Vicky stared at him, shocked.
Red eyes? But doesn’t that mean…Oh my God, is he going into Rage for me, like Lizabeth and Kat said?
It seemed that he was. Chain seemed to be working hard to control himself, though, because he spoke in low, measured tones.
“Release my female and I’ll allow you to walk out of here and go back to your own world,” he growled, glaring at the Varian. “That is my best offer.”
“Your offer isss not accepted,” her captor hissed. “Now listen to mine, thief. You will give me the T’lix-Kruthe at once or watch your female die ssslowly before your eyesss.”
As he spoke, one of his long fingers—tipped in a curving nail—rose from her throat and drew a stinging line down the side of Vicky’s face.
Vicky gasped and cried out as she felt warm, slippery blood sliding down her cheek. God, that was going to leave a scar—not that a scar was what worried her. Right now she was a little more preoccupied with the question of whether she would live or die.
“You dare to hurt her? I’ll kill you!” Chain roared. He charged forward and the Varian, who had Vicky by the throat with one hand and was holding her wrists with the other, released her hands and drew his weapon instead. He pointed it at Chain and a deadly bolt of energy flew right at the big Kindred.
Things were so mixed up and confused that at first Vicky was certain the energy bolt had missed Chain. But then the big Kindred clutched at his chest and toppled to the ground at her feet.
“No—NO!” Vicky screamed and kicked back at her captor, who was behind her now. She knew very well that he might shoot her too but at that moment she didn’t care—didn’t give a damn about anything but getting to Chain and seeing how badly he was hurt…or even if he was still alive.
“Let me go!” she screamed, kicking again. This time she seemed to connect with something solid because the alien grunted and released her neck. Finally she was able to get away, though his long claw-like nails left bleeding gashes on her throat.
Vicky didn’t even feel the pain. She knelt by Chain, who was lying on his face. It was a struggle to turn him over—he was so big and heavy. But fear gave her strength and with a mighty heave, she finally managed.
His pale, still face was all the answer she needed to her question.
“No!” She felt her face crumple as tears took her. “No, Chain, no—please. Don’t be dead! Don’t be gone!” she wept.
But Chain’s lifeless body made no answer.
She was so wrapped up in her own grief that Vicky almost didn’t notice that something strange was going on with her captor. What alerted her to the fact was when one of the Varian’s booted feet nudged her.
Looking up, she saw that he was doing a kind of shuffling dance, moving back and forth uneasily on the carpeted hallway.
“No,” he was hissing to himself, his weapon clutched tightly in one seven-fingered fist. “No, no, no!”
But then he seemed to change his mind.
“Oh yes,” he said and his voice sounded different—somehow familiar, Vicky thought as she watched the strange act play out through a prism of tears. “Yes, do it—do it!”
The Varian started to bring his blaster up, then slammed it down again by his side.
“No!” he howled. “I will not do this! NO!”
“Yes you will, you fucker!” the second, deeper voice answered. “You hurt my female and now you’re going to pay!”
For the briefest moment imaginable, the Varian’s eyes went from lizard yellow to pure Rage red. Then he lifted his weapon, pointed it at his own face, and pulled the trigger.
Forty-Two
Vicky screamed as the Varian’s head exploded. Green goo that was probably alien blood and brains rained down around her and it was going to be a miracle if none of that landed in her hair, she thought distractedly.
At first her dazed mind couldn’t tell her what had happened. Why had the Varian blown his own head off?
Then she felt something stirring under her hand.
Looking down, she saw that the hand she had placed on Chain’s chest was moving—was rising and falling with regular, deep breaths.
“Chain?” she whispered, almost afraid to hope. “Chain, are you…are you okay?”
At last his eyes opened and this time they were midnight-blue instead of Rage red.
“Barely,” he said and coughed. Sitting up, he seemed to shake himself, like a man waking up from a nightmare.
“So you only pretended to be shot,” she said, putting it all together. “And instead you used your superpower to jump into the alien’s body and make him shoot himself.”
“My superpower?” He laughed. “Is that what you call it?”
“Well…” Vicky shrugged. “I mean, it does sound like something a superhero could do—jump into somebody else’s body. But how did you get him to kill himself?”
She shivered as she looked at the headless body which had fallen to the ground and was leaking green goo all over her carpet.
“Well, it’s not easy to overcome another sentient species’ survival instinct.” Chain grew suddenly serious. “And I had to time it just right. Had to jump out of the damned Varian and back into my own body a split second after the trigger was pulled and a split second before the blast reached his brain.”
“You did? Why?” Vicky asked, still staring at him in wonder.
“Because. If was still in him when he died, I would have gone too. My soul wouldn’t have been able to get back to my body,” he explained. Then he grinned at her. “Luckily I’m working at the speed of thought when I’m in my incorporeal form so I was able to squeak back into my own body just in time.”
“Oh, Chain—that was so risky!” she protested. “You shouldn’t have done it!”
His eyes grew dark.
“I couldn’t think of any other way to keep him from hurting you—from…from killing you.” He reached for her hands and held them tight. “Victoria, I’ve been such a coward.”
“What?” She stared at him blankly. “What are you talking about? You just came up here and killed six scaly alien lizards single-handed—and you risked your own life to do it! That’s not cowardly, that’s brave, Chain. Incredibly brave!”
He shook his head.
“That’s not what I’m talking about. It’s easy to be brave in combat, especially when the Rage takes over. I’m talking about what happened on Priima Belle. The way I only told you that if we made love, we’d be bonded. But I didn’t tell you that I wanted to be bonded to you, beautiful Victoria. I—”
But just then the tromping of heavy boots could be heard on the stairs and someone said,
“Put me down, you big lug!”
Looking over the shattered and ruined railing, Vicky saw her oldest daughter, Jodi, being carried up the stairs in the arms of a Kindred warrior she didn’t recognize. He must be a Beast Kindred, though, she thought—he had thick, unruly black hair, dark caramel skin tones, and golden eyes.
“I will not put you down,” he growled at her. “You’re fucking injured.”
But though his deep voice sounded irritated, Vicky couldn’t help but notice that he was holding her daughter very carefully—almost tenderly—cradled against his muscular chest.
“Oh, there she is—Mom!” Jodi cried, relief filling her face. “Mom, I’m so glad you’re okay!” Her face went from relieved to worried. “You are okay, right? You have blood on your cheek and neck!”
Vicky reached up to touch the stinging scratches the Varian had made on her skin but she wasn’t in the least worried about herself.
“I’m fine,” she told Jodi. “What happened to you? And where is your sister—please tell me you’re both all right!”
“We’re both fine, Mom,” Jodi assured her. And, just as Vicky felt relief flooding her like a sweet river, she added, “We fell out of the spooky tree when one of those lizard guys shook it. I only twisted my ankle but I think Melli’s leg is broken.”
“Broken? Oh my God!
” Vicky’s relief evaporated and she went into total mom-mode at once. “Where is she? Has anyone called an ambulance? We need to get her to the doctor!”
“Please don’t worry,” the Beast Kindred holding Jodi said. “My friend Liosh is with your other daughter and she seems to be in stable condition.”
“He says it’s not a compound fracture, Mom,” Jodi said. “I mean, the bone isn’t sticking out of her leg or anything. But she’s in a lot of pain.”
“We need to get all three of you back to the Mother Ship for immediate treatment,” Chain said, speaking up at last. “They have technology there that far surpasses any medicine you have here on Earth.”
Vicky was sure he was probably right. She’d had a brief glimpse into the Med Center—the Kindred version of a hospital and ER—on her last trip to the Mother Ship and what she’d seen had greatly impressed her.
“All right,” she said. “Let’s go but first I want to see Melli.”
“You can ride with her in the back of our ship,” the Beast Kindred said.
“And I’ll follow in mine.” Chain grabbed her hand and squeezed briefly. “We’ll talk later, after everyone you love had been taken care of.”
“All right.” Vicky felt her heart flutter at the intense way he was looking at her but she was still in mom-mode and right now she didn’t have time for herself—she was more worried about her daughters.
Forty-Three
Melli was white-faced and being held in the lap of a young Blood Kindred, who looked to be only a few years older than she was. He was sitting on the grassy ground under the spooky tree and cradling her in his arms, much the same way the Beast Kindred was cradling Jodi.
“Mom!” she said, reaching for Vicky as her worried face broke into a smile. “Oh God, I’m so glad you’re okay! Jodi and I were so worried. That’s why she got Vorn to take her up to check on you.”
“I did not ask him to take me up.” Jodi sounded exasperated, speaking from her perch in the Beast Kindred’s arms. “I told him I would go up myself but he wouldn’t let me.”
“You’re injured,” the Beast Kindred rumbled, frowning down at her. “And though we were fairly certain the fighting was over, I couldn’t let you go alone. It would have been wrong not to protect a female in danger.”
“Will you listen to this Neanderthal?” Jodi exclaimed. “Hey, buddy, I can take care of myself!” She poked the Beast Kindred in his broad chest. He winced but didn’t let her go.
“You two stop fighting and pay attention to me,” Melli demanded, which made both Vicky and Jodi smile, as she had no doubt known it would.
“Honey, how do you feel?” Vicky put a hand on her daughter’s forehead out of instinct, though of course the problem was her lower leg, which had a bulge on one side where it shouldn’t be, not a fever.
“Pretty bad,” Melli admitted in a low voice. “The old spooky tree got me after all, Mom. I always knew it would.”
“Do you think you can make it to the Mother Ship?” Vicky asked. “Chain thinks they have much better medical technology there than if we took you to the ER here and I’m inclined to agree with him.”
“Oh, so that’s Chain, the famous Valentine’s date?” Jodi exclaimed, looking at Chain who had come with them and was kneeling beside Vicky as she sat on the ground talking to Melli.
“Yes, I am your mother’s Valentine’s date,” Chain said gravely, nodding at her. “I’m very pleased to meet you—both of you,” he said, including Melli in the conversation. “I can see that you both have your mother’s beauty—although you must excuse me for saying she is the most beautiful of all.”
He gave Victoria a meaningful look that made her blush and clear her throat.
“Chain…”
“Way to go, Mom!” Jodi said, grinning down at her from her the height of the Beast Kindred’s arms. “Looks like you picked a good one! Way better than the guy you met on the app.”
“Yeah—you’re never going to meet a human guy as hot as a Kindred so good job,” Melli said. Then she looked up at the young warrior holding her and blushed. “Oh, I mean…I didn’t mean…”
“Don’t worry about it.” He smiled down at her gently. “I’m not offended by your comment. In fact, I think it’s flattering that you would find my kind of male more attractive than your own.”
“Well, I mean…you’re all so big and so…so handsome…” Melli bit her lip and for a moment her pale face went pink with a blush.
“Enough of this,” Chain remarked sternly, taking charge. “All three of these females have injuries and my own female will not be content until her daughters are seen to. We need to get them up to the Mother Ship right away.”
Vicky felt her heart flutter when he called her “my female” but then she was worried again the next minute about Melli being moved with such an obvious injury.
However, the young Blood Kindred warrior, whose name was Liosh, rose smoothly from the ground, still holding Melli. He didn’t jostle her a bit as he carried her to the waiting Kindred ship. There he deposited her carefully into the long back seat, though Vicky and Jodi got in first and sat waiting to help hold her steady during the trip up to the Mother Ship.
“I’ll meet you at the Docking Bay,” Chain promised before leaving to get into his own ship.
And then they were lifting off and Vicky was leaving Earth’s orbit for the second time in less than a week. She felt extremely lucky and blessed to be going with her daughters this time—especially since she would be able to get them good care for their injuries. But what would happen after they were all patched up?
As she stroked Melli’s blonde hair and squeezed Jodi’s hand, she couldn’t help remembering that Chain had promised they would “talk later.” Just the thought made her feel like a swarm of butterflies had taken off inside her stomach. But of course, her daughters came first.
Once they’re taken care of, I’ll find Chain and we’ll talk, she promised herself. Just talk, though. There’s no way I’m jumping into a long-term relationship right away. We need to get to know each other first—that’s the sensible thing to do.
And having promised herself she would, in fact, do the sensible thing, Vicky relaxed and waited for the trip to be over.
Forty-Four
“Well hello, doll! Fancy meeting you up here.”
Kat’s voice surprised Vicky. She turned away from the exam room where Melli and Jodi were settled in two comfortable-looking Kindred hospital beds and saw her friend standing there.
“Kat!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”
“I live here,” Kat said dryly. “But if you mean what am I doing in the Med Center, I just sat with my friend Lizabeth for the past seven hours while she gave birth. Come see her twins!”
“Oh, I don’t want to bother her!” Vicky protested but Kat shook her head.
“Don’t worry—we won’t go in the room. We’ll just peek in at the doorway—she won’t mind. She likes you. And they’re gorgeous. You have to see them.”
Vicky took one more look at her girls to be sure they were okay. Both of them were dozing comfortably due to the pain meds Commander Sylvan—who was also a doctor—had given them. Melli’s leg had been set—it wasn’t a bad break, just a greenstick fracture, thank goodness—and Jodi’s ankle was elevated on pillows and packed in cooling gel that looked like green Jell-O.
The Kindred warriors who had come with Chain were still there, too. The Blood Kindred, Liosh, was sitting by Melli and holding her hand because she hadn’t wanted to let go of him. There was a look of devotion on his face that was unmistakable.
Vicky couldn’t help remembering how gently he had cradled Melli and how he had promised not to leave her side for as long as she was in the Med Center. A smile twitched the corners of her mouth—it seemed her younger daughter had an admirer and a very devoted one at that.
On the other side of the room, the Beast Kindred, Vorn, had his long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles as he sat by Jodi. He wa
s looking at her with a perplexed expression on his face as though he couldn’t quite figure her out.
The two of them had been arguing right up until the moment the pain meds kicked in but when Jodi had started to quiet down, Vorn had drawn up a chair and settled himself beside her, arms crossed over his broad chest.
He looked like a sentry keeping guard over a sleeping princess, Vicky couldn’t help thinking. It was clear nothing bad was going to happen while he and Liosh were on guard so she felt all right to leave the room.
“What happened to your face?” Kat asked, apparently noticing for the first time when Vicky turned to face her. “And did Chainor get my message?”
Vicky put up a hand to her face and winced when she touched the still-tender furrows the alien’s long claws had dug in the flesh of her cheek and the side of her neck. Liv, who had been at the Med Center when she came in, had shaken her head when she cleaned them out and muttered something about how Vicky had been extremely lucky the Varian hadn’t severed her jugular.
“I got scratched by a Varian who came after the T’lix-Kruthe. And what message?” she asked.
“You what?” Kat exclaimed. “Oh my God—they came back after you again? I’m so sorry, doll!”
“It’s okay,” Vicky said steadily. “My house is completely wrecked but my daughters are okay and that’s all that matters. But what message did you mean?”
“Oh, the message that you didn’t hate him for being an M-Switch,” Kat said, shaking her head. “I know I promised to tell him myself, but then almost the minute we got into the shuttle to go home, Lizabeth went into labor. So I’m afraid you and Chainor and everything else just flew right out of my head. I didn’t remember until the twins were delivered safe and sound that I was supposed to tell him how you felt about him, but I didn’t want to leave Lizabeth.
“So I grabbed the first warrior I saw—which happened to be our pilot on the way down—and told him to go find Chainor and tell him how you felt. He and his friend went on the run to find him and that was the last I knew of it until I saw you standing there in the Med Center corridor. I hope that was okay?” She looked at Vicky uncertainly.
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