“You know him?” Emma asked.
“I know almost everyone here.” Duncan looked around. “At least he’s distracting the crowd. I knew it was going to be insane when everyone saw the bonding tattoos, but I’d no idea it would be that bad.” He ran his hands through his hair and Emma admired the long strands. She loved his hair. She wished she could sink her hands in it right now. He looked at her and grinned and she blushed. He laughed. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I love knowing when you’re thinking about me.”
Emma blushed harder and looked away to see Jake smirking at the two of them. He was just as gorgeous as Duncan. She tore her eyes away, willing the arousal to subside. Walking around in public with these two was a test of her self-control. She took a few deep breaths, feeling the men do the same. She kept forgetting that every time she grew aroused, so did they. She sent a mental apology their way, then opened her eyes as she heard a disturbance at the edge of the room.
The crowd parted and the next thing she knew, a man dashed through the people, waving something over his head.
“Is that?” Duncan asked, voice shocked.
“Yes, it is. Shit,” Jake said as he shoved Emma behind him.
She looked from one to the other, confused. “Who is it?”
They didn’t have a chance to reply before the man was in front of them and Emma realized it was Eric, the disgruntled keyboard player Duncan had thrown off his tour. Jake tried to back up, but the crowd of people behind them was rioting. She heard glass breaking and Duncan grunt as someone pushed into him.
Holy shit, he has a gun! Emma thought, in shock. She stared at Eric, and he grinned at her, his face gaunt and pale. He looked like he’d been drinking and he certainly wasn’t dressed for the party in his ripped jeans and T-shirt. Before she could say anything, his arm snaked out and grabbed her. She squeaked as he dragged her away from Jake and Duncan. She felt their panic and then the cold metal of the pistol pressed into the side of her temple. She froze.
“Yeah, don’t come any closer, Duncan,” Eric said, his voice strangely calm.
“What do you want, Eric?” Duncan shifted closer, stopping when Eric pushed the gun harder into her skin.
“It’s not what I want. It’s what I need,” the man answered. Emma held perfectly still, worried that if she struggled his finger would slip. She noted a sick aura flaring around him from the corner of her eye. She frowned, confused, despite her terror. She didn’t remember him having an aura when Duncan fired him. And the color looked wrong. It didn’t glow, for one thing. It looked like smoke, dark and grisly. It pulsed around Eric in nauseating waves and she swallowed, feeling her gorge rising.
“Emma here is the key.” Eric jerked her harder against his body. She could feel him trembling like a junkie.
“The key to what?” Jake asked, his voice low. Emma noticed the crowd around them quieting as they realized something was happening. Faces turned in, staring at Eric, staring at her. She struggled to keep her feet, the sense of being pressed against his sick aura draining her equilibrium.
“They told me I would only need one dose and I would be able to read anyone I wanted,” Eric shouted suddenly, shaking Emma. “They were wrong!” He yanked her around, turning to look at the guests surrounding them. “It didn’t work. I need more. I need someone stronger, better. And now I’ve got what I need.” He began dragging Emma away to the back of the ballroom. Emma didn’t know whether she could walk, she felt so sick. Her heels caught on the edge of the carpet that surrounded the dance floor, then Jake was in her mind.
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.