Playing with Passion Theta Series Book 1 (41 page)

"You didn't black out?" Staci sounded
incredulous.

“No. Gene Stone and I were in the
middle of a complicated lift when it happened. He protected my head
and body as we fell. His head hit the stage hard. I tried to wake
him up, but the sorcerers grabbed me." Ingrid shuddered, unable to
continue for a moment. "Gene was dying and I couldn’t do anything.”
She buried her face in her hands, the memories still too painful,
overwhelming her mind.

Mack was suddenly beside her, rubbing
her back. "You're doing fine." He gently wiped Ingrid’s teary eyes
with a tissue then handed her a fresh one. Ingrid smiled weakly,
grateful that she wasn't facing this alone.

“What did they want?” Johnny leaned
closer.

"The sorcerer who seemed to be in
charge said he was giving me as a gift to some demon he'd bargained
with. They seemed surprised that I hadn't dropped with the others.
I guess they'd planned on dragging me off while I was unconscious.
But I'd taught myself how to hold onto my own axis magic and not
use it for performances. And since it was early in the performance,
my psy-power was still strong.

Alan laughed. “Whoa. They sure picked
the wrong theta to kidnap.” Several people joined in the laughter,
including Johnny. Their smiles gave Ingrid the courage to
continue.

“It freaked me out that I wasn't
afraid—just really angry. I put up a fight, biting and kicking.”
There was more chuckling from her troupe, especially
Gene.

“So what happened next?” Sam asked,
enthralled like the others.

They started to work another spell,
this time to kill the troupe because I hadn’t cooperated. I pulled
in power and…”

“And?” Sam asked.

“I told them to burn in
hell.”

“That’s it?” Liz’s shoulders slumped.
The rest exchanged puzzled glances.

Ingrid shrugged. “They caught on fire.
I’d pictured them on fire in my mind, and when I said the words, it
happened.”

Complete silence descended. Ingrid
waited for the accusations to fall.

"What was that like?" Liz
asked, scooting closer to Ingrid. “What did it
feel
like?"

"Like a volcano of energy erupting
from my gut. My axis and psy blended together, but it wasn't a
fantasy projection. They burned. I murdered them.”

They were all so quiet now, staring at
Ingrid—the dangerous freak—with either fear or fascination. She
scanned their faces, hoping somehow they'd understand, especially
Alan, Staci, and Sam. Mack and Gene would support her, no matter
what, and that sweet thought gave her the courage to
continue.

Ingrid’s voice was only a whisper when
she spoke again. "I could have knocked them unconscious with my
power, but I thought they'd killed Gene and were going to kill the
others. My anger was off the charts. I wanted them
dead.”

“What happened then?” Gene
asked.

"They ran around, screaming. One of
them clutched at the main curtain and it caught on fire. The flames
spread quickly across the stage. The smoke was thick and I was
choking. Alan got my attention, and we helped Diane and Staci get
outside. The four of us lived. Gene, Dave, and Sam died in the
fire. Gene was a good friend.” She choked down another
sob.

Mack pulled her against
him. “
Tell them the rest, my
love
,” he sent.

“There’s
more
?” Gene asked.

She forced herself to face this group
of refugees, people who deserved the truth, however hard it was to
speak it aloud.

"We're not judging you. Tell us the
rest, please." Johnny's voice was soothing.

So she told them about what The
Director had done to the audience, then added, "We went to the
hospital, but about two hours later, The Director dragged us up to
the roof of the building. His demons had found Mack Stone. Diane
and I thought he was going to throw the four of us off the edge of
the roof, but instead, he executed Mack Stone in front of us. I
suppose it was a warning, to keep us in line. He tortured Mack
before he killed him. Diane fainted twice, but he woke her up each
time and made her watch. I hated Mack's guts for running away and a
million other rotten things he’d done to the troupe, but no one
deserved what The Director did to him. I was in the hospital on
tranquillizers for a week. I think Diane's still there.

“The mid-level demon who’d requested
me for his harem was executed in front of a sellout stadium crowd.
I passed on watching it,” she said.

Ingrid scrutinized each of their
faces, trusting them with the entire truth. "The Director doesn't
know that I set those men on fire. I told him their own spell
backfired on them and that I pushed one of them and he fell into
the curtain. If you look at the tapes, you can’t tell it came from
me."

“You’re right. I watched those tapes.”
Gene said.

“As did I,” Mack added.

"So all you did, was push your energy
into them?" Liz looked puzzled.

"Along with my rage and my desire to
kill them. Specifically, to burn them.”

Gene spoke. "You imagined it with your
psycore and projected it into your axis. Your axis energy made it
happen."

"I murdered my friends."

"You defended yourself, sugar. You
thought your troupe was dead. The two sorcerers and Mack Stone
murdered your friends," Gene pointed out calmly.

“And The Director,” Staci added. “If
he was there, he could have put the fire out before anyone was
hurt.”

"It can't be that simple." Sam said.
"If it was, we'd be setting fire to things all the
time."

Gene answered, his
thoughts racing at double time. "Actors are trained to take
in
axis energy, but we
don't often expel it, except when we morph. We project
out
with our psycore.
Ingrid seems to have learned to do both—focusing her anger into a
weapon. I think we should all be taking lessons from
her.”

Liz had walked over to Ingrid, her lip
curled up in a half-snarl/half smile. "You're a fuckin’ scary
bitch. Those were master sorcerers you barbequed."

"If I hadn't killed them, if I'd gone
with them, my friends would be alive. The Director told me that’s
what I should have done.”

"Then you'd be dead, or worse." Liz's
expression was fierce. “And you wouldn’t be able to help the
thousands of people you’re going to help working with
us.”

"Why do
you
hate The Director?"
Ingrid asked Liz.

"He killed both my sisters. Had his
henchmen pick them up off the street and then gave them to a pack
of wolves. I was nine years old when they were taken.” Her tone was
bitter and her eyes held an icy determination that made Ingrid
shudder. “Their bodies were delivered to our house when the wolves
had finished with them."

“How do you know it was The Director
who ordered the wolves to take them? They might have been acting
independently.” Gene suggested.

“The Director’s office had
contacted my dad the week before. Told him to hand over his two
older daughters to the local alpha. It was part of some bargain
he’d made to keep the wolves from causing trouble in the
neighborhood.
Monthly human
offerings
, they called it. My sisters had
caught the alpha’s eye. I was much better at hiding out. They
weren’t thetas like me.”

"I'm sorry." Knowing there was nothing
she could say or do to help, Ingrid added, "I guess I'd rather be
thought of as a fucking scary bitch, than an ingénue whore." They
grinned at one another for the first time. “Mack and I are signing
on as rovers.”

Dave and Diane rose from the table,
excusing themselves and returning to their room. Probably to
discuss the criminal actions of their troupe's crazy former
ingénue, Ingrid imagined.

Staci approached Ingrid with tears in
her eyes and offered her a warm hug. "You were so
courageous."

"You're not afraid of me?" Ingrid
hugged her back, holding on a little too tightly, feeling more
relieved than she could ever put into words. Staci Hudson was a
female she thought she might be able to call friend one
day.

"You were being attacked. It was a
normal reaction—to fight back. Now we have the opportunity to do
some good with our power." Staci turned and held her hands out to
Sam, the male she'd been forced to partner with years ago, yet also
the one she’d given her heart to. When he was by her side once
more, they faced the three rebel thetas. "I'll help train your
friends. I don't have Ingrid's abilities, but I'm a strong
projector. Mostly, I’d love to help the injured. I’m a natural
healer,” Staci announced without a hint of arrogance.

Sam shook Johnny's hand. "I'll hunt
with you. I'm in good shape and I'd love to fuck over a few of
them." Sam had a glint in his eye Ingrid had never seen before. He
leaned down and gave Staci the kind of kiss that makes a girl's
toes curl, and she seemed more than happy about being on the
receiving end of it.

When they broke apart,
Ingrid sent a mental message to Sam, tuning it to Sam’s unique
energy.
"Can you hear me?"
Sam nodded, looking a little surprised.
"You two have already linked your powers?"
Ingrid asked.

"Yes."
He grinned, glancing down at Staci affectionately.

"Do you love each other?
Mack and I think it’s possible."

Staci answered, her eyes
sparkling with delight.
"We've loved each
other for decades, since we first met as ingénues, thirty years
ago. What they teach is complete nonsense. It's a way to keep us
isolated."

Johnny was looking at them strangely,
but was distracted when an excited Alan grabbed his hand,
volunteering to help. "I'm not an actor, so I’ve only been trained
to project things, not people. Put me where you need me the most.
I'm in."

Gene ambled over, squeezing Ingrid’s
hand and kissing her cheek. "I'm sorry you went through that shit.
Your strength amazes me.”

“My powers…”

Gene shook his head. “Not that kind of
strength.”

"I'm fine. I'm kind of glad they made
me talk about it."

"No more wolf or vamp parties. That's
worth a smile, right?" Gene teased.

"You're a good
friend."

"You're welcome, Miss
Ingrid."

"No more with the Miss
Ingrid’s. Mack is giving me a real name. I'll give you one if you
want. Or you can think one up for yourself."

He seemed excited by the
idea
. "It’s better if I come up with
something on my own. You'd end up calling me Rhett or Ashley
from
Gone with the Wind
."

She giggled, poking him in
the ribs. "
I'm kinda leaning toward Billy
Bob.
"

He laughed out loud, which earned them
another curious look from Johnny. She decided it might be smarter
to speak out loud again. "I guess you're better off picking one for
yourself. Try to stay away from names like Hercules or
Apollo."

"Rats. I liked those." Gene turned his
face, so she could see his profile. "Maybe Adonis?"

"How about Narcissus?" Ingrid
taunted.

"What are you laughing about?" Mack
had come up behind Ingrid.

“Narcissus, I’d like to introduce,
Trogg.” Ingrid giggled, as her two guys looked each other
over.

Gene pretended to be deep in thought.
"Trogg, huh? I'll have to cross that one off my list."

"Oh, you're talking about
the name thing."
Mack quickly snatched up
her hand, pulling her closer.

"Yes. Have you thought of
one for me?"

"Actually, I
have."

"Well?"
Ingrid asked, impatient to hear what he’d come up
with.

"Later."
Mack’s warm breath heated her ear sending tingles
dancing over her body. He kissed her lobe, now healed
perfectly.

"You’re distracting me
again."
Ingrid pouted to hide her
smile.
"It better not be some porn queen
name."

"Why, you don't like Lola
Lushlips?"

She gasped, pretending to be
shocked.

Gene held up his hands in surrender.
"I don't want to know the story behind that one."

Johnny cleared his throat. Ingrid
glanced in his direction, still giggling. Liz, Tom, and the others
were chatting at another table. Johnny had been the only street
theta to notice the strange exchange.

He whispered, pointing from his head
to Ingrid’s and back. "Can ya talk...?"

"Yeah. We figured it out a few days
ago." Ingrid grinned at her best friend and the male of her heart
and they both returned the smile.

"No shit. Well, that's the first thing
going on the trainin’ schedule," Johnny announced, smiling
excitedly. Ingrid was about to tell Johnny it wasn't all that easy
to accomplish, when he touched Gene’s arm, his expression turning
serious. "I noticed you didn't volunteer to help. You'll hunt with
us?"