TRANCE, Inc. — Chapter 20
It was a strange dream.
A soft, heavy warmth embraced all my senses. I felt as if I was slowly sinking beneath the ocean waves, further and further from the surface. Only one thing kept me from falling completely into a dreamless slumber — the voices that drifted into my perception. They were harsh and grating, colored with violence.
“Lower your weapon!” A woman’s voice. She sounded angry. “Can’t you see? He needs a doctor!”
“You know he can’t live.” Another woman. Her voice was rougher, and it had a hostile edge. “We don’t know how much he heard. We can’t tell how much he knows. You think the treaty is going to protect you if you stay in my way? You killed Boris, and if you don’t back off then I say fuck the treaty. You’re dead, too.”
A pause.
Then, “What if the treaty applied to both of us?”
A moment of silence. It stretched out long enough that I felt myself beginning to slip away.
“You didn’t.”
The first woman asked, “Do you wish to risk it?”
“Fuck you,” the second woman answered, but there was uncertainty in her tone. “Fuck fuck fuck… Why couldn’t you just let me kill them both?”
What a strange dream this was.
The second woman spoke again. “You know we can’t leave behind a possible information breach, whatever you say. I need proof.”
“Proof?”
“That he knows nothing. I know you can make him forget. You must do it all the time. We will witness.”
“What?!” The first voice was growing more and more familiar to me. “You believe I would simply—?”
“It wasn’t a request.” I got the sense that there was a weapon backing up the second woman’s words.
A sigh of exasperation and impatience. I recognized that sound from somewhere. “Very well. But then you will allow us to leave in peace.”
I was floating in soft, weightless comfort when I felt an abrupt pain in the side of my— Oh…
That felt good...
Distantly, as I finally sank into the depths, I could hear a cough of discomfort.
A voice, a man’s voice this time, commented quietly, “I never got used to seeing this.”
My eyes snapped open and I pushed myself up at the same time.
“What the fuck—? Ow!”
I rubbed at my eyes and fell back down onto my elbow, groaning in pain. I was laying on a cold, metal table in a dingy basement. The only light, a hanging lamp directly above me, swung wildly on its cord where I’d banged it with my forehead. In the pendulum spotlight view I got of the room, I saw Terra spring to her feet in an instant.
The woman had been sitting on the bottom few step of the basement room. She no longer wore the bulky parka, which left her in the black sports bra and running pants she’d been wearing earlier in the evening. There was something fierce in the way she held herself: a coiled, predatory energy. There was a sword in her hand.
The woman had obviously been deep in thought, because a flurry of emotions raced across her features: surprise, anger, uncertainty, and then concern. This last remained on her face as she hurried across the small space to the table. On the way, she stretched out and deposited the weapon on a work bench. Next to it was a crumpled pile that looked like her heavy jacket.
With a deft hand, Terra grabbed the erratic lamp and brought it to a stop. “Chance?” she asked. “Are you alright? Do not move overmuch.” She reached out to rest a hand on my shoulder, quietly pressing me back down. Her fingertips were cool and pleasant where they touched my skin, and that was when I realized I was shirtless.
I pulled back instinctively, then flicked my eyes down my bare torso. I must be crazy, I thought. Because I could have sworn I’d been… There was a neat white bandage around my ribs. … shot.
A speck of red stained the clean wrapping. It was bright, but it didn’t look wet. “I was shot,” I said, staring at the droplet. As the sharp pain in my forehead began to fade, I could feel a dull ache radiating out from my left side.
My hand stretched out hesitantly to probe the wound but Terra’s fingers wrapped around my wrist. “Leave it be,” she ordered. “You will undo my work.”
I gave her a disbelieving look. “Your work? Why am I not in a hospital right now?”
“Yes, my work.” The woman jerked her head in a nod. “It was a clean wound, entry and exit. You lost some blood, and so you may feel lightheaded. But I was able to take care of what I could. You can get up and move in a moment, but do not play with the bandaging.”
My hand dropped back to the table, and I settled back. Terra appeared so certain, and I didn’t seem to be in any immediate danger to my life. Maybe I didn’t need to visit a hospital? The bright light shone down on my face, and the most pertinent fact butted back into my mind. “I was shot,” I repeated. “Shrike shot me.” I felt stunned. I had never in my life expected to be saying these words.
“Yes.”
I shook my head as another thought nagged at my mind. “And... I shot him?” My voice was hesitant.
Terra gave me a look. “Do you not remember?”
I bit my lip, then shook my head. Things were fuzzy. “I remember that he was about to shoot you,” I muttered. “I stopped him, but he shot me instead. I had his gun in my hand. I was pointing it at his head…” I trailed off. “Did I kill him?”
The woman hesitated, then looked away.
I couldn’t tell if I really wanted to know, but I felt like I had to. “Tell me, please.”
No response. It was tough to read her expression in the shadows.
“Please, Terra.”
When she turned back to face me fully, my eyes widened. For a moment, I forgot my question, because that was when I stopped long enough to notice the blood. It was speckled down her throat and upper chest. Her fingers and hands were splattered up her forearms. I could even see a streak of it across one cheek.
“Jesus Christ…” I whispered. That’s my blood, I realized. It must have gotten all over her when she was bandaging my wound.
“You have questions,” Terra said. She had composed her expression from concerned to cool. There was a professionalism to her voice. “But you have to decide, do you want to sit here asking questions or do you want to save the women you love?”
I felt my heartbeat quicken. “What do you mean?” I looked around and started to sit up again. I realized I had no idea how long I’d been unconscious. “Where am I? How long have I been out?”
Terra once again put her hand on my shoulder, but this time she helped me maneuver around the hanging lamp and sit up. “Not long,” she reassured me. “I was able to negotiate us out of the house, and got you back to my home as quickly as I could. You seemed to be in and out of consciousness on the way. You passed out again when I got you on the table. Now…” The woman cocked her head a second; like she was thinking, or listening to something far away. “We probably have two and a half hours until sunrise.”
I frowned. If that’s accurate, then it’s what… four in the morning? Five?
I wondered how long it had been since I saw Amber. I wondered where “darling Principal Clayton” could have taken her. Terra was right. There was no time for questions. My girlfriend might already be gone for good. She might have left the City with the mysterious Mr. Morrison. And the more time I wasted here, the more likely it was that she would be lost for good.
I nodded several times, then cleared my throat and looked Terra in the face. “You’ve already done… so much tonight. I don’t fully know what’s going on, and I can’t expect that you know much more than me. But I know that you saved my life. Probably several times, honestly. And I wouldn’t ask anything more if I didn’t desperately need your help. But I do. I need someone to watch my back while I save my family. And I wouldn’t trust anyone to do that more than I trust you.”
The woman watched me for a moment, like she was judging everything behind my words as much as the words themselves. Her face was studiously blank. Then, she shrugged and gave me a smile that was almost shy.
“That’s what friends are for,” she said, her smooth, enticing accent sending trickles of lightning down my back. “What do you need me to do?”
When we stepped out onto Terra’s porch, my arm around the woman’s shoulders for a little extra support, I froze before we even got down the steps. Parked casually at the curb in front of her house was a sleek black sports car of the type that typically cost more than your average two-bedroom home.
“I thought you said you didn’t have a car,” I muttered, stunned. It only struck me then that this was how she must have gotten me here.
But Terra simply snorted, before helping me down the front stairs. “This was the fastest-looking vehicle in the dead man’s garage. Which was important, because I was in a bit of a hurry at the time.”
Once I was settled in the passenger side, I looked over my shoulder and could see where the spurting of my own blood had sprayed a stain across the leather backseats. It made me swallow in discomfort and imagine that another spike of pain was shooting through my side.
I was shot, I thought as I turned back to the front. I glanced over at Terra. And she saved me.
“How did you do it?” I asked suddenly.
My teacher raised her eyebrows, pressing a button and awakening the engine.
“You saved me.” I explained. “And I’m grateful. But I still don’t know how.” I gave my teacher a look as another thought struck me. “I thought you were dead. Shrike shot you. I saw him.”
Terra nodded, pulling away from the curb. “My jacket doubles as a bulletproof vest,” she said. Her tone suggested that this was nothing out of the ordinary.
I frowned. I hadn’t thought about that. I guess that adds up, I supposed. Terra had claimed to be some sort of exiled soldier from a foreign land, after all. “But you also fell, what…? Thirty feet off the balcony?”
“Probably closer to twenty,” Terra shrugged, making our first turn. “Into a fortuitously placed hedge.”
I shook my head. “You’re saying this like it’s no big deal,” I insisted. “But then you killed a man by cutting off his head with a sword. And you talked your way out of a standoff with three angry mercenaries after executing their friend and attacking their client. That’s not no big deal. It’s insane. And I don’t know why both of us aren’t dead, but I know that it’s because of you.” I trailed off, but I stared at the woman with an expression that told her I was bursting with questions.
For the first time tonight, Terra turned a look my way that was guaranteed to silence my probing questions. Her eyebrows came together and her almond-shaped eyes were hard. “You had best focus on the problems of the moment, Chance,” she ordered. “Is there not a matter of more import? Do you know how you will you save your harem? Or is all of this futile?”
I hesitated. Almost as striking as my teacher’s look was the fact that someone had used the word harem to describe my family, and I knew Terra hadn’t done it in jest. Is that what we are? I wondered. But I shook off the question. Labels weren’t important right now. Questioning Terra wasn’t important. Stopping Seth and Clayton was.
“I’m sorry if I’m asking about things you don’t want to talk about,” I said. “You’re right. I need to think about what’s important.”
I lapsed into silence, and aside from asking me for one or two directions Terra remained silent the rest of the drive. We took a detour to make a single stop, then continued straight on to the Academy.
When we came to a stop directly in front of the building, I stared up at it. I had a vague feeling of discomfort and unease, but I figured that was natural. The only times I had been here before were to spy on my girlfriend as a sinister organization prepared to sell her into sexual slavery.
Terra came around to help me out of the car, and I grunted as I pushed myself out of the low-slung seat. I wasn’t in much pain, but my body and muscles felt stiff. I pressed a hand instinctively to the wound but Terra squeezed my shoulder gently.
“Don’t mess with it,” she chided. “I’ve packed the entry and exit wounds with a special poultice, but if you keep touching it you could aggravate the wound.”
I gritted my teeth, nodded and stayed silent, holding the shiny metal banister tight as I climbed the wide steps up to the front doors of the Academy. It was very late, or quite early, and the building was dark. Unlike many modern businesses, the front wall was solid instead of transparent, and the first floor windows were dark. The building appeared still and quiet, dead. There was no doorbell or communication button, though it did look like there was an intercom speaker to the right of the entrance.
Is this useless? I wondered, staring at the large, wooden front doors. But I shook my head, shoving the thought away. This was the only place I knew to go. I tightened my jaw and strode forward, striking the doors several times with my fist.
Bang bang bang.
I waited, glancing around.
Nothing. I could hear the sounds of the City not far away, but it seemed that this street was deserted. The wood was cool under my hand when I struck again, louder.
Bang bang bang.
Still nothing, and I felt myself begin to fill with frustration and dread.
My scowl deepened, and my fists clenched tighter. “We should have gone back to Shrike’s mansion!” I muttered, angry at my own stupidity. How could I have thought this would work? “He might have had information on Platinum Services. His files might have told us exactly what’s going on with my girlfriend, or even how to reverse the TRANCE programming!”
But Terra shook her head. The woman had taken several steps back and was craning her neck, looking up. “We could not have gone back. By now, the gunshots will have drawn officers of the law. And even if they did not, the others will have left no traces behind. They will have wiped clean the dead man’s home.”
I hesitated. I hadn’t thought about that. “The hit men?” I asked.
“Yes,” my teacher answered. She glanced left and right down the street, sniffing the air.
“Did you know them?”
“Who?”
“The others. The ones you almost fought.”
“By reputation only.” Terra’s answer was prompt, but dismissive. Either she didn’t know much, or this fell under the broad umbrella of things she wasn’t interested in talking about.
I lapsed into silence. Ideas of what to do next tumbled through my mind, but instead of helping they left me more confused and uncertain with every passing second.
I stepped back from the doors. “I think we should leave,” I muttered, trying to battle the feeling of defeat. “Join forces with Victoria and save the twins while we figure out where Clayton took Amber.”
Once again, Terra shook her head. “Wait…” she muttered. She narrowed her eyes, then glanced around and locked her gaze on the shadow of the stone eaves.
Following her look, I noticed the security camera for the first time. A little red light indicated that it was turned on, watching us. “What do you think?” I asked quietly.
“They are here,” the woman muttered. “Watching. And listening.”
The thought sent a spike of anger through me. The sense of confidence and warmth that had been growing all night stirred in my chest and awakened. Instead of being intimidated by this giant, impenetrable building, I suddenly felt triumphant. I had tracked my prey to their den and they were holding back, afraid.
Good, a voice inside me murmured. They had better be afraid. Tonight is the night of reckoning.
Then, in the moment before I stepped forward and addressed the camera directly, a voice crackled through the intercom. It was a man’s voice, sophisticated and warm.
“Why, if it isn’t Chance Laurenzi. Good evening, Mr. Laurenzi, I do hope you don’t plan on disturbing everyone’s night.”
I recognized the voice. “Clayton, right?” I said. “Well, Mr. Clayton, I think you’ll be happy to learn that I’m not here to ruin your night. In fact...” I reached into my pocket and my fingers closed around a small, plastic shape. I took a deep breath, and stared into the camera.
“I came to make a deal.”
I recognized the man Clayton sent to fetch us.
He was one of the two who had accompanied the principal earlier in the night, preventing me from interfering with Amber’s departure. He was tall, at least six feet, with a shaggy brown beard and a heavy unibrow. He pulled open one of the big doors, then came up short when he saw Terra step from the shadows.
He paused, pulling in a quick breath. “Who’s this?” he grunted.
I tossed a look back at my companion and saw the woman about to answer, but I stepped in. “It’s not your job to ask questions,” I said, drawing the man’s eyes back to my face. I gave him a hard stare. “It’s your job to take us back to your boss. Now.”
Clayton’s bruiser hesitated, giving the dark-haired woman another glance. Terra smiled at him, her teeth bright in the shadows, and the man turned quickly away. Without another word, he gestured for us to follow and then disappeared inside.
“Terra?” I said. I put out a hand to stop the woman.
“What is it?” she asked. Her dark, almond-shaped eyes turned toward me.
“Before we go in there, I need to know…” My heart thudded hard in my chest, but I steeled myself. I did need to know. “Did I kill Landon Shrike?”
Terra held my gaze for just a moment before she looked away. I’d never seen her lovely, Eurasian features composed in a look more intense than the one she wore now.
I was holding my breath. In all honesty, I didn’t know if I wanted her to say—
“You did…” she whispered.
The breath fell out of my lungs in a long, low sigh. I swallowed, and nodded. “Thank you,” I said.
I squared my shoulders. Alright, then.
With my companion shadowing me closely, I stepped inside.
The elevator in the darkened lobby took us up quite a few floors before opening onto an expansive terrace. Following our guide, we maneuvered around the scattered shapes of outdoor furniture and made our way for the primary source of light — the orange and yellow glow of a fire pit that had been pulled over by the balcony railing. Wicker couches had been positioned in a square around the flames, and seated on the far side of the dancing fire was none other than Principal Clayton himself.
A tall shadow standing behind him, just on the edge of the firelight, was probably his second bodyguard.
Taking a single breath to steady myself, I strode forward with energy and stepped into the bubble of illumination. I slid down onto the couch, sensing Terra as she took up a position behind me. Instead of looking back for my ally, I concentrated on the figure across from me.
Clayton looked like a man who had aged well into his middle years, with a full head of well-trimmed hair and the weathered features of someone who had spent a lot of time with the sun on his face. He reclined back with his arms spread wide, one ankle on the opposite knee. He smiled when I sat, but waited a moment before he gestured and said, “I didn’t expect to see you again, to be perfectly honest. Much less with a proposition. What business do you believe you have with me?”
I stared into his eyes for a moment before answering, and there was none of his easy warmth in my tone. My voice was cold and hard. “Where’s Amber?”
Clayton glanced away, settling back in the couch. Disappointment oozed from his posture. “I’m afraid your friend Amber is otherwise engaged at the moment.”
“Girlfriend,” I emphasized.
“Former girlfriend,” the principal said, lifting one finger in correction. “And please don’t belabor the point. If you have business for me then we’ll talk. If not…” Clayton shrugged and a hint of his wolfish smile showed on his face. “My friends the Lunari brothers will have to be rough when they escort you from the premises of my academy.”
I glanced past him towards the two shadowy figures. One of them was the shaggy, dark-haired thug who had fetched me and Terra. The other was an even taller man, less husky, with straight blonde hair down to his shoulders that glinted gold in the firelight.
Lunari, I thought. Why does that name ring a bell? But I brushed the question aside. “I have business for you,” I told Clayton, shifting in my seat. “An opportunity that you’ll want to hear. But first, I need to know that Amber is safe and nearby.”
The other man watched me quietly for a moment, his face almost unnaturally still. Then, he nodded ever so slightly. “I see you’re serious,” he agreed. “In that case, our dear Amber is quite nearby. She is downstairs in one of our lounges, getting to know Mr. Morrison a little bit better.”
His tone stayed dry and even, but I could tell what he meant.
My lips wrestled with a frown, and I tried not to think about Amber’s gorgeous, naked body being wantonly used for the pleasure of another man. I coughed quietly, took a deep breath, and then nodded. “Alright,” I said. “So long as she’s here and safe, I’ll show you what I brought to trade. Then, I’ll tell you what we’re going to do.”
Clayton’s eyebrows twitched a little closer together, and I could tell he wanted to frown at my tone. Instead, though, he gestured for me to go on.
My hand was already sliding into my pocket. I paused. I hope I’m right, I thought. Then, I pulled my hand free. Nestled in my palm, shadows flickering across the chunky plastic casing, was a familiar, lime green USB drive.
It was the very same drive, in fact, that I’d stolen from Mike Lassiter all that time ago. Back when everything began. Terra and I had stopped at my apartment on our way here, just long enough for me to dash upstairs and retrieve it.
The principal looked confused. “What’s that?” he asked, looking interested in spite of himself.
“This,” I said, lifting it between two fingers and turning it so it caught the firelight. “This is your golden ticket, Mr. Clayton. This is the key to the chains that are linking you to TRANCE, Inc..” I stared into his face, and I felt the deep conviction of my words reverberate in my chest. “Most important, this is the thing that’s going to make sure you never come near me or mine ever again.”
I hadn’t always intended to give Clayton the drive. In fact, I hadn’t been totally sure that Clayton would even want it until I’d sat down in front of the man and said my piece. But, when he told me that Amber and Morrison were getting it on somewhere in the Academy, everything snapped into place in my mind. My hazy suspicions had been justified.
It was clear to me now that Mr. Morrison was to Clayton what Seth had been to Shrike. A client. But, I’d originally wondered, if Amber had already been programmed and trained by TRANCE, then what could Clayton possibly be doing for Morrison that Shrike hadn’t? In other words, why didn’t Morrison go to TRANCE directly?
That was when it had struck me.
Clayton… was me.
Clayton’s school was what amounted to a quality control agent for TRANCE, an independent entity that existed to turn run-of-the-mill, mind controlled pornstars into high-society arm candy. Seth didn’t care that the twins still had an online footprint of dozens of videos. He probably got off on it. But the mysterious Mr. Morrison? I could imagine what that sort of man would want.
He would want more than just a hypnotized bimbo sextoy. He would want someone with an air of refinement and style. Someone who would be exactly what he wanted, inside the bedroom and out. Someone who be perfectly at ease when he took her to fancy charity dinners or company events. Someone who would be just as comfortable on her back in bed or kneeling under his desk at the office. In other words, Mr. Morrison wanted the services of a finishing school. A very special kind of finishing school: the Brighton Barnsworth Academy.
Even though I’d spent less than five minutes in his company, I could tell that Clayton had something Shrike lacked. In his movements, his bearing, his style and even his voice, Clayton commanded attention and respect. There was a draw to him, an authority that was almost aristocratic. And I could already tell he was a driven, ambitious man, the kind of person who wouldn’t rely on others to get the job done but would rather take it all on himself… and succeed.
So, why would Clayton rely on Shrike? Why had he spent — according to Lassiter — quite a lot of money to purchase Amber from TRANCE, Inc.?
Because Clayton didn’t have the necessary technology to completely reprogram women himself.
My hazy, uncertain idea had coalesced into hard fact by the time I made up my mind.
Clayton was in a position to want what was on the flash drive. It would make him independent of TRANCE. It would probably save him hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe even millions. But would he want it badly enough to turn over Amber?
As I explained exactly what I had on the thumb drive, Clayton’s gaze never wavered from my face. He didn’t seem overly concerned by what I was offering. In fact, his expression seemed relaxed and lighthearted. But I had seen the brief, covetous glint in his eyes before he managed to hide it.
He wants this, I thought, and an ember of hope started to glow in my core.
“You’re going to take this,” I concluded, gesturing with the drive. “And you’re going to do whatever the hell you want with it. But, in return, you’re going to return Amber. Then, you’re going to forget she ever existed and you’re going to keep your business away from me and my harem. Forever.” My lips hesitated on the word… harem… but it sounded okay when I used it. More than okay.
When I was done speaking Clayton eased back, slowly.
I wanted to glance over my shoulder at Terra, to remind myself that my teacher still had my back, but I didn’t look away from the middle-aged businessman. I met Clayton’s eyes squarely and forced myself to display nothing but confidence. I knew that some part of me was worried, was afraid of fucking up and ruining everything. But that part was growing weaker by the second.
Clayton broke the silence. “And what,” he asked, “is to keep me from asking my colleagues here to simply take that drive away from you?” Without looking around, he gestured to the men at his back. “If it’s as valuable as you seem to think, maybe you should just hand it over before things get… uncivilized.”
The man’s bodyguards responded to his words, drawing closer on either side of the couch. I tried not to let any hint of tension or uncertainty show on my face.
Terra spoke, then. Not to Clayton but to his bruisers. “If you lay a hand on this one, you risk breaking the Accord.”
The men froze, and their sudden stillness made it even more obvious that they’d been creeping into positions to strike.
I blinked. There she goes again, I thought, keeping my expression blank. I knew that Terra had saved me tonight. Without her, I would have stood no chance of rescuing my girls. But it was also clear to me that something big was going on, and that my teacher knew far more than I did.
I tried to think back, wondering why Terra’s threat sounded familiar. Breaking the Accord… I thought. And what’s an ‘accord,’ again? Some kind of agreement? Or treaty? But for some reason, my memory felt hazy. It must have been when I was shot, I thought. Going into shock must have fuzzed my recollection.
The blonde man leaned forward now, and I could make out bright blue eyes that studied Terra intently.
Clayton, too, was studying the woman, scowling up at her. “Who are you?” he demanded, his voice suddenly harsh. There was an uneasy edge to it, like he had suddenly registered her presence and realized she was more that he’d bargained for.
“Just a friend,” Terra said smoothly. “Here to make sure you two can negotiate without interference.”
Was it just my imagination, or did she emphasize the word friend as she stared down the man who looked like some sort of corporate gun-f0r-hire?
Clayton turned his frown toward his hired muscle. “What is she talking about? Shrike said that you Lunaris were dependable, and I took him at his word when I hired you. If I told you take the thumb drive then you would take the goddamn thumb drive. I’ve paid you to report to me, so you report to me.”
Neither of the men responded. They were still staring past Clayton at the brunette, whose expression was harsh in the dancing shadows. If I hadn’t already known she was a warrior, I would have known then. There was a deadly cast to her features.
“Ask Erin why she backed off tonight,” Terra told the men, ignoring Clayton. “Better yet, ask Boris why he should have backed off. You might not care about breaking the Accord. But pissing me off is a very bad idea.” Then, she smiled, and it was somehow even more frightening than her look of chilling calm.
Clayton’s expression of easy confidence had twisted and broken. He seemed about to speak, but the blonde man interrupted.
“I’m sorry, sir,” he said, taking a slow step back and glancing over at his employer. “It’s out of our hands.”
The principal’s features hardened. “In that case, you’re fired.” He said it in an ice cold tone, and didn’t bother meeting the man’s uneasy gaze. Instead, he stared across the fire pit at me. “I don’t tolerate insubordination. I never want to see your sorry faces again.”
The blonde man looked to the other bodyguard, hesitated, and then asked. “Do you mean now or—?”
“Get. Out.”
Clayton maintained a stony silence until the two burly men had disappeared down the elevator. Then, he forced a smile across his face. “Well, Mr. Laurenzi...” Clayton said.
I felt a warm glow at the man’s obvious discomfort. For the first time, I felt like he was taking me seriously.
“It seems that I have something of yours. And you have something I want. Whatever shall we do about that?”
So close, I thought, following Clayton’s suited figure down a dimly lit hallway.
Behind it’s luxurious facade, the Brighton Barnsworth Academy seemed to be hiding miles of maze-like corridors and mysterious doorways. They were all oddly similar, and I imagined how easy it would be to get lost in this place. Terra ghosted along behind me, and now that Clayton’s bruisers were out of the picture I felt distinctly more at ease.
Our negotiations had been short. Clayton wasn’t stupid. He knew that whatever investment he would lose by giving up Amber would be counterbalanced a hundred times over when he could manufacture half a dozen Ambers at the drop of a hat. Meanwhile, I was running on adrenaline, anxiety and an undercurrent of leftover fear that spiked whenever a dull ache radiated from the wound in my side. I kept myself from touching the bandages, but the soreness had been augmented by a terrible itching sensation that I could barely fight off. I had few demands, and I wasn’t being ambitious. I had only one goal in mind, and I was so close to achieving it. Saving my loved ones was all that mattered.
Did I feel guilty, preparing to hand Clayton the power to utterly ruin the lives of anyone who got in his way?
Yes… My conscience tried to protest.
No. It felt like DC who answered, the voice of the devil on my shoulder, but it wasn’t. It was the voice of conviction that had been awakened in me tonight, and I felt the truth spreading through me. I would trade the lives of a dozen strangers for any one of my lovers, without hesitation.
We stopped in front of a door that looked like all the others: smooth, dark wood with fittings that glinted like polished silver. Clayton paused with his hand on the knob.
“One last thing,” the principal added, turning his eyes to stare into my face. “I will smooth things over with Mr. Morrison. But he will be disappointed. He is a powerful man, and as such he is used to having things go his way. Above all, do not be upset by what you are about to see.”
Then, without any further ado, he twisted the knob and entered the room beyond. I stepped through after him, my heart beating fast with excitement and uncertainty.
It was finally time to save my girlfriend.
The room was handsomely furnished. I felt like I’d stepped from the wandering, sterile halls of a hospital into the pages of an interior design magazine for the wealthy bachelor. My shoes sank into a rich carpet and the furniture was all leather and brass. Framed pinup posters hung from the walls, and there was even a pool table off to one side. Instead of billiard balls, however, an array of tools had been spread out across the green felt. At a glance, I thought I recognized some of them from my brief experience with Daisy’s collection.
The real attention-grabber, though, was the couple at the far end. They were like statues from a tableau of forbidden desires. The man was seated in a luxurious armchair by the artificial fireplace and the woman knelt before him.
After Clayton’s warning, I’d been expecting to walk in on sex. What I hadn’t expected was the way my body began to respond. Involuntarily, my breath caught in my throat and heat flushed my skin. Behind my zipper, I felt my cock twitch awake.
Amber was naked, her flawlessly tanned skin shining in the low light. Her golden hair fell back in a luxuriant waterfall as her hands massaged her tits and bounced them up and down in the businessman’s lap. They were wrapped around the businessman’s cock, and Morrison groaned as she milked his length with her lush breasts.
It looked like the man had only gotten partially undressed before Amber had gotten impatient, and the businessman didn’t seem to mind. His jacket was thrown over a nearby sofa but his pants were around his ankles and his shirt was unbuttoned but still draped around his shoulders. I hadn’t really gotten a good look at the man before — he’d been nothing more than a shadow in the backseat of Clayton’s SUV — but now I could see that Morrison was just the sort of man I’d expected. From his homegrown-American grin of bliss to his CEO-style and short blonde hair, the man looked like the sort of high-powered business tycoon who might be in the market for a custom-built lover.
Amber stared up into his face, and I recognized the adoring smile on her full, pink lips.
“Ohmygod Master…” she gasped. Her mammoth tits bounced, and I felt a throb of desire pulse through me, watching. “I love having that thick cock between my tits, just waiting for your hot, sticky cum to blast all over me…”
I couldn’t stop myself. In the space of a few seconds, my own manhood was beginning to swell, and I took an involuntary step forward. Then, I was striding across the room to my stunning, pornstar girlfriend.
By the time Morrison had looked up from his blissful haze and realized that someone else was in the room, I was standing over him with smoldering eyes. I saw the barest hint of recognition in his face, and then my fingers were circling around his arm and I yanked him unceremoniously to his feet.
“Hey…” A protest started to form on his lips, but I was already shoving him away.
“Clayton will explain,” I grunted, but I didn’t even watch as Morrison stumbled and bounced off a brown leather sofa. My attention was focused on the woman before me, whose blue eyes had just met mine.
For a single, terrifying moment, there was no hint of awareness in those bright blue orbs. I felt my heart twist and begin to crumble. Then, “Chance…?” Deep behind her glazed, entranced expression I saw a flicker of recognition.
It was just a whisper, but her soft question soothed my fears. My hands wrapped around Amber’s and I was pulling her to her feet, pulling her to me, lowering my mouth to hers.
“Mmm…”
I felt Amber’s moan with my whole body as she melted against me, her naked curves molding themselves to my frame and sending a white hot surge of lust flashing through me. Her hips rolled, teasing the bulge in my crotch, and I realized that the one article of clothing she wore was a pair of stiletto heels.
“Yesss, Chance…”
I wasn’t sure how she could recognize me through the trance, but I could feel her whispers against my lips and I didn’t care. What I knew was that I finally had the opportunity to do what I should have from the beginning. I was going to give myself fully to this woman, just like she’d given herself to me.
I stroked a hand up her back and tangled it in her hair, tightening my fingers and pulling her back just a fraction of an inch. There was almost no space at all between our lips as I stared into her eyes. “Amber?” I murmured.
“Yes…” Her fingers traced down my sides, instinctively going for my belt. Her voice was wispy and fragile, like it might break any second. Like I might lose her at any moment to the mindless, brainless trance that Clayton and Shrike had used so effectively.
“I need you to listen to me now,” I told her, pulling in a breath as one of her hands slipped over my cock, squeezing gently through my pants. “I need you to hear me, deep down beneath all the programming and the bullshit.”
Clink. Zippp.
My pants and boxers slid down around my knees as Amber stared up into my face with her vivid blue gaze. “Listen…” she murmured, and her lips were so close to mine I could feel them brush against mine ever so softly. “Deep down...”
“I need you to hear me and break through whatever commands they gave you. I need you to believe that this is possible, and come back to me.” I shivered as her fingers circled around my rock hard length, stroking gently.
“Hear... your commands…” Amber whispered. She leaned in and kissed the edge of my mouth.
My skin was hot, and I shuddered as her expert hands sent ripples of electric pleasure through my body. But I forced myself to keep speaking. “You have to find yourself. And remember who you are. Remember what matters to you. Remember that everything they’ve told you, no matter how real it seems, is just an illusion. You know what matters, what you really care about, who you really care about…”
“Find myself…?” Amber’s hands paused for a second, then she shook her head slightly and they started to move faster. She kissed my neck, her lips hungry. “Yes, Master… Anything for you, my perfect, sexy stud...”
Her words made me hard as steel in her hand, made my muscles tense with desire, but I knew they weren’t the ones I needed to hear. I pulled Amber gently away from my throat and stared into her eyes. “Daisy did it,” I told her. My voice was gruff with passion. “Victoria did it. But it doesn’t mean anything if you can’t do it. Please, Amber. Please, baby…”
“Please, baby…” Amber groaned, and then she gave me a little push.
I shuffled back half a step, felt the backs of my knees hit the edge of the chair, and fell into the exact position that Mr. Morrison had just occupied. My cock swayed, rigid and upright as a flagpole, the stunning blonde’s practiced hands keeping me throbbing and just on the edge of explosion. As my eyes widened in consternation, Amber took one slow step forward, knelt on the cushion above me and slipped the head of my length into her drenched, waiting slit.
“Fuck me, Master…” she begged. “Fill my tight pussy with your big, hard dick…”
My whole body tensed and then flushed with heat. All I wanted was to lift my hips, to pull the woman down onto my cock and split her in half with my girth. But I reigned in my desire, stared into my girlfriend’s eyes while she straddled me. I was losing her, but suddenly I knew what I had to say. And I knew I should have said it sooner.
I pulled Amber closer, my fingers tight in her thick hair and her gorgeous face just inches from mine. “I love Victoria,” I panted. “I love the twins. But you’re the first one I fell in love with, even though I was too scared to tell you. And you will always be special. Come back to me.”
“Special…” Amber responded, and I could tell that she was glazing over, falling deeper into my eyes and into the trance.
No!
My voice grew more desperate. I kissed her, felt the passion tighten between us and pulled back before I was lost. “I love you, baby. I love you… And I should have said it sooner but I’m saying it now. I love you and I don’t want to be trapped anymore with all the anxiety and the distrust. I love you, I miss you, I trust you, I want you… Be mine.”
An instant that dragged out far too long.
Somewhere in the distance I heard Morrison protest. “You said that everything had been dealt with! What about your guarantee?”
Then, so close I could feel her breath, I heard Amber’s whisper. “I love you, too…”
And the kiss that followed was real.
It was almost tentative to begin, not the same as the eager, desperate kisses she’d showered me with just a moment ago. It was soft on my lips, like she was tasting my mouth for the first time. Then, she was kissing me harder, and I pulled her to me and everything fell away around us. I didn’t care if Morrison was enraged. I didn’t care how many people Clayton might warp with the TRANCE video I’d given him. I didn’t even care that Terra was watching. None of it mattered.
Amber was free and she was mine.
She was mine.
We were together.
I lifted my hips as Amber kissed me, her tight passage snug as a sheathe around my throbbing cock. The heat of her core almost overcame me but I kissed her harder and held on. Her body was familiar under my hands, but as we moved I realized how long it had been since we’d really been together.
“Ohmygawd Chance…”
Hearing my name, harsh and ragged on her lips, made me pulse with lust. My length, buried deep inside her, throbbed expectantly.
“Fuck me…”
And we were gone, my rational thoughts no longer in control as I let Amber’s words take control of my body. I felt like a primal creature as my vision flickered and my other senses flared. I could smell Amber’s perfume in my nose. Her shampoo and the heady scent of her drenched pussy, sopping with desire. I could feel her smooth skin under my fingertips, the muscles tightening beneath her tan hide and her hair falling around my face. Her inner muscles tightened around me, massaging my cock with all her skill. I could taste the sweet gloss on her lips, the flavor she’d picked out last night before the twins’ party, and her tongue slipped into my mouth, teasing mine.
I kissed her harder and sat up, letting my hands fall to the arms of the chair as Amber rode me all on her own. Her hips rocked and her fingers ran through my wild hair, down the side of my face, across my chest and back. Her huge, round breasts bounced, tantalizing, just in front of my face and I couldn’t stop myself from leaning forward to capture one nipple in my mouth.
I sucked, gently tugging with my teeth to make her gasp, and I felt her whole body twitch in response.
“Fuck fuck fuck you’re making me cummm!” Amber’s body tightened all at once and then quaked, her fingers digging into my shoulder and into the cushions beside my head as she hung onto the back of the chair and came.
Her back arched, presenting me with her mouthwatering cleavage once again. Her hair fell around her shoulders and down her back in a lustrous cascade. Her lips parted in a long, drawn out cry.
I couldn’t help it.
I exploded inside of her, my toes curling down into the floor and my fingers into the arms of the chair. The leather was soft and smooth under my hands as my balls tightened and I felt myself unleash in my girlfriend’s volcanic center. Strand after strand of my seed whitewashed her inner walls, and my entire body floated in passionate release.
“Ohmygod…” my girlfriend gasped. “Ohmyfuckinggawd…” She kissed my jaw and my throat, her head falling forward. Pleasure wrung her out and collapsed her on top of me.
And who was I to complain? The feeling of her stunning curves pressed to my body was comfortable, familiar and so very sexy. My own muscles slowly relaxed, and my lips caressed Amber’s temple, her cheek and the corner of her mouth. Slowly, the outside world filtered back into our perception.
I took a brief instant to look away from the gorgeous, chest-heaving, freshly-fucked bombshell in my lap to survey the room. To my surprise, Morrison had been dragged — still half-naked — into one corner by Clayton. The principal had a hold on the businessman’s upper arm and was gesturing forcefully, but his voice was low. I didn’t try to listen in. Terra, meanwhile, was watching us with an expression that was hard to place. It seemed vaguely, clinically interested.
Oddly, the idea that Terra had been watching us made my pulse quicken.
“Alright, baby…” I murmured, looking away from the brunette’s dark eyes and tipping back Amber’s chin. I kissed my girlfriend on the forehead. “This was very fun, but we still have to talk our way out of here, okay?”
We disengaged, Amber knowing enough not to ask questions but still taking hold of my hand with one of hers. Her fingers twined firmly into mine. She squeezed once, gently, and when I glanced down into her face she whispered, “I love you.”
My heart rose in my chest as Amber and I crossed the room to stand before the others.
Clayton glanced over, then gave Morrison one more firm look before turning to face us. “I have explained the situation to Mr. Morrison,” he said, “and he has been quite understanding.”
Morrison gave me a look that might have reduced a lesser man to a pile of ashes on the spot. I think Clayton must have asked him not to speak, though, because the businessman said nothing.
“There is, however,” Clayton continued, “one small matter for us to discuss. I have explained my plans to Mr. Morrison and he knows that I intend to provide him with a replacement for dear Amber, free of any additional charge, as soon as I have my own production facility up and running. Unfortunately, he was promised delivery before the solstice, and he does blame you, Mr. Laurenzi, for allowing your personal feelings to waylay our carefully-laid business. Our friend has magnanimously been willing to extend his patience, but he wishes to be very particular about our next creation. In this matter, he insists that you be the one to select with a replacement candidate.” Clayton gave me a look that clearly said This is your own fault, young man. He gestured to Amber without looking away from my face. “He had his heart set on this particular woman, you see, and is looking for someone who might match her. So, until you can do this, I’m afraid Amber will have to stay with me.”
What? I scowled. No way!
But before I could snarl back in outrage, Morrison thrust out his chin and snapped. “This is your fault. So many plans, toppled because you decided to get high on your own supply. If I had my way…” His eyes flickered, uncertainly towards Terra, who was standing behind my shoulder. The man caught himself and seemed to rethink his lashing assault. “This will be your atonement,” he said. “You’ll find a worthy substitute. And, in return, you get to walk away.” He smile insincerely, and there was a threat beneath his words.
The man sounded nasty, but it was hard to take him seriously when he wasn’t wearing any pants.
Clayton spread his hands, laying one on Morrison’s shoulder and giving me a pacifying smile. “Unfortunately,” he told me, “until you learn how to undo every last scrap of Landon’s hard work, Drew and I will be able to interfere with your… relationship.” His eyes had a certain disbelief when they glanced between me and Amber, like he thought it was cute that I thought we were in love.
I was about to retort when, for the first time, my girlfriend spoke for herself. “No,” she said. I heard the conviction in her voice. “Chance isn’t getting me out of this place just so you can use him to replace me with—”
“Bimbo doll protocol.”
The principal sounded almost bored but his words cut through Amber’s indignant outburst like a knife. My girlfriend stumbled to a halt, and when I turned in dismay I could see her eyes widening and glazing over. There was a soft sigh escaping her parted lips, and I could practically see the intelligence draining from her mind.
I whirled on Clayton, but he exhibited no worry in the face of my anger.
“I know a dozen or more command lines like that,” the man said blandly. “And I have the resources to use them in ways that would be quite toxic.”
I felt Amber’s fingers began to stir, intertwined with mine, but the man went on.
“If you don’t do this one small thing for me and my client, I will devote my considerable resources to finding out how to exploit every secret of Landon’s program. I will not stop until I have done so. Then, I will turn all of my energy to finding you and your little harem. I will take your women from you and strip you of any earthly pleasures you may have accumulated.” His tone didn’t change, nor did his pleasant expression. He still looked like someone’s rich, kindly uncle. “I don’t say this out of any personal rancor, Chance, but because Drew and I work in a cutthroat business world. If you pay no price for interfering in our preexisting arrangement, then our rivals will see it as a weakness. That, we cannot afford.”
“Chance…” Amber’s voice was barely a whisper, but her hand squeezed mine.
I furrowed my brow, looking away from Clayton to examine my girlfriend’s lovely face. So she can throw off the influence of her triggers, I realized, seeing a returning spark of awareness. It just takes a second.
“Don’t do it…” she murmured, shaking her head.
I hesitated, but even as I did I knew we were backed into a corner. Clayton was right. Daisy and I had figured out how to resist the TRANCE programming, but it was still there, lurking in the subconscious minds of all my lovers. I couldn’t risk my girls being exposed to that kind of threat, and until I figured out how to erase their programming completely the safest solution would be to buy my enemy’s silence.
I squared my shoulders, and thought of Landon Shrike. I killed him. The words resonated in my mind like a striking bell. Terra’s confirmation on the Academy steps had only solidified what I already knew. I had killed for my harem, for my family. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for us.
“You want someone to replace Amber?” I asked, glancing from Clayton to Morrison and back. And as I spoke, I knew what I was going to do. “You want someone as beautiful, cute, sexy and stunning as my girlfriend?”
I thought of platinum blonde hair and lush curves. I thought of colorful yoga pants and of bright blue eyes. I remembered a call I’d had with Lassiter, staring out my kitchen window. I remembered a conversation with a girl in a dark stairwell, a girl on a journey to find her true self. I shut myself off from this last image, blocking it away.
Then, I leaned forward and looked Clayton dead in the eye. “If you move quickly,” I told him. “I know where you can find that someone this morning. And she’ll be an easy catch. She’s already seen the induction video.”
Clayton escorted Amber, Terra and I to the Academy entrance personally, leaving his jilted client behind. When we left, Drew Morrison was still getting dressed and continued to grumble frustrated obscenities. I decided the principal must only have joined us for security, and not to send us off, because he was on the phone even before we were out through the front doors.
I heard his voice, bursting with excitement, echoing faintly in the empty lobby behind us.
“Doctor? I know it’s late, but I wanted to inform you right away. Stop whatever experiments you’ve been running. I have it… I’ll explain later. Focus! I just sent you a small sample file. What I want to know is whether you could you integrate it into a classroom video lecture...?”
Then, the doors swung closed and his voice disappeared.
I took a deep breath, feeling the night air sink through me. I was exhausted, burned out and aching all over my body. Amber still looked woozy from the mental battering she’d taken tonight. The early morning was chilly, and my girlfriend shivered in the lacy blue dress that she’d quickly wriggled back into.
Only Terra looked as fresh as ever, her dark eyes regarding me thoughtfully. I thought she was going to say something, but instead she simply gestured down the steps and looked away. “It will soon be day,” she said quietly, cocking her head and looking up at the sky. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”
There were hints of dawn in the sky, but it was still night when Terra pulled to a stop just up the street from Seth’s building. I texted Victoria and filled Amber in while we drove, but when the car came to a stop my teacher didn’t turn off the engine.
“I must be leaving you,” she said, hands on the wheel. “The rest of this trial is for you alone to solve.”
I nodded while silently Amber climbed out of the backseat behind us.
“Thank you,” I said after a moment. I hesitated, then impulsively reached out and put my hand on her bare forearm. She had washed my blood from her skin before we left for the academy, but I felt like I could still see it.
Terra gave me a surprised look.
“For everything,” I emphasized, squeezing gently and then pulling back. “Really. I never expected to be talking to someone who literally saved my life, but…. Thank you.” There didn’t seem to be adequate words for the gratitude Terra was due.
Terra’s eyes were oddly uncertain, but then she nodded hastily and looked away. “You still have two more damsels in distress to rescue,” she said, adjusting her grip on the wheel. “You shouldn’t waste time thanking me.”
I would have pressed the point, but my teacher was right. In her texts, Victoria had told me that the flight landed early. She and her passenger were on their way. They may already have arrived. So, I simply nodded and climbed out of the low-slung sportscar.
Amber and I were walking quickly up the sidewalk toward the glowing entrance of the tall, modern structure, but I paused when Terra pulled up alongside us and rolled down the window.
The dark-haired woman leaned across and looked up at me, and for a moment all that existed were the dark embers of her eyes, shining in the shadows of the interior. “You did what was necessary,” she said. “I am proud.”
I felt my heart glow in response to her words, the twining, newborn confidence in my chest basking in the warmth of her tone. I knew I’d done hard things, tonight. Bad things. Even Terra hadn’t said they were good. I knew they weren’t. But sometimes there wasn’t a good choice. Just bad and worse, for me and the people I cared about. Offering TRANCE’s video to Clayton. Giving up Mia. Even… what happened with Shrike. Those were choices between one wrong outcome and another, but they were the only options I’d had. So I’d made them. And if Terra believed in me… Well, maybe I hadn’t made them too poorly.
By the time I was fumbling for a response, however, the window was up and my teacher’s new ride was pulling away into the street. I stared after it, but a quiet voice interrupted my thoughts.
“Chance?” Amber asked.
We were truly alone for the first time since she’d awakened from her hypnotic trance.
I felt strangely nervous when I turned toward her. “Yeah, babe?”
“Is she right?” My girlfriend looked concerned, anxious. “Did you do what was necessary, giving over the video? Giving over that girl? I know we have so much to work out. But will you just tell me… Did you do the right thing? For us?”
A cool breeze blew down the sidewalk. It was getting lighter. Somewhere, the sun was rising over the City.
Then, I nodded. “I did.” I stared into Amber’s face and her eyes read the truth of what I said.
My girlfriend jerked her head in her own nod of agreement, then turned abruptly. She took my hand with imperious grace, and blonde hair swished behind as her heels click-click-clicked along the sidewalk. “Alright,” she told me over her shoulder, marching us toward our final battlefield of the night. “Time to put all this shit behind us, once and for all.”
I followed the buxom blonde past the doorman, into the lobby and across the black and white checkerboard tiling. Across the expansive space, I could already see a familiar brunette figure wrapped in a purple dress. Standing beside her, and obviously arguing with Matthew the front desk manager, was a grey-haired man in a long, dark woolen jacket. The collar of the jacket had been turned up against the chill.
“But… Sir!” the concierge protested, loud enough to hear across the room. “It’s not even seven in the morning. Mr. Torrance and his guests—”
“You think I give a damn?!” Matthew’s opponent interrupted, fiercely. His voice continued to rise in fervor as Amber and I hastened toward them. “I was woken up in the dead of night by a mysterious phone call. I got my staff together at a moment’s notice, put my jet on the runway and flew here in less time than you probably take to do up that poor excuse for an Italian necktie.”
I wasn’t sure what I’d expected, but as the man’s frustrated rant continued I was more certain than ever about one thing. The only way to truly protect my companions was to release them from every last vestige of outside control. Victoria had to be saved from Shrike. Amber needed to be rescued from Clayton. The twins had been trapped by Seth, but he wasn’t the only person who had kept them imprisoned in chains from the past.
I reached out my hand to touch the man’s shoulder, silently rehearsing what I might say.
Good morning, sir. Nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much.
“I didn’t come just to listen to you make excuses,” the man continued, bringing a palm down with a firm slap on Matthew’s counter. “I came for one reason, and one reason only.”
My hand landed on his shoulder.
“I’m here to tell my daughters ‘Happy Birthday.’”
But wait, I thought, taking a step back as hedge fund tycoon Charles Evans started under my hand and turned toward me. Our eyes locked. I know you… We’ve met before.
Then, for what felt like the first time in the whole night, I realized my job may have gotten the tiniest bit easier.