Hostage to Pleasure

“I’m-” Ashaya never got to finish her sentence as gunshots came out of nowhere, hitting both the engine casing and the tires in rapid-fire bursts. Belching smoke, the car spun out of control. She turned to grab Keenan, but he was too far to reach. “Get down!” she told him, trying not to panic. “Baby, listen to me. Get down.” She reinforced the vocal command with a telepathic one.

He curled low in the seat, eyes huge.

“Good boy,” she soothed, just as Dorian managed to get the car straightened and said, “Hold on, kiddo.” He activated the hover-drive.

The vehicle lurched drunkenly but kept going. “Come on, come on.” He raced down the road and swung into a heavily forested area the instant before the car’s computronic engine began to splutter. “Get out.” Braking to a complete halt, he reached into the backseat to release a silent Keenan from his child seat. The boy wrapped his arms and legs around him as Dorian got out of the car and ran around to her side.

“Where?” she asked him, fear making her brain act with cold efficiency.

“Telepath Sascha,” he ordered as he gave Keenan to her and opened the trunk to take out his rifle, stuffing extra ammo into his pockets. “Tell her we’ve been ambushed.”

Ashaya didn’t tell him she wasn’t a strong enough telepath. Instead, as Dorian took Keenan again, and told her to follow him as he ran into the trees, she opened her mind to the Web of Stars and sent out a generalized distress call. She would’ve never done the same in the PsyNet, but this web was much smaller, filled with… family.

Amara’s mind responded first, though she was living and working in Sierra Tech’s mountain headquarters. I’m calling for reinforcements. A message sent through the Web.

Unable to hold the contact, given the intensity of the run, she dropped back out and tried to match Dorian’s pace. It was brutal, but she knew he was holding back so she could keep up.

He stopped just as she was beginning to fear she’d be unable to go any farther. They were in the midst of a grove of sorts but from the low density of the trunks, she had the feeling civilization lay not far ahead.

“Here.” Dorian’s voice was a command as he walked around a tree and nodded at the hollow created by its massive roots.

She sat down inside, holding out her arms for Keenan. Dorian’s eyes met hers as he bent to hand Keenan over. “I’ll be on the other side of the tree, in the branches. You’re safer here-whoever it is will expect me to stash you above.” He nodded at Keenan.

She understood the message-if anything happened, Keenan would hear it. So she’d have to ensure he didn’t. Using the maternal bond, she wrapped him in a cocoon that promised safety. He relaxed immediately. “The Council?” she dared whisper.

His mouth was a grim line as he shook his head. “Human.” Bending, he brushed his lips over hers in a fleeting kiss, his hand lying protectively on Keenan’s hair. “Don’t move.” He took a small gun she hadn’t seen him retrieve and put it in her hand behind Keenan’s back.

She slid her fingers through the grip. “Be careful.” Pressing her back into the tiny cave created by the roots, she curved her body over her son’s, aware of Dorian moving away. She heard a footstep or two, and then nothing.

Her leopard had gone hunting.

Dorian was furious with himself. He’d been so focused on the Council that he’d forgotten the other threat. No, he’d disregarded it because the threat came from mere humans. If he survived this, he’d have to fucking shoot himself for his arrogance. Hadn’t Tally taught him anything? One small woman and she’d managed to put fear into the heart of a Psy killer. Humans might not have changeling strength or Psy mental abilities, but they were no less strong… and had the capacity for as much evil.

Lying in the branches of a tree only a small distance from the one where he’d hidden the two most important pieces of his heart, he calmed down his heartbeat and focused, eliminating everything from his consciousness except his awareness of the intruders. The first thing he realized was that they’d planned this very carefully. Shit. He was moving back down the tree even as the curse passed through his mind.

Ashaya looked up in surprise when he returned. He took Keenan, holding a finger to his lips. “Grab on to me, K-Man.” When the boy obeyed, Dorian quickly scaled the tree and put him in the crook of a branch. “I’ll be back with your mom.”

A nod, not as much fear as he would’ve expected. Trust, he thought, his heart clenching, the kid trusted him. Going back down, he found Ashaya already halfway up. She let him help her the rest of the way. Once beside Keenan, she put her arms around their son’s tiny figure, and gave him a questioning look.

He made a circle with his finger. Surrounded. Unlike the Psy, these humans weren’t so egotistical as to come into leopard territory expecting easy prey. They’d brought a small army.