Free TangledIndulgence by Tina Christopher Page B

turning to the man
struggling against his grip. “Protect the bikes and I will pay you when we come
back. Understood?”
    The big guy’s face was turning purple but he managed a nod.
Mal dropped him and strode toward the warehouse with no look back.
    She smirked. Or without a scary Vampire at your side.
    Mal pulled his comp out of his pocket. “According to the
tracker Marissa is on the second floor.”
    She nodded and changed the setting on her cycle glasses. The
walls melted away, leaving her with a heat outline of the people inside. “The
warehouse is teeming with life forms. The majority are stationary.” She took a
moment and counted. “About sixteen are moving.”
    She turned to Mal.
    He nodded. “I agree. My guess is that everyone stationary
has been captured and the moving ones are guards.”
    “There are at least forty stationary bodies.” She refocused
her glasses. “And there’s this one person who exudes far higher body heat than
the rest. He or she is surrounded by two people who have a much lower body
temperature than the surrounding individuals.”
    “Vampires,” was all Mal said. He strode up to the
chain-locked entrance as if he were invisible.
    They can’t see us. We’re not exactly invisible but we’re
surrounded by a Don’t-See spell. It makes them look the other way.
    How long does it work?
    Until someone bumps into us or has enough internal magic
to push through my spell.
    So any moment now.
    He shrugged. Possible, but unlikely. Ethan has set up a
distraction.
    An explosion shattered the top floor of the warehouse. Small
parts of debris rained down on them.
    Jade, you’re killing the hostages.
    No, Ethan is a master. The explosion is all fluff.
    Going by the massive fireballs shooting out of the top
windows she didn’t want to see what Mal called a proper explosion.
    Mal pulled the brand-new lock off the rusty door and gently
pushed it open. The light inside the warehouse was dim and shadowy. Two men
stood at the bottom of a wide staircase, both holding assault phasers. Their
eyes widened when no one stepped through the opening door.
    Mal lifted his own phaser and, with two silenced blasts,
took out the guards. He grabbed their communicators and pulled their bodies out
of sight.
    Adira raised her phaser and slunk up the stairs, moving
slowly from shadow to shadow, Mal not two steps behind her. It was slow going
as the stairs were riddled with holes and missing treads. Finally she stopped
just below the top of the steps.
    The second floor opened up before her. The windows had been
barricaded with wood and cardboard, restricting visibility. The captives sat in
smaller groups, eight to ten, all with at least two guards. The rest of the
guards covered the exits or milled about, intimidating the hostages. Opposite
their landing a number of doorways led into other areas of the warehouse.
    There’s no cover. If we start shooting at the bad guys we
risk injuring the hostages.
    Give me a moment , Mal replied.
    They stood in the slim cover of the shadow while Mal tapped
his comp a few times. She guessed being a Vampire gave him extra-sensitive
vision as the screen stayed dark the whole time. Suddenly copies of Mal and her
stepped out of a doorway across from them and drew the guards’ attention.
    Before the guards could fire, the holograms turned around
and ran off. Half the guards followed, leaving only one guard with each group.
    Then they started to drop.
    Gustave is our sharpshooter.
    Of course he is , Adira thought, not hiding it from
Mal. You have an explosives expert, a weapons and computer geek, so all you
were missing is a sharpshooter. What is your special power in the quartet of
superheroes?
    I do the magic.
    She felt his laughter, but what did he expect? This little
troupe of his was beyond ridiculous. He had every avenue covered. He doesn’t
need you. That thought she managed to keep tucked away from their link.
    Another explosion shook the building. That was the rest
of the