Devoured: Brides of the Kindred 11 (29 page)

“Pierce
is
good at that,” she admitted reluctantly.

“Don’t put yourself back in his power. Di
wouldn’t have wanted that.” Garron sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
“Look, I have a possible solution to my problem. If you can just bear with me
until I can get it fixed, then we can concentrate on finding a way to get you
to your friend’s bedside without that bastard coming after you.”

“Oh?” She brushed a tear off her cheek.
“What are you going to do?”

“If all goes well, I think I know of a
place that can help me,” Garron said. “It will mean traveling to the fringes of
a very dangerous planet but as long as we follow convention and stay off the
planet’s surface, we should be fine.”

Tess frowned. “We?”

“Yes.” He nodded grimly. Before he’d been
thinking of leaving her behind—just for a day or two under the watchful eyes of
the Kindred stationed in Asheville.
Now, however, her ex-mate had proven himself to be more than abusive—he was
unquestionably murderous. Ruthlessly willing to do anything he had to in order
to get Tess back. The only way to make sure she was completely safe was to take
her with him—even if it meant going into danger. “Yes,” he said again, looking
into her eyes. “I’m not taking any chances with you,
lin’del.
You’re going to come with me.”

Chapter
Twenty-seven

It was the third time Tess had ridden in
one of the Kindred shuttles that moved back and forth between Earth and the
huge Mother Ship which orbited the moon, but this was by far the most comfortable
journey. The ranking Kindred officer at the Asheville HKR had given them a long
range shuttle since they intended to fold space. It was roomier and more
luxurious than either the civilian transport she’d gone up to the Mother Ship
in the first place or the small two person craft she’d been brought back down
in.

But the comfortable—albeit much too
large—flight chair she was strapped into and all the complicated looking
instruments on the driver’s side of the craft couldn’t hold her attention for long.
As Garron manipulated the ship up and out of Earth’s atmosphere, all she could
think of was Di.

Oh,
Di, I’m so sorry. So sorry I put you in harm’s way!

She could picture the scene in her
mind—Pierce shouting and raging at first, demanding answers which her friend
refused to give. Then his voice would drop to that dangerous, quiet tone—the
almost whisper she knew meant a particularly bad beating was on the way.

She could imagine him standing over Di
holding a bloody baseball bat.

“Where’s
my wife, you whore? Where did you send her? Answer me or so help me God…”

“Tess, stop.” A big warm hand on her knee
drew her attention to Garron.

“What?” She looked at him and realized he
looked blurry. Then something warm and wet rolled down her cheek and she
understood why. “Stop what?” she said again, brushing the tears from her eyes.

“Stop torturing yourself,” he said softly.
“Di wouldn’t have wanted it.”

“I can’t help it,” she admitted in a low
voice. “I just keep picturing it over and over and there’s nothing I can do—”

“I can.” He looked at her intently. “I
promise you this, Tess—there
will
be
a reckoning. For your friend. For all the pain and torment he inflicted on
you.” His eyes flashed suddenly in the dim cabin. “When we come back to Earth,
I will see that he pays—over and over.”

“No, Garron,” she protested. “You don’t
have to—”

“I want to. I
must.”
His voice was a low growl. “I will not call you ‘mine’
because I know how you feel about the idea of being claimed or owned. But I
must and will protect and avenge you.”

“I…” Tess didn’t know what to say. Knowing
he felt so strongly about her left her nearly speechless. And though he wasn’t
claiming her in so many words, he certainly was with his actions.
His…how would it feel to be his? To be
Garron’s?
she mused. The idea gave her a flutter in her stomach because
somehow she knew if she were to belong to him, he would also belong to her.

“As for your ex-mate,” he went on. “For
now, all you can do now is to keep safe and stay far away from him. Your friend
would have wanted that.”

“Well…” Tess tried to laugh but it came
out as a broken little sob. “You’re certainly taking me far away. How far did
you say? Ten thousand light years?”

“Twenty,” Garron said grimly. “But the
journey will be nearly instantaneous. We’re going to fold space—or rather, the
Mother Ship will fold it for us.”

“Okay, as long as we don’t come back home
and everyone is dead from old age.”

“No.” He shook his head. “That would be if
we were traveling at or just below light speed.”

“And everyone back on Earth would have
aged much faster than us, right?” Tess asked.

“Exactly. That is one reason why direct
trajectory space travel is useless. The distances between the different stars
and systems are so vast that even going at such a tremendous rate of speed, it
would take us years to reach the nearest star. That’s why the Kindred developed
the space folding technology—they never would have been able to find genetic
trade partners if they were limited to their own solar system or even their own
galaxy.”

Tess nodded. “Okay, but—”

Just then there was a small dinging noise
which seemed to be coming from the large flat screen at the front of the
instrument panel.

“Incoming call,” Garron explained.
“Probably from Truth.” He manipulated one of the controls and the viewscreen
flickered to life. The image on its flat surface was the tall, blond Kindred
who Garron had taken her to in the first place when he caught her in the
Pairing House.

“Garron,” he said, nodding shortly.

“Commander Sylvan.” Garron returned the nod.
“I thank you for facilitating this trip.”

“You’re more than welcome, Garron, but I
expect you to live up to your part of the bargain,” the blond Kindred said. “It
has been years since there has been any contact between those of us aboard the
Mother Ship and the Dark Kindred. Gather any information you can about their
ways and practices.”

“I will do my utmost,” Garron promised
gravely. “Is anything known about which male the human girl is dream sharing
with? Should I try to get specific information about him?”

“All she seems to know is that he has one
enhanced eye,” Sylvan said. “No names or any other specifics were apparent in
her dream—at least, none that she told us.”

Garron frowned. “It isn’t much to go on.”

“I know. Which is why I mainly just want an
overview. Now if you happen to run across more specific information, I would
greatly appreciate it. Anything we could use to put the girl’s father’s mind at
ease would be valuable.”

“I’ll try.” Garron sounded uncertain. “But
if what I’ve heard about the Dark Kindred is true, there isn’t much about them
that would put anyone at ease.”

“Zeaga Four is a grim and dangerous
place,” Sylvan admitted. He frowned. “Which begs the question, why are you
bringing your female with you there?”

“Because as dangerous as Zeaga Four is,
she is still safer with me,” Garron said. “Her ex-mate is intent on finding
her. He is violent and abusive. I won’t leave her on the same planet as him
while I fly off to another system.” His eyes glowed in the dimness of the
cockpit.

“All right. All right.” Sylvan held up his
hands in a calming gesture. “I trust in your good judgment and your ability to
take care of your female. And I’m certain she trusts you as well.”

“I do,” Tess put in. She had been
listening quietly up until now but it seemed like she had to say something. “I
trust Garron completely.”

“That’s good.” Sylvan nodded. “Then I take
it the two of you have made up the differences you were having when Garron
first brought you to me?”

Tess thought of the night before, of
Garron’s big hand between her thighs and his deep voice murmuring that he
wanted to give her pleasure, that he wanted to hear her moan…

“Yes.” Her voice came out in an
embarrassed squeak and she felt her cheeks getting hot. She cleared her throat
and tried again. “Yes, absolutely.”

Sylvan smiled, showing two sets of short,
sharp, double fangs.

“That’s good. And now, before the Mother
Ship folds space for you, I have someone else who wants to talk to you.”

He stepped back and Becca came onscreen
along with a tall Kindred with very short black hair. He looked a little like
Garron in the face but his eyes were a pale gray instead of turquoise.

“Hello, Truth,” Garron said, nodding at
him. The other male nodded back but it was Becca who spoke.

“Tess! It’s so good to see you again! I
just wanted to say hi before you went flying off.”

“That was nice of you.” Tess smiled at
her. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to stay and get to know you better the other day.”

“That was my fault,” Garron said shortly.

“No it wasn’t,” Tess put a hand on his leg
and turned back to Becca. “I know I’m not allowed aboard the Mother Ship but I
hope you guys don’t think I’m some kind of terrorist or something.”

“Of
course
not.” Becca made a shooing gesture. “And I don’t think you’ll be banned
forever. Once you and Garron get bonded, they’ll
have
to let you come back aboard.”

“Um…bonded?” Tess asked, looking at
Garron. His eyes were glowing again and his cheeks had gone red.

“Rebecca, I believe you’re overstepping,”
Truth said quietly. “I do not believe that Garron and Tess have spoken of
bonding yet.”

“Oops!” Becca put a hand to her mouth.
“I’m sorry! The two of you just look so cozy and right together. I just
assumed…” She shook her head. “But I shouldn’t have. Sorry if I made things
awkward.”

“You didn’t,” Tess assured her although
she was dying to find out exactly what “bonding” entailed now. Was it a Kindred
thing? Though the interstellar warriors had been in orbit around the moon and
calling brides from Earth for years now, there was still a lot of secrecy
around the actual process of becoming a Kindred bride. It was treated as
something that was strictly on a need-to-know basis. And since she’d been
married to Pierce and hadn’t even been registered in the draft, she certainly
hadn’t needed to know. Until now.

“Be careful on Zeaga Four,” Truth said,
obviously changing the subject.

“We’ll be fine,” Garron assured him.
“We’re only going to visit one of the medical barges, after all. But since the Dark
Kindred visit the barges regularly for enhancements, we should still be able to
get plenty of information about their habits and practices.”

“Just don’t let Tess out of your sight,”
Truth warned. “The Enhanced Ones do not revere females as they should.”

“I know, Brother. We must go now—I see the
rift opening.” Garron nodded at the viewing area at the front of the ship which
was located where a windshield would be in a car.

Tess let her eyes follow his and what she
saw nearly took her breath away. There was a huge gash in space—a violent,
blood-red tear with a pitch black center like a malevolent eye.

“Are…are we going into
that?”
she asked, pointing to it.

“Looks really freaky, doesn’t it?” Becca
asked sympathetically. “But don’t worry, it’s just the fold in space. It feels
a little weird going through it but it doesn’t do any damage. Uh, unless you’re
pregnant…” She let the last word hang in the air like a question.

Tess shook her head quickly, feeling her
cheeks get hot again.

“Uh, no. Nope, no chance,” she assured
Becca quickly.

“Well, I didn’t think so since you had no
idea what bonding was. But still…” Becca looked off-screen for a moment. “Okay,
Sylvan is telling us to wrap it up. Folding space takes a massive amount of
energy so you guys need to get going.”

“Approaching the rift now.” Garron was
already manipulating the controls.

“Bye, Tess.” Becca waved at her. “When you
get back, we need to get together again. If you can’t come to the Mother Ship,
I’ll come down to Earth to see you.”

Tess smiled. “That sounds great. I’m, uh,
not sure where I’ll be though. Probably not in Tampa until the situation with my ex gets
resolved.”

“You’ll have to tell me all about it. In
the mean time, take care of yourself.” She pointed at Garron. “And
you
take care of Tess. I like her.”

Garron nodded shortly. “I will protect her
with my life. Not a drop of her blood shall spill unless all of mine has first
been shed.”

“Wow…” Tess looked at him uncertainly. “Is
that…”

“It’s a Kindred oath,” Becca assured her.
“But you can be sure he means every word of it—Kindred don’t take such things
lightly.” She winked at Tess. “I know—it’s a lot to take in, isn’t it? Call me
if you have any questions—seriously, any time of the day or night. Okay?”

“Sure. Thank you,” Tess said but she was
still looking at Garron.

The big Kindred faced straight ahead as
the viewscreen went dark, his face lit by the faint glow of the instruments.

“Garron—” she began.

“Hold tight,” he murmured. “We’re about to
enter the rift. When we come out the other side, you will be further than you
have ever been from your home world.”

“But I’ll be with you,” Tess said softly.
“So I’ll be all right.”

“Yes.” He gave her a quick sideward
glance. “I swore to protect you and I will.”

“I know,” Tess whispered. “I know.” And
then they entered the red gash in space and she closed her eyes.

* * * * *

Garron watched anxiously for the
appearance of the silver-black planet that was
Zeaga Four in the viewscreen. Though he had never been there,
he had heard that it was a completely industrialized planet ruled by sentient
machines though how it had become that way, remained a mystery.

It came into view soon enough,
spinning slowly in space. Its metallic surface reflected back the light of its
sun—a bloated red giant in the first stages of its inevitable collapse. A
million years from now, the inhabitants of Zeaga Four would have to find a new
home. But in the meantime, it appeared to be business as usual. Machinery
glittered in the pale red sunlight and the many white and red medical barges
that orbited the silvery-black world were busy with smaller ships constantly
landing and departing from their vast docking bays.