Stealing Her Heart: A Kindred Tales Novel (Brides of the Kindred) Read online

  She had no idea how much danger she was in.

  Chapter Five

  Chain saw the multicolored lights of the T’lix-Kruthe glowing in her window long before his nose told him he was anywhere near the little Earth Female. The brilliant rainbow pattern flashed out into the night, almost as though she wanted to be found.

  He cursed under his breath and pulled his head back inside his small ship, which transformed to look like an Earth vehicle called a car. Damn it, what was wrong with her? How had she activated the artifact in the first place and why was she letting it flash out for all the world to see? The Varians would be on her in a heartbeat if she wasn’t careful!

  Just as the thought entered his head, he heard a low whooshing in the air above him. Looking up, Chain saw a sleek, dark shape cruising silently just above the treetops—the Varian ship, no doubt. Damn it all to the Seven Hells, they’d spotted the lights too! And they were going to be on the little Earth female in a moment if he didn’t somehow get to her first.

  But how could he? His own craft was land-bound at the moment and unable to drive as fast as the Varian ship could fly. He’d been tracking her by scent and that was much easier closer to the ground where scents tended to linger.

  Well, there was no need to search for her by smell any longer. She had practically put out a billboard advertising her presence.

  Punching a few buttons and grabbing the steering yoke, Chain took off and lifted into the dark night sky. It was going to be a race to see who could get to the Earth female and the T’lix-Kruthe first.

  It was a race he couldn’t afford to lose.

  Chapter Six

  Vicky had finished her half glass of wine and was debating with herself if it was worth it or not to get up and pour another when she heard the strange sounds outside in the back yard. She frowned. Probably just the wind.

  Her neighborhood, Trellis Lakes Estates, was far back in the woods and there were no houses behind hers. Instead, she had a lovely nature preserve with a miniature lake and a stand of tall palm trees.

  The perfect little area was just outside the master bathroom and it was lovely in the morning to watch through the bay window beside the bathtub as the Sand cranes and egrets picked their way around the marshy edges of the little pond, looking for their breakfast.

  At night, however, the scene outside the bay window could be a bit spooky. Sometimes the wind whipped through the long, thin fronds of the palm trees and made the weirdest noises—like it was now.

  Uneasily, Vicky peered out of the bay window. She had blinds on it, of course, though she usually kept them open to let in the natural light. The fact that there were no neighbors around her ensured that she had perfect privacy, so she never felt the need to close the blinds.

  Now, however, she felt the need.

  Reaching up, she grabbed the long stick which twisted the Venetian blinds open and closed with one wet hand and gave it a firm twist. The blinds closed, shutting out the darkness outside and making the rainbow display the alien artifact was still putting on seem even brighter somehow.

  Sighing, Vicky sank deeper into the tub until the scented water was up to her chin. Closing her eyes, she tried to meditate, thinking about nothing at all and taking long, deep breaths in and out. But the colored lights still bothered her—why were they so bright? She could even see them on the insides of her closed eyelids!

  Annoyed, Vicky opened her eyes just long enough to throw her fuzzy pink towel over the blinking artifact. She closed her eyes and sighed in relief. There—that was better. Closing her eyes again, she tried once more to meditate, to lose herself in the stillness and warmth of her bath…

  But she didn’t get to lose herself for long. Suddenly, the night erupted into noise and violence as her bay window shattered inward and something—or someone—landed on the far edge of the bathtub across from her.

  Vicky screamed as she felt a lot of sharp-edged objects fall into the tub with her. They were glass shards—not many but enough to cut her arms and legs when she thrashed. Her instinct to close the blinds was probably the only thing that had saved her from being cut to ribbons, since they had caught most of the glass, but she was in no mood to feel grateful at the moment.

  That was because of the thing sitting at the end of the tub and glaring at her with wide, unblinking, slitted yellow eyes.

  The Varian without his human mask was even uglier than Vicky had imagined. She stared in mute horror at the long, lizard body and the scaly tale twitching beside him. His whole body was covered in rough, pebbled scales like an alligator’s and also like a gator, he had a kind of snout, filled with long, sharp teeth.

  “Where isss it?” he hissed, all pretense of human speech tones completely abandoned. “Where have you put the T’lix-Kruthe, Earthling?”

  “I…I…” Vicky found she was too frightened to speak. Her voice seemed to be frozen in her throat and all she could do was sink lower in the water, heedless of the sharp shards of glass, and stare at the menacing alien perched at the end of her tub.

  “Where isss it?” he demanded again. “If you do an anssswer, you will die!”

  As though to bring the dire threat home, it raised one three-fingered hand and pointed what looked like a silver pen at her.

  Vicky felt her heart freeze in her chest. It was the same weapon she’d seen the alien use to kill the bartender with. The same thing that had cut down a huge lamppost, made a hole in a mailbox, and decapitated a fire hydrant. Clearly, it could cut right through her like butter—and it was about to if she didn’t reveal the location of the alien artifact.

  She wanted desperately to speak, but her tongue seemed stuck to the roof of her mouth. Her heart was pounding so hard and her blood rushing so fast she couldn’t breathe. She felt sick—faint. She was going to die because she couldn’t make herself speak, she was sure of it!

  “Very well, human—perhapsss you need a warning?” the Varian hissed.

  It pressed the button on the back of the sleek silver pen and a golden beam of light shot out of the other end and hit Vicky squarely in the chest.

  At once, her entire body from the neck down seemed to go numb. Her tensed muscles relaxed and, to her horror, Vicky found herself sliding deeper into the steaming water. Already it was up to her chin and soon it would be up to her mouth. She tried to move her arms and legs—tried to thrash or push herself up in the water—but it was no use. She was completely paralyzed—her body was dead weight and there was no way to get out of the water.

  Oh my God, am I going to drown in my own bathtub? Vicky thought wildly.

  It seemed horribly likely as she slid even deeper, her eyes locked on the menacing lizard-like alien crouching at the end of her tub.

  “Where?” it demanded in its hissing voice. “Where isss it? Where isss the T’lix-Kruthe?”

  “Some questions don’t need an answer,” a deep voice growled in Vicky’s ear.

  And then a beam of red light shot past her face and caught the Varian squarely in the chest.

  The top part of the scaly alien simply disintegrated, leaving behind only the bottom half with a charred stump at the waist. Vicky watched in horror as the alien hindquarters slowly collapsed, slumping into the water with her.

  She screamed in disgust, wanting desperately to thrash and splash and get the hell out of there, away from the dead alien occupying the tub with her. But of course, she couldn’t do a thing—her body was still paralyzed from the neck down.

  “Hush,” the deep voice muttered in her ear. “The other one’s around here somewhere—I have to find him and eliminate the threat.”

  Vicky turned her head but saw nothing—there was no one beside her, so who was talking to her? Was she going crazy?

  “Where…who…?” she managed to get out in a dazed tone.

  Suddenly the big Kindred’s face—only his face—appeared in front of her, wearing the red hooded cape he’d had on at the bar.

  “It’s just me, sweetheart,” he growled softly. �
��You stay here and be quiet so I can neutralize the other Varian before he tries anything.”

  “Wait,” Vicky begged as she slid deeper into the water. “Please—get me out of the tub first. He shot me…shot me with something that paralyzed me. I can’t move—I’m going to drown if I slide down any further. And that thing’s in here with me.” She looked down at the bottom half of the alien body which was currently occupying the tub with her. A greenish liquid was seeping out of the charred stump at its waist, making cloudy tendrils in the water.

  The sight made Vicky feel nauseous but she swallowed hard, determined not to puke. She was pretty sure she would die if she did, considering she couldn’t move enough to clear her own airway if she vomited.

  “All right—let’s get you out of there. But quickly!” the big Kindred murmured.

  More of him appeared—his arms and hands and he put away the weapon he’d been using that had cut the alien in half. Leaning over the tub, he scooped Vicky out of the water as easily as though he was picking up a small child.

  “Hey—don’t hurt your back!” she couldn’t help cautioning him.

  But the Kindred only frowned at her.

  “How would I hurt my back?” he asked, cradling her close to his broad chest, despite the fact that she was dripping wet.

  “Well…by lifting me. I’m, uh, not exactly a lightweight,” Vicky remarked, looking down at her own naked body, which she wished was a whole lot thinner.

  “I know…” The Kindred’s gaze followed her own and Vicky was surprised to see the glimmer of desire in those midnight-blue depths. “You’re an Elite,” he told her. “A female blessed by the Goddess with extra-bountiful curves.”

  “Okay, um, I guess so.” She could feel herself blushing at the way he was looking at her. When was the last time a man had stared at her with such desire in his eyes? Vicky couldn’t remember. “Nobody said you could stare,” she snapped, unable to help feeling embarrassed.

  “Forgive me,” he murmured. “It’s just that you’re so lovely, it’s hard not to look.”

  Vicky couldn’t help feeling flattered, which mixed with the irritated embarrassment she also felt to form a very strange emotion indeed. She thought about protesting some more and then just decided to stay silent.

  The big Kindred carried her from the bathroom into the bedroom and laid her carefully on the bed. She couldn’t help being impressed by the big warrior’s strength. Kevin hadn’t even been able to pick her up and carry her over the threshold when they were first married and she’d been a good fifty pounds lighter back then.

  “Here, you are, safe and sound—but you’re bleeding.” He frowned down at the side of her thigh and her breast where the sharp shards of window glass had cut her when they fell into the bathtub. “Have to deal with that later,” he said, as though making a mental note to himself.

  “I can deal with it myself—if I can ever move again.” Vicky couldn’t quite keep the worry out of her voice. The alien ray had paralyzed her completely and it was really scary not to be able to feel her arms and legs.

  “Don’t worry about that,” the Kindred said easily. “He probably shot you with the light setting just to scare you. It should wear off soon.”

  “Well, until it does, I’m completely helpless!” Vicky exclaimed. “Maybe you’d better put me under the bed instead of on it.” She didn’t like to suggest such an option, since she was mildly claustrophobic, but it seemed safer than lying there naked and unable to move out in the open.

  “Oh, I think we can do better than that—though it’s a shame to cover such bountiful curves,” the Kindred remarked.

  “Hey!” If Vicky could have squirmed, she would have, at the way those midnight-blue eyes were roaming over her naked body. “I told you—don’t look at me!”

  He sighed regretfully.

  “Forgive me—it’s difficult not to admire you in this state of…shall we say, undress?” He grinned at her unrepentantly when she made another angry noise. “Here—let’s make sure you’re safe while I take care of this other Varian bastard.”

  Taking off the long red cloak which had somehow made him invisible, he draped it over Vicky so that it completely covered her body. As a final touch, he pulled the hood over her head. It worried her at first but she found that she could see right through the fabric and could breathe quite easily, though she couldn’t see herself—any of herself—at all.

  It was a strange feeling to look down at the bed and not see her body, but she barely had time to think about it because the big Kindred was talking to her again.

  “Stay here,” he murmured. “I’ll be back soon.”

  “But…will you be okay? Since I took your Harry Potter cloak?” she asked, her irritation giving way to anxiety for him.

  “My what?” He frowned and she realized he probably hadn’t read the popular books.

  “You know—your magic invisibility cloak,” she said, nodding down at herself though he obviously couldn’t see the motion now that she was completely invisible.

  The big Kindred laughed softly.

  “Oh, you mean my scatterlight cloak? Don’t worry about me, sweetheart—I can manage even without the stealth tech.” He started to leave again but Vicky called him back once more.

  “Wait—I don’t even know your name!” she exclaimed in a low voice. “What if something happens—who do I call?”

  “Oh, of course—I forgot we hadn’t exactly been properly introduced.” He pulled the cloak off her face again and gave her an easy, engaging grin that exposed white teeth in his dark face. “I’m Chainor—Chain for short. And I’m an M-Switch Kindred. And you are?”

  “Victoria Erickson—Vicky for short,” Vicky said. “I’m a high school language and drama teacher.”

  “Drama, hmm?” He raised an eyebrow. “No wonder you got into the part so fast when I picked you to be my female. You really had me going there—especially when you kissed me.”

  “I only kissed your cheek,” Vicky protested, embarrassed all over again. She couldn’t believe the way she’d acted at the bar. But then, she’d had three strawberry daiquiris—so it wasn’t really her fault, was it? “You’re the one who kissed me on the mouth,” she pointed out.

  “But I didn’t see you objecting, beautiful Victoria,” he murmured. “In fact, if I recall correctly, you kissed me right back.”

  “Well…” Vicky could feel herself blushing all over—which made her glad her naked body was covered by his cloak. “You just kind of…caught me at a vulnerable moment—that’s all,” she said.

  “That’s right—you told me the male who was supposed to be meeting you hadn’t shown up, didn’t you?” he mused, frowning.

  Vicky was surprised he remembered what she’d said, after all the craziness that had followed.

  “Something like that,” she admitted. She didn’t want to tell him how Ted had given her the once over and then left, as though she wasn’t pretty enough to tempt him. That was humiliating.

  “Well, he’s a fool,” Chain said firmly. “If he doesn’t know enough to come meet a beautiful woman when she—”

  Just then there was a muffled but distinct thump from the other room.

  “Crap!” Vicky hissed. “Is that—?”

  “Probably.” His charming features took on a grim expression and he cursed under his breath. “Shouldn’t have allowed myself to be distracted by your beauty,” he told Vicky. “I’ll cover you again and be right back after I take care of this.”

  Vicky wanted to protest, but before she could, he had already thrown the hood of the cloak over her face again, rendering her completely invisible. Quietly, he crept out of the bedroom, closing the door soundlessly behind him.

  Vicky was still paralyzed from the neck down—though she was beginning to feel tingling in her fingers and toes which told her the effects of the alien ray were starting to wear off. But at the moment all she could do was wait and watch and pray the big Kindred would be all right.

  Please, she
prayed, though she wasn’t exactly sure who she was talking to. Please let Chain be okay! Don’t let him get hurt or killed—let us both be safe!

  But she got nothing but silence for an answer.

  Chapter Seven

  Chain crept stealthily down the long hallway, on high alert for any sign of the second Varian scout who’d come after the T’lix-Kruthe. Speaking of that, he really needed to ask Victoria where she’d put it.

  Victoria… He smiled a little. He liked her name. Hell, he liked all of her, and he’d certainly gotten to see enough since her curves had been on full display. Gods, an Elite like that shouldn’t be alone in this big domicile—she was much too tempting a prize. Just about any male might take a liking to what he saw and follow her home.

  The thought of that made Chain bristle with protective anger. The Varians weren’t the only ones he had to worry about here. But for now, they were the threat he needed to concentrate on, he reminded himself.

  He heard another thump which seemed to come from a room up ahead. Sliding forward with his blaster ready, Chain edged around the doorway, looking for his adversary.

  He saw a room in disarray. The cushions had been pulled off all the furniture and some had been slashed open so that fluffy piles of white filling were coming out. The small table in the center of the room had been upended and the drapes at the tall windows had been torn down. How had the Varian made such a mess so quickly?

  Speaking of the alien scout, Chain saw it at the far end of the room, pulling books out of the bookcase and looking behind them before tossing them aside to the carpeted floor. The thumps he and Victoria had heard must have been the books falling—though how the Varian had made the rest of this mess so quietly was anyone’s guess. Maybe they hadn’t heard him because they were talking.

  At that moment, the alien scout turned and saw him standing there. A snarl creased its face and it raised its weapon to point at him.