The Dardaptoan slammed his arm into Rathan’s throat. Rathan let him back him up to the wall next to Kindara’s room. The Dardaptoan got in his face. “You go near my sister again, I’ll kill you. War or not. Demon king or not. No one hurts Kindara. No one.”
Rathan jerked the Dardaptoan to his knees as the scent of sulfur rose around him. The Dardaptoan’s eyes met his, fury clear on the younger male’s face. Rathan let the flames free, knowing the full power of his rank and family would be visible in his eyes. “I will never hurt your sister. I do not hurt what is mine. Learn your place, brother. For we will be family soon. I will have her.”
He felt the door behind him begin to open and he fell to the ground, placing himself in a supplicant position to the Dardaptoan.
“Cormac! What are you doing?” His woman’s voice held the indignation that Rathan had counted on. A woman such as her, a healer with a heart made of compassion, would side with whomever she thought was being tormented. Bullied.
She stood glaring up at her brother for a long moment. Then her attention shifted to Rathan. “Get up; you look ridiculous. I know the two of you are idiots; I want you to leave me alone, demon. Or it will not be my brother knocking your head into the wall.”
“Your brother and I were just getting to know one another.” Rathan nodded toward the other male. “It will only serve us well to understand each other.”
Her eyes narrowed on his face as she watched him.
She sighed. “I am thinking you are meaning something entirely different. Stay away from my brother.”
Rathan ignored her brother. “Why? He will not hurt me, not like you fear. And I will be sure not to hurt him.”
“Sure you won’t. What was just happening here?”
“We were merely getting more acquainted.” Rathan tried to look innocent.
“Cormac?”
“Don’t be a nagging mother, Kinney,” the Dardaptoan male chided her. “It does nothing for you.”
Kindara froze, a startled deer look on her face. Rathan sobered. Had the brother read something in Rathan’s mind? Did he know about the spawn?
“What adventures do you seek today, my pet? And how may I assist you? Your brother understands the urgency of your research.”
“Blood tests. Of our people, the converted Tanisses, and probably Jade. I need to see what is so different.” Kindara frowned. “I’m missing something. I need to find out what. I’ll also need to test you and those damned horns of yours.”
“Why? What do you hope to find from him?” her brother demanded, glaring at Rathan. “I don’t want you near this freak anymore. Demon are trash, all of them.”
“That’s for me to decide. His horns contain painkillers, Cormac. That work. If I can replicate it...would you deny our people something so simple?” His woman glared at the male. “Wish that I had had something to help Josey.”
The male’s eyes flashed pain. Rathan knew of the fury with which a Dardaptoan male would protect his woman. To see her suffer...Rathan would wish it on no male, of any race or Kind.
The male’s visage darkened further. “See that he causes little trouble. And I will be keeping eyes upon him, as well.”
****
Kindara wanted to lock them both in a cage and leave them there. She decided her life, her fate. Why did those idiots insist on thinking differently?
Maybe it would be best if she took the babe and Jierra and moved to another tribe. Raise the babe without the interference of its father or uncle.
The demon moved again, his lazy gestures a lie. Everyone could see the danger beneath his skin.
Kindara resisted the urge to shake her head. He would never let her leave, would find her wherever she went. It was best not to even try. But that didn’t mean he—or her brother—would control her actions any longer. She had hidden behind the safety of her brother’s shoulders for thirty years now. But she had no choice—if she was going to help her people, that had to end. “Come with me, demon.”
“To the ends of this world. And the next.” His smirk was evident on his face as he nodded at her brother. Did he think he had won something over Cormac?
“Oh, stuff it and come on.”
****
“You’re beautiful in your lab coat, my pet.” Rathan tried to bury his face in the blonde hair brushing the back of his woman’s blue robe. It was a lab coat of sorts but was no way similar to a simple human white coat. Rathan had unintentionally brushed her mind—human lab coats were nightmarish for her. Leo Taniss had worn a white lab coat when he tortured her. “Blue brings out the cream in your cheeks and the gold in your hair. Pretty.”
“Hold still.” She wiped a sterile cloth against one of his horns and Rathan shivered. Her delicate touch to one of his most sensitive areas of his being had fire building in his gut. Would that she would touch him much lower...
She bagged the sample and studied him. “What else can you do? I know you floated something in that cave.”
“I have a bit of the witchly skills. From my mother’s side, you understand?”
“So you are half witch. Will the babe...”
“Maybe a bit. If it’s a girl, which I doubt. My family tends to spawn mostly males.” The robes she wore hid her stomach, not that his babe would be visible just yet. He brushed his hand against the babe’s current home. “Strong, beautiful, healthy boys.”
She nodded, but the worry was still on her face. The confusion. She shook her head. “I’ll test this; see if it can be synthesized. Reproduced somehow.”
“I have been thinking.”
“About what?”
“Emily told me of the Dardaptoan creation legend, and I am not so certain that it is mere myth.” “How do you mean?”
“It is said your goddess...”
“Kennera. It’s an older version of Kindara.”
“Said she was cursed by the Lupoiux god to not be altered medically by anything of your world. What if his edict only applies to medications made from ingredients found on your own world?”
Her eyes widened. “It would explain...”
“Why the chemical I have worked when nothing else does. I am not of your world.” Rathan leaned forward, brushed his lips against hers. He paused for a long moment while his words sank in. “I think, my pet, that the next step in your journey to discovery is to be taken in my world. I think you need to come home with me.”
Chapter Eighteen
Relaklonos was gray. That was Kindara’s first thought, that and the chill of the demon’s home realm was enough to sink into her. Would she ever be warm again?
She pulled her coat around her shoulders, shivering despite the layers she wore. The demon had warned her that his home would be colder than what she was used to.
“Colder than hell?” Aureliana’s tone was wry as she stepped up to Kindara’s side. “What are the odds?”
“No kidding,” Kindara said. Auri hadn’t balked when Kindara had asked her to join the expedition; in fact, the other woman had seemed excited. Aodhan hadn’t been happy to see his sister off, but Kindara had reminded him that it was for the good of their entire species that she have a team she could trust and depend on in this strange land.
Convincing her own brother hadn’t gone as well. Cormac had thrown the biggest fit Kindara could remember. He’d been so adamantly against her going that several people had fled the great hall, afraid of his legendary temper. Kindara had for a moment been frightened. It was only when the king had stepped into the discussion that Cormac had relented. Her brother had pulled Josey from the room, his visage filled with anger. Kindara had momentarily felt sorry for her sister-in-law.
Kindara had gotten the team she wanted—Auri, Belnus, and Bronwen. Theo had been remarkably easy with his young sister joining the expedition, stating only that her inclusion was the will of the gods. That was all the prophesier would say on the subject, but his face had been sad when he’d kissed Bronwen farewell.
Kindara feared what he had seen, but he had
pulled her aside and told her the answers she sought were down this path.
Bronwen shivered uncontrollably in the coat that dwarfed her smaller frame. Theo’s sister was remarkably delicate, and always had been. Kindara had assisted at the girl’s birth nearly fifty years ago, and it had been close then. Her mother had been one they had lost. Kindara had felt a responsibility toward the girl ever since. “Bron, pull your coat tighter. You don’t need to catch a chill.”
“I’m fine, Kinney. What are we going to do first?” Bronwen’s excitement was clear in her canary eyes. Her first love was herbs; she often helped Kindara with the experiments to find drugs for their people. So far those experiments had all failed epically.
“We need samples, first,” Kindara said. “Once the demon arrives to get us settled in wherever.”
“I suggest we wait until the morning to start the collecting,” Belnus spoke, his words low and ponderous as usual. He was charged with their safety, and Kindara knew he took the responsibility seriously. “I think the demon said the sun sets early here.”
“He did.” Kindara fought the urge to worry. The demon had opened a portal less than an hour earlier and led their party through to his Relaklonos. He’d promptly abandoned them. He’d given instructions for them to wait for his return and had flashed himself away. “He also said he’d be back as soon as he could. In the meantime, we can take samples of this area. I want everything we can get—soil composition, moisture density, plant samples. Bron, you and I will handle that. Auri and Bel—”
“Perimeter.” Belnus nodded. “We’ve done this before, you know.”
“I know. But hopefully, this time will bring more positive results.” This expedition was just the beginning of her work in the demon lands. She knew that thorough study would take years to complete—finding even one drug that worked would take a considerable amount of time. That they were searching for everything would multiply that time exponentially. And they needed it all—painkillers, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories. Coagulants. Even a simple blood replacement other than human blood would work wonders in situations where blood transfusions could save Dardaptoan lives.
Bronwen immediately set to work, taking samples of the gray plants slightly to the north of them. Kindara started on the southwest. Auri kept one hand on her weapon—a sword inlaid with the insignia of her family line—and her eyes trained on the flat and barren area the demon had referred to as the Plains of Thrun. Belnus stood with his arms crossed over his chest and watched the area behind them.
Kindara wasn’t concerned; she doubted the demon would leave her in an area that he didn’t feel was entirely safe…Although…hadn’t he left her before? When the Lupoiux had attacked her? She pulled the small knife she carried from her pocket, keeping it close in her left hand. It never hurt to be prepared, and they were in a realm—a world—they knew nothing about.
“So, Kinney, what’s up with you and this demon guy anyway?” Auri asked though her attention never broke from the landscape. “Ji said he’s an incubus.”
“He is. King of. And of all Demonkin apparently.” Kindara slipped her knife into the thick leaf in front of her, pulling a strange lavender substance from its veins. “Just my luck, he’s also relentless.” “So is it true?” Auri looked over her shoulder at Kindara. “About Incubi?” “Is what true?” Bronwen asked.
“That they can make a woman do anything…gladly?” Auri’s eyes sparked with lust and humor. “He’s one hot piece of demon, Kin. Tell me nothing happened.”
“Let’s just focus on why we’re here.” Kindara felt the heat hitting her face as she thought of the things the demon had done to her—and she to him. “That’s what’s important. Not this thing between the demon and I.”
“So there is something between you?” Auri asked, swinging her sword expertly. Kindara knew the woman spent countless hours practicing with the sword that had been her great-uncle’s. The Dardaptoan had died with no issue and had left the sword to Auri. “Was it good? And was it hot?”
“Auri! I’m sure this is not something Belnus wants to hear about!”
“No. Keep going. I’m always interested in hearing about…other creatures’ habits.” Belnus’s dry humor had Kindara’s own lips twitching. Until she noticed the blush on Bronwen’s face. The child was kept closely sheltered in her brother’s hall, and if she’d had even a simple date in the last twenty years, Kindara doubted it. Teasing about sex, even just implied sex, apparently upset the girl.
“Auri, knock it off and let’s get back to work.” Kindara nodded toward Bronwen, who’d turned back to the plants in front of her. Auri got the message and nodded. But the wicked spark in her friend’s eyes told Kindara that the discussion wasn’t over. Auri would want all the details, everything that had happened between the demon and her. Kindara just had to decide how much of those details she’d be sharing.
Soon, one significant detail would be made clear to all of her people. Kindara knew her body would show the signs of the ripening child within her. How was she to tell her people? Her brother? Her friends?
Jierra?
Leaving her daughter behind at this crucially vulnerable time had been horrible for Kindara, but only the knowledge that Theo had promised her the answers she needed were here had separated Kindara from her child.
These drugs could very well be used to help her daughter safely through pregnancy. Dardaptoan women rarely, if ever, had twins, at least not successfully. Kindara would do everything in her power—even travel to other realms—in search of ways to ensure her daughter’s safe delivery. And the safety of her daughter’s children. And her babe. Dear goddess, if she could ensure the babe’s safety, she would.
“Kinney? Did we lose you there for a moment?” Auri drew her attention back in her direction. “You kind of went away for a while. Anything you want to share?”
“Not at the moment—” Kindara broke off as the sound of a familiar snap sounded beside her. She turned, expecting to see the demon.
It wasn’t him. Standing in his place was a warrior even taller than Rathan, taller than Cormac.
In his hand was a sword nearly as tall as Kindara. He raised it over his head as she screamed.
“Down, Kinney!” Auri and Belnus yelled together, charging toward the creature. Auri’s sword clanked against his, she battled him back desperately. Kindara grabbed Bronwen and dragged the girl away from the fight as Belnus—who’d been farther away from Kindara—tried striking the creature from behind.
Kindara pulled Bronwen down into a crevice between two large rocks situated where they could watch the battle; knowing that was what Auri and Belnus would expect. She had been through attacks before—as a healer, someone was always trying to take her. Auri would look for her once the battle was over.
And Auri had never lost a battle. Bronwen was shaking, staring at the fighting. “Should we help them?”
“No. We stay put. We’d only get in the way.”
“What do you think he wants?”
“Us. Healers are prized, Bron. Worth our weight and then some in gold.” Kindara held the girl tight to her side as Auri and Belnus battled the large male. “Remember your Aunt Adelais?”
“Theo has spoken of her.”
“She was your mother’s sister. Actually delivered you. She disappeared a week later.” Another of Kindara’s friends gone. Prized more for her skills than herself. No one knew what had happened to Adelais, though speculation was that a band of Lupoiux took her.
“I don’t think I want to leave the lab again.”
Kindara nodded, her eyes still trained on Auri and Belnus. The creature faced off against Belnus, who presented the most obvious threat. Auri was only six feet tall, at least a foot shorter and one hundred pounds lighter than the creature. But she fought hard. She darted around the creature, slashing at him with the blade she carried. It was less than three feet in length—half of what the creature’s blade measured, at least. He countered her move with a backhanded blow across Auri�
��s face that sent her to the ground. His reach was long and he used it. He didn’t even look at her as he turned and struck out at Belnus.
Belnus hit the ground hard and didn’t rise. There was blood beneath his head. Kindara fought the instinctive urge to run to his side. If it had just been her instead of her and Bron, she would have. But Bronwen would be such an easy target for a male like this.
The creature faced off against Auri. “Where is she, woman?”
“Who?” Auri asked, dodging a blow from the creature’s blade.
“Come on! She can’t handle him herself!” Kindara pulled Bronwen from their hiding place. She scooped rocks into her hand and threw them at the creature. Bronwen did the same though her aim was far poorer than Kindara’s.
Auri slid in the mud, went down hard on one knee, as the creature jabbed with his blade. Blood spurted over the white of Auri’s coat and her blade dropped to the ground. Her hands covered the blood as she fell to the ground, a look of fear, surprise, and terror on her face.
“No!” Kindara screamed, grabbing a larger rock and heaving it at him. “No! Leave her alone! Gods! What do you want?”
She threw more rocks, pelting him with everything she could. Bronwen dropped to the ground beside Auri, suddenly fearless when her foster mother was in need. Aureliana had had a great hand in raising Bronwen, and their bond was as strong as that between Kindara and Jierra.
“She’s bleeding so badly, Kinney!” Bronwen’s fear was clear for everyone to hear.
“Stop throwing those rocks, or you’ll join your friend, woman!” The creature pulled his sword back though he kept it at the ready as he stared down at Bronwen.
It was obvious why—neither she nor Bronwen were warriors, neither carried weapons. Both wore the blue band around their arms that denoted they were of the healing caste. None in any world except that of humans would healers be harmed—not with them worth so much to each Kind.
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