“Please! Help me! I’m not Lucas. Help me!”
Something sharp and cold sliced through me with those words. This wasn’t a scene at all. I didn’t know what it was, but something had gone terribly, terribly wrong.
“Okay, okay. It’s okay,” I said softly, keeping a steadying hand on him, even though I wanted to give the omega, whoever he was, space. “Let me just cut the ties holding your wrists, okay? Roll to your stomach.”
The omega’s sobs increased, but he went limp as he rolled to his stomach. I worked as fast as I could to cut the zip-tie and free his arms. His strong, bubblegum scent was a huge distraction and my erection just wouldn’t go down, but I wasn’t about to do anything with it. Not when this omega was out of his mind with fear.
“There,” I said, easing his arms to his sides as he groaned. It probably hurt to have them released after being restrained so long. I’d been Domming long enough to know how to rub him to ease that pain, but I was super wary of touching him too much while he was in such a panic. “Breathe, sweetheart,” I reminded him as I reached for the thick blanket on the foot of the bed next to where we were. “It’s alright. You’re safe, I swear.”
Clearly, he didn’t believe a damn thing I said. With the scene that might have been pushed way out of my head, I gathered the omega up and swaddled him tightly in the blanket. I wantedto get him covered and put that physical barrier between us as quickly as I could, but mostly I wanted to get to the bottom of things.
Once he was wrapped up and covered, the omega pulled himself into a ball, sitting with his back against the foot of the bed, shaking like a leaf. Tears continued to stream down his face, and it was obvious that he was still terrified.
“You’re not Lucas,” I said, sitting a good distance away from him. Every instinct within me wanted to wrap him in my arms and whisper words of reassurance to him until he calmed down. I’d never felt that instinct so powerfully with any of my clients, even though I’d been called into a few emergency situations that, sadly, weren’t all that dissimilar to the one this omega believed he was in now. “Can you tell me your name?” I asked, hands twitching to hold him and make everything better.
He seemed to work moisture back into his mouth and to at least attempt to quiet his sobbing before answering, “Li-Linus. Lucas is my brother.”
A story exploded in my brain with that revelation. Brothers. Very possibly identical twins. But the wrong twin had ended up at the omega auction, and apparently, he didn’t know what was going on.
“Do you know where you are and what’s happening?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.
“No,” Linus wailed and started sobbing again.
“Shh, shh, you’re okay,” I said, moving forward before I could stop myself.
I felt so bad for Linus, but it was more than that. I was drawn to him. Fiercely. I’d gathered him up into my arms and cradled him like a baby before I could stop myself. Linus didn’t stop me or struggle, but that could have been terror instead of comfort-seeking.
“It’s okay,” I insisted. “You’re safe. None of this is real. You’re at Kincade Slopes, in a safe, secure hotel room. The auction going on downstairs is staged. It’s a kink event hosted by the Dark Fantasies Club. Do you know if your brother is a member of the club?”
Linus went rigid in my arms. His body had felt limp and uncontrolled before, but now it was as tense as a tiger. I could have sworn he grew hotter, too. My guess was that he’d just put a few things together in his head.
“Yes,” he hissed at last. “He…he told me he had a job interview that he needed me to go to in his place.” He was still half-panicked and gasping for breath, but the more he spoke, the more I could hear fury replace fear in his voice. “I knew it. I knew it was another prank. He said I would thank him for this, that I’d have fun. I should have known.”
He burst into tears again, but this time they weren’t panic. I had enough experience with trauma to know that all sorts of emotions brought tears.
I felt better about holding Linus then. I even rubbed his back and adjusted him so he could bury his face against my shoulder as he wept out his anger. No wonder Lucas had worn such a shit-eating grin in his profile pic. What sort of nasty bastard sent his twin brother to an omega auction kink event without knowing it was all staged.
“I’m going to take care of this,” I said, holding him just a bit tighter. Sometimes restraint actually helped the overflow of emotion that came with dealing with trauma. “You don’t have to worry about a thing. I’ve got you, and I’m not going to let anything or anyone hurt you. You’re absolutely safe with me.”
I paused to see if Linus wanted to say something, but he was still beyond words. He seemed focused on getting his breathing and crying under control, and I didn’t blame him one bit.
“I don’t know why your brother would do this to you, and I don’t know why the DFC organizers would let it happen, but I’m going to find out,” I said, standing using the bed for leverage and lifting Linus into my arms with me. I carried him to the chair near the window and made sure he was settled there, even bringing him another blanket so he felt protected. “There is no way this should have happened. Caden and Hamish know better than this. They should have checked when you arrived. They should have vetted and debriefed everyone in advance. You could sue them to the moon and back for this.”
I hated that thought, though. Caden and Hamish were actually great guys who donated a shit-ton of money to anti-trafficking causes. I’d met them when my work and theirs crossed paths, and I’d been impressed with them from the start.
“I’m going to go speak to someone,” I told Linus as I started for the door. “This should never have happened.”
“Wait!” Linus called out as I reached the door. I turned back to see him watching me with the most heartrending look of misery and panic I’d ever seen. “Don’t leave me,” he gasped. “I’m still scared.”
My heart completely melted. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to leave this omega.
CHAPTER FOUR
Linus
It was fake. All of it. The job interview, the kidnapping, the auction, it was all just pretend. I wasn’t about to be raped or murdered. I couldn’t believe it.
I didn’t believe it. I sat curled up in the big chair near the window of the hotel suite, hugging tightly to the blankets the alpha who was supposed to have won me in the auction had given me, watching as he made a series of calls, all while pacing at the far end of the room. He glanced to me once in a while, like he was checking to make sure I was still okay. He still wore the lavender mask that hid half his face, but it kind of reminded me of a superhero now. The alpha was a hero for giving me the space that I needed to get my brain and body to function normally again.
