But despite the good things that had come out of leaving her abusive ex, right at that moment, Luci couldn’t help wishing she was back at the neat little house in Carrollwood where she had lived when she was still married. After all, when Tony was away on one of his frequent business trips, the little house had been a place of peace and love.
Her mom had come over to help with the babies and they had laughed and played and baked together, filling the air with the warm smell of her mom’s menudo and tamales. She had told Frannie and the twins stories of their abuelo, who they had never gotten to know, since he had died before Luci had gotten married.
Back then, Luci had never had to worry about whether she would have enough money to feed herself and her kids and the pets, or if her car would last for a few more years so she could keep getting herself to work and the kids to school. She hadn’t had to worry about anything except…
Except when Tony was going to hit you or shout at you or scream at the kids, Luci reminded herself firmly. Stop wishing for the past and look to the future, Lucia! Things will work out somehow.
Though she had no idea how.
When the bus came to her stop, Luci left with a sigh. She knew she would be getting right back on in a few minutes, as soon as she had gotten a change of scrubs for herself and clothes for the kids. They would have to stay at her mom’s place tonight, which meant Luci would be sleeping on the lumpy living room couch while the kids slept with her mom in her big double bed.
Of course, she could have asked her mom to bring the kids and stay at her place tonight, but her mother didn’t like to drive at night—it made her really nervous. Luci suspected she might be getting glaucoma but again, there was no way to tell since her mom didn’t have access to any medical care.
As she trudged down the sidewalk to her apartment building, she considered her options. If she couldn’t get the car fixed, she supposed she would have to move back in with her mom for a while, which felt like a real step backwards. And how would she ever scrape together enough cash for another down payment to move out again? How could she—
Suddenly there was a dark figure blocking her path.
Luci looked up, her heart suddenly beating in her throat. The figure was tall—professional basketball player tall—and immensely broad through the shoulders. There was no doubt he was male.
Also, he had glowing eyes.
The figure said something but his voice was a deep rumble and Luci’s heart was pounding so hard she couldn’t understand him. All she could think was that her bad day had suddenly gotten much, much worse. Forget about getting her car fixed or moving back in with her mom…
Now she was just hoping not to be killed.
Two
Luci looked frantically around for help—for anyone at all she could shout to. But the street was deserted. She was still about half a block from her apartment building in an area where two of the street lamps had burned out, leaving a dense patch of shadows. Of course on this end of town, the lights and the roads never got fixed, so the dangerous area was likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future.
Only right at that moment, Luci couldn’t see any future for herself—none at all.
The huge, shadowy figure with glowing eyes was looming over her in the blackness and she was sure that at any minute he was going to strike. She wanted to run but his legs were so much longer than hers, he was sure to catch her. As for fighting—she would try, but she had no illusions about how much stronger than her the man was.
Dios mio, she thought, feeling sick. I’m going to die tonight. Right here and now, I’m going to die!
Then he spoke again in that deep, rumbling voice. This time, somehow, Luci understood him.
“Please,” he said. “You work at a place for sick animals, don’t you? Please—help me.”
His words startled her so much that Luci uttered a little gasp and put a hand to her pounding heart.
“Wh-what?” she somehow managed to say. “Help you with what?”
“With these.”
The enormous man leaned forward and held out his hands—which looked as big as baseball mitts to Luci. Lying in his cupped palms were three tiny kittens. They were crying and mewing loudly and it occurred to Luci that she would have heard them before if she hadn’t been so horribly frightened.
“What…where did you find them?” she asked, her voice shaking only a little. Maybe the huge man wasn’t going to try and kill her after all. At any rate, it would be hard to attack someone with your hands full of kittens.
“Behind the building—under one of those big trash receptacles,” the man said. “I think you humans call them ‘dumbsters?’ or ‘dummers?’ Little things were crying so loud I could hear them from inside my domicile.”
“That’s dumpster,” Luci corrected him. “But what do you mean by ‘you humans?’”
“Forgive me.” He made a slight bow. “I’m a Kindred warrior. Should have introduced myself but these little things seem so helpless—I think maybe they’re hurt.” He nodded at the kittens in his hands which were still crying loudly and poking their little noses into the air, clearly seeking something they weren’t finding.
Luci felt something in her chest loosen. The Kindred were known to be good guys—some people even called them Feminists. They never hurt women and were actually known to punish human men who did, if they caught them at it. No matter how big the huge male was, the fact that he was Kindred made her feel instantly better.
“They’re probably just hungry,” she said gently. “And you might have taken them away from their mother. She probably hid them under the dumpster and went hunting for herself, but she’ll come back to them soon.”
“I saw the mother.” His voice went husky and low. “Some bastard ran her over with one of the vehicles you drive here on Earth. She was…beyond saving.”
“Oh, no.” Luci felt a surge of sorrow, followed by a burst of surprise. Because the big Kindred’s glowing eyes were glittering faintly. Could he be…crying? Or was it just a trick of the light? Either way, it was clear from his voice that he felt just as bad about the mother cat dying as she did.
“Please,” he said. “I see you in the downstairs area of our building sometimes and you’re always wearing clothing that has Earth animals printed on it and the name of an animal clinic. Doesn’t that mean you work with animals?”
“Oh, my scrubs?” Luci looked down at herself reflexively—today’s scrubs were her favorites—they were printed all over with puppies and kittens and parrots and guinea pigs. She had found them on sale at a second-hand medical wear thrift store she knew of and fallen in love with the whimsical drawings and bright colors.
“Yes.” The big Kindred sounded slightly impatient. “Doesn’t that mean you can help? Wearing clothes like that? Otherwise it would be damn strange to wear them,” he pointed out.
“I, uh, guess it would,” Luci admitted. “Yes, I can help. But let’s go someplace with more light. Dios, you scared me to death coming up on me out of the dark like that,” she added.
“Sorry.” There was real remorse in his voice. “I should have realized a big bastard like me would frighten a lovely female alone. But I just found these little things and then you came along and they sound so loud and upset!”
“Those little things are kittens,” Luci told him as they walked. She had to move quickly to keep up with his long strides. “And I told you—they’re probably just hungry.”
She hoped, anyway. What was it with her and cats today? The whole time from morning until night had been some kind of feline fiasco!
Luci stiffened her spine. After the day she’d had, she was damned if she’d lose another feline patient! Whatever was wrong with these three little guys, she was going to fix them up—no matter what it took.
Three
In the well-lighted lobby of the apartment building, Luci was able to get a better look at the big Kindred. She reflected to herself that the light didn’t make that much difference—he
was scary-looking even when he wasn’t wrapped in shadows.
He had to be almost seven feet tall—of that she was sure—and his shoulders were fully twice as broad as her own. His eyes were no longer glowing but they were still very strange-looking—one was brilliant, metallic copper and the other was a pale, icy blue. His hair was buzz-cut close to his head and his nose looked like it had been broken several times—although who in the world would have been big enough and strong enough to break it, Luci had no idea. His lips were at odds with the broken nose and mismatched eyes—they were full and soft-looking which made his features a study in contrasts.
It was a tough face but somehow it was also very attractive, in a rough-hewn kind of way, she thought. And right now it was filled with worry and concern for the three tiny, helpless kittens which he held cupped so carefully in his huge hands.
He was wearing a sleeveless black t-shirt that clung to his muscular frame and tight black leather trousers with black leather boots. His dress along with his buzz-cut hair made him look kind of like a really big scary Marine, Luci thought. But somehow she wasn’t scared of him anymore.
“Come with me,” she said, making a snap decision. “I have some kitten formula in my apartment.”
It might not have been very smart to let a stranger know where she lived but he was, after all, a Kindred. Also, Luci knew that Lady would be waiting for her, and the dog was extremely protective. If the big guy meant her any harm, Lady wouldn’t let him hurt her.
Not that Luci thought she was in any danger. There was something genuine about the big Kindred—something that made her want to trust him, even though she didn’t know him.
“What’s your name?” she asked as she pushed the button for the elevator.
“Oh, sorry. I’m Razhir—Raze for short,” he told her.
“I’m Lucia Rodriguez,” Luci told him, holding out a hand. “Oh, I guess you can’t—” She started to draw her hand back but Raze shook his head.
“No—it’s okay.” Deftly, he transferred all three crying, crawling kittens to his left hand and shook with her. His hand was so huge that for a moment hers disappeared inside his long fingers completely. Luci felt like a child shaking with an adult. Then he took his hand back and cradled the kittens carefully to his broad chest.
When they got to her apartment, she unlocked the door.
“I have some formula and I’m pretty sure I still have some bottles too. We had a litter of abandoned kittens we were taking care of last month and all the girls in the clinic were taking turns bringing them home,” she told him. “You don’t get a lot of uninterrupted sleep when you have baby kittens in the house, so we try to trade off.”
The minute she opened the door, Lady ran up with a joyful bark. When she saw the big Kindred, however, she drew back and gave a deep growl, low in her throat. As she was an Australian Shepherd mixed with a Doberman, with the intelligence of the first breed and the protectiveness of the second, this was no joke.
“Uh, sorry—she’s very protective,” Luci told the big warrior. “This is a dog, by the way,” she added, thinking he might not know.
“Yes, I know dogs—they’re my favorite Earth animal. It’s all right,” Raze told her. “What kind is she? There are different breeds, right?”
“Oh, yes—yes there are. Lady is kind of a mutt—a mixture of breeds. She’s half Australian Sheppard—see the pale blue eyes? And she’s half Doberman.”
“So you’re a mutt, huh, Lady? But I bet you’re a good girl, aren’t you?” Raze rumbled softly, talking to the dog. Transferring the kittens to one palm again, he bent down and let Lady sniff the back of his hand. “I know I’m a stranger but I mean no harm to your mistress,” he told the dog in that same low, soft voice. “I promise Lucia will be safe with me.”
After a moment, Lady seemed satisfied. She stopped growling and gave a short, friendly bark. She even licked Raze’s big hand.
Luci was a little surprised.
“She doesn’t usually take to people so quickly,” she remarked to Raze. “It always takes her some time to warm up to someone new. And she never warmed up to my ex.”
“Your what?” He frowned as he stepped into the apartment with her and looked around.
“Oh, my ex-husband,” Luci said. “Lady hated him.”
He frowned. “Really? What did he do to you to make her hate him?”
Luci shot him a look of surprise.
“What would make you say that?”
He shrugged, his broad, bare shoulders rolling.
“Just what I’ve observed of dogs, ever since I came to Earth. They’re loyal companions and a damn good judge of character. When a dog attaches itself to you, it tries to keep you safe.” He laughed, a rumbling sound that came from the very bottom of his deep chest. “Guess they’re kind of like Kindred that way.”
Luci wasn’t sure what to say about that so she just excused herself to fix the kitten formula and get a few more supplies. When she got back, she saw that Raze was wandering around her small living room, looking at everything with deep interest glowing in his mismatched eyes.
“You must really love animals,” he remarked, nodding to the rabbit hutch and guinea pig cage in the corner. There were two gray bunnies that Frannie had named “Hippy and Hoppy” which had been abandoned at the clinic, as well as a black and white guinea pig named Oreo with bumblefoot, a condition caused by chronic neglect. Purring in the corner was Lucky, a one-eyed, one-eared, orange tomcat who had somehow attached himself to Luci after she’d moved into the apartment building. In another corner was a terrarium with several tiny turtles.
“I really do love them,” she admitted to Raze. “Some of these I’m just watching for the clinic and some of them I own but I love all of them.” She smiled fondly. “The little girl down the hall—well, I call her little but she’s twelve or thirteen—comes in to feed them and takes Lady out for a walk for me everyday or I couldn’t mange them all with the hours I keep.”
And of course, she couldn’t have afforded to keep any of them if Dr. Canody hadn’t let her have pet food for them all—a fact that Luci appreciated immensely. She really did have a great job and a wonderful boss—it was just too bad that it was so hard for a single mom to make ends meet.
She put down the supplies she’d brought on the slightly battered coffee table in front of her.
“Here,” she said to Raze as they settled on her worn, second-hand couch which she had found at a yard sale. “Let me have one of those little guys so I can feed him.”
“All right.” He opened his hands again and Luci took one of the kittens—a black and white one which was crying the loudest—and gave him the bottle. He latched on at once and began nursing hungrily—a good sign for his survival, she thought with satisfaction.
“Can I try? These other, uh, ‘little guys’ as you call them, are still upset,” Raze said.
“Sure. But there’s a trick to feeding them right,” Luci instructed. “Never, ever hold them like a human baby when you feed them—I mean, you can’t hold them lying on their back. It’s only safe to feed them when they’re belly down with their head up. See?” She nodded at the kitten she was feeding, holding it firmly in her left hand while she gave the bottle with her right. “Also, don’t try to force them to drink the formula, just put the nipple in their mouth and let them go to town. These guys are old enough to know how to suck so that’s good.”
“All right.” Raze had been watching her intently and now he nodded. “Can I try?”
“Of course. Here, this guy is almost done so I’m going to put him in the box.” She wiped the mouth of the kitten she’d been feeding with a baby wipe, making sure to get all traces of the formula off. He now had a rounded tummy, she saw as she transferred him into the small cardboard box she had brought with her. It had a warm hot water bottle covered in a towel at the bottom. He settled down at once, seemingly contented and soothed by the warmth of the water bottle.
Luci nodded with satisfaction. She
would check in a moment to make certain the kitten had peed and pooped and if not, she would stimulate him with a clean tissue until he did. But she thought these kittens were old enough to go on their own.
She held out her hand.
“Here, give me the smallest one and you can feed the other one,” she told the big Kindred.
“All right.” Carefully, he transferred another of the kittens—an all black one—to her lap. She cradled the kitten gently in her left hand and then gave the third bottle to Raze.
“Good—now go ahead,” she said. “Always feed with your dominant hand so you can be sure to control the flow if you need to. Just put the nipple in his mouth and he should go for it.”
“All right.” He took the bottle from her and carefully gave it to the last kitten—all white with just one black spot over his left eye.
Luci watched him, thinking how strange it was to see such a huge male being so tender and careful with such a tiny little scrap of a kitten. It was kind of sweet, actually. Her ex, Tony, would never have had the patience or the kindness to bottle-feed a kitten. Their incessant, hungry mewing would have made him angry and he might have hurt one or all of them.
Luci sighed to herself—sometimes she wondered how she had ever fooled herself into thinking Tony was a good guy in the first place.
“Are you well, Lucia?” Raze’s deep, rumbling voice startled her and she realized that she’d been sitting there staring at the big Kindred as he fed the third kitten. He had looked up and caught her and now his piercing, mismatched gaze was directed right at her.
“Oh, uh, fine! I’m fine,” Luci said quickly, feeling her cheeks heat with a blush. “I was just thinking, er…thinking you’re really good at that.” She nodded her chin at the kitten he was holding. It had latched onto the nipple well and was sucking strongly. “You’ve got a great touch.”
Dark and Light: A Kindred Tales DUET Novel. Contains: Saved by the Drake AND Captured by the Kru'ell One Page 2