Devoured: Brides of the Kindred 11 (2 page)

Chapter
Two

“Brother, I’m glad I found you.”

Truth looked up from the vegetables he was
chopping, clearly startled by his younger brother’s voice.

“Oh, Garron—what are you doing here? Did you
come for last meal?”

“Not exactly.” Garron cleared his throat.
“I, um, would like to talk to you. About something private.”

He shot a glance at Far, his brother’s
long lost twin, who was happily cooking something at the other end of the food
prep area. He had features that were remarkably similar to Truth’s but his hair
was long and blond instead of short and dark and his eyes were bottomless black
instead of Truth’s pale gray.

Despite their differences, the twins
really did seem to belong together. Though Garron had been initially surprised
when he met his older brother’s twin and mate—for they shared a female as all
Twin Kindred did—he now liked Far quite a lot. Still, what he had to say was
embarrassing and for Truth’s ears alone.

“It’s all right.” Far looked up and nodded
at them. “I’m done here for now. I’ll go into the living area and give the two
of you some privacy.”

“Thank you, Far.” Truth nodded back. He
waited until his twin had exited the food prep area to turn back to Garron.
“Now. What seems to be the problem?”

“Well…” Garron took a deep breath, trying
to think how to approach the topic he wished to discuss. “You know that my name
day is coming soon…”

“So it is!” Truth smiled. “We must
celebrate in the Earth way which Rebecca has been telling me about. We can have
a birthday party—a gathering of friends to wish you well. Also, we will have an
Earth confection known as a…as a…” He frowned. “Seven hells, it is either a pie
or a cake. Or maybe it’s a pake. Yes! That’s it—we will have a pake with many
little flame stalks and you must blow them out and we will all sing to you and
bring you gifts and humorous sentiments called ‘greeting cards’ and—”

“Brother!” Garron held up a hand
impatiently. “Could you please stop talking about Earth customs for a moment?
Have you forgotten what I am? What I may have stirring within?” He put a fist
to his chest.

“Apologies,” Truth said. “I did not
think.”

“No, because you don’t have to.” Garron
couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his voice. “Because you aren’t really
Rai’ku the way I am. You have no
dr’gin
within.
No deadly beast that might come out and kill…” He shook his head, unable to
finish.

“But it has been so many years since you
came of age,” Truth said. “So many times the virgins were gathered for you and nothing
happened. Do you really think you have a
dr’gin
at all?”

“I feel it stirring within me. Or
something
stirring, anyway,” Garron said
darkly. “I have been having…urges lately. Cravings.
Desires.”
He closed his eyes briefly, unable to look at his brother
as he spoke. “Some of them…some of them very unlike what we were raised to
believe are normal or right.”

“Is that all?” Truth sounded so
lighthearted than Garron had to open his eyes and look.

“What do you mean ‘is that all?’” he
demanded. “You don’t even know what desires I’m talking about.”

“I am sure I can guess.” Truth nodded
knowingly. “Does it have to do with wishing to…ah…
taste
certain parts of the female anatomy we were told never to
touch unless mating?”

Garron felt his cheeks go hot. He cleared
his throat.

“Possibly…I know I should not wish such
things,” he hurried on. “It is wrong but I—”

“It’s
not
wrong. It’s
Kindred.
The Kindred
part of you coming out,” Truth countered. “Look, Brother, I felt the same way.
I longed to do things with my lady—things we were taught were perverted and
degrading. Things that—”

“Please…” Garron held up a hand. “No
details or I will never be able to look Becca in the eyes again.”

“I’m not going to give you details, I’m
just letting you know that what you desire is natural and right for our
people—for the Kindred. Look…” Truth put a hand on his shoulder. “I know for a
fact there are already some Rai’ku beliefs and teachings you reject. The way
the Rai’ku treat their females, for instance…”

“You mean the way they demean and devalue
them.” Garron frowned. “No—I could never believe that was right.”

“No Kindred male could,” Truth said
gently. “It’s in our nature—in our very DNA—to revere our females. Even our
father—as cruel as he could be when he was drinking—never raised a hand to
Ama.”

“That was because he took his anger out on
you instead,” Garron said in a low voice. “And just because he didn’t hit her
didn’t mean he didn’t abuse her. The things he said when he was drunk—”

“Scarred us all,” Truth finished quietly.
“I’ve come to understand something, Brother—when a male suffers the things we
suffered, he either repeats the pattern he saw as a child or he makes a
conscious decision to break it. I made that decision and I know you did too.”
His voice dropped to a softer note. “I saw the way you treated Nella—you loved
and revered her as a true male should.”

“I would rather have cut off my hand than
hurt her,” Garron said honestly. “And I miss her still. I
grieve
for her. That is why…” He cleared his throat. “Why I find
these, ah,
urges
both frightening and
confusing. I want no other female but Nella and yet I find myself burning—on
fire with these strange
needs.
”

“Quench the fire,” Truth advised. “Find a
willing female to align your mind and body with.”

“I told you—I want no one but Nella and
she is gone,” Garron protested. “But say I decided to take your advice and
take another female. What if these
strange urges presage the coming of my
dr’gin?
What if when I started to make love to her, I
turned?”

Truth frowned. “That
would
be a problem. Every life is precious to the
Kindred—especially female life. You would not be allowed to kill and eat
several virgins on your first turning as is the normal way among the Rai’ku.”

“Nor should I be,” Garron said. “The
entire process is sickening—I have always thought so. But you and I both know
the
dr’gin
is a mindless beast when
it first emerges and the older it grows, the hungrier it gets. If mine should
come out now after all this time, it would be
ravenous
. I might…” He shook his head.

“You might cause all kinds of
destruction,” Truth finished for him.

Garron snorted. “That’s a nice way of
saying I’d kill and eat every unmated female in my path, Brother.” He ran a
hand through his hair. “My name day is coming up very soon—what am I to do?”

“I don’t know.” Truth frowned. “I don’t—”

“Why not use one of the Pairing Puppets?”
The new voice came from Far, who had come back into the food prep area.

“Far! This is a private matter.” Truth
frowned. “Although actually, that is not a bad idea…”

“Yes, I know. I’m sorry for invading your
privacy—just had to make sure my sauce wasn’t sticking.” The light twin
gestured to a pot he had set up on an Earth style cooking top which was very
different from the Kindred Wave appliance most used aboard the Mother Ship.
Perhaps Becca had requested it specially.

Garron waited uncomfortably for the light
twin to finish tending his cooking. At last, when he showed no signs of
leaving, he could stand it no more.

“What is a Pairing Puppet?” he demanded.

Far looked at him, clearly surprised.

“You don’t know? But you live in the
Unmated Males area.”

“I haven’t been there that long,” Garron
defended. “I am still finding my way around the Mother Ship.”

“Well in your tours, I am certain you must
have noticed the small pink building near the back of the Unmated Males area?”
Truth raised an eyebrow at him. “The one with females coming and going out of
it occasionally.”

“Oh, I did notice that place. I thought it
was some kind of exclusive club,” Garron said.

Far snorted. “It is. The club for males in
need of release.”

Garron frowned.

“What are you saying? That it is a house
of ill repute? I thought the Kindred didn’t hold with such things.”

“They don’t. But the females that stay in
the Pairing House aren’t technically females,” Truth said.

“What he means is that they aren’t really
alive
,” Far explained. “They’re robots.”

“Robots? As in machines?” Garron was
disgusted. “I have no wish to have relations with a machine.”

“They’re more like…like what the humans
call cyborgs in their fictional science tales,” Truth said. “They have soft,
supple skin and real flesh but it is grown over a metal skeleton. They can
understand simple commands and carry on extremely limited conversations but
mostly they are made for…”

“For relieving the needs of unmated
males,” Far said. “For those who have yet to align with a female mind on
Earth.”

“I see…” Garron frowned. “And they
are…accommodating to any Kindred male?”

“That is their sole purpose. Without them,
the Unmated Males area would be a much more tense and unhappy place,” Far said.

“But the important thing for you is that
they are artificial,” Truth said. “They don’t think, they feel no pain. And
they do
not
judge. You could explore
your new…Kindred urges…” He cleared his throat. “And if your
dr’gin
did manifest itself, you wouldn’t
have to worry about hurting a real female.”

Garron shook his head.

“I don’t know, brother. As badly as my
desires ride me, I have no wish to copulate with some soulless, mechanical
puppet. It just seems…
wrong.”

“Well, as I see it, that is your only
option,” Truth said matter-of-factly. “Unless you wish to take your chances
back on Pax among the Rai’ku.”

“Out of the question. T’lar told me never
to even make orbit around the planet again.”

“T’lar is an overbearing fool,” Truth said
shortly. “You shouldn’t let him keep you from going home if you want to.”

“No.” Garron looked away. “Now that Nella
is gone I cannot imagine mating with another. I have no wish to go back to
Pax.”

“Then you should really consider the
Pairing Puppets,” Far said gently. “If you have needs that are too dangerous to
relieve with a real female and you cannot bring yourself to form a relationship
with a real female, then a false one is your best choice.”

“I…will think on it.” Garron sighed and
pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to push back the headache that was
threatening. Gods, if only he could control these urges better! If only he
could push them down, push them back inside where they belonged…

The
way you’ve been pushing them down for years? The way you buried them each time
the virgins were called for you because you feared to hurt Nella?
whispered a little voice in the back of his head.
The way you—

“…stay and eat with us when Rebecca
returns?”

Garron looked up, realizing that his
brother was asking him a question.

“I’m sorry—what?”

“I said the food is almost ready. It’s an
Earth specialty Far and I learned to cook just for Rebecca.”

“You’re welcome to stay if you want,” Far added.
“You’re always welcome here, Garron—you know that.”

“Thank you.” Garron smiled at his
brother’s mate or tried to anyway—the desires inside him were growing worse
again which made it hard to think. “But I think there is something I must do.
Not
go to the Pairing House, though,” he
added quickly. “Something…else.”

“Of course.” Truth nodded gravely. “Be
well, Brother. And please don’t hesitate to ask if you need anything that Far
and Rebecca and I can provide.”

“Thank you,” Garron said again and bowed. Truth
returned the gesture as did Far, though less expertly. “I take my leave of
you,” he said and headed for the door as fast as he could.

He needed to be alone for awhile and
think.

Chapter
Three

“So
this
is the perfect place you have for me?” Tess looked up skeptically at the
little pink house with its spotless white trim. “What is it, anyway—some kind
of boarding house for unmarried girls?”

Di snorted. “In the middle of the Unmated
Males area?
Hardly.”

“Well then, what is it?” Tess insisted.

“Just come inside and I’ll tell you. Hurry
up!” Di hissed. “I think I see some Kindred on their way.”

The two women ducked into the little house
with Tess still protesting under her breath, and found themselves in a very
neat, old-timey looking parlor. There were floral print couches lining the
walls as well as some large, comfortable looking chairs. Vases of fresh flowers
were scattered throughout the room on little tables and there was even a
bookcase on one end which held an assortment of real old fashioned paper books.

“Wow…” Tess, who was a complete
bibliophile, wandered over to caress the spines of the displayed books. “Look
at this—they have all the classics.
Pride
and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Wide Sargasso Sea—”

Before she could go on, a girl came into the
room. She had long, blonde hair and wide blue eyes and she was wearing a very
pretty light blue dress which fit her slender figure to a T.

Tess tried desperately to think of an
excuse—any excuse—as to why they were trespassing on what appeared to be private
property.

“Oh, hi! Uh, we wandered in here by
mistake and then I saw you had real old fashioned books and we just…”

But the girl didn’t pay any attention to
her. Instead, she took a book from the shelf, seemingly at random, and went to
sit on one of the many couches. Then she opened the book—again, completely at
random—and stared down at the page. But Tess could tell she wasn’t reading
because her eyes didn’t move. She just sat there, staring vacantly at the open
book and not saying a thing.

Sidling up to Di, Tess nudged her friend
with an elbow.

“What the hell is
wrong
with her?” she muttered.

“Nothing’s wrong with her,” Di said in a
normal tone of voice.

“Shhhh!”
Tess hissed. “She’s going to know we’re
talking about her!”

Di laughed. “You don’t have to whisper.
She wouldn’t notice if you broke a vase over her head.”

“What? What are you talking about?” Since
Di wasn’t whispering, Tess spoke normally too although it felt really wrong to
be saying things about the blonde girl right in front of her.

“I’m saying she’s not real. She’s a
Pairing Puppet for God’s sake.”

“A
what?
What the hell is a Pairing Puppet?”

Just then the door knob rattled.

“Quick!” Di grabbed her and dragged her
into the back room the girl had come from, making sure to shut the swinging door
behind them.

“What—?”

“Shhh!” Di gestured to the crack between
the door and the wall. “Just watch—you’ll see.”

Making sure to stay hidden, they peeked
through the crack and watched.

The front door opened and a large Kindred
warrior entered the parlor. From his golden eyes Tess could tell he was a Beast
Kindred. He walked in and came to stop in front of the girl on the couch.

The girl looked up, acknowledging him at
once.

“Good day, warrior.” Her voice was
slightly stilted—almost mechanical. “How may I serve you?”

The Kindred nodded respectfully at her.

“Forgive the intrusion but I need a
release.”

“There is no intrusion. You are most
welcome here.” The girl smiled at him but again, there was something
strange—almost
artificial
in her
expression, Tess thought.

“Thank you,” the Kindred said.

“Would you like to come to my room or do
you require me to come with you to your own place of residence for a longer,
more thorough release?” the girl asked.

The Kindred cleared his throat. “Your room
will be fine.”

“Excellent.” The girl rose suddenly, all
in one motion. “If you will follow me, I will be most happy to accommodate you,
warrior.”

At first Tess was afraid she was going to
take the Kindred into the back room but to her relief, she led him across the
parlor to a staircase instead. They climbed the stairs and were soon out of
sight. As soon as they were, she turned to Di.

“Okay, what the hell was
that
all about? Was he talking about
what I think he was talking about? Is that girl some kind of…some kind of
prostitute?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes,” Di said
calmly. “But I told you, she’s not a girl—she’s a Pairing Puppet.”

“Which means…?” Tess made a gesture for
her to go on.

“Which means a robot for all intents and
purposes. She’s not the only one either—they have a whole
bunch
of them. They stay here in this house and service all the
unmated warriors.”

“They what?” Tess made a face. “That’s
disgusting.”

“No, that’s
practical
,” Di countered. “You’ve seen how big and muscular these
guys are—you could cut the testosterone with a freaking knife. If they didn’t
have some kind of outlet…” She shook her head. “It would probably get really
ugly around here.”

“But…but they’re screwing these things?
These robots?”

“Pairing puppets.” Di shrugged. “And yeah,
they are. Unless you think that big guy just went up to her room to play a nice
game of Monopoly.”

“Very funny,” Tess muttered. “But I still
don’t understand why you brought me here.”

“To hide out, of course.”

“What?”
Tess nearly shouted.

“Shhh! That Kindred upstairs is horny, not
deaf!”

“Look, Di I can’t possibly stay
here.
I mean, aside from the fact that I
don’t look anything like some guy’s robot fantasy dream girl—”

“Don’t sell yourself short, hon—you have a
gorgeous face and a really cute figure. And your hair is to
die
for. It looks brown until you get
out in the sunlight and then it’s like a dark red halo all around your head.”

“What you think is cute and what most
guys
think is cute are two different
things,” Tess pointed out.

“Well the Kindred guys might surprise
you—they have quite a few full figured Pairing Puppets here.”

“They do?” Tess asked, surprised.

“Uh-huh. They’re especially popular with
the Twin Kindred. Although a lot of the other guys like them too. In fact,
they’re some of the most requested ones.”

“That’s really—wait a minute, we’re
getting off track here.” Tess shook her head. “What I’m saying is that there’s
no way I’m going to…to stay here and ‘service’ Kindred guys all day and night.
Not even to get away from Pierce.”

“Service them? Oh, honey, no—of course
not!” Di looked suitably horrified. “Don’t be silly—I wouldn’t expect you to do
that. I said you could
hide
here—not
work
here.” She laughed. “If you can
call that work. Well, I guess you can…”

“Are you sure this is a good place,
though?” Tess looked around doubtfully. They seemed to be standing in some kind
of kitchen area. At least, there were countertops and counters and a sink and a
big silver machine mounted on the wall that looked kind of like a microwave.
There was also a large wooden table with chairs that looked like they had been
built for people slightly larger than human. It made Tess think of the story of
Goldilocks and the Three Bears. “
Who’s
been sitting in my chair?” growled Papa bear…

“This is the
perfect
place.” Di pressed her arm. “Look, just think about it.
There’s a well stocked kitchen here—see?” She opened one of the cabinets
revealing rows and rows of tiny white cubes.

“Uh…they eat sugar cubes?” Tess looked at
them doubtfully.

“No, silly—these are Kindred meal ration
cubes.” Di frowned. “I
think
that’s
what they’re called. Anyway, you just take one and put it into this thingy
here…” She opened the silver microwave looking thing and placed a random cube
inside. “Press the button and in a minute or two…ta-da! A fresh, delicious
meal.” She put the cube back in the cupboard. “I’m not going to do it for real
but you get the idea.”

“Seriously? They eat real food? But I
thought they were robots.”

“The Paring Puppets have real flesh over
their robotic bodies,” Di said. “But I
think
they mostly live on some kind of protein paste. The food is for the
warriors. I guess sometimes they, uh, work up an appetite, if you know what I
mean.” She winked.

“Very funny,” Tess said dryly. “So there’s
plenty of food but where do I sleep? And more importantly, how do I keep from
being noticed?”

“Just keep out of sight. It should be easy
enough—aside from the kitchen there are tons of bedrooms upstairs with big,
comfortable beds. And in a pinch, you could hide in the maintenance and recharging
room.” Di gestured to a small, dark hallway at the other end of the kitchen.
“Come see.” She led the way and Tess put her head through the doorway.

“What
is
this?” she muttered when a long, shadowy room met her eyes. Then she saw a
pair of eyes gleaming at her from the darkness. “Ahh!” She jerked back, her
heart pounding. “There’s something in there!”

“Probably just a malfunctioning puppet
waiting for repairs.” Di looked in and nodded. “Yup—that’s it. Oh, and
look—it’s one of the plus sized ones, like I told you. Come look.”

Reluctantly, Tess allowed herself to be
led into the dark, narrow room. There were giant silver claws placed at
intervals along both walls. Most of them were empty but one was clamped down
over the top of a girl’s head.

No,
not a girl—a Pairing Puppet,
Tess reminded
herself.

The girl was simply standing there,
staring straight ahead, with the three pronged claw attached to the top of her
head. She was, as Di had said, quite full figured with large breasts and hips
and big thighs too, which could be seen through the simple white dress she
wore.

“Wow,” Tess murmured, staring at the
puppet. “You weren’t kidding.”

“Of course not—the Kindred like women with
some meat on their bones.” Di grinned. “So see—if push came to shove and you were
accidentally seen, you’d blend right in.”

“Thanks a lot,” Tess muttered. “I still
can’t believe you brought me to a robot brothel to lie low.”

“It’s a great hiding place,” Di protested.
“And don’t think I didn’t check it out thoroughly before I brought you up here.
I stayed here one night myself, just to make sure everything was okay.”

“And?” Tess raised an eyebrow.

“And it’s
perfect,
like I said. The perfect camouflage. Plenty to eat, a nice
place to sleep—they changed the sheets after every, ah, encounter by the way,
so you don’t have to worry about it not being clean. All you have to do is go
hide in the kitchen if a warrior comes in looking for comfort. And if they come
in the kitchen—which, by the way, doesn’t happen very often that I could
see—just duck into the recharging room. It’s easy.”

“Wow…” Tess looked at her admiringly.
“You’ve really got this all planned out.”

“I knew eventually you’d need a place to
run to, to get away from Pierce,” Di said seriously. “Men like him are hard to
throw off the scent. But this should do the trick.”

“I agree.” Tess nodded slowly. “It’s a
little—well, a
lot
weird—but it might
just work.”

“It has to.” Di looked suddenly serious.
“You can’t go back to him, Tess, and you can’t let him find you. He’ll kill you
this time. After what he did to poor Gus…”

“I’m not going back.” Tess lifted her
chin. “And like you said, this is the perfect camouflage—he’s never going to
find me.” She sighed. “I just wish I hadn’t had to lie to my job about where I
was going. I hope Mrs. Henshaw will be okay without me there to find her false
teeth. She gets so upset when she loses them.”

“You’re an angel, hon. I know the folks at
Happy Rest are going to miss you. But Pierce knows you work there,” Di pointed
out. “It would be the easiest thing in the world for him to wait out in the
parking lot one night when you’re working a late shift and then—”

“Stop!” Tess put up a hand. “Please, I
don’t want to think about it. I have enough nightmares as it is.”

“Sorry,” Di said sympathetically. “Are you
really still having bad dreams?”

“Not
all
bad.” Tess frowned. “And not all about Pierce either. Lately, I…never mind.”

“Lately what?” Di probed.

“Nothing. It’s just this weird dream I
keep having but I can’t remember it when I wake up.”

“Then how do you know it’s the same
dream?”

Tess shrugged. “I just
know.”