Appassionato (16 page)

“Why do you have two bonding marks?” a male reporter asked.

Duncan blinked for a moment, and Emma felt his apprehension and sense of apology a moment before he began to answer. She sent him a wave a reassurance and saw his face soften for a moment.

“Do you want the long answer or the short answer?” Duncan asked, joking with the reporter. Emma knew he was trying to buy some time to think. She tried to make it clear that it was okay if he mentioned her. She knew that she was going to have to deal with his fame at some point, and the fact that the three of them didn’t have time to talk about it before Jake and Duncan left didn’t excuse her from facing reality. She felt a wave of thanks flow into her from them and smiled. She knew Julie was eyeing her speculatively but Emma did her best to appear oblivious.

“You’re avoiding the question!” someone yelled from the group of reporters and Emma watched Duncan wince.

“Ok, here’s the deal. One tattoo means you’ve bonded with one person. Two means—” Duncan broke off as all the reporters started shouting questions at once. Jake smirked despite the gravity of the situation and even Emma had to laugh at the mix of outrage and excitement sweeping over the crowd. Duncan ran his hands through his hair and Emma felt a pang of sympathy for him. It couldn’t be easy standing up in front of a crowd of people yelling questions about something so intimate. Despite the suppression of information about bonding, everyone knew it existed and that it involved sex. Emma wondered what this impromptu interview was going to mean to the people responsible for the information blackout. She felt Jake’s sudden apprehension as he caught the direction of her thoughts and watched his face lose its smile as the reporters continued shouting. They wanted to know who the third person in the triple bonding was. She felt Duncan’s anger and Jake’s concern and knew neither man would mention her name.

“Holy shit,” Julie breathed. Emma tore her eyes from the news just as Julie snatched up her arm, shoving Emma’s sleeve up to her elbow. The bonding tattoo gleamed innocently on her skin as Julie stared at it. Then she pulled up Emma’s other arm and shoved up that sleeve as well.

“Um—” Emma tried to think of some way to explain but Julie cut her off.

“Oh, my God. You bonded with both of them?” Julie asked, excited. Emma nodded, trying to pull her arms away. “You had sex with Duncan Green!” Julie shrieked, squeezing Emma’s hands.

“Shhhh!” Emma looked around the office, grateful there were no students around. “Julie, you have to calm down!”

Julie released Emma’s hands and jumped in her seat. “Are you kidding me? You bonded with Duncan Green and you didn’t tell me?”

“Technically, I bonded with Jake
and
Duncan,” Emma said, hoping Julie would get a grip before anyone came in and saw her freaking out. She looked at the TV, noting that the interview was over. She hoped Duncan and Jake were okay.

“Oh, my God, you had sex with them! How was it? Were they hot? Can you read their minds?” Julie had quieted down, but her eyes were bright and she bounced in her seat.

“I am not answering questions about my sex life!” Emma retorted.

Julie snorted and rolled her eyes. “Okay, okay, but still. At least tell me what it was like! I mean, I don’t know of any cases where three people bonded with each other. How does that even work?”

Emma closed her eyes, feeling the distance from Jake and Duncan acutely. She wished they were here, though she knew they had their own problems to deal with. “It was scary. And amazing. And I can sort of tell what they’re thinking, but it works better when we’re closer together.” Emma hoped that would be enough detail for Julie. She had no intention of explaining the extra abilities she gained from the triple bond. She didn’t want anyone knowing about that. She instinctively knew that was dangerous information.

“Wow, that’s incredible,” Julie said. “What are you going to do?”

Emma shook her head. “I don’t know. We haven’t figured out the details yet.” Julie nodded. Emma reached down for the remote and turned the television off just in time to hear a knock on the office door. She looked up through the window and saw the two bonded students she’d helped last week. Their auras were roiling, disturbed, and Emma frowned. Neither student looked happy and she noted the dark circles under Samantha’s eyes.

“Ms. Bell? Can we talk to you?”

Emma nodded and the two filed into her office. “Julie, would you mind supervising the next class?”

Julie nodded. “No problem.”

Emma gestured to two chairs near her desk and Samantha and Jonathan sat down as she pulled the blinds on the window that separated the office from the library. Julie pulled the door shut behind her as she went out to welcome the next class. Emma had the feeling that this conversation was going to need privacy as she walked back to the students. “What can I do for you?” Emma asked as she sat down.

Jonathan fiddled with his sleeve, eyes down. Emma waited patiently, sensing Duncan and Jake in the back of her mind, listening in. Where were they now?

On the way to a meeting
, Duncan thought to her, sending a mental kiss her way. Emma smiled at the gesture, then caught Samantha watching her, face intent. Emma cocked her head and Jonathan looked up suddenly.

“We heard that Duncan Green and his manager bonded,” the young man said, his voice cracking. He looked like he was on the verge of a breakdown and Emma put her hand on his, stilling their nervous fiddling. She calmed his aura, smoothing the violent swirls of brown and scarlet that drifted around him and Samantha. Both students relaxed.

“Yeah, I heard that too.” Emma sat back. Their aura pattern showed that the two were completely bonded, she noticed, and she abruptly realized that they must have had sex. If so, she hoped their parents didn’t know. She hadn’t got the impression that they believed in bonding, and Emma knew that Samantha’s parents weren’t particularly happy about Samantha even dating Jonathan, let alone forming a permanent attachment.

“What does that mean?” Samantha asked, her voice plaintive. “I was just on the internet. I saw a live stream of the interview they just did and they said it was permanent. I have the same kind of tattoo.” The girl shoved up her sleeve, thrusting her arm towards Emma. Jonathan captured Samantha’s elbow and soothed her, running his palm down her arm and clasping their hands together.

“I know it’s a lot to take in,” Emma began but Jonathan cut her off.

“Her parents wouldn’t let us stay together last night! They don’t understand.”

Samantha was nodding. “It’s like having a piece of my body cut off. It burns.”

Emma sighed. She understood the feeling all too well. She could sense the absence of Jake and Duncan in her bones. “I know, Samantha. Your parents are just worried and want you to be safe—”

“You don’t know! You have no idea what it feels like!” Samantha cried out, tears in her eyes. Jonathan pulled the girl close and held her tight.

“You really can’t understand,” Jonathan said and Emma took a deep breath.

Show them
, Jake urged.

To Emma’s surprise, she caught not just the emotion behind the thought, but the words as well.
He must feel very strongly about it for me to receive words instead of just emotions at this distance
, Emma thought. She could tell Jake and Duncan were still in the car, stuck in traffic. They were holding hands but that didn’t assuage the longing that gnawed at the three of them. Distance was a problem.

“I do understand.” Emma looked at them and slowly pushed her sleeve up until one of her bonding tattoos was visible.

Samantha gasped. “It looks like ours! Only, you have color on yours.” The girl looked at her, confused and Emma sighed, then slowly pushed up her other sleeve.

“Shit,” Jonathan breathed. “You have two? How—wait, does that mean you’re bonded with two people?”

“Yes.” Emma took a deep breath. “I’m bonded to two men, so I do understand what you’re feeling.”

Samantha reached a tentative finger out to touch Emma’s arm. “You have color in yours. What does that mean?”

“I don’t have a lot of information.” Emma laughed and shook her head. “No one has a lot of information, but I think that when three people bond instead of two, this is what happens. The bonds are also a bit stronger. Not in terms of how you feel about each other. The love is just as strong as in any bonding. But I can sense more from my bond-mates.”

“What can you sense?” Samantha asked.

“Well, for one thing, we can see through each other’s eyes if we want. If I concentrate, we can exchange thoughts, not just emotions.” Emma worried about how they were going to handle this information. Neither seemed particularly shocked, though.

“You need to talk to our parents again,” Jonathan said, abruptly. He pushed away and stood up, pacing through the clutter of the office. “Her parents wouldn’t let me stay with her the past couple nights and my parents don’t understand why it’s such a big deal. It hurts. Samantha can’t sleep, and I feel like I’m going crazy worrying about her.” He shoved his hands through his hair. “It’s like reaching out for the other half of your soul and not being able to touch it.”

Emma stared at him, knowing exactly what that felt like.
Yeah
, Jake said in her mind. She could feel his worry as the three of them considered their situation. Emma suddenly knew that she was going to quit her job. There was no other way.

No!
Duncan thought to her, sharp enough to make her wince. W
e don’t want to be the reason you quit what you love to do
.

Hush
, Emma thought back.
I love you a lot more than I love my job.
She sent them reassurance.

We’ll talk about it later
, Jake sent.

Samantha was looking at her oddly. Jonathan had stopped pacing. Emma discarded a dozen different responses before she figured out what she wanted to say. Their auras were pulsing again and she sighed, knowing that neither she nor Duncan and Jake could spare the energy for her to calm the two students down that way again. “For now, the most important thing you can do is touch each other as much as possible.” The two students nodded and Jonathan touched Samantha on her shoulder. The girl turned her face into his hand. It broke Emma’s heart to see them together. She wondered if it wouldn’t be better for them if they hadn’t bonded.

No
! Jake thought, horrified. Emma shivered, feeling the same. But, if they had bonded when they were older, no one could keep them apart. As it was, they were too young and their parents could legally separate them. With a sense of dawning horror, Emma suddenly wondered if she could sever a bonding as easily as she could cement one. She felt the ability tingling in her hands. It would take a great deal of energy—

No, it wouldn’t
, Duncan whispered in the back of her mind and horribly, Emma sensed he was right. It would give her energy, because to sever a bonding meant taking energy away from the couple. When she cemented a bonding, she gave energy back. She shuddered and clenched her fingers together, missing Jake and Duncan even more.

“Okay, I’m going to see if I can talk to your parents again. Maybe if I explain to them how bad it is for you to be kept apart, they’ll reconsider.”

Samantha was shaking her head. “They’re not going to listen. My dad was freaking out this morning, ranting about witchcraft, of all things. It’s like he’s completely lost his mind. We’re Christians, but he’s never been this crazy.” Emma frowned, wondering what religion had to do with it. Samantha continued. “He was yelling at me about not having sex before I got married. I tried to explain how much it hurt but when he found out that Jonathan and I had slept together, he went insane. The only reason I’m at school today is that my mom convinced him it would look bad to keep me home.”

Emma looked at Jonathan. The young man was pressing his lips together as if he wanted to say something but didn’t dare. “Did your parents act like this?”

He shook his head. “I’m older than Samantha. And my parents aren’t that conservative. I’m really worried about Samantha’s dad. I tried to look up some information about this bonding thing on the internet to try and use to convince her dad that this was real, but even the stuff I was able to bookmark last week has disappeared. It’s really weird.”

Emma nodded. “I know. I wondered about that myself.”

“It’s really cool that Duncan and Jake came out in that interview today. There’s no way they’re going to be able to keep that off the internet, not with a famous singer like Duncan,” Samantha offered.

“I don’t think Duncan planned the interview,” Emma said, ignoring the way Jonathan looked at her speculatively. She pushed her sleeves back down and looked at the clock. Almost time for the next bell. “Okay, I’m going to give you my cell phone number. Have your parents call me, Samantha. I’ll try and set up a time to meet with them, or just talk with them on the phone. Maybe it’ll help. I don’t know what else to do.” Emma jotted down her number and handed it to the girl.