“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.
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.