What were we thinking? We’ll lead him right to them!
Lauren and Xairn aren’t on the astral plane, Lock told her. So while the AllFather might sense them, he won’t be able to hurt them. Not physically, anyway. Hurry, Kat, we have no time to spare.
He’s getting too close, Deep sent. You two stay together, I’ll distract him.
Stop! Lock’s mental voice was urgent. Don’t you think I know what you mean by ‘distract’ Deep? You can’t sacrifice yourself for us—I won’t allow it.
What makes you think I’d sacrifice myself? Deep’s voice was filled with mocking laughter but it sounded hollow to Kat. Don’t be foolish, Lock. The AllFather won’t know there’s more than one mind wandering the astral plane. If he gets me, he’ll think he has us all. But he won’t get me—I’m just going to lead him a on a little chase while you two look in on Lauren. So hurry!
Kat wanted to protest but there didn’t seem to be any way to stop him. I love you, Deep! she sent as strongly as she could. Be safe and come back to us or I swear the AllFather won’t have to do a thing to you—I’ll kick your ass myself!
You and your Earth vernacular. I don’t see how you could hurt me by planting your sweet little foot on my posterior. Deep laughed again in her head. But I’ll be sure to come back so you can demonstrate.
Do that, Brother, Lock sent. I love you too.
And I love both of you. Goodbye. And then there was sudden silence from the spot where Deep had been. Looking over her invisible shoulder, Kat saw something bright whiz daringly close to the foul finger of darkness. The inky black tendril hesitated and then seemed to make a decision. It swooped after the bright thing so fast it was a blur in space.
God! Kat’s heart was in her throat. She hadn’t realized the AllFather was so fast on the astral plane. Watching him chase after Deep’s spirit was like watching a striking cobra after a mongoose.
Don’t waste time watching, Lock told her, sounding stern. Deep is playing the decoy so that we can get the information we need. Hurry, Kat. Hurry!
You got it. Forcing herself to look away from the horrifying spectacle, Kat turned her attention toward Lauren and gave their mission her whole concentration again.
There was nothing else she could do.
Forty-Two
Slicing through space, Kat dived straight at the silver ship and passed through its skin easily. She could feel Lock behind her but he said nothing as they looked around the cockpit they suddenly found themselves in.
Xairn’s massive form was hunched over the controls and he seemed to be concentrating fiercely. Kat felt a stab of panic as she realized she didn’t see Lauren. But I feel her here! Where is she? Where—
“Oh, that feels so much better.” Lauren came forward from a hidden compartment at the back of the ship. She was wearing one towel draped around her body and blotting her still-damp hair with another. Kat guessed she must have just come out of the shower. Who knew they had showers on these ships? she thought as she watched.
It was a standard feature on the older models, Lock murmured. Warriors used to have to stay away from the Mother ship for much longer—each ship had all the comforts of home. Well, as much as it was possible to have in deep space, anyway.
“I am glad you’re feeling better.” Xairn glanced up, his red-on-black eyes widening briefly as he took in the way the thin towel draped over Lauren’s curves. Then he looked back at the controls hastily. “It must be a relief to get the remains of the dravik off your skin.”
“It certainly is.” She settled in the passenger seat beside him, still patting her hair. “I just wish I had some other clothes to wear. I’m afraid your cape is ruined.”
“That’s quite all right.” Xairn’s deep voice sounded slightly strangled. “I’m certain we can find you something…suitable to wear in the place we are headed.”
“Where is that? Where are we going? Are…are you still going to take me home?”
He nodded stiffly, still not looking at her. “I have sworn to do so and I will keep my promise. But it wouldn’t be safe for us to go back to Earth now—not before we make a few minor adjustments.”
“Adjustments? To what—the ship? So your father can’t trace it—right?”
Xairn shook his head. “That is not what I am referring to at all. We’ll need to adjust our DNA—both of us—before I can safely take you back to your home planet.”
“Our DNA?” Lauren sounded horrified. “What are you talking about, Xairn? I don’t want my DNA adjusted!”
“I’m sorry but it’s necessary.” He stared straight ahead as he spoke, his broad shoulders tense. “Which is why we’re heading to the Maw Cluster at this very moment. The best genetic manipulators live there. They can help us reach our destination safely.”
“But…” Lauren made a helpless gesture. “How far away are they?”
“About a hundred thousand light years from Earth.”
“What?” Lauren demanded. Then she took a deep breath and put a hand on his muscular arm. “Xairn, I’m trying really hard not to get upset or excited here. But it sounds to me like we’re going in the opposite direction of where we need to be.”
“Lauren…” Xairn looked pointedly at her hand on his arm and Lauren withdrew it hastily.
“Sorry. But look, how can you even get us so far away and back again before we get old and die? I mean, I’m a cupcake baker, not a physicist but I don’t see how it’s possible.”
“It’s possible, all right. Using that.” Xairn nodded at the viewscreen and Kat followed his gesture involuntarily. What she saw was incredibly strange. There appeared to be a dark silvery-blue, swirling hole somehow cut into the fabric of space. Not just a hole, she thought, still staring. It’s like a funnel or a spout. Like water circling the drain in a bathtub—the biggest bathtub in the universe.
“What’s that?” Lauren sounded as awed as Kat felt. “Is it a black hole?”
Xairn made a strange, deep rumbling sound from low in his chest that made Kat drag her eyes away from the strange sight on the viewscreen. After a moment, she realized the big Scourge warrior was laughing. It was a rusty sound, as though he didn’t laugh very often, but kind of nice anyway.
“Of course not,” he said, one corner of his mouth twitching with amusement. “If it were, our ship would have been broken to bits and sucked in by its huge gravitational pull even before we saw it. That, Lauren, is an inter-dimensional gateway. A wormhole.”
“A wormhole? And you’re going to fly us into it?”
“Through it,” Xairn corrected. “We’ll be at the Maw Cluster instantaneously. After we conduct our business there, we can find another to take us home—your home anyway. That sector is full of them and the star charts indicate several that will bring us back to your solar system.”
“I don’t know…” Lauren looked doubtful.
“I do.” Xairn closed his eyes for a moment and his entire body tensed. “Can’t you feel that? My father is out there somewhere, not far behind. He’s seeking someone or something else now, but the moment he captures it he’ll turn his attention to us.”
Lauren looked over her shoulder fearfully although there was nothing but the back of the ship to see. “He’s after us? You mean in a ship?”
“He’s pursing with his mind.” Xairn made a face. “I can hear him whispering to me. Urging me to bring you back to him… Gods!” He pounded one huge fist on the steering yoke. “We have to get away before it’s too late.”
“All right.” Lauren’s face had gone pale but she began strapping herself into the safety harness with determination. “All right, Xairn. Get us out of here.”
His grip on the controls tightened and the look of concentration on his face was frightening in its intensity. “Hold on. Traversing a wormhole is rough business.”
We have to go! Lock’s voice in Kat’s head startled her. She’d been so caught up in the interaction between Lauren and Xairn that she’d almost forgotten what was going on. Kat, we have to go, L
ock said again. If they take us with them through the wormhole, we might never get back to our physical forms.
Got it. Kat gave herself a mental shake. Let’s get out of here, grab Deep and go.
Rising up through the skin of the ship, she found herself in the darkness of space once more. Deep? Where is he? She felt a moment of panic and then she saw the bright silver streak of his spirit zipping around, just inches away from the seeking black smudge of the AllFinger’s tentacle. God, how was he doing that? Staying one step ahead of the evil like that? Kat felt her heart, thousands of light years away, jump in fear as she saw the tendril of darkness almost catch him just before he skipped away.
Deep, she called. Deep, come back to us! We know what’s going on with Lauren. Let’s go home.
Can’t. His mental voice was hoarse with exhaustion. He’ll feel it. He’ll know there’s more than one of us if I join you two. Can’t risk it.
Yes, you can, Brother! Come! Lock demanded, but his command had no effect on the brilliantly darting light that was Deep’s spirit.
You’ll have to go without me. I can’t distract the AllFather and hold you here much longer anyway.
Don’t you dare let us go while we’re still separated! Kat raged at him. We need you, Deep. Lock needs you and he’s going to need you even more after I’m gone.
I’m sorry, little Kat. But I—
Just then there was a blast of light from the direction of the wormhole. Momentarily distracted, Kat turned her attention to it just in time to see the small silver ship circling the wide funnel like a toy boat being sucked down a vast drain. My God, she thought. Can they survive that? They’re going to—
Deep! Lock’s mental voice was filled with such anguish that Kat felt it like a knife in her heart. From the corner of her eye she saw something that made her scream in sorrow and disbelief.
The bright, flitting light had flown too close to the black tentacle of darkness. As she and Lock watched, an oily, black, many-armed cloud erupted around it and began to engulf it, like an octopus snaring its prey. For a moment the light seemed to be straining to pull free, struggling away from the tentacles until only one of them had a grip on it. No, not just a light—that’s Deep, Kat thought numbly. Deep, please no! Not now. Not when I finally know that you really do care for me. That you love me the same way I love you! Please!
But her mental plea did no good. As they watched, a thousand more tentacles exploded, like a nest of writhing snakes. They covered the light, drawing it inexorably inward…until the darkness ate it completely.
No! Kat howled with anguish. No, Deep! No! She felt Lock’s grief too—an agony so intense it was almost unbearable…and then, suddenly, they were flying backwards, away from the darkness and the vanished light. Away from Lauren and Xairn and the wormhole and the polluted Scourge home world at a tremendous speed until everything was a blur.
Stop! Kat was in a panic. Stop! We have to go back for him! We can’t just leave him there.
He is already lost. Gone beyond our reach. Lock’s voice was quiet with despair. And we cannot go back. It was Deep’s power that brought us out so far and held us in place. Without him, we can’t help being pulled back.
Even as he spoke the incredibly fast, intense journey was over. Kat felt herself reenter her physical body with an almost audible thump. Her eyes flew open and she found herself looking into Deep’s face.
The coal black eyes she’d grown to know so well were open but unseeing. His broad chest rose and fell but the rest of his big body was limp.
“Deep?” Kat patted his cheek eagerly. “Deep, can you hear me?”
“My lady, he’s gone. He cannot hear you where he is.” Lock’s voice was thick with sorrow.
“What do you mean?” Kat demanded. “Where is he?”
“Gone,” Lock repeated. “His spirit is untethered from his body, lost forever to the AllFather. Only a shell remains.”
Kat looked in horror and disbelief at the familiar, sharp features of the dark twin. Deep had made her completely crazy at times, he had even managed to make her believe he didn’t care anything for her even though he was madly in love with her. But despite his contrary nature, she’d grown to love him dearly. And now…
Now he’s gone, she thought numbly. Gone forever and there’s nothing I can do about it.
A sob rose in her throat. A sound of pure longing and loss and grief.
Gone…forever gone. Oh Deep…
Forty-Three
Deep was so far past exhaustion he could barely feel. The power it took to keep the three of them at a spot so many light years from their physical forms, as well as the energy to dart around, keeping one step ahead of the AllFather, was draining him rapidly. He felt like he was running a race without oxygen, like his lungs were burning and the big muscles in his thighs were quivering with fatigue until he might collapse at any moment. But that was all right—as long as Kat and Lock got to safety. That was all he cared about, all that mattered.
When he felt the AllFather catch him, like a corpse-cold hand closing around his ankle, dragging him down to the bottom of a lake of darkness, it was almost a relief. Still, he tried to get away. Straining, he pulled with all his might. He wouldn’t leave Kat and Lock alone if he could help it. Couldn’t leave…And then the darkness erupted around him and he lost sight of the stars and planets and space. There was nothing but greasy black nothingness wherever he looked.
Sssooo, he heard a familiar voice whisper in his mind. I did not know you had sssuch ssspecial talentsss, Warrior. How fortuitousss, especially when I am ssso very hungry…
He’ll eat me, Deep thought with despair. He’ll suck down my spirit like a fine wine—he won’t even have to extract it from my body. I’ve handed it to him on a silver platter. That was an Earth vernacular saying which he had learned only recently but he’d never imagined he would be able to apply it to himself. Kat, he thought as the cold, oily tentacles slid around him, suffocating him, making it hard to breath. Lock, I’m so sorry. I loved you both so much. But if my death can set you free, it’s worth it.
Sighing, he released the tension inside himself, the psychic anchor which had held them all in place in this particular part of space. He thought he heard cries of sorrow as he let Kat and Lock’s spirits go, allowing them to slingshot back to their waiting bodies on the Mother ship. But they were so faint he couldn’t be sure. The AllFather didn’t seem to notice them at all—he was too busy preparing to devour.
So this is how it ends, Deep thought, feeling oddly at peace. I just hope it goes quickly.
Not quick, Warrior, the AllFather hissed in his head. Not too quickly at all. You helped my ssson to sssteal my bride. And sssince he is gone beyond my reach for the present, I want to sssavor your pain. Ssslowly…oh, ssso ssslowly… I—
No. You shall not have him. A sudden flash of light, like a stroke of lightening splitting the darkness, cut off the AllFather’s words. Deep was momentarily blinded. What—?
Not what, Warrior. Who. The voice in the darkness was filled with authority and distinctly feminine.
Who, then? Deep thought at it, feeling disoriented and confused. Where was the AllFather? What was happening to him? And who was this new entity he was speaking with?
Do you not know me? The voice was gentler now, almost laughing. The dark, oily tendrils suddenly shrank back at the sound and then disappeared altogether. You have worshiped me your whole life, the voice went on. Or pretended to, anyway.
Goddess? Mother of All Life? Deep could barely believe it. Like his brother and all other Kindred, he had been raised to show deep respect to the female deity they worshipped. But deep in his heart he had always harbored doubt as to her actual existence.
Doubt no more, Warrior. The light around him was growing. A soft glow that seemed to be the exact opposite of the AllFather’s evil black cloud.
I do not doubt, Deep sent, wishing he could see the being he was addressing.
To see my face is to die. No mortal can lo
ok upon my true visage and live, the Goddess sent gently. But I have provided a part of myself to you, Deep—a part you rejected.
To Deep’s surprise, out of the glowing white light stepped Kat. Or the image of her, anyway. She was wearing the deep green gown Lock had gotten her for the party on Twin Moons and her long auburn hair was loose around her shoulders. She was so beautiful his heart ached, yet he was confused.
I don’t understand. Are you saying that Kat is actually you? That’s she’s a goddess?
No, of course not. Musical laughter like chimes filled the air around him. But I place a little piece of myself in every female that I match with my males. That piece is what calls to you—what starts the dream sharing and causes the attraction between Kindred males and their chosen brides. Do you see now why fighting your love for Kat was useless from the start?
I see. Deep nodded respectfully. Forgive me, I beg. Truly, I have misused your gift to me most shamefully, Goddess.
You certainly have. The voice was stern. For that willful misuse you deserve to die, Deep. As well you know.
I know. He bowed his head submissively.
But there are others who would miss you if you were gone. Your brother Lock, for instance. Though you have treated him cruelly, still he loves you. And Kat, of course. She too would grieve your loss, though you have done your best to turn her against you.
Kat…Deep almost couldn’t continue. Forgive me, Goddess, but Kat will not have long to miss me. She has soul poisoning. I fear she hasn’t long to live.
I am aware of the situation with your lady, Deep. The voice was gently reproving. Tell me this, would you trade places with Kat? Would you take her pain and the certain death that comes with the wound of the kusax if I allowed her to live?
In an instant! Deep felt a surge of hope. Please, Goddess, I know now that you’re capable of all things. Please, if I could give my life for Kat’s, how gladly would I do so.
Brides of the Kindred Volume One: Books 1-4 Page 125