Blake, Abby - Stolen [Altered Destinies 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (2 page)

* * * *

Theresa used every skill she possessed, straining to protect her team and herself against detection. They’d surrounded a large building believed to be a major medical facility belonging to the group of terrorists who’d abducted Sandra almost a year ago. Thanks to some very helpful leads from a man on the inside, a man who claimed to be her brother, they were very close to liberating two children being held by the group under the guise of medical necessity.

Theresa knew from painful experience this group’s only aim was to selectively breed and create children with advanced abilities far beyond those of the average citizen. Theresa and her twin sister Dana were two of the lucky ones. Considering what could have happened, what was actually happening to the children inside this facility, Theresa’s miserable childhood seemed happy in comparison.

“All clear,”
Theresa’s husband Caleb called to her telepathically.

Clearly, the rogues’ experiments and research were getting them closer to their goal, and Theresa shuddered to think that her younger relatives were being used to create a superior race capable of manipulating and controlling other people’s actions and thoughts. The children’s skills were increasing dramatically with every experiment, and their potential for destruction seemed unimaginable.

She fervently hoped they’d be able to shut down the experiments once and for all and somehow convince the children the things they’d been taught by the rogues were very, very wrong.

Theresa jumped a little as she heard the stuttering sound of automatic weapons’ fire. Most of the agents on this team were telekinetic and were able to disarm the guards without causing major injuries. That didn’t mean, however, that they were safe from being shot at themselves. Every agent carried at least one gun, even Theresa. She hated the things with a passion that went beyond revulsion, yet it was part of her agent training so she’d learned how to use it. She practiced regularly, but she’d never, ever drawn it on the job. Her telekinetic abilities were far more advanced than most, and she’d found them a very handy alternative to the deadly weapon. It also helped that her precognitive abilities had saved her ass a time or two as well.

“All clear,”
Ethan sent telepathically. They just needed the all clear signal from Gabe and Rafe, and Pete and Sandra, and then her team could move in and pull the children out of danger. Her group included two doctors, a nurse, and several well-built agents armed to the teeth and ready to defend them with their lives. Their sole purpose was to get in, ascertain the children’s physical status, and get them to safety as quickly as possible.

“All clear,”
Gabe called telepathically, his familiar enthusiasm leaking through. The man certainly loved his job, and Theresa allowed herself a small smile as she waited for Pete and Sandra to finish their task.

It happened so quickly that it literally knocked Theresa on her ass. Dazed, she shook her head, trying to understand the source of her pain, trying to pinpoint how and where she’d been injured. The doctors with her moved quickly to her aid, the agents immediately raising their guns searching for the source of the attack.

“Babe, talk to me. What’s going on?”
Ethan’s familiar voice asked urgently in her head.

“I don’t know,”
she replied honestly.
“I don’t understand what happened. I don’t think I’m injured.”

She looked at the doctor beside her, who shrugged, unable to explain her reaction to what amounted to a phantom injury.

“Theresa,”
Caleb’s voice asked steadily.
“Can you see Pete and Sandra from your position?”
She could feel his fear for her, but being the lead agent and responsible for everyone’s safety on this mission, Caleb held it in check. She knew from experience his reaction would be far different once the danger passed.

“No,”
she replied, belatedly realizing she could no longer sense their presence at all.

“Stay where you are,”
Caleb ordered her team.

She sensed her husbands moving toward where Sandra and Pete were supposed to be, efficiently taking out the remaining guards.

“Theresa, get your team here now!”
Caleb ordered, his voice sure and steady, only his heightened emotions allowing her to feel his unease. They moved as one. Her group, surrounded by agents, ran quickly into the building and toward the area Caleb and Ethan had just secured.

Sandra and Pete lay on the ground, crumpled like they’d been hit with a hail of bullets, but as with her, they showed no sign of injury. Theresa ran forward, dropping to her knees as Sandra tried unsuccessfully to lift herself from the ground.

“It’s Dana,”
Sandra said weakly, her telepathic skills faltering as she closed her eyes. She hung her head, seemingly trying to find the strength to explain what she’d felt just before she collapsed. “Theresa, Dana’s hurt,” she said softly, her voice no stronger than her telepathy. “Call John. Call the agency. Do something, please.”

“It’s already being done.”
Ethan’s strong voice echoed in both their minds.

Theresa pulled the exhausted woman into a sitting position, helping her to lean against the wall so she could regain her breath.

Pete remained motionless, sprawled on the ground a few feet away from them. The doctor had checked him over quickly, assessed his condition as stable, and continued on with the rest of the team to try and extract the children they’d come to rescue.

Chapter Two

Jason kept his head down, knowing the professor was in the room. He entered the operating theatre through a side door, silently praying he wouldn’t find a young woman strapped to the table, ready for him to harvest her ova. Despite having worked for the professor for the last three years, Jason had so far managed to avoid participating in tests done on the subjects, but he realized that sooner or later his luck would run out, hopefully not before he could locate and extract his sister Jenna.

“Jason,” the old man growled. “Get over here and help me with this.”

Jason’s head snapped up at the burbling sound of a small infant. The professor held his hand against the stomach of a squirming baby girl. She was dressed in a pretty, pink, all-in-one jumpsuit with matching booties and a warm-looking beanie on her head. Bright blue eyes looked up to the ceiling as she blew little bubbles out of her mouth. Completely enchanted by the little sprite, Jason momentarily forgot himself, forgot the danger he would be in if his cover was blown.

“Hey there, little princess, where did you come from?” he said as he reached a hand toward the baby girl who promptly grabbed it and tried to put it in her mouth.

“Finally,” the professor said in his most exasperated voice, “someone on my staff who has any idea how to look after a baby. Take her.” He growled the words as he stepped away from the table. “A room is being prepared for her, and I’m flying in the nurse who should’ve been looking after the child Alana Giles stole, but neither will be ready until tomorrow. The baby is your responsibility until then.”

The professor spun on his heel and left the room. Glancing over to the only other occupant in the room, Jason asked the question before he thought better of it. “Where did she come from?”

The man who stood lounging against the doorway on the other side of the room managed to look even more menacing as he smiled.

“Her mama found her way into the path of six or seven of my bullets,” he said, clearly proud of his actions.

Swallowing his revulsion and trying desperately to sound casual, Jason asked who her mother was.

“Dana Michaels.” The man laughed again. “Should’ve seen her go down. No way was that whore getting a chance to use her telekinesis on me. I shot her from a hundred feet away. Crazy bitch never had a chance,” he said as he left the room still laughing.

Jason shuddered involuntarily, grateful the man had already left so that his reaction wouldn’t be questioned. He lifted the beautiful little girl into his arms, tears filling his eyes as he thought of her mother. He’d never even met his sister Dana, but losing her hurt more than he could’ve explained. He held the tiny little darling in his arms as he called telepathically to Sandra, desperate now to get this child back to her fathers.

* * * *

Theresa rushed into the hospital room, anxious to see her sister. Dana lay in an intensive care bed, numerous tubes and machines attached to her. Even with her height, she somehow looked small and beaten, nothing like her usual dynamic self. She’d survived six hours in surgery, but the doctors weren’t hopeful she would survive the night, and doubted her chances to recover from such serious injuries.

Seven bullets had hit her upper body, several passing straight through her. The surgeons had repaired as much as they could, cautioning them all that if Dana somehow survived the next twenty-four hours that she would probably require more surgery. They’d placed her in a medically induced coma, hoping to give her the best chance to survive.

John lifted his head from where he’d had it pressed against the mattress, his eyes red-rimmed and swollen as his sister pushed past Theresa and flew into his embrace. He held her tight, his eyes making brief contact with Theresa as he tried to control his emotions.

Pete walked to the other side of the bed, his expression unreadable. He gathered his wife’s limp hand in his own, whispered something to her, kissed her bandaged forehead, and left the room, his anger palpable even to those without empathic skills.

Theresa took his place, grasping her sister’s hand, trying to give her own strength to Dana, trying to think positive thoughts, trying desperately not to crumble. She felt her husbands’ presence, their solid support only a few meters away, but they held back, giving her time, giving her space.

“Dana,” she whispered. “We’ll find her. We’ll find your sweet, little girl, and then we will shut them down for good. We rescued two girls today, just like we talked about. They’re only six years old, but already they’ve seen so much sadness, so much loneliness. They need us both to help them through. They need their family to help them grow in a world so different to what they’ve been taught.” Theresa swallowed painfully, very aware Dana was probably not hearing a word of what she said, but saying it anyway because she needed to hear it herself.

They’d rescued two more relatives at the same time Dana had been shot and her baby stolen, and even though Theresa realized she couldn’t have been in both places at once, she felt guilty she hadn’t been able to protect her sister or her tiny niece.

“I promise you we’ll get her back. With everything in me, I won’t stop until I can get her back to you, so you have to fight this, Dana, fight to survive, fight to live.” Theresa’s voice faltered, her throat clogging with tears as she felt a small spasm of movement in the hand she held.

“Good girl,” she whispered, hoping, praying the small twitch was Dana’s way of promising to fight.

She stood, gently releasing Dana’s hand and tucking it onto the bed beside her, careful not to upset the tubes and monitors surrounding the bed. She glanced over at Sandra and John, feeling their misery, their desperation for Dana to survive, and their fear for the child they loved. Slowly, Theresa backed out of the room, sending a telepathic message to them that she’d be back when she had their baby safe in her arms.

Outside the room, she found Caleb talking quietly with Pete, obviously trying to sway him from his current thinking. Pete stood in front of his boss, his fists clenched, his jaw held tight as his eyes glittered angrily.

“I don’t care,” Pete said loudly. “Without her...” His voice cracked. “Without her I’m not whole, I’m not...I’m nothing.”

Caleb said something quietly, something Theresa couldn’t quite make out from where she stood. Strong arms wrapped around her as Ethan pulled her into his embrace, turning her and pressing her face into his big body. She felt the slight tremor that wracked through him as he exhaled.