Devoured: Brides of the Kindred 11 (21 page)

Chapter
Twenty-one

“You don’t understand—my daughter is off
limits!” Senator Hastings glowered at Chancellor Terex in a way that no doubt
struck fear in the hearts of other Earthlings. He was a big man—almost as big
as a Kindred—with distinguished salt and pepper hair and a sturdy physique
despite his advanced age. His seat on the World Council, the ruling body on
Earth when it came to dealings with the Kindred, had been secure for many
years, making him one of the most powerful men on the planet.

In contrast to the Senator’s robust build,
his daughter was a frail little thing with long, straight black hair she had
scraped up into a severe bun at the nape of her neck and big, frightened eyes
she hid behind the strange ocular device the humans called “glasses.”

Terex—or rather, Ur the demon who inhabited him—simply smiled
condescendingly. He was quite enjoying being the head of the Kindred High
Council and as far as he could see, none of the other Council members suspected
him a bit. Little by little he had been pushing—testing the limits of his power
and still no one objected to his rulings. This meeting would be a good test to
see how much further he could push.

“Councilor Sylvan, as the voice of this
Council I will let you answer,” he said smoothly, turning to the Blood Kindred
on his right. “What have we to say about the Senator’s objections?”

“Senator,” Sylvan began, in a reasonable
tone. “Your daughter, Mei-Li Hastings, has been entered in the draft which
means that if she begins dream sharing with a Kindred warrior, she must and
will be called for a claiming period.”

“But these are no ordinary dreams!” Senator
Hastings turned to his daughter. “Tell them, honey.”

“I… I hardly know where to start.” Mei-Li
swallowed hard and looked down at her hands. She looked frail and delicate, as
small as a child sitting at a seat drawn up to the Council table which had been
crafted for the much larger Kindred.

“Just describe what you’re seeing in the
dreams,” Sylvan said gently. “All of us here at the table have dream shared
with our mates before we met them. We will not sit in judgment of you, whatever
you may say.”

The other Council members nodded and
murmured ascent.

“Well, I…” She swallowed again. “It starts
out in a big, dark room. Like a…I don’t know a computer room or someplace
technical, I guess. It’s hard to see but there are lights blinking and glowing
in the shadows. There’s a smell like…oil or metal in the air. Machinery, I
guess. I’ve never had a dream where I could smell anything before but this…it’s
such a
vivid
dream.”

“Not unusual during dream sharing.” Sylvan
nodded, frowning. “Go on.”

“Well…” She looked down at her slender
fingers which were twisting nervously in her lap. “In the dream I know…know
there’s something—no, some
one
in the
corner. I don’t want to see him and yet…I can’t help myself. My feet carry me
over to him.”

“And what do you see?” Sylvan’s frown had
deepened.

“I see…” She swallowed again and her
throat made a dry clicking noise. “I see what looks like a…a coffin standing
against the wall. It’s this big, metal box shaped kind of like a sarcophagus
but with wires coming out of it. And inside it, just standing there is a…” She
shook her head. “I don’t even know if I can call him a man.”

“What does he look like?” Sylvan sounded
concerned.

“He’s huge but that’s not what makes him
so scary. He’s got…metal on him. On his
face
.”

“Do you mean like a piercing—a metal ring
through his ears or nose like some humans get?” one of the other Councilors
asked.

The girl shook her head. “No, it’s
like…his face is part robot. I’m sorry, I know that doesn’t make sense but I
don’t know how else to describe it. And then…” She took a deep breath. “Then he
opens his eyes.”

“And?” Sylvan asked softly.

“And one of them is normal—well, as far as
I can see in the dark, anyway. But the other is this weird red searchlight
looking thing. It glows and it seems to track my movements when he looks at
me.”

“I see.” Sylvan nodded. “And does he say
anything? Anything at all?”

“Yes.” She nodded, ducking her head
nervously. “He always says the same thing in this deep, weird voice. He says,
‘You are not authorized to be here. I will find you and make you pay for this
intrusion.’ Then I wake up.”

“Screaming
and crying
, she wakes up,” the
senator put in, rapping the table with his knuckles. “Gentlemen, I know most of
you have sons rather than daughters but trust me, when your little girl wakes
up crying in the middle of the night from a bad dream, you want to do your best
to shoo that boogeyman away.
That
is
why I am here on your Mother Ship today.”

“I’m not a little girl anymore, Dad,”
Mei-Li objected, turning scarlet. “I’m a grown woman with a career and a life.”

“A life which is about to be taken from
you if we don’t do something about it, Mei-Li,” her father growled.

“But I’m not dreaming of the
boogeyman—he’s just a Kindred.” She shivered. “A really
strange
one, I guess.” She looked at Sylvan. “No offense to your
people but I haven’t seen anyone aboard the Mother Ship who looks like the guy
in my dream.”

Sylvan sighed. “That is because you’re not
dream sharing with a regular Kindred male.”

“What? What are you talking about?” the
senator demanded. “Are you saying you people assigned my little girl to some
abnormal—”

“Dream sharing is a Kindred phenomenon
that happens when a warrior’s mind aligns with his destined mate’s mind,”
Sylvan said sternly. “Neither I, nor anyone on this Council can ‘assign’ anyone
to anyone else. That is the province of the Goddess.”

“Well, whoever’s responsible, I don’t like
it! These dreams—this
man—
they’re
scaring my daughter. And she does
not
deserve
to be frightened this way. Do you know what she does? She’s a children’s social
worker.” Senator Hastings rapped on the table again for emphasis. “Now,
gentlemen, let me elucidate in case you don’t understand. She
protects
at-risk children. With my money
and connections and her grades and brains, she could have gone to any law
school or medical school in the country. But no—her heart is so big—”

“Dad,
please,”
Mei-Li begged, turning scarlet in a way that both amused and disgusted
Terex/Ur. “You’re embarrassing me.”

“I’m just stating the facts, Pun’kin.” He
frowned. “They need to know you’re not some spoiled little rich girl who’s
refusing to do her duty out of spite. You have an important job and you perform
a valuable service on Earth—we can’t afford to lose you.”

“I’m just a social worker,” she protested.
“I love my job but…” She looked at Sylvan appealingly. “Look, I wouldn’t mind
being called if these dreams weren’t so…so strange. This guy in my dreams, he
scares
me. So much I’ve been trying not
to sleep at night so I can avoid seeing him. Please, can you tell me what kind
of Kindred he is?”

Sylvan sighed. “The one you are dreaming
of—if your description is accurate—is a member of the Dark Kindred.”

Mei-Li’s delicate cheeks went pale while
her father got red in the face.

“
What
?”
he exploded. “The
Dark
Kindred? What
the hell kind of name is that?”

“They call themselves the Enhanced Ones,”
Sylvan said. “But their faction broke away many cycles ago. And they never
dream share with females of any kind. They have sworn never to take brides—it’s
the reason they left in the first place.”

“But…what does that mean for me?” the
senator’s daughter asked. “I’m dream sharing with one—over and over again. Only
it’s more like a nightmare than a dream.”

Sylvan shook his head. “I don’t understand
why
you would be dream sharing with a
Dark Kindred—they distain emotions and have gone to great lengths to eradicate
all feeling within themselves. Also, they are not part of our genetic trade
with Earth. So I can’t imagine that you would be required to spend a Claiming period
with—”

“Oh, yes she will,” Terex/Ur interrupted.

“What?” Sylvan turned to stare at him.
“But Chancellor—he’s a Dark Kindred. They disavowed all females when they chose
to leave the Mother Ship and join the Enhanced Ones. Besides, where would they
spend their Claiming Period? She would never be allowed down to the surface of
Vega Prime—not unenhanced as she is.”

“Those will be problems she can work out
with the warrior she is dream sharing with when he comes to claim her,”
Terex/Ur said, frowning. He really had to work at the frown because he wanted
to laugh—he was enjoying this immensely.

“What are you saying?” the Senator
exploded. “Are you telling me you want to hand my little girl over to some
strange faction of the Kindred who don’t even
like
women—who might be
dangerous?”

Terex/Ur shrugged as though it was out of
his hands. “My dear Senator, we are Kindred and as such, we must support the
claims of our brethren, no matter how distantly related or how…
strange
they may be.”

As he had hoped, this really got the human
male going.

“No!” Senator Hastings jumped up and
pounded on the Council table with his fist. “This will not stand!”

“It will,” Terex/Ur said. “Your daughter
has been entered in the draft—she is now being called. If she does not answer
the summons and go with the Kindred who has chosen her, she will be in
violation of our treaty.”

“Maybe it’s time for that treaty to end,”
the Senator growled ominously.

“Senator, please,” Sylvan began. “There’s
no need for—”

“I’ve always been a strong supporter of
the Kindred,” the Senator continued, talking over him. “You saved us from the
Scourge—no one can deny that we owed you for that. But how many Earth girls
have you called already? How many have been forced to leave their home planet
to come and join an alien race and bear children for you people?”

“No one is forcing anyone!” Sylvan
objected. “The Earth females are free to leave after the Claiming Period if
they don’t—”

“What are you saying, Senator?” Terex/Ur
interrupted. He was really enjoying himself now but he was careful to keep his
face blank.

“I’m saying the debt has been paid!
Many
times over.” The Senator banged on
the table again. “I’m saying we need to put an end to this draft once and for
all. And, Gentlemen, that is
exactly
what
I am going to say at the next session of the World Council as well. We don’t
need you anymore—it’s time you moved on and left our daughters alone!”

“Senator, please!” Sylvan protested but
the Senator was already halfway out of the Council room.

“Come on, Pun’kin—we’re leaving,” he
growled, taking his daughter by the arm.

Sylvan and a few of the other Council
members jumped up to reason with him but Terex/Ur made a motion to them to sit.

“Let the Senator go. He has made his views
abundantly clear.”

As the human male stormed out with his
daughter in tow, Sylvan turned to him.

“Chancellor, why did you do that? What was
the point in antagonizing them?”

Terex/Ur raised an eyebrow at him. “Is it
antagonistic to demand what is rightfully ours? I think not.”

“But our situation with the humans is
delicate,” another Council member protested. “Senator Hastings used to be one
of our biggest supporters—now he’s been turned against us. And he’s not the
first human in power to suggest that it’s time we moved on.”

“Councilor Gora is right,” Sylvan said.
“If this situation continues to escalate, we could lose our ability to call
brides from Earth.”

“That could only happen if we
let
it happen,” Terex/Ur said. He looked
around the table. “And we will
not
let
it happen. We will take what we were promised, whether they wish to give it or
not.”

Sylvan stared at him blankly. “Chancellor
Terex, surely you’re not suggesting we go to war with a planet we swore to
protect?”

Terex/Ur shrugged. “If that is what it
takes. If we cannot call brides in any other way, then so be it.”

“But, we cannot allow our warriors to take
females by force! We cannot!” Councilor Gora objected. Several of the other
Councilors joined him.

“We must not—”

“Our honor as Kindred and warriors—”

Terex/Ur frowned. So they were not ready
to consider war yet. So be it. They would be soon.

“Now, now…” he said, soothingly.
“Councilors, please. There’s no need to talk about war yet—I’m certain it won’t
come to that. In fact, as a gesture of good will towards the people of Earth, I
suggest that we stop calling brides for a little while.”

“What?” Sylvan exclaimed. “Stop calling
brides? But just a moment ago you said we should take what we wanted. And what about
the unmated males whose minds are aligning with females down on Earth? What
about those that are dream sharing—and the ones about to start their Claiming
periods?”