and looking away from Duncan guiltily. Emma could tell she was smitten.

  Get used to it, Jake thought, chuckling in her head, and Emma threw him a disgusted look.

  After they dutifully gave their names the cop looked up from her writing to focus on Duncan as though Emma and Jake weren’t even there. Emma sensed Jake and Duncan’s amusement. She glared at the cop. “He came in waving a gun, then he grabbed me and started babbling something about needing more. I think he was high.”

  The officer frowned. “You were the woman he grabbed?” She looked skeptical.

  Emma nodded, pressing her lips together in irritation. Duncan put his hand over hers, silently urging her to calm down. Emma took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to let go of her irritation.

  “Do you know why he picked you?”

  “No,” Emma answered shortly.

  The officer sighed. “None of this makes sense.” She turned to Duncan. “Did you know him?”

  Duncan nodded. “He was my keyboard player, Eric Masterson. I fired him yesterday when he found out about our bonding. Eric was never very comfortable with my bisexuality and when he discovered I’d bonded to two people, it sent him over the edge.”

  “You’re bonded? Who are you bonded to?” the officer asked, surprised.

  “Jake and Emma,” Duncan said, gesturing to his two lovers.

  The officer flushed. She looked from Emma to Jake, then flipped a page in her notebook, looking down and biting on her lip. “So, Eric didn’t like the fact that you’d bonded?”

  “I think he was more upset about finding Jake and me kissing than he was about the bonding,” Duncan explained, wryly. “He’s never been comfortable with two guys making out.”

  “Why did you keep him on tour then?”

  Duncan looked at the cop, confused. “We had a contract. The tour is my business, not just a hobby. I can’t very well fire the people I don’t like just on a whim.”

  Emma rolled her eyes as the cop nodded in understanding. The woman obviously had all sorts of lame preconceptions. “Do you have any idea what he might have ingested that made him so unstable? Did he have a history of drug use while he worked for you?”

  “No, he didn’t do drugs while he was my keyboard player, at least that I knew about. Well, except for some pot now and then.” Duncan smiled charmingly at the woman. Emma wanted to hit him. “I have no idea what he could’ve taken to cause this kind of behavior, though.”

  The cop frowned and glanced at the body where technicians were working. “Obviously, we haven’t run any tests yet on him so I’m not sure about this, but there is a new drug in the city that just popped up and we’ve been finding a lot of people dead from it.” She sighed and closed her notebook. “It’s been brutal. The victims seem perfectly normal, amiable even, and then over the course of a few hours, they start to act crazy. Erratic. We haven’t been about to track its origins, though we know it’s a liquid and the kids on the street are calling it ‘Path.’”

  “Path? That’s weird.” Emma thought about the missing bonded couples and the ability of those who were bonded to link mentally. She felt ill. “Have you had a lot of missing person reports lately?”

  The officer looked at her, surprised. “Yeah, how did you know?”

  Jake coughed and Emma prevaricated. “Oh, I’m not sure. I think I saw a news report about it or something?”

  “Well, if you think of anything new, give us a call.” She pulled out a card and handed it to Duncan. “I love your music, by the way.”

  Emma stared at her and the officer blushed, then walked away. Jake laughed out loud. “Emma, I think you scared her.”

  “Oh, please,” Emma muttered, flushing. “She was all over Duncan and you know it.”

  “You’re going to have to get used to people fawning on him.”

  Emma snorted, then stood up. “I have a bad feeling about this new drug she was talking about.”

  “You think it has something to do with the missing bonded couples?” Jake slung his arm around her shoulders as the three of them walked to the exit.

  Emma nodded as Duncan grimaced. “Yeah. What was it Eric was babbling about? That he’d be able to ‘read’ anyone he wanted? And she said it was called ‘Path.’ That’s too close to ‘telepath’ to be a coincidence.”

  Duncan sighed as he held open the ballroom door for her. “I agree.”

  Emma opened her mouth to continue her speculations but then her phone rang. Who could be calling now? She fished it out of her small purse and looked at the unfamiliar number before sliding her finger across the screen. “Hello?”

  “Ms. Bell? Is that you?”

  Emma frowned as she heard a girl’s voice. “Yes, who is this?”

  “Ms. Bell! Oh
my God, you have to help us! They kidnapped us, and I can’t call my parents because they threw me out and—” The voice broke off as Emma heard a loud crack over the phone.

  “Samantha? Is that you?”

  “Yes, it’s me, Ms. Bell, please,” Samantha whispered over the phone, her voice frantic.

  Emma strained to hear. “Samantha, where are you? What’s happened?” She pressed the phone closer to her ear in an effort to hear. There was some crackling and she hoped she wasn’t about to lose the signal. Jake tugged her to the windows on the opposite side of the hallway.

  “They grabbed us right after my dad kicked me out. Jonathan was with me and we were going to go to his house when this car pulled up. They had guns! They hit me and I woke up alone in this room. I don’t know where Jonathan is, but they have other girls here.”

  “Samantha, are there windows? Can you tell where you are?” Emma prayed the girl had more information as Duncan rubbed her back soothingly.

  “We’re high up and we’re in a city. I think it’s Philly, and everyone here has bonding tattoos. Ms. Bell it hurts! They separated all of us and they keep taking blood samples. And Ms. Bell, Ms. Brown is with them! She’s the one who takes our blood.” Samantha sounded desperate.

  Emma felt her blood run cold. “Ms. Brown? The vice principal? Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I’m positive,” the girl cried. “Please, you have to help us!”

  Emma shoved her shock down. She couldn’t afford to get hysterical now. “Okay, it’s okay. I’m going to help you. How did you get access to a phone?”

  “It was in another girl’s jacket. The guards didn’t search her because she collapsed as soon as they brought her in. Some guy was yelling in the hall. That was, like, ten minutes ago. You were the only one I could think of to call.”

  “Okay, I’m going to get help. Don’t worry.” Emma wondered why the girl didn’t call 911. She glanced out the window, then gasped as she realized she could see a few auras flaring here and there in the city outside. She frowned, wondering, Could I find Samantha? “Samantha, I want you to describe everything you see, inside and out, to me, okay? Can you do that?”