Playing with Passion Theta Series Book 1 (42 page)

"No." Gene said, the word hanging in
the air.

"If you don't work, you don't stay.
How about helping out with training?"

Gene’s green eyes acquired a strange
glint as Johnny spoke. "I actually have something else in mind. Who
heads up your operations, here at—,” he looked around,
"—headquarters?"

"We don't actually have a
headquarters or a head of operations. Rescuing you was our first
time really going on the offensive. Usually we try to stay
under
the radar. We
barely manage to keep ourselves alive."

"So there's no central site that
communicates with the other street thetas?"

"Street thetas?"

"As opposed to troupe thetas. You need
to call yourselves something."

Tom had drifted over. "No, there's no
central communication center."

"I'd be more than happy to help you
with that." Gene smiled his most encouraging smile, and a twinge of
Influence directed toward Johnny tickled Ingrid’s senses. Johnny
nodded, looking thoughtful.

“You said you weren’t
using coercion,”
Mack sent.

“I need them to think
about the idea. Right now, they’re confused. The choice will be
theirs whether or not to make me the CO.”

"We can't make it a habit
to use Influence on them." Ingrid piped in.

"They’re disorganized,
untrained, and undisciplined. Trust me. They need someone at the
helm. I told Mack to take it on, but he said no.”

Ingrid placed her hand on
Mack’s cheek, kissing him sweetly.
“No,
he’s done with that kind of responsibility. He’s going roving with
me.”

Ingrid had seen Gene talking privately
to Tom before breakfast, perhaps getting information about how the
street thetas worked together. Her handsome young acting partner
was often underestimated, but even though she’d only known him a
short time, she'd witnessed his sharp mind in action many times,
analyzing all available data.

“Seems like you’ve already
begun your campaign to become our boss.”

“Like you’ll ever follow
orders.”
Gene rolled his eyes.

I’d take orders from you
more than I’d take them from the others. Except you, dear.”
She patted Mack’s arm
.

Gene’s tone was business-like as he
discussed his ideas with Tom and Johnny. "It's vital that everyone
involved in any offensive has access to as much information as
possible. Timing is crucial when working in groups. Without a
central hub, there's a much greater possibility of failure. And
failure means death—or worse—for all of us. Think of the kids you
have hidden.”

"Our boy has a
plan."
Mack looked pretty impressed. Gene
glanced at Mack with a hint of pride shining in his
eyes.

Liz had stalked over,
having overheard Gene. "You're a
trouper
ingénue
. What can you possibly know about organizing an offensive?
We've all seen the pictures of you with those slutty celebrities.”
She'd actually tossed her head in Ingrid’s
direction
,
their
tentative friendship crashing and burning.

One by one, Ingrid’s
fingers folded up, becoming fists. Ingrid took a step forward,
intending to smack the bitch, but Mack grabbed her arm, saying,
"
Let him handle this himself."

Glancing at Liz with his patented
sultry expression, Gene smiled his sexiest smile. Ingénues were
schooled in how to be alluring, and Gene Hudson was a master.
Ingrid was pretty sure there wasn't a female on the planet immune
to his heat. Staci was in the corner, teasing Sam by fanning
herself. Mack pulled Ingrid against his chest, trapping her in his
arms, maybe to keep her from falling victim to Gene’s
wiles.

Gene took a few steps toward Liz,
using the sexy grace born of many hours of dance training along
with his own incredible gifts. "I'm talented in many areas. You
might be surprised what I can do, Elizabeth."

Liz was frozen in place, staring into
his eyes with her lips slightly parted, her breaths coming quicker.
Unfortunately, Staci's giggle from across the room blew the mood,
giving Liz the chance to snap out of it. Gene directed a playful
scowl toward Staci, who answered by sticking out her
tongue.

Liz stepped back, giving his body an
appraising scan. “Impressive charisma, but can you do anything
practical?" she snapped, annoyed by how his closeness had affected
her.

Gene seemed to be enjoying
every minute of their encounter." One of my hobbies is hacking into
top governmental websites. Few people know this, but when
the steal
happened, a
lot of security systems went by the wayside. They figured who
needed internet security when a violent death hung over a
criminal’s head for even a minor offence? No one messes with The
Director, right?”

“Yeah, so?” Liz wasn’t looking too
impressed.

“When you know how to hack, you know
how to protect yourself. I can get info on any troupe, including
the layout of their property, when they come and go—stuff like
that. I even have bios of The Director's main staff, his calendar,
and the digital blueprints for his new residence. Better yet, I
know when and where he deploys his soldiers.”

This time Liz didn't back
away when he moved closer. "People talk to me. I can
convince
them to help us
out—to give us what we need at a reasonable price. You won’t need
to steal anything ever again. Things like H-tabs or high tech
communication devices or weapons. You hook me up with the right
people, and I'll get the stuff for you."

She widened her stance in a defensive
way, perhaps still feeling the effects of Gene's glamour, but not
wanting to appear weaker. "What would you do first, if you were put
in charge?"

"Making sure as many thetas as
possible are safe and fed goes without saying, but short term, we
set up a temporary base. Will you help me out, Alan?”

Alan nodded. “Sure. No
problem.”

“Tom can assist you.” Johnny
suggested.

“We’ll need the help. It’ll be
important to train people, not just in how to defeat the thugs on
the street, but how to run things from this end, too. We need a way
to communicate with the other bases, to sort through personnel, see
who has what talents. It’ll give us an idea of how to use them in
the most effective way. Then we need to figure out a way we can
communicate with our people in the trenches. After that's
accomplished, we can begin to formulate a real
strategy."

"Strategy for what?" Johnny asked,
looking slightly unsure.

"Long term? Setting up a permanent
base, a place where everything comes together: magic-proof and
completely secure. We’ll set up our tech, find out where trouble’s
happening, and start to go after the supernatural thugs who’re
responsible for hurting our people.”

Tom spoke from the kitchen, where he’d
gone to get another pot of coffee going. "This is all great, but we
have very little in the way of funds to finance any of
this."

"I'll pay for the equipment and the
building and anything else we need," Gene announced.

"I’m sure all the troupe thetas will
chip in," Mack suggested, glancing around the room, remembering
Diane and Dave’s reaction. “At least, the ones in this
room.”

"The location of the base will have to
stay secret. I'm not taking any chances with our safety.” Gene
added.

“Maybe we can work on releasing other
troupe thetas. Most of them will join the cause, I’m sure." Sam
seemed psyched by the idea.

"An army," Ingrid whispered,
remembering what Joseph Herron had said.

"What?" Mack asked.

"The alpha said if he'd owned a few
troupes of thetas, he'd have made us into an army. He'd have taught
us to fight, to use our mental powers to bring down our enemies. He
said we'd be unstoppable, with the right training."

The chatter in the room had hushed. It
seemed to Ingrid that everyone was sizing the others up in terms of
talents and capabilities. Properly trained, Ingrid believed her
troupe alone could bring down the government. What could a dozen
more troupe thetas do? Or hundreds?

"Gene." He turned at the sound of her
voice, his eyes shining with excitement. How confident he seemed,
trying on this new role, tasting some of the power they'd always
been denied. "If we’re actually thinking about bringing down an
archdemon, we need to form a board of directors or some kind of
governing group. Making these decisions is too much responsibility
for one person. I won’t replace one dictator with another, even if
it's you. I wouldn't be comfortable with that."

"I agree completely. In fact I was
thinking this over for most of the night. The heads of each
department would vote on issues as they come up and the CO can be
the tie-breaking vote, if necessary.”

"What departments are you talking
about?” Mack asked.

Gene smiled at Johnny. “If I were
voted in as CO, you’d be my pick for heading up the hunters and
rovers.” Johnny nodded, smiling back. “Stacie would be in charge of
medical. Ingrid and Mack would head up our training team when they
weren’t out hunting. They’d need to assign someone under them to
head up general education. No dummies here. Everyone we can pull in
learns to read, write, and use numbers in practical ways. Maybe
Diane and Dave could take that on. Alan: tech. Tom: acquisitions
and transportation.

"What the fuck?" Liz glared at Gene.
“What about me?”

“I have something in mind, but I’m
worried about your temper.”

“I can rein it in. Whatdaya have in
mind?”

“Recruitment.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Other than tech, it’s the most
important job. We need to contact the other safe houses. Tell them
what’s happening. Bring in their best. Do they know
you?”

“Yeah. Most of them.”

“Sam’ll partner up with you. He’s
great with people.”

“Him? He’s old.” She winced when Sam
laughed. “I’m sorry, gramps, but we have to climb over fifteen foot
walls and balance on beams to get to some of these places. You’re
not strong enough.”

Gene grinned. “Go on. She deserves
it.”

“Sure, boss.” Sam grinned and tossed
Liz into the air, the momentum spinning her two feet above his
head. He caught her easily and tossed her to Mack. She was flying
toward Gene a second later, screaming her lungs out, before finally
making it back to Sam. He placed her on her feet and backed away,
expecting the worst.

Liz put her hands on her hips and
scowled at Sam. “That was not funny.”

“You’re right. It was hysterical.” Tom
was laughing so hard, he was crying.

She pulled out her knife. “But can the
old guy defend himself, if we’re jumped?”

“Try me.” Sam said, crouching
slightly, readying himself for an attack.

“He’s unarmed, Liz.” Johnny took a
step forward, glancing from Liz to Sam with concern.

“I won’t hurt him,” Liz announced
scornfully.

“Put it away. Now.” The
new don’t-fuck-with-me version of Gene had made his inevitable
appearance.
Influence
mixed with anger was a powerful potion. After a moment’s
hesitation, the blade was returned to its sheath. Liz moved away,
sitting at one of the tables, arms crossed, pouting.

Ingrid crept over to Gene, snaking her
arm over his elbow. “Um…Mr. Scary Dude, can I talk?”

“Sending her off to the other safe
houses will keep her out of my hair,” he mumbled to
himself.

“Uh, yeah. Great idea. But you might
want to think about toning it down. We don’t want to terrify the
natives.”

He sighed. “Sorry.”

“She had a knife and was waving it
around at Sam. There’s no reason to be sorry.” Mack
added.

“I’ll keep an eye on her,” Sam said.
“She has stuff to work through. We’ll be fine.”

“You’ll be a good influence.” Gene
said.

“When can you teach me to mind speak?”
Johnny asked, looking all eager beaver.

"It's intense." Gene winked at
Ingrid.

"What do you mean, mind speak?" Liz
asked. Apparently, her hearing was excellent.

“Let’s show them.”

Allowing their glamour to dissolve,
three sets of eyes took on their new, more vibrant shades. Sam and
Staci laughed and followed suit, their eyes the same iridescent
blue-green as Ingrid’s. Only Mack's remained the glowing copper
shade of a theta with a supercharged axis.

"Whoa! Cool." Alan was wide-eyed,
totally blown away by the colorful evidence of their evolution.
"What does this mean?”

“We looped our energy.” Mack
answered.

“What? We were told it would kill
us.”

“It almost did,” Ingrid said,
remembering the pain, but also the exquisite joy of that
mind-blowing moment.