TRANCE, Inc. 18

I nodded. It's one thing to tell someone all about your problems. It's another thing to tell them how much you admire them. Maybe it was the alcohol that still buzzed in my system. Or maybe I was still spaced out on whatever was in the tea Terra had given me. But I felt very little of the nervousness in that moment. "A lot of the time, you seem like a mythical teacher out of some movie. The things you do, the way you teach, the way you talk..." I trailed off, shaking my head. "Now, tonight, you're a life saver who shows up at exactly the right moment to dispense the advice I needed to face my fears and win back what's mine."

"The advice... and the drugs," Terra added.

I laughed, and Terra joined me for several quiet chuckles. Her laugh was a pleasant sound. "And the drugs," I agreed. I hesitated. "Where did you get that tea, by the way?"

The woman paused, then said slowly, "It is from... the time before. From my old master. A parting gift, because he knew my way would be hard and lonely."

"Ah."

At the curb, my Uber honked impatiently.

I nodded several times. "Well, I'd better go," I said. "People to save, and all that." Then, before I could stop myself, I had stepped forward and was hugging the woman.

She froze up for an instant. Then, I felt her body slowly relax. Her arms circled around my body and her palms pressed into my back.

"Thank you," I said, stepping away and toward the front steps. I bowed slightly. "I'll see you soon, Terra."

For the first time, Terra inclined her head in a small, brief bow of her own. She was mostly just a shadow by the time I was halfway to the car, but I heard her words clearly when she answered. "I will see you soon, Chance." When I looked back over my shoulder, her dark eyes reflected the moonlight. They were watching me, and I felt their weight on the car until we turned the corner and left her behind.

We had started something, Terra and me. I knew it, knew that something in our relationship had changed, knew that I had taken a step in my training that I had never anticipated. One day, soon, I would be a different person because of the choices I made tonight. But there was still too much to do, too much to resolve before I focused on the future. For now, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and glanced down at the glowing screen.

Not even midnight, I thought. Plenty of time to turn things around.

* * *

Victoria picked up her phone immediately, but the first voice I heard filtered in from the background.

"Is that Chance?" It was one of the twins, but over the phone I couldn't tell which. She sounded like she was having a good time. Heavy party music thumped in the background.

"Yeah, give me a sec..." Victoria muttered. I didn't know if the woman was talking to me or her companion, but then I heard the music grow quieter. There was the sound of a door sliding closed, and then the woman's voice again. "Chance, hey! Where the hell are you?"

* * *

"Never again." Victoria's lips pressed to my forehead, then to my mouth. She stepped back but didn't let go of my shoulders. "I know you're an adult, but I'm protective, okay? You can't just disappear on us."

Despite her worry, the statuesque brunette looked ravishing in her purple dress, and against the backdrop of Seth's apartment she almost looked like she could have just been another party girl, instead of a responsible executive who had charged herself with taking care of four other human beings. Beside her, a lithe young redhead wearing a familiar minidress.

It was Daisy, but her sister was nowhere to be seen. Amber, too, was missing.

"Well?" Victoria asked. "Where were you? You said we could talk when you arrived."

For a split second, I was tempted to lie. After all, it was likely that Landon Shrike had unfettered access to everything in my lover's mind. But I'd thought about it on the ride over, and the time for secrecy was past. Hiding things, tamping down emotions and avoiding confrontation had been the kindling for each of the problems my companions and I had faced. Instead, I just shook my head.

"Not yet," I told her. "I'll wait until we're all together. Where are the others? There's something we need to discuss. Now."

My tone was firm and Victoria's demeanor changed in an instant. She nodded quickly and turned, her eyes scanning the crowd. Daisy, though, seemed not to pick up on my urgency.

The teenager's eyes widened as she stepped forward, and they reflected the dancing lights all around us. "I missed you, baby..." she said, resting her hands on my chest and pouting cutely. "I got done with my conversation with Seth and came out looking for you, but you were gone." Her hands slid down my shirt, then landed on my hips at the last moment instead of going lower.

"So you're broken up?" I asked, scanning the crowd for crimson hair and blonde. "Officially, and all that?" I wanted to be there for Daisy, to be happy for her as she overcame this obstacle from her past, but there were too many fires other that had to be put out.

"Mmm, well..." Daisy smiled and leaned in, kissing my neck. I could smell her perfume, and I felt a gentle zing of desire course through me. Not now, I thought. But before the girl could finish her reply, another familiar figure stepped out of the crowd.

"Hey, babe. Where did you disappear to?" Amber kept her tone light, but I could still see the frown that she was keeping off her pretty face. "It's not very polite to leave a girl waiting after she sends you pictures like that. For more than an hour, I might add..."

I swallowed and wrapped one arm around Daisy for emotional support. Just the sight of my girlfriend was hard, and that clingy blue dress made me want to forget that she was also wrapped firmly around the little finger of my most dangerous opponent. The memory of those pictures made me want to bend her over until she could grab her ankles and fuck her until she screamed my name.

Instead, I gave her an apologetic look. "Hey, Amber. I'm sorry, okay? Something came up and I had to step out. I'm going to explain as soon as I can, but first we need to find Carmen and get out of here."

I could tell the woman wanted more of an answer, but her natural good nature and her habit of going along with my suggestions seemed to kick in. She bobbed her head in agreement, though her blue eyes didn't meet mine. "Okay, Chance. I think I saw her heading up the stairs at the back of the party, where Seth took Day earlier."

My brow furrowed with confusion, but Daisy just giggled and nodded. "Carmen is the best sister. When I got back from filming the breakup video with Seth she didn't get mad at me for wanting to smoke. She just said she was proud of me and that she was going to give that prick a talking to."

I met the teen's gaze. Now that I was looking for it, I could tell that she wasn't completely sober. Her smile was just a little too bright, and her eyelids drooped gently. For an instant, I was worried. Then, I reminded myself of what was at stake. There was no time for trivialities. At any moment, a call from Landon Shrike could get to Victoria or Amber and ruin everything.

I shoved aside my concern for the girl and flashed a smile. "Great," I said. "That's perfect, Day. Thanks. We'll go get her. But first..." I held out a hand, palm up. "I need your phone."

Daisy blinked her wide green eyes. "My phone...?" She fished the device from the inside of her bra and held it up. "What for?"

"I promise," I stressed. "I will explain everything. For now, I just need you to trust me. Please." I figured if I took Daisy's first, it would be less suspicious for me to do the same with the others. Then, I could be at least momentarily secure from interference.

The girl shrugged. "Okay," she agreed. "I trust you." She smiled as she said it, and the smile had an innocence that punched me in the chest.

I swallowed down the nerves that rose in my throat, hoping that I could keep her safe from the coming conflict. I could feel it already, the building tension that told me I was rushing into a scenario with only one way in and one way out. A situation where I either went home tonight with my family intact or shattered. I turned away from Daisy's smile and focused on the matter at hand.

"Amber?" I asked.

If I had expected there to be some resistance, I was disappointed. The woman shrugged and offered me her cell without hesitation. If I'd had any doubt that she was being manipulated without her knowledge, that clinched it. No one simply hands over a prime piece of evidence without complaint. Not unless they have nothing to hide, or don't know they have something to hide.

"Thank you," I said, and my heart thumped loud in my ears. I will do everything I can to save you, I promised her silently, shoving the two devices deep into my pocket. You don't belong to Landon Shrike, or to TRANCE. You're mine.

When I turned to Victoria, she already had her cell in her hands. She was completing a text, and had a thoughtful look on her face, but then offered me her phone without complaint. "I just texted Carmen," she said. "To say we were looking for her."

Thank you, I thought, but I simply nodded.

"Alright," I said, lifting my chin and putting an arm around Daisy's shoulders. "Let's get your sister and get the hell out of here."

* * *

The second story of Seth's penthouse was just as spacious as his downstairs. The hardwood floors were loud under my companions' high heels and the sound of music and revelry vibrated up the stairs behind us. The upstairs landing was a long hallway with an open space at the far end and doors on either side. Despite the packed party below, no one else seemed to have ventured up above.

Seth was just coming out of one of the doors as we arrived.

Daisy's ex had lost the dark jacket he had been wearing earlier and was down to his white dress shirt, rolled up at the sleeves with a couple buttons undone. His hair was as mussed as ever, but he somehow still gave the impression of having just rolled out of bed in time for a modeling shoot. He glanced over at us, registered no surprise, and took several steps closer. He stuck his hands into the pockets of his navy slacks and leaned one shoulder against the wall, the picture of casual swagger.

"Hey there," he said. His eyes met mine unflinchingly. They were grey, I realized. I hadn't been able to tell downstairs, with all the flashing lights.

I stared right back. "We're looking for Carmen," I said. I stuck out my chin. I was no longer willing to back down. "I heard she was up here tearing you a new one." My tone was cool, collected. I'd never been one to talk trash, but I'd heard enough from Daisy to know that this man was a snake, regardless of his outward mask of civility.

To my surprise, Seth wasn't at all flustered by my remark. Instead, he simply raised his eyebrows. Then, he chuckled. "Come on, then," he said, in an equally calm, measured tone. He didn't speak like any teenager I'd met before. He sounded more like Mike Lassiter, like a businessman or an experienced executive. He motioned with his head in the direction of the door he'd just closed. "We'll see if Carmen shares your assessment."

His words set off warning bells in my mind, but I didn't know how to respond other than to square my shoulders and stride confidently toward him. The young man turned as I approached, leading the way back to the door and turning the knob. He paused for an instant, and I thought I saw a smile ghost across his face in the dim light.

Then, he pushed the door open and I stepped in after him.

Only to stop short...

I know this place.

I looked around, my confidence threatening to desert me as confusion muscled in. The red walls, furniture and four-poster bed in the center. The racks of toys on the walls, the loops of rope and belts and playthings.

This was Daisy's BDSM bedroom, twinned, and in the center of the floor knelt Daisy's twin, herself.

I met Carmen's gaze, and her expression was desperate. Her eyes were wide, her red lips were parted in a soft, moaning gasp. One hand was planted on the floor in front of her. The other was buried between her spread thighs. She was completely naked.

As the others fanned out behind me her face transformed. The girl's eyes rolled back and her hips bucked forward. She arched her back and cried out gently, softly, and I recognized the sound. Carmen was cumming.

My jaw must have dropped open, because it snapped shut as I took several quick strides in her direction. "Carmen," I said sharply, kneeling beside her. I lifted a hand slowly, but felt hesitant to touch the teenager. Then, I noticed that her lips were moving, and I stopped to listen. What I heard sent a splinter of cold stabbing through my chest.

"I will obey..." Her voice was a low, panting whisper. "I will listen and obey..."

I recognized those words.

"I have no mind. I have no will. I cannot leave. I live to serve..."

How? It wasn't possible.

"I cannot leave. My body is yours. My mind is yours. My mouth is yours. My ass is yours. My tits are yours. My pussy is yours..."

They were the words of the TRANCE hypnotic programming video, and as I stared into Carmen's face a wrenching, stunning puzzle piece snapped neatly into place.

"I have no mind. I have no will. I cannot resist. I must obey. I live to obey..."

"What the hell did you do to her?" I growled, whirling on Seth. My hand curled into a fist as rage surged through me. "What the hell did you fucking do?"

Beside me, Carmen's low murmur continued. "I am your sexy teen fuckdoll... I am your slutty little plaything..."

Beyond Seth, my companions were staring with wide-eyed horror. Amber's hand was to her mouth and Victoria's jaw was tight as the first flickers of anger began to spark in her expression. Daisy, though, was the worst off. The usually collected teenager had stumbled back against the wall, pressing her hands back to keep herself upright. Her usually pale skin had gone milky white, and her eyes were huge pools of green. Evidently, even her high couldn't protect her from this.

"Oh, you poor man." Seth, alone, looked composed. His lips quirked up into a little smile, and he shook his head. His grey eyes bored into mine. "You're surprised? How? You didn't think that you hit the absolute jackpot, did you? All these gorgeous women, just waiting for you to show up and use them?" He raised an eyebrow and very obviously scanned me up and down. "You certainly couldn't believe you deserved that kind of luck."

I pushed myself to my feet, standing upright with tension in every line of my frame. Seth knows their trigger phrase. The thought smashed into my mind like a train wreck, threatening to destroy the certainty and confidence that had been giving me hope. But how...? Dumb luck, like me? No... I don't believe it.

Seth must have read the confusion in my face because he snorted softly and shook his head. "You really don't know how things work, do you? You don't just get things for free in life. You buy them. Or..." and here he grinned. "You make them. Custom-built." He spread his hands, cast out a glance encompassing the space around us. "Just like I custom-built this room. And," he gestured to Carmen, "just like I had this one custom-built, perfectly designed for me and my pleasure."

"What are you talking about?" I demanded. I wanted to slug this smug prick right in the jaw, but it felt like my feet were rooted to the floor. After weeks of not knowing, of uncertainty about the means and aims of TRANCE, it looked like I was finally going to get some answers.

In the worse possible way, at the worst possible time.

Seth chuckled. "What? You just thought that some porn company was hypnotizing women to make them better actors? Where is your imagination? No. No no no." He hung his head and shook it, like he was disappointed in me. "Those women are being shaped. Shaped and advertised in the most blatant way. For who? For me. And people like me. Winners, who make and take what we want. Not lunks like you who blunder around and rip off other people's hard work."

I took a step forward, my fist rising and drawing back.

Seth raised his eyebrows at me. "Are you sure you want to do that?" he asked, and it wasn't the calm, readiness of his stance that stopped me in my tracks but the easy, confident tone of his voice. "You got to play out of your league for a little while. Way out of your league," he added, giving me another up and down. "But now it's time to give me back what's mine. I won't even begrudge you the fact that you've broken them in. Get out, and be grateful for what you still have. Two beautiful, mindfucked babes, waiting to be used at your leisure."

I hesitated. "What do you mean two?"

"Ah." A smile of smug satisfaction crawled across Seth's face. "You've reminded me. I can't tell you how long I've waited for this moment." He cast a glance back toward the door, his eyes fixing on Daisy. He lifted an arm and lazily crooked a finger at her. "Come here."

I saw fear flash across Daisy's face, but then her face drew taut. "No."

Seth's smile didn't even twitch as he turned fully toward her. "You will come for me," he said. "One way or another. Just like you'll cum for me. Over and over and over, as I do whatever I want with you and that tight body of yours."

The crimson-haired teen pressed herself off the wall, but stood firm. "Stop whatever you think you're doing," she said. "Fix whatever you did to my sister. Then, if you never speak to us again, we might let you off easy and pretend like none of this ever happened."

Daisy's ex-boyfriend rolled his eyes and sighed. "All my patience," he said. "All the time and money I spent on you. On you and your sister. A matching set — two gorgeous, fuckable sextoys who never say 'No,' who never even think the word 'No,' who never even think at all. And still, I knew that when the moment came you'd be like this. All 'you can't do this Seth'... But I've waited long enough. I've invested enough money. And you know what?" He spread his hands. "I'm not even going to pay Landon to take down those promo videos. You're already out there, babe, your face and body on tens of thousands of screens. You and your sister both. But what do I care if people see? You'll never belong to them like you do to me. Completely, with no reservations, no barriers and no limits. They can get off and wish they were good enough to own you, but they can't. I'm the only one who can turn you into a stupid sexy stoner slut."

I heard the subtle emphasis on the final words, and saw the trigger phrase run through Daisy like a shiver of relaxation. Her features tried to tighten, but her lips fell open and her eyelashes fluttered. "Ohfuck..." she groaned softly. "Ohfuckme..." The girl's knees buckled and she put up one hand to catch herself against the wall.

Next to Daisy, Victoria's eyes blazed with anger. She whirled on Seth, but as she opened her mouth and took a step forward the younger man cut her off with an abrupt gesture.

"Ah ah ah... I wouldn't get involved if I were you. Not unless you want me to trigger you, too." Seth stared into the beautiful brunette's dark, furious eyes. "I may not know your personal registration triggers, since I only bought and paid for these two gems, but if you're with TRANCE I can use your all-access phrase and turn you into a horny little nympho." He smirked and raked his eyes down the woman's figure. "And may I say you look like a great fuck, so don't tempt me."