Hunted

by Evangeline Anderson

  “All right. I’m ready.” Sophie turned to give Kat and Liv one last hug. “I’ll let you know when I get there safely,” she said bravely. “Love you.”

  And then Sylvan was leading her out of the suite and down the long metal corridor at a brisk pace with Kat and Olivia calling ‘I love yous’ from the doorway of Kat’s suite.

  Sophie risked one last glance behind her and blew them a kiss, wondering when she would ever see them again.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  “It isss time. They are preparing to fold ssspace.”

  “I know. Our instruments detected the spike in their energy output as soon as it happened.” Xairn nodded, his eyes never leaving the hooded figure on the metal throne. Behind the AllFather stood his new personal guard. Four vat-grown warriors, each eight feet tall and incredibly muscular, they formed a silent wall at the Allfather’s back.

  “Meet Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta.” The AllFather nodded at the wall of muscle at his back. “I thought it prudent to expand my protection. I had them grown and trained to my personal specificationsss.”

  And I had nothing to do with them. Didn’t even have knowledge of them until just now. Xairn frowned. It was a bad sign. “They look very…competent,” he said aloud.

  “More than competent—deadly.” The red eyes flashed. “But I did not sssummon you here sssimply to admire my new guardsss.”

  “I know,” Xairn said quietly.

  He had been expecting this summons for days—ever since the urlichs’ attempt to take the Earth girl had failed. They had been acting on Xairn’s orders—orders he had given against the AllFather’s will. And yet, though the details of the failed attack were well known to his father, this was the first time Xairn had been summoned to the throne room since it had happened. He was almost tempted to hope his father had forgiven or forgotten his small rebellion. Almost. But he knew the AllFather too well for that. Most likely he was simply waiting, letting the dread of another punishment build to make the harvesting of Xairn’s pain all the sweeter.

  “I have not forgotten that you defied me in the matter of the girl’sss capture.” The low hiss made him think that the AllFather must have been reading his thoughts and Xairn looked up quickly. “Sssome good did come of it, however,” the hissing voice continued. “The marker the lead bitch placed when it bit her may prove to be most useful—especially now that I have lost my lock on the warrior’s mind.”

  Xairn was surprised though he tried not to show it. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d received any kind of praise from his father. “His mind eludes you now?” he asked carefully.

  The AllFather made a noise of disgust. “He must have visited one of their accursed priestessesss. Hisss hate and rage have been repressed, making him difficult to read.”

  “Well, at least with the marker in place we can track the girl anywhere—as long as we’re in the correct proximity. Of course, if they go too many light years away…”

  “They could go a thousssand light yearsss from the Fathership and I would ssstill have them right in the palm of my hand.” The AllFather’s boney, scabrous fingers clenched suddenly, like a trap snapping shut. “Do you not wish to know how?”

  “I am certain you will tell me when you are ready.”

  “I am ready. And you will sssee. But first, I think we have time for a quick punishment.”

  “What?” Xairn took a step backwards, thrown off his guard. “But, Father, I thought you said the marker was useful. You said—”

  “I sssaid it was useful, yesss. But placing the marker was not your only objective when you inssstructed the urlich to attack, wasss it?” Glowing red eyes regarded Xairn steadily from the confines of his hood. “You intended to defy me. And useful or not, I will not let sssuch defiance go unpunished. Come. Kneel.”

  “I…do not wish to.” The words seemed pulled from his throat but Xairn couldn’t help himself—he had lived a lifetime under his father’s sadistic tyranny and he was tired of always bending beneath the lash of the AllFather’s cruel will.

  “Come. Kneel.” This time the words had power he had not felt before though he had seen it at work in others. Xairn felt as though iron cables had suddenly been fastened around his arms and legs—cables that worked his limbs as though he was a life-sized marionette.

  “I…do…not…wish…to,” he grated out again. Yet despite his words, he felt his limbs moving against his will. But I haven’t had time to prepare, to shield my mind. What if he finds out— He cut off that line of thought abruptly. Nothing, he must think of nothing if he wished to keep his secret.

  “A ssshort punishment,” the AllFather murmured as Xairn was forced to kneel before him. “But no lesss painful for all that…”

  Hating his father almost more than he could endure, Xairn looked up to take the pain that was his birthright.

  There was nothing else he could do.

  * * * * *

  Afterwards he felt drained. The AllFather’s directions had been specific. “Go to the docking bay and tell the Master of Ships that I wish the new ship readied. You ssshall pilot it yourself. You and none other. And at the proper time—the time that I sssay, you will collect the girl and bring her to me.”

  “Yes, Father,” he had murmured through numb lips. His hatred was just as strong but his spirit was weak. So weak that he had to risk disobeying his father once again though he knew it might draw a further punishment.

  The corridor that led to his private apartments seemed longer than it ever had. The AllFather never came down to this end of the ship, preferring to spend most of his time in the throne room. The metal throne etched with glowing green runes was the seat of his power and, in part, the source of the dread he exuded the way any other male would exude a bodily scent.

  His father’s absence from this part of the ship—where most of the flesh vats and the urlich kennels were located—was Xairn’s main objective in claiming the prized space for his own. It had not been easy, though. He had killed three of his father’s most trusted advisors and the general of the Scourge army in order to gain the rooms he now occupied. Xairn did not regret their deaths. It was only by violence and bloodshed that he had earned his way out of the throne room and into a space of his own.

  A space where he could keep his secret.

  Upon reaching the triple-thick plasti-steel plate that served as his door, Xairn keyed in a sequence that only he knew. It was a combination of runes, glyphs, numbers and letters that changed daily and he trusted it to no one other than himself. After letting himself in, he closed the door and locked it securely. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

  “Sanja? Here, girl,” he called softly. Though the walls of his lair were sound-proofed, he was still careful. One could never be too careful on the Fathership.

  A soft, uncertain whining could be heard coming from the inner chamber where he slept. Xairn could hear the question in it and he approved. He had taught her to trust no one—not even him—without the code words.

  “Green eyes,” he murmured and a short, joyful bark answered him right before Sanja came rushing around the corner and barreled into him.

  “Easy girl. Easy!” Xairn felt his face break into a smile—such an unfamiliar expression and yet one that seemed natural whenever his pet was with him.

  Sanja panted happily and her stump of a tail wagged frantically in greeting. Xairn regretted that—all urlich pups were born with soft, floppy ears and long, bushy tails and Sanja’s had been beautiful. He had not been able to save her before the medical mutilation that turned her lovely ears into sharp, menacing points and truncated her tail. But at least he had rescued her ahead of the chip implantation which enhanced the sense of smell and aggression in an adult urlich and turned their eyes the same evil, glowing red as his own and the AllFather’s.

  He had been forced to kill the Master of the Kennels in order to get her away without a trace but that was another death he did not regret. Anything was worth keeping his secret—anythi
ng.

  Sanja jumped up, putting her paws on his shoulders and licked his face. When she tasted the salt left by his tears she whined softly, her big brown eyes filled with concern. Xairn knew that she understood he had recently been in distress and was worried about him—even an unmodified urlich had the intelligence and sensibilities of a bright, ten year old child.

  “It’s okay, girl. I’m all right.” He rubbed her behind the ears and she panted happily again, reassured that her master was well.

  “I have to go away for awhile,” Xairn told her regretfully. “I don’t know for how long, but the automatic feeder will take care of you. I’ll miss you, though—you know I will.”

  Sanja whined uneasily, distressed as always to hear that he would be leaving her. Xairn hated to upset her but she needed to know of his impending absence. He couldn’t tell how long he would be gone or when he might see her again and he didn’t want her to worry. As she surely would, if he simply failed to show up in his quarters at night. With a sigh, he buried his face in her soft ruff and breathed in the warm, living scent of her.

  His pet was the only spark of warmth in his entire cold existence. Before he had rescued her, he had felt himself going slowly mad from the intolerable cruelty that surrounded him—becoming more and more like the AllFather. But now, as long as he had her to come back to, even his father’s worst punishments were bearable. Sanja kept him sane and in return, he kept her safe. And she will remain safe, he vowed to himself.

  As long as the AllFather never found out about her.

  He can’t. He’ll never pry it out of me, Xairn told himself fiercely. He had taken every measure possible to protect his precious Sanja from his father. Even one that he prayed he never had to use. But he would use it if he had to—if there was no other way to keep her from the boney clutches of the AllFather.

  Because, as Xairn knew all too well, there was no fate worse than that.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  “So, I’m not a science geek or anything but I’m pretty sure we shouldn’t be able to go fifty light years away without it having some kind of effect on us or the people we left behind. I mean, won’t everyone age while we’re gone?”

  Sophie watched nervously as the small, specially modified ship Sylvan was piloting approached the reddish cloud that had gathered a small distance from the Kindred Mother ship. It was the fold in space, generated by the special machine the Kindred had developed to help in their quest to find viable genetic trades. But to her it just looked like a big wound had opened in the blackness between the stars.

  “If we were traveling at a normal rate of speed that would be true.” Sylvan sounded completely unconcerned, which made her feel a little better. “But we’re not. In fact, we’re only moving a few hundred yards in actual space.” His deep voice took on a scholarly tone. “Imagine space as a piece of paper and our ship is an ant that has to crawl across it. If it crawls across the entire length of the paper, it takes a great deal of time. But if someone folds the paper, the ant can get from one end of the paper to the other almost instantly. Does that make sense?” He turned to look at her and Sophie smiled.

  “Yes, perfect sense. You’d make a good teacher, you know? I mean, if you weren’t already a doctor…er, medic.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.” He returned her smile with one of his own—the one-sided smile she’d learned to love even though it appeared so rarely.

  “I love your smile,” she said impulsively. “I mean, I hardly ever get to see it but it lights up your whole face.”

  “Thank you.” His voice was soft and deep and his eyes caught hers. In the lights from the instrument panel they appeared to be glowing a soft, pale blue which Sophie rather liked. It was so much less menacing than the blood red that took over his pupils when he went into the rage state. He had appeared to be kind of stuck in that state down on Earth but now that she thought of it, ever since they’d gotten back to the ship, she hadn’t seen him that way. Not that she’d seen much of him but still…

  “You seem…calmer lately,” she ventured, hoping he wouldn’t be offended. “I mean, since we came back to the Mother ship. On Earth you were, well…”

  “I was out of control,” he admitted candidly. “My blood was burning and I had no way to quench the flames.”

  “Oh.” Sophie looked down at her hands. “That was my fault, I guess.”

  “Of course not.” He sounded almost fierce and she looked up again, wide-eyed. “Don’t ever take the blame for any of my actions on yourself,” he said sternly.

  “But I thought you were…that because I wouldn’t let you…you know…”

  “You weren’t ready.” Sylvan looked back at the controls. The red wound in space was growing closer. “You may never be, I see that now.”

  “I…I don’t understand,” Sophie faltered.

  He glanced at her again. “I saw the look on your face after I came back from dealing with your attacker.”

  “About that,” Sophie began haltingly. “I’m really sorry I freaked out on you. Seeing him again just…brought everything back.”

  “I thought it was probably something like that,” Sylvan said grimly. “I’m sorry I was the cause of your fear and pain.”

  “No, really. I—”

  “But that isn’t the only reason I spoke as I did. When I had to inject you with the translation bacteria, your fear and dread were almost overwhelming.” He shook his head. “Do you think I want to see those emotions in your eyes when I take you? When I make love to you, Sophia?”

  “I…no,” she whispered, twisting her fingers together nervously. “No, I guess not.”

  “I told you I didn’t want to cause you pain.” Sylvan looked back at the fold in space which was almost upon them now. “And I meant it. I’ll leave you alone from now on—I swear it.”

  Oh no—another unbreakable oath! Sophie knew he didn’t break his word. Please don’t say that! The words hovered on the tip of her tongue but a single thought kept her from saying them. If she asked him not to leave her alone, not to vow to keep his distance, it was the same as encouraging him, giving him hope. And wasn’t it wrong to do that when she was still afraid to let him bite her?

  If only he didn’t have to bite! she thought miserably. Why couldn’t he be any other kind of Kindred? I don’t know what Kat’s complaining about. Even having Twins to deal with wouldn’t be as scary.

  “I’m sorry,” she said aloud, feeling horrible. “Really so sorry, Sylvan.”

  “Let’s not speak about it,” he said shortly. “We’re about to enter the fold. It’s best to clear your mind and try to relax.”

  “Will going through the fold change us in any way?” Sophie asked anxiously.

  “It shouldn’t. But it’s better to remain calm—we will be passing through other dimensions, you know.”

  Actually, she hadn’t known. But before she could ask any other questions, the little ship slipped into the red gash in space and everything she had ever known in her whole life disappeared.

  * * * * *

  Sylvan watched her from the corner of his eye as the dimensional slip took them and they crossed the fold. It didn’t hurt to go through folded space but it was an odd sensation, one he’d only experienced a few times before himself. Though the actual slip only took moments, time seemed to stretch out indefinitely, giving a person a chance to contemplate their entire life and which way it was headed.

  Last time he’d crossed the fold, he had been leaving Tranq Prime and Feenah had been on his mind. A lost love. A hopeless desire destined never to come to fruition. And now, ironically, he was crossing the other way, going back to his native world, and he found himself in the exact same situation—only worse.

  I never loved her as I love Sophia, he thought, watching her pale and lovely face as she stared out the viewscreen in awe. What I felt for Feenah was a pale shadow of the emotion that threatens to overwhelm me now. But he wasn’t going to let it. Wasn’t going to fall into that trap again.
He had to keep the rage in check—keep the need under control so it didn’t get the best of him again. And as long as Sophia was in no physical danger, he was fairly certain he could manage that. I won’t scare her again, he told himself sternly. I won’t be the cause of her fear or her pain. I will protect her and love her—even if I have to do so from afar. Even if I am destined never to have her.

  Oh, Talana…

  At last the slip was over and they were on the other side of the fold. The ship flew out of the red gash in space and into the familiar territory of his own solar system. Sylvan watched as the craggy white peaks and snow-covered tundras of Tranq Prime grew larger in the viewscreen. It had been years since he had been home and he felt a strange tugging on his heart at the sight. If only his mother was still alive everything would be—

  Sylvan frowned.

  “Is everything all right?” Sophie asked from beside him. “Why are you frowning?”

  “It’s nothing. Just…” He checked the instrument panel. “Something came through the fold with us.”

  “It did? What is it?” She shifted anxiously in her seat, looking worried.

  Sylvan didn’t blame her a bit. After all, look at what had happened to them the last time they’d taken what they thought would be a quick and easy trip from the Mother ship. Still…he frowned at the readout he was getting from the off-ship scanner. Then he relaxed.

  “No, it’s nothing. Just a small asteroid.”

  “So that’s okay?” She still looked worried.

  “It’s fine,” Sylvan assured her. “It happens sometimes. When you fold space it creates a kind of vacuum—not as strong as a black hole but strong enough to suck other, smaller objects in along with our ship.”

  “Good.” Sophie relaxed and scratched her knee. “Ow. Itchy,” she muttered to herself.

  “Problem?” Sylvan couldn’t help looking at her bare legs. She was wearing a light blue dress which was wholly inappropriate for Tranq Prime and the knee she was scratching was the one he’d healed with his tongue after the urlich attack. How well he remembered the taste of her blood, the warmth of her skin…the memory made his fangs ache but he held them back sternly.