Stealing Her Heart

by Evangeline Anderson

  “I’ll fly as though I was taking my own bride there—if I had one,” the young warrior had promised.

  “That’s good,” Deep had growled. “You do that.”

  The young warrior had gone a little pale and nodded again. Now when he turned his head and saw Kat looking back at him from the rear seat with panic in her eyes, he clearly took it seriously.

  “What is it, my Lady Kat?” he asked anxiously. “What can I do for you? Is something wrong?”

  “Yes—it looks like my friend Lizabeth is going into labor,” Kat told him. “I want you to put in a call to the Mother Ship and tell her husband, Lone, to meet her at the Med Center. I’m going to bespeak my own hubbies and have them send Commander Sylvan there as well. Got it?”

  The Blood Kindred pilot nodded and swallowed hard.

  “Got it—don’t worry, Lady Kat—I’ll get you both safely back to the Mother Ship.”

  “You do that,” Kat said. “And step on it, will you?”

  He nodded again and as he started putting in the call to the Mother Ship, Lizabeth groaned loudly again.

  “Oh God, Kat—it hurts! The pains…they’re coming faster now!”

  Her eyes were wide and frightened and Kat struggled to keep her calm.

  “Hang in there, doll!” she said, gripping Lizabeth’s hand. “Just let me get my guys on the line. We’ll get you taken care of in no time.”

  She closed her eyes and began mentally reaching for Deep and Lock. She got Lock first and then, after a second, Deep came into the mental connection as well.

  “What is it, sweetheart?” Lock could clearly feel her panic through their link. And no wonder, Kat thought. Poor Lizabeth was moaning continuously now and her belly was rippling under the pretty blue maternity dress she was wearing.

  “What’s wrong, little Kat?” Deep asked, also sounding concerned. “Are you in danger? Did that Blood Kindred pilot get you into a crash? If he did, so help me—”

  “No, it’s nothing like that,” Kat sent back hastily. “Guys, it looks like Lizabeth is going into labor! And I’m not really any judge of this kind of thing but it seems to be going really fast. As in, I’m afraid I’ll be doing the delivery myself if we don’t get back to the Mother Ship right away!”

  “Stay calm,” Lock instructed her. “I studied natural birthing methods for your labor, Kat. If it comes to that, I can talk you through it.”

  “Well, I’d rather you didn’t have to!” Kat thought at them. “What I need is for one of you to go grab Sylvan and drag him over to the Med Center as soon as possible. No—better yet, have him meet us in the Docking Bay,” she corrected herself. “Better tell Lone to meet us there too, just in case. I had the pilot send him to the Med Center but who knows what might happen?”

  “I’ll get Sylvan and Lock will get Lone,” Deep assured her.

  “We’ll be waiting in the Docking Bay with an emergency med team,” Lock promised.

  “Okay, thank you.” Kat felt a surge of gratitude for her men. I’d better let you go now—I need to concentrate on poor Lizabeth.”

  “You do that, little Kat,” Deep told her. “Just be safe and tell that damn pilot to be careful!”

  Kat promised she would and then broke the connection to give her friend her full attention.

  Lizabeth was crying out in pain and when Kat took her other hand, she clutched it with panicky tightness.

  “Oh Kat, it hurts! I knew it was going to be painful but it feels like someone is ripping me apart!”

  “That’s just because Kindred babies are so big, doll.” Kat tried to keep her voice cheerful and light as she squeezed Lizabeth’s hand. “Don’t you worry—we’re going to be back to the Mother Ship in no time and Sylvan is going to meet us there with a great big shot of pain killer, I promise!”

  “I hope…hope you’re right,” Lizabeth panted. “I thought I wanted to go natural but now…all I can think of is getting something to stop the pain.”

  “You’ll get it,” Kat promised her. “I swear you will.”

  She just hoped they would get to the Mother Ship in time for her to keep her word. Unfortunately, she knew from experience that giving birth to a Kindred baby—which could be five to even ten pounds bigger than a regular human one—could be an arduous process.

  She was afraid that Lizabeth was in for a rough time but she promised herself she wouldn’t leave her friend’s side for a single moment of it. Not one moment.

  Thirty-Seven

  Vicky waited and waited but the only people who showed up at her door were her two daughters, Jodi and Melinda. Of course she was extremely happy to see them—she loved them more than life itself—but she couldn’t help keeping an eye on the door. And with every hour that passed without another knock, her heart sank a little lower.

  “Mom, what’s wrong?” her oldest daughter, Jodi finally asked, pushing a sheaf of long black hair over one shoulder. She had Vicky’s coloring with her mother’s green eyes and dark hair while Melli looked more like her father, with tousled honey-blonde curls and big blue eyes.

  “Wrong? Why would anything be wrong?” Vicky said, trying to sound nonchalant.

  But apparently her attempt failed because Jodi paused the movie they were watching—Moonstruck, an oldie but a goodie—and looked at Vicky with a hand on her hip.

  “Don’t give us that—we know when something’s wrong with you—the same way you always know when something is wrong with us,” she told Vicky.

  “Yeah, Mom—something’s up,” Melinda chimed in. “You know Jodi’s right—we can always tell if something’s bothering you.” She put a hand on Vicky’s arm. “Are you…are you missing Dad?” she asked in a low voice.

  Vicky almost laughed at the thought. Miss Kevin? After she’d actually found out what a real man was like? A man who cared about her and her pleasure?

  Only maybe he doesn’t care quite as much as you thought, whispered a pessimistic little voice in her head. Otherwise he’d be here, right?

  Vicky tried to push the voice to the back of her mind and concentrate on her girls. She hadn’t told them about her little space adventure, preferring to keep up the convenient fiction that she’d gone and spent a couple of days with her friend, Kathy, on the other coast of Florida. So there was no way she could explain that she was hoping—wishing—that the handsome, much-younger-than-her Kindred warrior she’d gone off with on Valentine’s night would soon come knocking on her door.

  If Chain actually showed, she could explain then. But it seemed like a bad idea otherwise. After all, she wouldn’t want her girls acting like she had—running off with a strange man in the middle of the night to a whole other planet. It would be setting a really bad example.

  So she tried to smile and play off Melli’s question.

  “Girls, I miss your father like I’d miss a skunk that sprayed me,” she announced, hoping to make them smile. “I’m sorry I’m out of sorts tonight—maybe I’m just thinking of getting back to school and teaching tomorrow after my little mini-holiday is over.”

  “Yeah, that’s right—you took off some time so you could really enjoy Valentine’s Day, didn’t you?” Jodi raised her eyebrows suggestively. “I forgot to ask you—how was the date?”

  “It was…really nice,” Vicky said, careful not to give anything away.

  “Well, great!” Melli said enthusiastically. “So is he cute? Are you going to see him again?”

  Vicky thought of Chain’s chiseled features, charming crooked smile, and big muscular body.

  “Oh, he’ll do,” she said. “And I don’t know if I’ll see him again or not but right now it’s looking like not.”

  “But why not?” Jodi demanded. “If you like him, you ought to—”

  Her words were cut off by a solid thump from the kitchen.

  “What in the world?” Melli frowned. “What was that?”

  “I don’t know.” Vicky frowned too. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach all of a sudden. A very bad feeling.
<
br />   “Something probably just fell off the counter,” Jodi said. “Melli, I told you to put that bag of flour away instead of leaving it out.”

  “But we’re going to make chocolate chip cookies after the first movie!” Melli protested. “What’s the point of putting everything away when you’re just going to get it out again?”

  Vicky sighed. This was a constant bone of contention between her girls. Jodi was a neatnik and Melli was a mess. It was one reason the two of them could never share an apartment, even though they both went to USF.

  “I’ll go check on it,” Melli said. “And if it fell off, I’ll clean it up,” she added, making a face at Jodi, just as she used to when they were kids.

  “No, wait—” Vicky put out a hand to stop her daughter, but Melli had already jumped off the couch and was walking around the corner towards the kitchen.

  It’s nothing—it’s probably nothing, Vicky told herself, her heart beating loudly in her ears. It’s what Jodi said—the bag of flour fell off the counter. That’s all. That’s—

  And then Melli was racing back to them on tiptoes, her face white and her eyes wide and fearful.

  “Mom,” she whispered, putting a hand to her heart. “Mom there’s a thing in the kitchen.”

  “A thing? What kind of th—?” Jodi began in a normal tone of voice but she didn’t get to finish her sentence because Melli leaned over and clapped a hand over her older sister’s mouth.

  Jodi’s eyes widened and Melli shook her head and put a finger to her own lips.

  “What is it, honey?” Vicky asked in a whisper, feeling sick. “What did you see?”

  “I don’t know what it was,” Melli whispered back. “It looked like a lizard but it was walking on its hind legs like a person and—”

  That was all Vicky needed to hear.

  “Come on,” she told both girls. “We have to get out of here—now.”

  They got up as quietly as possible and made a run for the front door. Before she opened it, though, Vicky took a look through the peep hole at the top of the door.

  What she saw made her heart sink into her shoes—her front lawn was crawling with Varians.

  Vicky had always loved how out of the way and isolated her house was—it was a rarity to have so much privacy in a good-sized city like Tampa. Now, as she watched the lizard-like aliens exploring her front lawn, she regretted it fiercely.

  If she’d had any near neighbors, someone would have doubtless called the cops. Unless the aliens were using some kind of cloaking device, like Chain’s scatterlight cloak of course, in which case nobody outside the house would be seeing anything.

  Well, one thing was for sure—they couldn’t get out by the front door. And the back door of the house was in the kitchen, so that was out too, she thought, feeling sick. There was only one thing left to do.

  “Girls,” she said, looking at her daughters. “We have to hide!”

  Thirty-Eight

  “And so, this meeting of the Kindred High Council is now called to order,” the droning voice of Commander Lordin, an elderly Blood Kindred who was apparently part of the Council, announced ponderously. “I will be presiding tonight since our High Chancellor, Commander Sylvan, has been called away to see to a medical emergency.”

  Right, right—just get on with it, Chain thought, irritably. He was sitting at the back of the Council Chamber, waiting his turn to speak, and the proceedings seemed to be taking forever.

  Why in the world Commander Sylvan had thought it was necessary for him to present the T’lix-Kruthe at a Council meeting was beyond Chain. All he knew was that it had kept him here aboard the Mother Ship for several days longer than he liked when all he wanted to do was fly home to Alpha Centauri. There he could be alone in his domicile and lick his wounds in peace.

  He wanted to be someplace far from Earth—far enough that he didn’t see the blue and white ball out the viewing windows of the Mother Ship whenever he passed by one.

  Far enough to try and forget Victoria and everything she had meant to him.

  But instead, here he was—stuck on the Mother Ship and waiting to present the damned artifact he’d gone to so much trouble to steal twice.

  I have half a mind to steal it again, Chain thought resentfully. Just walk right out of here with it and leave. Let’s see how long it takes all these pompous males to realize I’m gone and I’ve taken the T’lix-Kruthe with me.

  That would certainly burn any bridges he had to the Mother Ship and ensure that he would never be invited back. That way he would never have any reason to even think of getting near Earth again. He would—

  “And now, we have the presentation of the T’lix-Kruthe,” Commander Lordin’s droning voice interrupted his thoughts. “As you know, the Council has been eager to acquire this artifact which is said to contain the wisdom of the Goddess herself.” He motioned at Chain as he spoke. “Please come forward and show the artifact,” he said.

  Chain got up, feeling somewhat self-conscious now that all eyes were on him. Not that he minded putting on a show, but he knew what all these high and mighty bastards thought when they saw him—There goes one of those dirty Snatchers!

  Or something to that effect, surely.

  Still, he kept his head high and his shoulders straight as he walked to the front of the Council Chamber with a piece of the T’lix-Kruthe clutched in either hand. He hadn’t put them together yet—Commander Sylvan had asked him to wait and do it as part of the presentation. Chain didn’t know why that was necessary either. Maybe Sylvan just wanted to add a little drama to the meeting.

  The Goddess knows it needs something to spice it up in here, Chain thought dryly.

  He reached the front of the room and stood in front of the huge table which seated all the males on the High Council. Several of the senior Priestesses from the Sacred Grove were there as well. And all of them were watching him.

  Chain cleared his throat.

  “This is the T’lix-Kruthe,” he said, holding up both halves. “It was separated many eons ago and I had to go and, er, retrieve it from several different locations.”

  “It is said that when the two halves are joined, the one who holds the sacred artifact will be gifted with the wisdom of the Goddess herself,” intoned Commander Lordin. “If you please…” He made a sweeping gesture to Chain. “Join the two halves and then hand the T’lix-Kruthe to me.”

  Chain shrugged. “All right.”

  He made a great show of fitting the small but heavy round ball-shaped bottom of the artifact to the fluted top half. The pieces made a low, rich click as they snapped into place, making something that looked almost like a kind of musical instrument.

  “Very good,” Commander Lordin said. “And if you would just hand it over here to m—”

  But at that moment the T’lix-Kruthe began to glow. The gems that studded its sides grew brighter and brighter and it started making a musical humming sound. The music started out faint but increased in volume so rapidly that Chain was almost tempted to drop the thing and cover his ears. But when he tried, he found that he couldn’t—his entire body seemed to be frozen in place, unable to do anything but stand there while the light and noise from the artifact grew in intensity until he thought he couldn’t stand it anymore.

  The music—just one pure sweet note, growing in intensity—was so loud he could feel his eardrums bulging. And the lights were so bright it seemed like he was holding a small star. And still he couldn’t look away—couldn’t even blink as both light and sound grew and grew and grew…

  Gods, make it stop! he thought wildly. If it keeps on I’m going to go blind or deaf or both! Why can’t I let go of it? Why can’t I—

  “Warrior,” a strong, feminine voice proclaimed—it seemed to fill the whole Council room. “You should not be here.”

  Finally, Chain found he was able to move—well, to move his mouth, at least—the rest of him still seemed to be frozen.

  “Why, Goddess?” he asked, because there could be no doubt
who was addressing him. “Because I’m an M-Switch Kindred?”

  “The gifts which I gave you are of no consequence in this matter,” the Goddess’s voice replied. “You should not be here because your female is in danger.”

  “My female?” Chain asked, frowning. “What are you talking about?”

  “Do not pretend ignorance with me, Warrior—my patience grows thin!” the Goddess’s voice crackled like lightning in the Council Room, making him wince. “You were longing for companionship with one who would not judge you for your abilities. Your female had been badly treated by her past mate and longed for one to love her and be true to her. I put the two of you together…and then you left her!”

  Chain knew she must be talking about Victoria.

  “She didn’t want me!” he protested. “We had a chance to bond and she refused it.”

  “You never asked her to bond with you,” the Goddess said. “You never told her how you longed for the bonding—you only put the possibility before her without requesting her heart and her hand.”

  Chain felt sick. The Goddess was right! He’d never actually asked Victoria to bond with him—he’d only told her that if they made love, a bond was inevitable.

  I was too cowardly to tell her how I actually felt for her, he thought. Too afraid of rejection to let her know I loved her and wanted to bond with her.

  “Goddess,” he said aloud. “I’ve been a fool. Forgive me.”

  “All shall be forgiven but you must hurry to your female’s side,” the Goddess told him. “Even now she is in hiding, fearing for her life. The Varians have returned and trapped her in her home. You must go to her, Warrior—NOW!”

  And then, with a final blare of music and light, the T’lix-Kruthe abruptly went silent and dark in his hands.

  For a moment Chain just stared at it. Then he dropped it into the hands of the startled Commander Lordin and ran for the door.