SYDNEY’S HEART RACED for approximately one point two seconds as the car drove into an underground parking garage. “Thane, stop it.”
“No.”
She tugged at her hand, but it did nothing. She tried to counteract his Xanex mind tricks, but she was still too new to her abilities and, quite frankly, didn’t know how to do it. She intended to find out though, and then he’d be sorry.
“No, you won’t.”
“Get out of my brain!” she snapped.
The car came to a stop outside a bay of elevators and Sydney reached for the door handle.
“Wait,” Thane said, squeezing her hand.
“Why?”
He didn’t answer as he stared down at his phone.
“Thane?” she prodded.
“I’m waiting for your uncle to give the okay.”
“Fuck that,” she snapped, dragging her hand from his while he was distracted and pushing open the door.
“Damn it, Syd,” he growled, and followed her. He grabbed her around the waist as she hit the elevator button and pulled her back toward the car. “If you ever do that again, I will take you over my knee.”
She forced away the delicious shiver his threat produced and blustered, “You ever try that, and I’ll cut you.”
“Bloody hell. I’m no’ havin’ this fight with you right now, Sydney. You’ll do as I say, or I’ll bloody well tie you to a damn chair.”
“You wouldn’t!”
“I would. In a heartbeat.” His eyes burned red and Sydney’s mouth dropped open.
“I hate you,” she rasped.
He held her tighter. “I’m fine with you hatin’ me, lass, so long as you’re bloody well alive.”
She crossed her arms and refused to look at him. Thane stood rigid beside her, his heart racing and his arms tight.
“Now, Wallace,” he said.
“Aye, sir.”
Wallace led them into the elevator, then stepped in front of them. Sydney didn’t struggle—there would be no point, but she did keep her arms locked and her emotions in their appropriate compartments.
Thane loosened his hold as they arrived at her uncle’s floor and he stood waiting for them in the lobby. “Come with me,” he said, and turned toward his office.
Thane laid his hand on Sydney’s lower back and they followed Uncle Cary down the hall. Entering the office, Sydney noticed two of her uncle’s top security men, Mathew and Nigel, standing by his desk. Once the door was closed, Thane released Sydney and she put distance between them, sitting in one of the chairs by the window.
“What do you have?” Wallace asked.
“We have one demand so far,” Nigel said. “You’re two hours early, so we’re waiting for further instruction. He doesn’t stay on the line long enough to trace him.”
“So, it’s a man?” Sydney asked.
“The one who calls is, but we don’t know if there’s anyone else involved.”
“Any indication as to where she might be?” Thane asked.
Nigel looked at Mathew, who shook his head.
“What are you doing right there?” Sydney demanded. “You better not be keeping stuff from us.”
Sydney, settle.
I swear to god, Thane, if you try to “handle” me, I will make you suffer.
Thane frowned, stepping to her and lifting her chin. Do we need to take this outside? Because we have to find your cousin, and I get that you’re angry with me, but we don’t have time to hash it out, so you either stow that anger, or we take it outside.
She pulled away from his hand and Thane turned back to the men. “So, do you know where she is?”
“No,” Mathew said. “We heard something in the background, but we haven’t been able to determine what it is.
“Can I have a listen?” Thane asked.
“Come with me,” Nigel said, but before they left, Thane knelt in front of Sydney.
“We’re going to find her.”
Sydney rubbed her temples, the pain almost unbearable as she blinked back tears and nodded. A green haze hovered in her peripheral vision and she shook her head and blinked again.
“Take a few deep breaths, love, yer eyes are green.” Thane took her hands and kissed her palms, easing her pain.
“What do you mean, they’re green?” Despite the relief, she still scowled at him.
Your eyes are green. I think one of your gifts is manifesting.
“What gift turns your eyes green?” she snapped in a whisper.
I don’t know, love, but we’ll sort it out when this is over. He rose to his feet. I love you, Sydney.
She didn’t respond as he left the room.
Uncle Cary made his way to Sydney and sat beside her. “How are you, love?”
“You’re asking me that? Lucy’s your daughter, you must be frantic.” Sydney reached for his hand. “What does Auntie Clara say?”
“She’s been sedated at home.”
“I would imagine this would be upsetting.”
“She was beyond upset, so we are helping her rest.”
Sydney frowned. “Does she know she’s been sedated?”
Her uncle lowered his head.
“Seriously?” Sydney shot out of her chair. “You’re keeping her sedated without her consent?”
“It’s only until we find Lucy. This way she doesn’t know what’s happening and when she wakes up, Lucy will be there.”
Sydney let out a frustrated groan and stormed out of the office. She needed to run... or hit something; she wasn’t sure which at the moment. Maybe both.
Her eyes flooded with angry tears as she rushed down the hallway. She needed to get away from all this testosterone-filled bullshit that she was being subjected to. She couldn’t believe her uncle would pull the same thing Thane was pulling; only using actual drugs to control her aunt. Sydney was disgusted.
Probably because she was distracted by being disgusted, she didn’t notice Thane walking toward her. So, when she felt an arm of steel wrap around her waist, causing her breath to leave her with an, “Ooof,” she was taken totally by surprise. And when she was pulled into a small room that looked part supply closet, part shipping office, it took her a second to figure out what had just happened.
Without warning, she was pushed against the now closed door and kissed for all she was worth. She forgot that she was distraught and fisted her hands in Thane’s shirt. Opening her mouth to deepen the kiss, she let the worry of the moment dissipate.
However, something Thane probably hadn’t counted on was that her abilities were growing in strength. It didn’t take her long to come to her senses and shove him away from her. “No!”
“You need to stop going down this bloody rabbit hole of despair, Sydney.”
She stood by the door, one hand out to ward off her mate, and one at her chest, trying to catch her breath. “You need to stop trying to control me. It’s not okay, Thane.”
He swore, running his hands through his hair.
Sydney took several deep breaths. She felt her heart slow and her emotions calm. Once that happened, she folded. Sliding down the door to her bottom, she drew her knees to her chest and dropped her head as she burst into tears.
Thane sat next to her, but didn’t try to placate her or control her emotions. He just sat there, his hands fisted on his raised knees while she watched him.
“What’s happening to me?” she whispered.
He sighed. “The same thing that’s happening to me.”
“That’s helpful, Thane. Thanks.” She frowned. “Do you know what my uncle did to my aunt?”
“Aye, but only because I read it in your mind.”
“He drugged her, Thane. Drugged her. She has no idea what’s happening, because he is treating her like chattel. What if Lucy dies and Aunt Clara isn’t awake to know about it? She will be devastated.”
“I know, love. I don’t agree with his methods, but I do understand the emotion behind it.”
“I don’t give a rat’s ass about the emotion behind it, Thane. What he’s doing is wrong!”
“Aye, love, ’tis. I agree with you.”
“You do realize,” she cocked her head, “that it’s what you try to do to me.”
Thane’s eyebrows came together in a tight V and Sydney watched him as he processed her words. With a sigh, he held his hand out, palm up, asking rather than insisting, and she linked her fingers with his, the only movement she made to connect with him.
“I’m sorry, love.”
She closed her eyes and nodded. “Thank you.”
“We are obviously dealing with some emotional conflicts.”
“Ya think?”
“I have a theory but until I can do some research, I’m not sure if I’m right.”
“What’s your theory?”
“It would seem we have similar gifts that are now clashing, which makes us stronger in all the wrong ways. You and I feel things on a level most don’t.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it gently. “We need to figure out how to control our emotions and make them work for us, or we’re going to find ourselves in a place where we might damage each other.”
She opened her eyes and studied him.
“I don’t want to hurt you, sweetheart. I’d rather cut off my arm than do that, and my heart breaks when you’re upset. I find your pain affects me to my soul, and I’ll admit I’m not handling it well. I’m so sorry, Sydney.”
She couldn’t hold on to her anger any longer, and she climbed into his lap as she burst into tears. “I’m sorry too, honey. I’ve never felt like this before, which isn’t an excuse, but I feel totally blindsided by these emotions. They’re overwhelming.”
“I know, baby.” He kissed her throat. “We’ll sort it out. I promise. In the meantime, will you please let me work with your uncle’s security to figure out what we’re going to do? I will do my best not to keep things from you or treat you like chattel, but I’m hanging on by a thread here, and I can’t worry about you and focus on finding Lucy at the same time.”
“I can try, honey.”
“Thank you.”
She wiped her tears and took a deep breath. “Did you hear anything on the recording that might be helpful?”
“Aye. Water. Cary’s sent men down to a few of the local piers and docks.”
“Won’t that take time?”
“Probably. They’re starting with the Royal Albert dock.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, love. I just have a feeling.” He rose to his feet and held a hand out to her.
“What kind of feeling?” she asked as she took his hand, and he pulled her up.
“I can’t explain it, which is one of the reasons I’m taking notice. I think our bonding has given me something I’ve never had before.”
“Which is?” she prodded.
“Psychometry.” He pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her. “I touched something Lucy had given her father and was able to see or sense, I’m not sure, the dock. I’m running with it and praying it’s the right direction.”
Sydney settled her cheek against his chest and closed her eyes. “Me too.”
“I’m going to kiss you now, love.”
She let out a quiet giggle and lifted her chin. “Okay.”
Thane kissed her gently and then led her out of the room and back to Uncle Cary’s office. She took a seat by the window again, but kept a wary distance from her uncle. She was still beyond angry with him, but she needed to stay on point. It wouldn’t help Lucy if Sydney went down an emotional rabbit hole.
Thane slid his hand to the back of her neck and squeezed. Well done, love.
She sighed. Don’t congratulate me just yet, Thane. I’m still pissed.
Before he could respond, her uncle’s office door was thrown open and a very angry, unusually disheveled and haggard-looking Clara Armstrong Ashworth stormed into the room, straight for Uncle Cary, where she laid a perfectly painful slap across his cheek. “You sodding bastard!” she screamed.
Thane pulled Sydney to her feet. “Let’s give them a minute.”
Sydney nodded and they left the room, along with Mathew and Nigel. Nigel ushered them into another office two doors down, but even with the door closed, the occasional four-letter word filtered through as Aunt Clara gave Uncle Carville the verbal thrashing of his life. Sydney hoped they would survive this... it was a betrayal her aunt wouldn’t take lightly.
* * *
Lucy came to in stages. The pain slamming into her skull was something she’d never felt before, and her immediate thought was she was having an aneurysm. But then the memories flooded in and she bit back a whimper as she tried to open her eyes. She could only see through one.
“Well, there you are,” Zach crooned.
“Zach?”
“Yeah, babe. Ya miss me?”
She swallowed, her throat raw. “Where am I?”
“Somewhere safe.”
Lucy shifted and discovered she couldn’t move much. She tugged on her hands and found they were bound tight. “What’s going on, Zach?”
“Well, I’m trying to get your cousin to listen to what I have to say.”
She remembered being in line at the coffee shop and then someone grabbing her from behind as she left and cut through the alley to get to the Tube. A twinge in her bicep brought back the memory of a brief but sharp pain and she remembered a needle jamming into her arm and then everything went black.
“I don’t understand.” Lucy still couldn’t see him. She sensed he was behind her.
“That’s because you’re the dumbest bitch on the planet.”
Lucy gasped. “What the hell?”
“Yeah, go ahead, get all pissy, Luce. It doesn’t change the fact you’re an idiot.” He let out a cackle of a laugh. “And you’re a really bad lay.”
“What do you want, Zach?” As she tried to focus on his words, she took a look around her. There wasn’t a whole lot to see. She was in a small, windowless room and the only source of light was an exposed lightbulb by the door.
“I want your cousin to get her head out of her ass and come take your place.”
Lucy groaned. “Why?”
“Because she owes me.”
“Can I please get some water?”
“No.”
Lucy sighed. “Zach, I don’t understand why you need to talk to Sydney, but we could have set something up.”
“God, I can’t believe you dumped me,” he said as though he didn’t hear her. “I just needed to keep you on the hook for a few more days, but no, you had to ruin the plan.”
He slapped her on the head and Lucy felt like he’d hit her with a hammer. She cried out, even though she tried not to.
“None of this had to happen, Lucy. If Sydney had been as dumb as you, it wouldn’t have. Now we’ll see just how smart she is, because she’s got twenty-nine minutes to show her face or you’re dead.”
“Why, Zach? What did we do to you?”
“You had nothing to do with any of this, Lucy. You were simply an avenue to get to Sydney.”
“What did Sydney have to do with this then?”
He tsked as he came into focus. “That’s for her to know, baby. It’s gonna be our special connection.”
Lucy licked her dry lips and tried not to shiver at the look in Zach’s eyes. He was crazy. He was no longer the good-natured guy she’d met a month or so ago. He was a sociopath, and Lucy was in his clutches. She sent up a silent prayer of desperation as the black surrounded her again.