Bound by Light (23 page)

“No,” Mathew said. “We heard something in
the background, but we haven’t been able to determine what it
is.

“Can I have a listen?” Thane asked.

“Come with me,” Nigel said, but before they
left, Thane knelt in front of Sydney.

“We’re going to find her.”

Sydney rubbed her temples, the pain almost
unbearable as she blinked back tears and nodded. A green haze
hovered in her peripheral vision and she shook her head and blinked
again.

“Take a few deep breaths, love, yer eyes are
green.” Thane took her hands and kissed her palms, easing her
pain.

“What do you mean, they’re green?” Despite
the relief, she still scowled at him.

Your eyes are green. I think one of your
gifts is manifesting.

“What gift turns your eyes green?” she
snapped in a whisper.

I don’t know, love, but we’ll sort it out
when this is over
. He rose to his feet.
I love you,
Sydney.

She didn’t respond as he left the room.

Uncle Cary made his way to Sydney and sat
beside her. “How are you, love?”

“You’re asking
me
that? Lucy’s your
daughter, you must be frantic.” Sydney reached for his hand. “What
does Auntie Clara say?”

“She’s been sedated at home.”

“I would imagine this would be
upsetting.”

“She was beyond upset, so we are helping her
rest.”

Sydney frowned. “Does
she
know she’s
been sedated?”

Her uncle lowered his head.

“Seriously?” Sydney shot out of her chair.
“You’re keeping her sedated without her consent?”

“It’s only until we find Lucy. This way she
doesn’t know what’s happening and when she wakes up, Lucy will be
there.”

Sydney let out a frustrated groan and
stormed out of the office. She needed to run... or hit something;
she wasn’t sure which at the moment. Maybe both.

Her eyes flooded with angry tears as she
rushed down the hallway. She needed to get away from all this
testosterone-filled bullcrap that she was being subjected to. She
couldn’t believe her uncle would pull the same thing Thane was
pulling; only using
actual
drugs to control her aunt. Sydney
was disgusted.

Probably because she was distracted by being
disgusted, she didn’t notice Thane walking toward her. So when she
felt an arm of steel wrap around her waist, causing her breath to
leave her with an, “Ooof,” she was taken totally by surprise. And
when she was pulled into a small room that looked part supply
closet, part shipping office, it took her a second to figure out
what had just happened.

Without warning, she was pushed against the
now closed door and kissed for all she was worth. She forgot that
she was distraught and fisted her hands in Thane’s shirt. Opening
her mouth to deepen the kiss, she let the worry of the moment
dissipate.

However, something Thane probably hadn’t
counted on was that her abilities were growing in strength. It
didn’t take her long to come to her senses and shove him away from
her. “No!”

“You need to stop going down this bloody
rabbit hole of despair, Sydney.”

She stood by the door, one hand out to ward
off her mate, and one at her chest, trying to catch her breath.
“You need to stop trying to control me. It’s not okay, Thane.”

He swore, running his hands through his
hair.

Sydney took several deep breaths. She felt
her heart slow and her emotions calm. Once that happened, she
folded. Sliding down the door to her bottom, she drew her knees to
her chest and dropped her head as she burst into tears.

Thane sat next to her, but didn’t try to
placate her or control her emotions. He just sat there, his hands
fisted on his raised knees while she watched him.

“What’s happening to me?” she whispered.

He sighed. “The same thing that’s happening
to me.”

“That’s helpful, Thane. Thanks.” She
frowned. “Do you know what my uncle did to my aunt?”

“Aye, but only because I read it in your
mind.”

“He drugged her, Thane.
Drugged
her.
She has no idea what’s happening, because he is treating her like
chattel. What if Lucy dies and Aunt Clara isn’t awake to know about
it? She will be devastated.”

“I know, love. I don’t agree with his
methods, but I do understand the emotion behind it.”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass about the emotion
behind it, Thane. What he’s doing is
wrong
!”

“Aye, love, ’tis. I agree with you.”

“You do realize,” she cocked her head, “that
it’s what you try to do to me.”

Thane’s eyebrows came together in a tight V
and Sydney watched him as he processed her words. With a sigh, he
held his hand out, palm up, asking rather than insisting, and she
linked her fingers with his, the only movement she made to connect
with him.

“I’m sorry, love.”

She closed her eyes and nodded. “Thank
you.”

“We are obviously dealing with some
emotional conflicts.”

“Ya think?”

“I have a theory but until I can do some
research, I’m not sure if I’m right.”

“What’s your theory?”

“It would seem we have similar gifts that
are now clashing, which makes us stronger in all the wrong ways.
You and I feel things on a level most don’t.” He lifted her hand to
his lips and kissed it gently. “We need to figure out how to
control our emotions and make them work for us, or we’re going to
find ourselves in a place where we might damage each other.”

She opened her eyes and studied him.

“I don’t want to hurt you, sweetheart. I’d
rather cut off my arm than do that, and my heart breaks when you’re
upset. I find your pain affects me to my soul, and I’ll admit I’m
not handling it well. I’m so sorry, Sydney.”

She couldn’t hold on to her anger any
longer, and she climbed into his lap as she burst into tears. “I’m
sorry too, honey. I’ve never felt like this before, which isn’t an
excuse, but I feel totally blindsided by these emotions. They’re
overwhelming.”

“I know, baby.” He kissed her throat. “We’ll
sort it out. I promise. In the meantime, will you please let me
work with your uncle’s security to figure out what we’re going to
do? I will do my best not to keep things from you or treat you like
chattel, but I’m hanging on by a thread here, and I can’t worry
about you and focus on finding Lucy at the same time.”

“I can try, honey.”

“Thank you.”

She wiped her tears and took a deep breath.
“Did you hear anything on the recording that might be helpful?”

“Aye. Water. Cary’s sent men down to a few
of the local piers and docks.”

“Won’t that take time?”

“Probably. They’re starting with the Royal
Albert dock.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, love. I just have a feeling.”
He rose to his feet and held a hand out to her.

“What kind of feeling?” she asked as she
took his hand, and he pulled her up.

“I can’t explain it, which is one of the
reasons I’m taking notice. I think our bonding has given me
something I’ve never had before.”

“Which is?” she prodded.

“Psychometry.” He pulled her against him,
wrapping his arms around her. “I touched something Lucy had given
her father and was able to see or sense, I’m not sure, the dock.
I’m running with it and praying it’s the right direction.”

Sydney settled her cheek against his chest
and closed her eyes. “Me too.”

“I’m going to kiss you now, love.”

She let out a quiet giggle and lifted her
chin. “Okay.”

Thane kissed her gently and then led her out
of the room and back to Uncle Cary’s office. She took a seat by the
window again, but kept a wary distance from her uncle. She was
still beyond angry with him, but she needed to stay on point. It
wouldn’t help Lucy if Sydney went down an emotional rabbit
hole.

Thane slid his hand to the back of her neck
and squeezed.
Well done, love
.

She sighed.
Don’t congratulate me just
yet, Thane. I’m still pissed
.

Before he could respond, her uncle’s office
door was thrown open and a very angry, unusually disheveled and
haggard-looking Clara Armstrong Ashworth stormed into the room,
straight for Uncle Cary, where she laid a perfectly painful slap
across his cheek. “You sodding bastard!” she screamed.

Thane pulled Sydney to her feet. “Let’s give
them a minute.”

Sydney nodded and they left the room, along
with Mathew and Nigel. Nigel ushered them into another office two
doors down, but even with the door closed, the occasional
four-letter word filtered through as Aunt Clara gave Uncle Carville
the verbal thrashing of his life. Sydney hoped they would survive
this... it was a betrayal her aunt wouldn’t take lightly.

* * *

Lucy came to in stages. The pain slamming
into her skull was something she’d never felt before, and her
immediate thought was she was having an aneurysm. But then the
memories flooded in and she bit back a whimper as she tried to open
her eyes. She could only see through one.

“Well, there you are,” Zach crooned.

“Zach?”

“Yeah, babe. Ya miss me?”

She swallowed, her throat raw. “Where am
I?”

“Somewhere safe.”

Lucy shifted and discovered she couldn’t
move much. She tugged on her hands and found they were bound tight.
“What’s going on, Zach?”

“Well, I’m trying to get your cousin to
listen to what I have to say.”

She remembered being in line at the coffee
shop and then someone grabbing her from behind as she left and cut
through the alley to get to the Tube. A twinge in her bicep brought
back the memory of a brief but sharp pain and she remembered a
needle jamming into her arm and then everything went black.

“I don’t understand.” Lucy still couldn’t
see him. She sensed he was behind her.

“That’s because you’re the dumbest bitch on
the planet.”

Lucy gasped. “What the hell?”

“Yeah, go ahead, get all pissy, Luce. It
doesn’t change the fact you’re an idiot.” He let out a cackle of a
laugh. “And you’re a really bad lay.”

“What do you want, Zach?” As she tried to
focus on his words, she took a look around her. There wasn’t a
whole lot to see. She was in a small, windowless room and the only
source of light was an exposed lightbulb by the door.

“I want your cousin to get her head out of
her ass and come take your place.”

Lucy groaned. “Why?”

“Because she
owes
me.”

“Can I please get some water?”

“No.”

Lucy sighed. “Zach, I don’t understand why
you need to talk to Sydney, but we could have set something
up.”

“God, I can’t believe you dumped me,” he
said as though he didn’t hear her. “I just needed to keep you on
the hook for a few more days, but no, you had to ruin the
plan.”

He slapped her on the head and Lucy felt
like he’d hit her with a hammer. She cried out, even though she
tried not to.

“None of this had to happen, Lucy. If Sydney
had been as dumb as you, it wouldn’t have. Now we’ll see just how
smart she is, because she’s got twenty-nine minutes to show her
face or you’re dead.”

“Why, Zach? What did we do to you?”

“You had nothing to do with any of this,
Lucy. You were simply an avenue to get to Sydney.”

“What did Sydney have to do with this
then?”

He tsked as he came into focus. “That’s for
her to know, baby. It’s gonna be our special connection.”

Lucy licked her dry lips and tried not to
shiver at the look in Zach’s eyes. He was crazy. He was no longer
the good-natured guy she’d met a month or so ago. He was a
sociopath, and Lucy was in his clutches. She sent up a silent
prayer of desperation as the black surrounded her again.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

T
HANE SET A bottled
water in front of Sydney and cupped her cheek briefly as they
waited for word from Nigel’s men. Mathew had left the room about
ten minutes ago and Sydney was on edge waiting for him to return.
She took a sip of water, realizing just how thirsty she was, and
sighed with relief. Maybe the fact her mate knew her so well was
becoming more of a positive than a negative.

Thane’s chuckle sounded in her mind and she
scowled at him over her shoulder.
Nope, back to a
negative.

He leaned forward and kissed her gently.
“Love you, baby.”

She smiled. “I love you too.”

Give me your hand.

She shifted her chair so they were next to
each other and linked her fingers with his. He lifted her hand to
his lips and kissed her palm.

Mathew returned and both Thane and Sydney
stood quickly as he faced them. “Okay, we think we’ve found
them.”

“Who is it?” Sydney asked.

“Do you recognize him?” Mathew held his
phone up.

“That’s Zach,” Sydney said.

“Aye,” Thane confirmed. “Zach Miller. He and
Lucy dated for a little while.”

“You know his last name?” Sydney asked,
surprised.

“Cary shared his findings after the
background check. He wanted me to know before we met him for
dinner. But your uncle had some concerns about the name and was
looking further into him.”

“And what did you find?” Nigel asked.

“Not much, honestly,” Thane admitted. “Cary
will know more.”

Nigel looked at Mathew. “Do you think we’ve
given them enough time?”

Mathew shrugged. “He’ll want to know either
way.”

“I’ll go and see,” Nigel offered, and left
the room.

Sydney leaned against Thane as they waited
for Nigel to return.

Mathew checked his phone and pulled open the
door. “We’re free to join them.”

Sydney led the group back down the hall and
into Uncle Cary’s office. She gave him a wide berth as she made her
way to her aunt and hugged her. “Are you okay?”