Sought...Book 3 in the Brides of the Kindred series Read online

  The door opened suddenly, making her blink with the rush of light. “Now.” Xairn’s voice was a harsh whisper.

  “Now what?” Deep was the first to recover. Unbuckling himself from the safety harness, he crouched close to hear what the Scourge warrior was saying.

  “The AllFather is distracted—the pain from your cutting has filled him to completion. He is satisfied for the first time in weeks—torpid. We must act before he becomes alert again. And most especially before the dravik bursts.”

  “Dravik?” Kat frowned as she fumbled to unbuckle her harness. “Is that the weird blood-bubble thing he’s in?”

  Xairn nodded tersely. “Yes. Come, we need to get Lauren and run for the front entrance of the Complex at once. Here.” He passed Deep and Lock the weapons he’d taken from them earlier. “Watch what you shoot—if you burst the dravik none of us will get out of here alive. Now hurry.”

  “Wait,” Lock said. “What about the guards?”

  “They’re slow and stupid—they do only what the AllFather tells them,” Xairn said rapidly. “But they’re also extremely strong so don’t let them get too close. They aren’t intelligent enough to be trusted with projectile weapons but the AllFather has armed them with kusaxs.”

  “What’s a kusax?” Kat asked, finally getting free of her harness.

  “A Scourge knife,” Lock answered in a low voice. “The blade is made of the tainted black metal found only here on their home planet. It’s said that even a scratch from one it will poison your soul.”

  “Great,” Kat muttered. “Like my soul wasn’t messed up enough already.” She was trying to joke but in fact, the strange feeling of having had something vitally important amputated continued to grow. She couldn’t stop reaching out, feeling for Deep, expecting to pick up his emotions. But every time she tried she felt nothing…nothing…

  Then Lock wrapped an arm firmly around her waist and they were leaving the confines of the silver drum. “She’s yours now,” she heard Deep telling the light twin. “Take care of her. Leave the guards to me.”

  “Brother—” Lock began but Deep gave him a look fierce enough to shut him up.

  “Just do it,” he ordered. “And don’t call me that anymore—it no longer applies.”

  Lock nodded. “Very well.” He pulled Kat closer to him. “Stay with me, my lady. I will shield you with my life if necessary.”

  “I know you will.” There was a lump in Kat’s throat as they exited the interior of the psychic-knife. She kept feeling like she had lost something important—something irreplaceable which was now gone forever.

  The first thing she noticed when they stepped out was how silent everything was. The spidery shadow of the AllFather, within the glistening bloody bubble, was still—almost frozen. The three huge guards that surrounded him were silent too, reminding Kat of robots that had been switched off or monstrous toys whose batteries had run down.

  What’s going on with them? Kat wondered, staring at the silent tableau in the viewing gallery. She remembered Xairn saying something about the AllFather being satiated with pain… Our pain, she realized suddenly. That’s why that damn psychic-knife hurts so much. It’s not just meant to cut bonds—it generates the maximum amount of agony. Pain is what that sick bastard feeds on. Looking at the skeletal figure slumped within the slimy bubble, she knew she must be right. After everything we just went through, he must have sucked down so much hurt he can barely move—like a spider full of flies. He looks like somebody who just finished an entire Thanksgiving dinner all by himself, turkey and all!

  Obviously the AllFather’s torpor had spread to his attendants. Even the Alpha guard who was holding Lauren seemed to have loosened his grip and was simply standing behind her with his huge hands resting on her shoulders.

  Lauren seemed to have sensed the change too. She was tense—her eyes wide, obviously poised for something. A signal? A word? Kat moved a little back from Lock, ready to reach for her and try to drag her away from the monstrous solider guarding her. Then Xairn said, “Now!” and everything happened at once.

  Chapter Thirty-four

  “Lauren, to me!” Xairn shouted.

  She sprang forward, obeying his command at once. The huge hands that had been resting on her shoulders snapped shut—an instant too late.

  “Quickly!” Xairn grabbed her hand. “Before they awaken.”

  “Too late for that, my ssson.” The shape within the bloody black and red bubble moved as the AllFather came to life. “Alpha! The girl—get the girl!” he commanded, the dravik expanding with the force of his anger.

  The huge guard stumbled forward blindly, clumsy after his doze. He reached out but the female his thick fingers closed on was Kat, who was trying desperately to get out of the way as the other guards came to life.

  “Let go of me, you idiot!” She thrashed and kicked, aiming for his shins. But though plenty of her kicks connected, the merciless grip on her shoulders only tightened more.

  “Kat!” Lock and Deep both ran forward but at the same time the AllFather was descending the stairs of the viewing area. Worse, Xairn could see the dravik expanding and contracting regularly now—beating like a heartbeat. It was a sure sign that it was about to burst and release the AllFather. His father had gorged himself on the pain of the Kindreds’ cutting and now he would be more powerful than ever. They had to get away before that happened.

  I could go, he thought. I could take Lauren and run while the guards are distracted by the Kindred and their female. We could be safe in space before they even realized we were gone.

  But he couldn’t do it. He had pledged his help to the enemy warriors as they had pledged theirs to him. He had no right to leave them now—even if it meant his life. But that didn’t mean that Lauren had to die with him.

  “Run,” he told her, pushing her toward the far end of the lab. “Go straight down the corridor and out the double doors at the end. Keep going and you’ll come to a place with many abandoned ships. They should be touch activated so—”

  “No.” She shook her head emphatically. “I’m not leaving you.”

  “You have to go!” Xairn was torn between exasperation and admiration. “I cannot leave until the Kindred and their female are free.”

  “I’m not leaving either.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Give me a weapon—let me help.”

  The thought that she might want to join the fight had never entered Xairn’s head. But from the look of things, they could use every hand they could get.

  “Here.” He fumbled in his boot for a moment and came up with a slim, finger-sized weapon. “This is a stunner. Point and press the trigger button at the end. Aim for the chest if you can—it’s a bigger target. Just don’t hit any of us—it’s calibrated for the guards.”

  “Got it.” She took the weapon in remarkably steady hands.

  “And don’t burst the AllFather’s dravik,” Xairn added, as he primed his own weapon and took aim. “It will rupture soon enough on its own.”

  “All right.” Holding the stunner in one hand, she steadied her wrist with the other and took aim. Xairn was impressed to see one of the guards who had been reaching for Deep knocked backwards from the force of the blast. Convinced that she knew what she was doing, he joined the fight.

  * * * * *

  Kat was doing her best not to freak out but it was pretty hard not to. One minute she’d been reaching for Lauren and the next she was being dragged backward by the massive, dead-eyed guard toward the raving AllFather.

  “No, no, you imbecile!” he was hissing angrily at the oblivious Alpha guard. “The other girl—thisss female isss uselesss to me. Get the other!” The weird blood bubble enclosing him was moving in waves, sucking in and out almost as though it was breathing. The strange motion somehow made it even more disgusting than it had been previously—and that was saying something as far as Kat was concerned.

  “Get off her, you son-of-a-bitch!” Behind her, Lock was aiming his weapon at the guard but cle
arly he was afraid to shoot—probably because at this range he might hit her instead of the guard. The guard wasn’t paying any attention anyway—he just continued dragging Kat toward the AllFather no matter what anyone said or did.

  “Can’t risk the blazer,” she heard Deep shout. “She’s too close.”

  “I know.” Lock sounded desperate. “Watch out behind you!”

  Deep turned but just then a blast of energy knocked down the guard who had been reaching for him. Kat looked around to see Lauren pointing some kind of tiny weapon and Xairn running toward them. Oh good, the cavalry is here. But she really didn’t see what good anyone could do. If no one could make the massive hands let her go, she was on a one way trip straight to the AllFather in his slimy bubble.

  Then Deep jumped on the Alpha guard’s back. Wrapping one arm around the thick throat, he began to squeeze. At first the guard didn’t even seem to notice—then he choked and shifted, as though trying to shake Deep off. But it was obvious the dark twin didn’t intend to be so easily dislodged. He tightened his grip on the corded neck and squeezed until the flat, black-on-black eyes bulged in their sockets.

  Kat felt one paw-like hand leave her shoulder and the Alpha guard began groping at its belt. A weapon, she thought dismally. It’s looking for some kind of weapon. She squirmed in the guard’s grasp, trying to get loose. But though she twisted until it felt like her entire arm was about to break off, she still couldn’t free herself.

  Deep wrapped both muscular arms around the guard’s neck and squeezed harder. At the same time, another one of the guards went down, its limbs jerking and thick boots drumming the floor as though it was having a seizure. From the corner of her eye, Kat saw Xairn taking aim again. She didn’t know what his weapon did exactly but the results were impressive—the guard wasn’t getting up.

  Above the shouting and shooting, she could hear the high, evil screech of the enraged AllFather. She couldn’t tell what he was saying but he was coming closer, the floating blood bubble throbbing like a vein in an angry man’s temple. Have to get out of here before that thing pops! she thought, her skin crawling with fear and revulsion. If we’re still here when he gets free of it, there’s going to be hell to pay! And we—

  “Deep, be careful! The knife—it’s got a knife!”

  Lock’s desperate cry dragged her attention back to the dark twin and what she saw nearly froze her heart. In the split second she’d been watching the AllFather, the Alpha guard had somehow managed to draw a knife from its belt. To Kat, a confirmed Lord of the Rings fan, it looked like something an orc might carry. The blade was long and curved like a scimitar and the metal it was made of was gleaming, polished black with rust-red streaks running through it.

  The kusax! she thought numbly. Oh my God! Lock said even a scratch would poison him. And it looked like the guard was intending to do a lot more than scratch. Though it was obviously getting woozy from lack of air, its grip on her shoulder remained firm—as well as its grip on the knife.

  As she watched, the Alpha guard raised its arm, obviously aiming to take a stab at the warrior still clinging to its back. Looking up, Kat could tell that Deep saw it too. But though she and Lock both shouted at him, he refused to let go.

  “No,” Kat screamed as the knife made its slashing descent. It seemed to happen in slow motion—she saw every inch of the black blade as it entered Deep’s side, heard the guard’s grunt of effort as it thrust the knife home. Then, at the same time, the soulless eyes finally closed and it slumped to its knees, releasing her.

  Lock pulled her out of the way just in time. The huge, heavy body of the Alpha guard came crashing down right where she’d been standing, with Deep still clinging to its back.

  Kat didn’t care. She shook loose of Lock’s restraining hand and ran to Deep. “No…oh no,” she whispered as she saw the extent of the damage. Only the handle protruded from his side—the entire wicked, black blade was buried in his body.

  Then, to her utter surprise, his eyes fluttered open and he sat up.

  “Don’t try to move, Brother.” Lock was suddenly there too, putting a hand on Deep’s arm. “You’re badly wounded.”

  “I’m fine.” Deep hauled himself up, swayed, and then steadied himself to Kat’s amazement.

  “You’re not,” she blurted. “Lock is right—you’re hurt. Look at your side!”

  Deep looked down, saw the knife handle sticking out of his body, and shrugged. “Looks worse than it feels. I’ll leave it in until we get back to the ship though—keep it from bleeding.”

  How he could stand and talk, let alone move around and get back to the ship with a foot long blade buried in his guts, was more than Kat could understand. But it didn’t seem to surprise Lock as much as it did her. “We have to go.” He nodded at the other guards, all of whom were on the floor. “They may be wounded but they’ll get back up soon enough.”

  Indeed, the huge Alpha guard was stirring at their feet already. And the AllFather…wait a minute—where is the AllFather? Kat wondered uneasily. Her shoulder ached fiercely and she was still horribly afraid for Deep but the fact that she could no longer see the slimy blood bubble and its foul occupant scared her to death.

  Then she heard Xairn’s deep voice behind her. “Ware!” he bellowed. “Ware the dravik—it’s going to burst!”

  Turning her head, Kat saw that the ball of black-red blood containing the AllFather had moved out into the middle of the cutting lab floor, directly opposite the psychic-knife. The dravik was pulsating rhythmically now—faster and faster. Within it the AllFather had his arms raised and his crimson eyes were blazing with fury.

  Deep swore loudly. “Go now! Run—everyone. We have to get out of here!”

  Kat didn’t see how he could take his own advice with a knife sticking out of his side but he grabbed one of her hands and Lock grabbed the other. From the corner of her eye she saw Xairn take Lauren’s hand as well. And then they were running as fast as they could. She knew Deep must be in pain with every step he took, but she felt nothing from him, nothing but Lock’s fear for her and sorrow for his twin.

  We’re going to make it, she thought wildly as they neared the double doors at the far end of the lab. We’re really going to—

  A horrible, wet, popping noise, like a rotten carcass exploding, interrupted her train of thought. At the same time, a gush of putrid air, worse than anything Kat had ever smelled, suddenly rushed over them. That was followed by a wet, splattering sound and she was hit in the back by a wave of something slimy and cold.

  “Oh my God!” Kat gagged in revulsion. The cold, jellied, foul-smelling slime was coating her back and dripping from her hair. Her first instinct was to stop and try to get it off her at once. It was the same way she would have felt if she’d found a spider crawling on her skin. Unclean! Disgusting! Get it off, get it off, get it off! screamed the primitive part of her mind. But there was no time—Deep and Lock were dragging her along faster than ever now, even though both of them were coated in the disgusting substance too.

  The three of them hit the doors at a dead run, shoving them open and barreling through. At the last instant, Kat turned her head and saw that Lauren and Xairn were right behind them, both of them absolutely covered in the ghastly, black-red slime. Behind them, the AllFather stood, skeletal arms raised, crimson eyes blazing. His shadowy cloak billowed around him and despite the glistening remains of the dravik, which covered the entire room, he himself was somehow dry. He shook back his hood and opened his lipless mouth to speak—

  And then the doors banged shut behind them and they were running down the corridor, heading for safety and home.

  But will we all make it there alive? Kat thought, casting a frantic glance at Deep who was holding her hand in one of his, while he grasped the protruding handle of the kusax with the other.

  She didn’t know.

  * * * * *

  “Stop!” the AllFather screeched. His power flowed outward like a tidal wave, engulfing Xairn and Lauren just as th
ey were about to reach the doors the Kindred and their female had just gone through.

  Xairn couldn’t help it—he slowed his pace and then skidded to a stop. He felt the drag of the words, the power of his father’s command as he never had before—not even on the day that Sanja had died. His knees wanted to lock, his body wanted to turn so his legs could carry him back to kneel at the AllFather’s feet.

  Lauren felt the power too. Xairn felt her freeze beside him. Her hand, already slimy from the noxious remains of the exploded dravik, began to slide from his grip as she turned toward his father.

  “Yesss…Come to me, my bride…come…” The AllFather was calling her back, forcing her will to bend to his, luring her back to a living death, an existence of pain and madness and never ending suffering and agony.

  “No!” At the thought of the female beside him—his female, being used in such a way, Xairn felt something growing inside him. A rage so fierce it was like a red curtain dropped over his vision, tinting everything a bloody crimson. “No!” he bellowed again, turning to face his father, his hands clenched into fists. “You shall not have her. Lauren is mine!”

  The AllFather’s voice dropped to a soft hiss, sounding reasonable and coaxing at the same time. “Come now, Xairn, thisss is asss it must be. The girl is the future of our race, our destiny. You know thisss.”

  “Lauren is not your destiny. And she’s not your property to do with as you please.” Xairn glared, his eyes never leaving his father’s. “Here and now, I cut the ties that bind me to you. I never wish to see you again.”

  “But you will sssee me. Sssee me now. Come to me, my ssson.” The power was doubled, trebled, the drag of it like lead on Xairn’s limbs. But this time he had more to fight for than just a pet. Rage and a power of his own filled him—something savage that had been sleeping, or had only just started to stir, suddenly woke fully within his chest.