Playing with Passion Theta Series Book 1 (45 page)

“Good, ‘cause I’m putting you in
charge of the drills, Mack. Thankfully, we shouldn’t be bombarded
with emergencies, since thetas heal pretty fast all on their
own.”

Johnny scowled. "The flu hits us hard
every year. Measles, too. We always lose a few young ones and older
ones. You’ve never had to worry, because troupe thetas are
inoculated for everything.”

Staci patted his hand. “I’d never
heard that. I’m so sorry.” Johnny smiled back, touched by her
compassionate words.

Tom added, “And we can’t go to a
city-run clinic, because they always draw blood. When they find out
we aren’t human, they take our kids to the institutes and torture
us for information.”

The room grew quiet. This was worse
than Ingrid had imagined.

Gene raked his hand through his unruly
hair. He was wearing a tee shirt and jeans that looked like he’d
slept in them. Ingrid had never seen him so disheveled. "That's
messed up. I'm sorry if what I said sounded harsh. Staci,
inoculations are now a top priority.” She nodded, smiling, making
notes on a legal pad she’d carried to the meeting.

“But where will you get the vaccine?”
Tom asked.

“We’ll figure it out. One step at a
time, okay?”

“Sure, Gene.” Tom seemed to be
accepting Gene’s new position more readily than Johnny or
Liz.

Ingrid became more and more concerned
about Gene as the meeting progressed. He was taking on so much,
purchasing the building, organizing the departments, ensuring they
were secure. The morphing and glamouring he did yesterday had taken
energy. He’d need a reboot soon.

"Do you know of any doctors who'd be
willing to help us?" Staci asked.

"Liz does," Tom said. But Liz hadn't
shown up to the meeting.

“Anyone know where Miss Sunny
Disposition is this morning?” Gene asked. No one answered. “Did
anyone check her room?” Silence. “Tom…”

“Sure.” Tom left, heading toward the
staircase.

"We'll need basic medical equipment
and supplies. Also drugs." Staci was writing down Gene’s
suggestions furiously.

Gene looked around the room. "So these
are our immediate plans. Johnny, please talk to Liz about getting
the names of some cooperative doctors, then over the next weeks
you, Liz and Sam can rotate hitting the other safe houses and
asking them to pick two representatives—one local and one who’ll be
trained as a hunter. The hunter will be the one who gets in touch
with one of us when there’s an emergency. He or she will have to
agree to be mentally scanned at our discretion.”

Staci, would you and Sam accompany Tom
to purchase furniture and supplies for the common areas and the
clinic? That's really all we can do until we have some medical
staff to tell us what else we need."

Staci leaned against Sam's body. “Of
course we’ll help.”

“Thank you.”

Tom had arrived back. “No sign of
her.”

Gene’s expression grew dark. “She and
I need to have a chat.”

“Liz comes and goes as she likes,” Tom
said

“Meetings are a requirement for all
voting board members. You don’t show up, you don’t vote. Agreed?”
Everyone nodded. “Good. Tom, can you be here when the electrician
and the plumber arrive? I'll show you what I need. Alan can help
too."

"Yeah, sure. No problem."

“Okay, thanks. Everyone can leave,
except Mack and Ingrid.” As soon as the others filed out, Gene
slumped into his chair. "The three of us should start to train,
find out our limits—especially related to long distance
communication.”

"You need to rest.”

“Can’t. Not yet.”

“Distance shouldn’t be a problem since
each of us is unique. As long as we're keyed into you, mindspeak
should work like a conference call," Ingrid said.

“Let’s give it a shot.”

They worked on it for several hours,
Mack and Ingrid morphing and splitting up, contacting him in his
upstairs loft from various places in the neighborhood. At the end
of the day, the three friends discovered they’d been able to speak
easily, even though they were sometimes miles apart.

When Mack and Ingrid
returned, Gene took hold of Ingrid’s hand, looking guilty.
“
I hate to ask this of you, but Alan needs
to be looped and so does Johnny. Today, preferably,”

“Can we discuss it
upstairs?”
Ingrid asked.

“Sure. I’ll meet you on
four.”

The three friends sat on folding
chairs on Mack and Ingrid’s balcony.

“Have I taken on too much?” Gene
asked, raking both hands through his tousled hair.

Ingrid had never seen him looking this
stressed. He obviously needed their support. “You’re doing so well.
We’re proud of you.” She placed her hand on his
shoulder.

He smiled gratefully. “You’ve always
been honest with me. Don’t stop now.”

“I’m being honest, but…”

“But?”

“You scared me.”

“How?”

“Are we really okay with
taking away memories, like we did with the real estate agent and
the witch? With plunging into someone’s mind and reading their
thoughts, learning their secrets? I did it myself with Johnny. Are
we okay with
Influencing
people to do whatever we want them to
do?”

“We didn’t hurt them and we paid them
very well. Our need for a secure base trumped the few minutes of
memories we blanked out. Nothing we did will affect their lives; in
fact, it may even save their lives.” Gene seemed so sure of what he
was saying.

“I have a problem with…”

“Ingrid.” His tone had sharpened.
“Those were on-the-spot decisions that had to be made immediately.
You elected me CO. I have to be the one to make the tough
decisions. I’ll take full responsibility if things get fucked up
because of one of my decisions, but you have to defer to me when
there’s no time to call a vote.”

She nodded. “I do trust you. It isn’t
that.”

“I know.”

“Are our hunters going out to
kill?”

“No. They’ll be doing what they have
been doing. Protecting the other street thetas and their
families.”

“Liz has killed. I think she likes
it,” Mack said.

“Under me, no one will kill unless
it’s necessary.”

“And who decides when that
is?”

“Me, or in the field, Johnny. If
you’re not in communication with either of us, you decide for
yourselves.”

“But who makes sure our motives are
clean? Who keeps us in check? What mental blocks are in place to
prevent us from abusing our powers? From turning into another
Director?”

“We’re nothing like him,” Gene
snapped.

“No, we’re not. Yet. But when Joseph
Herron began killing other alphas and absorbing their powers, it
turned him. Not every werewolf is a Joseph Herron or every vampire
a Giovanni. Some of them are innocents, too. I won’t support a
group that kills randomly by species.”

Gene shook his head. “You know me. I
would never condone that.”

“I’ve wanted my freedom for so long,
but not at the cost of taking away the freedom of others,” she
said.

“What do you suggest?” Gene rubbed his
face.

She scanned their
concerned demeanors. “For now, we three should police each other.
We drop our shields and lay ourselves bare every few days. If we
see anything—
anything
that doesn’t look right, we discuss it. If the person in
question refuses, the other two will be able to encourage
him.”

“Or her,” Gene said, his expression
grim. “I’m not saying no. It’s a valid point and a great idea. But
it isn’t only us. Staci and Sam have looped. Soon Johnny and
Alan.

“Checks and balances,” Mack
said.

“Exactly. Why don’t we reboot at the
same time?” Ingrid asked warily, hoping they’d agree. “That would
take care of both problems.”

“Very efficient, but I’m not into
ménage. At least, I don’t think I am,” Gene grinned.

Ingrid rolled her eyes. “Mack would
kill you.”

“Would you?” he asked
innocently.

“I think I might. Is this another
experiment?” Mack asked, leery of the answer.

“How can this possibly work?” Gene
asked.

“I had an epiphany.” Ingrid stretched
out her hands.

Mack groaned. “Do what she says, or
we’ll never hear the end of it.” They each took a hand.

“Now drop your walls and loop with me.
Your circle will split and link through my two energy centers. I’m
the peanut butter, you’re the bread.”

“Oh god, that vision…” Gene
sighed.

“Behave yourself,” Ingrid
warned.

“Unless you want a broken nose,” Mack
growled.

“Fine.” Gene sighed and closed his
eyes.

Mack and Gene’s power connected to
hers with a jolt of pain: spirit numbing, mind shattering,
soul-splitting pain. But Ingrid was the top ingénue in the country
and hadn’t earned that position by being coddled and babied. Years
of excruciating training had taught her how to accept pain and move
forward, to take away its power to blur the mind and still focus on
the task. And today’s task was to reboot their trio so they’d have
the power they needed to kick ass.

She reached into her depths and found
the courage to create her own unique magic, to bind and weave and
mold an unbroken circle connecting three thetas, more than anyone
had ever achieved before.

From Mack to me to Gene to
me to Mack.
She sighed, feeling the
support of the two males she knew well and the silent
source
she was just
beginning to understand. A few heartbeats later, it was
over
.

The three friends sat there, breathing
hard, still holding hands like little kids in a
playground.

“Holy Fuck.” Gene couldn’t believe
she’d pulled it off.

“I think you said that last time,”
Ingrid said, giggling.

“You’re an angel.” Gene kissed her
hand.

“Now you’re being silly.”

“She’s
my
angel,” Mack grunted, snatching
back her hand.

“Noted,” Gene chuckled.

“Good. I wouldn’t want to have to
dangle you by your feet from the roof,” Mack teased.

“So now that you’re all topped up and
we’ve read each other’s deep dark secrets, how about I send up
Johnny or Alan? They need to get loopy, too.”

“Do I get a few minutes to breathe, at
least?”

“Yeah, of course. I’m not an
unreasonable boss.”

“I insist on payment.”

“Payment?”

“If I loop Johnny and Alan, I get two
quarts of ice cream to share with everyone. Aaaaand, I get to watch
you guys work out.”

“We don’t have any equipment,” Gene
protested.

“Since when do you need equipment to
do five hundred one-handed pushups?”

Mack narrowed his eyes. “Why do you
want to watch Gene work out?”

Ingrid slid into Mack’s lap. “I’ll
only watch you, but it will give me great satisfaction to hear Gene
grunting in pain, off to the side. Looping is hard
work.”

Gene crossed his arms
against his chest. “Ha. It won’t be
me
grunting in pain.”

“Are you challenging me?” Mack asked,
looking amused.

“You boys are so cute when you have a
pissing contest.”

Half an hour later, Gene sent Johnny
up for his looping session. Now that Ingrid had the hang of it,
Johnny’s looping went smoothly. It was painful for him, but she
sent him off to take a nap, asking Staci to keep an eye on him and
to have sunglasses ready, just in case. Because Alan was busy
working with Tom, she’d have to wait until later to take care of
his looping.

Mack and Ingrid were hanging out in
the conference room, when Alan shouted. "You guys need to see this.
They found Diane and Dave."

The broadcast was live and impossible
to watch for long without wanting to throw up. Diane and Dave were
being interrogated separately, the camera switching back and forth
between the rooms. Rem and Zerec, two of The Director’s top
generals, were making a show of shaving Diane’s head, cutting her
scalp in several places on purpose. They didn’t bother to hide the
erections that bulged under their pants, deliberately rubbing their
crotches in front of the camera.

“Someone should cut off their cocks
and shove them up their asses,” Mack growled.

After both Dave and Diane’s heads were
shaved, The Director’s soldiers used disgusting phrases, describing
what they were going to do to make them talk. Rem used his long
braid to choke and whip her, but Diane continued to plead, telling
The Director’s top general the location she'd given had been
accurate and that if it was deserted, then it was probably because
the other members of the troupe had run when they’d heard Diane had
been captured. Dave told Zerec exactly the same thing.