Divided: Brides of the Kindred 10 (51 page)

“Where’s it going?” Becca panted as they reached the edge of
the green and purple grass.

“Look, there!” Truth pointed. “I think it’s headed for the
Unmated Males area.”

Sure enough, the amulet was zipping towards the shimmering,
iridescent shield wall. The wall stood as a barrier, separating the abandoned
park and Sacred Grove from the Unmated Males area where all those that had been
possessed by demons were still sedated.

Standing in front of the wall was a contingent of Kindred
warriors, armed and watchful. When the shining, humming amulet came into sight,
they drew their weapons and Becca heard muttered curses of disbelief.

“What in the Seven Hells is that?” one of them snarled, taking
aim with his blaster.

“Stop!” Sylvan ran up behind them. “Don’t shoot,” he ordered
the assembled warriors. He turned to Becca and her men. “Is that the amulet?
What is it doing?”

“We have no idea,” Truth growled. He was supporting Far and the
light twin looked up at Sylvan.

“We did…did as the instructions ordered,” he rasped. Clearly
the chase to the park area had tired him out. “And then…”

“And it started glowing and humming and…and
flying,”
Becca
finished. She gestured at the amulet, her heart in her throat. What was it
going to do next? Behind the shimmering wall she could see the unmated males
who had been taken over. Some were lying down, perfectly still because of the
sedative gas Sylvan had been having pumped into the area. But others were
slightly more alert, moving around with big, slow, shambling movements like
zombies. The ones that were awake had eyes that glowed an evil red, just like
they had in the vision she and Truth and Far had seen, which started everything
in the first place.

Lying in front of the area, just inside the barrier, was a
large chunk of pitch black rock—shadow stone, she realized. Sylvan really
had
done everything that Vashtar had told them, including providing the stone to
absorb the demons once they were evicted from their host bodies.

The amulet was now hovering just in front of the shield wall,
glowing and humming louder than ever. Some of the possessed males began looking
up groggily. When they saw the amulet, the drugged expressions on their faces
changed abruptly from stupor to horror.

“What is it doing now?” Truth asked impatiently.

“Maybe waiting to be let in?” Becca asked, remembering the way
the amulet had waited until the door of Truth’s suite was opened to zip out.

“I don’t understand,” Sylvan said frowning. “This is
not
what
we were told to expect.”

“But look at their faces.” Far gestured weakly at the Unmated
Males area where more and more of the possessed males were coming awake and
staring up at the shining, hovering amulet. “Clearly they fear it. You should
let it in.”

“I don’t know…” Sylvan shook his head. “If I let down the
shield barrier even for a moment and they get out—”

“Commander…” Far laid a hand on his arm. “I think…think you’re
going to have to take a chance.”

“Far?” Sylvan looked at him more closely, an expression of
concern on his strong features. “Are you well? You look significantly worse
than the last time I saw you. When this is over I want you to the Med center
for a completely workup.”

“Yes, Commander.” Far sketched a weak salute. “But in the
meantime, you need to let the amulet in to do its…its job.” He faltered and
almost fell but Truth held him up.

“Steady, Brother,” he muttered, gripping Far more tightly. “The
bonding took a lot out of him,” he explained to Sylvan.

“Far, honey, are you okay?” Becca came to stand on the light
twin’s other side. His skin felt cold which worried her even more. “Hang in
there, all right? We’re going to get you to the doctor as soon as this is
done.”

“Of course.” Far gave her a tired, weak smile that made her
heart clench in her chest. She was about to insist that they get him to the med
center
now
instead of later when she heard Sylvan shouting at the
warriors guarding the area.

“Hold your ground and be wary. The shield barrier is coming
down!”

There were grumbles of disbelief but before anyone could become
more vocal, Sylvan pressed a control on a small hand-held device and the
shimmering, iridescent shield suddenly ceased to exist.

At once the amulet, shining like a star, zipped into the
Unmated Males area. The possessed males who saw it, tried to run, tripping and
stumbling, their glowing red eyes filled with horror.

“No!” one screamed in a high, inhuman voice. “The star—the star
of purity! It has returned!”

“They’re getting out—getting away!” one of the Kindred who was
guarding the area shouted.

“Hold your fire—do not shoot your brethren,” Sylvan roared.
“Wait—let the amulet work!”

Becca watched, breathless, wondering what the amulet would do.
Would it chase down every single possessed warrior or would it—

Her question was abruptly answered when the amulet rose almost
to the high ceiling of the Unmated Males area. The humming it had been making
swelled to a single, high, perfect note so beautiful it brought tears to her
eyes. Then suddenly it erupted into a thousand piercing rays of brilliant white
light. The beams shot out in all directions, raining down on the possessed
males who were scrambling madly to get away.

“Mother of God,” she whispered as she saw first one, then
dozens, then hundreds of the unmated males pierced by the beams. It looked like
they were all being shot with impossibly bright lasers which stopped them dead
in their tracks and passed right through them.

Then, horribly, the possessed males began to scream. They
stayed where they were, impaled by light, their bodies contorted into rigid
postures of agony while high, terrible shrieks and howls ripped from their
throats.

“Goddess,” Truth muttered. “It’s
killing
them!”

“I don’t think so—look!” Becca gestured to a male who was
closer to them than the rest. The huge Kindred body was doubled over and
shaking, almost as though the male was having some kind of a fit. The laser
beam of brilliant white coming from the amulet seemed to fill him until he glowed
from within and Becca almost thought she could see his bones. Then, suddenly,
he shot upright, threw back his head, and gave a high, ululating shriek.

As the sound left his mouth, so did something else—a dark cloud
that seemed to be vaguely shaped like a person. It turned to look at Becca for
a moment, its eyes glowing red and filled with malevolence. For a second she
thought it was headed in their direction and she drew back in fear. But then
the cloud was tugged away, sucked in the opposite direction.

Becca looked to see what was happening and saw that the dark
cloud was being pulled towards the chunk of black shadow stone, like a line of
iron filings being drawn to a magnet.

“Oh my goodness—look!” she gasped as the black cloud with its glowing
red eyes disappeared and many other similar clouds followed. “They really are
being pulled into the stone!”

“It’s working,” Sylvan said in a low voice. “Look—the unmated
males are waking up—coming back to themselves.”

It was true, Becca saw. The male she’d just watched become
unpossessed was shaking his head and rubbing his neck. He shook out his arms
and stretched like a man who had just spent a long night in a very cramped
position. When he looked up at Becca, his eyes were clear with no trace of red
in them. There was a look of confusion on his face but also joy, as though he
had been on a long, troubling journey but had finally returned home.

Becca felt a surge of delight. He was free of the unclean
spirit that had been using him as a host—he had his body and his life back.
Even though she didn’t know this warrior, she wanted to hug him and welcome him
back to the land of the living.

“Look,” she whispered, a lump in her throat. “The demon that
was in him is gone—he’s going to be okay.”

“I guess it was right to lower the shield wall, after all,”
Truth murmured. “You were right, Brother…Brother?
Far?”

The panic in his voice made Becca realize that it had been a
while since the light twin had spoken. And now that she thought if it, she
couldn’t feel any emotion coming from him either. She turned toward him,
feeling like she was moving in slow motion, and saw to her horror that his eyes
were closed and he was sagging against Truth.

“Far? Far, can you hear me?” Truth slapped him lightly on the
cheek but got no response.

“Let me see him.” Sylvan was suddenly right beside them. “Lower
him down to the ground—let me examine him,” he commanded.

Truth and Becca laid the long, limp form out on the grass and
watched as Sylvan examined him.

You looked away,
a little voice inside her head yammered.
You
looked away and now he’s gone. He slipped away and you didn’t even notice
because you did the one thing you promised you wouldn’t do—you took your eyes
off him. This is your fault—your fault!

Becca pushed the evil little voice away.
No, can’t think
like that! Far’s okay. He’s just tired.

“He just fainted, right?” she demanded, her voice shaking. “I
mean, he’ll be all right—he
has
to be!
Please
, Commander Sylvan!”

To her horror, Sylvan sat back on his heels, an expression of
deep sorrow on his face. He looked up at Truth, who was watching silently, and
then at Becca and slowly shook his head.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “But Far is gone. He’s dead.”

Chapter
Forty-six

“No.” Becca shook her head, denying his words. “No, you’re
wrong
,
Sylvan! Check again! You have to check him again!” She could hear the hysteria
in her own voice but she couldn’t seem to stop it.

Truth, who was kneeling beside his brother’s body, reached over
and pressed two fingers to the side of Far’s throat. He held them there for a
long moment and then looked at Becca and shook his head.

“No pulse.” His deep voice was husky with emotion. “I’m sorry,
Rebecca.”

“He…you…you have to help him!” Becca turned back to Sylvan and
grabbed him by the lapels of his pale blue uniform shirt. “Get a defibrillator!
Start CPR! You’re a doctor—
do something!”

“Rebecca, sweetheart…” Truth came around and pried her hands
away from Sylan’s shirt. He took her by the shoulders. “Look at me,” he
commanded. “Nothing Commander Sylvan can do will work. Far was too far
gone—look at his skin, the grayish hue. The
dr’gin
poison overwhelmed
his system. Even if we could bring him back, he would just…” He cleared his
throat. “Just die again.”

“No!” Becca insisted stubbornly. “There has to be something we
can do! There has to be
something.”

“There isn’t.” Truth’s pale gray eyes were bright with unshed
tears. “Feel within you, Rebecca—feel our bond. Far is gone.”

Becca didn’t want to but she had to know for sure. She closed
her eyes and did as Truth said, feeling for the light twin, feeling for Far,
who had known from the start that the three of them belonged together. Who had
drawn them towards each other even when she and Truth had no wish to be drawn.

What she felt was…nothing. The part of the bond she shared with
Far was a blank—an empty space. A gaping hole that she knew would never be
filled.

Gone. Far was gone. Her eyes widened and her knees folded in
shock. Truth caught her before she could fall and they sank to the ground
together as Becca sobbed her sorrow and disbelief. The dark twin’s arms around
her felt good and comforting but somehow incomplete. She needed something
else—someone on the other side to hug her. Someone to make their circle whole.
But Far was gone—it was never going to be whole again.

No, please no,
Becca thought, her eyes closed tight as
the sobs wracked her. And then, because she didn’t know what else to do, she
started praying.

Goddess, please! Kat told me you gave me Truth and Far to love
for a reason. She said you wouldn’t take them from me the way Kenneth was
taken. How could you do this to me when I did everything you asked? I bonded
them together—I gave myself to them and let myself love them. Together we’re
whole—without Far we’re broken—pieces of a puzzle that will never come together
again because a vital part is missing. Oh please…oh please…I was faithful to
you, won’t you please be faithful to me? Take this back—take back this awful
mistake and let Far live again. Let him love—let him be with us. Please!

There was no answer but suddenly Becca felt a comforting
presence—a feeling like a gentle hand was caressing her hot cheeks and wiping
away her tears. Strong arms enfolded her and a sense of peace filled her to
overflowing.

Becca didn’t know how she knew it, but she suddenly understood
that whoever was touching her loved her and cared for her pain. This someone
grieved for her sorrow and shared in her despair and hurt. No matter what
happened, she was loved and she would be able to bear this pain if it was
necessary.

“I will if I have to, but oh, please,” she whispered aloud this
time. “Please, oh, please, oh—”

Suddenly she felt Truth stiffen in her arms.

“The star,” he whispered in a strangled voice. “I mean, the
amulet—what in the Seven Hells is it doing?”

Becca was tempted to say she didn’t give a damn about the
amulet anymore—not when Far was dead and gone. But the surprise and concern in
the dark twin’s voice was enough to make her open her eyes and look reluctantly
upward.

The amulet was no longer hanging like a star over the Unmated
Males area. Instead, it was floating gently just a few feet above Far’s prone
form. Its song was very faint now—barely a hum—and it was shining much less
brightly, as though it had almost exhausted the brilliant energy that had
fueled it. But it still emitted a feeble glow as it sank lower and lower,
hovering over Far’s chest.

“What…what’s it doing?” Becca whispered, wiping her eyes on the
sheet she was still wearing wrapped around her like a toga.

“I don’t know,” Truth muttered. “Should we try to stop it?”

“Leave it!” Sylvan’s voice cracked sharply. “Let it work—look
at Far. Look at the color of his skin!”

Becca wiped her eyes again, trying to clear them. Was it a
trick of the light or did the grayish cast of Far’s skin seem to be clearing
up? But no—it really
was
happening.
As she watched, the deathly color leached away to be replaced by Far’s normal
pale tan complexion. His ashen cheeks turned a healthy pink hue and his hair,
which had looked as pale and gray as the rest of him, was now a river of gold.

“Far?” she whispered, putting out a hand to him but not quite
daring to touch him.

“Far?” Truth echoed, his deep voice filled with a mixture of
fear and hope. “Brother?”

Suddenly the amulet’s humming died away. It gave one last faint
beam of light and then went dark. Its power spent, it dropped like an empty
shell, striking Far’s broad chest and bouncing off to lie in the grass beside
him.

“Is it done?” Becca asked. “Doing…whatever it was doing to
him?”

“Or did it use up the last of its power before it finished?”
Truth said, finishing her unspoken thought. “Did it—”

All at once Far’s eyelashes began to flutter. As Becca watched,
her heart beating somewhere up around her throat, he blinked and then looked up
at them frowning.

“Is this the Fortress of the Goddess?” he asked drowsily. “And
if it is, why are the two of you here?”

“Oh! Oh, Far!” Becca couldn’t believe her eyes. She reached out
to touch him and the light twin took her hand and smiled quizzically.

“Are you all right,
mi’now?
Have you been crying?”

“We both have, you bastard. And all because of
you.”
Truth’s voice was rough with emotion and his cheeks were wet with tears but Becca
could feel his tentative joy through their bond—a bond that now had three sides
again instead of just two.

“What,
both
of you?”
Far sat up and looked at them both in such confusion that she had to laugh
through her tears.

“Don’t you remember anything? Never mind—come here!” She and
Truth came together as one to pull Far into a tight, three-way embrace. Somehow
Becca ended up in the middle of it. And as she felt the perfect pressure of two
large male bodies embracing her from either side, she knew at last that
everything was going to be all right. Everything was going to be—

“Ah, how nice! A triumvirate united completely at last.”

Becca’s head jerked up and she saw that the parkland around them
had somehow disappeared. Instead they were surrounded by rolling gray mist.
Standing in front of them, all three eyes blinking, was Vashtar.

Truth groaned. “Not again!”

“What now? We just got Far back,” Becca said. She looked at the
light twin somewhat anxiously. “You
are
back, aren’t you? This isn’t
some kind of a dream or vision. I mean, something from the amulet?”

“I’m here and I feel fine.” He frowned. “What do you mean about
the amulet?”

“It made me see something when I touched it.” Becca shook her
head. “Something…I’d rather not talk about.”

“Commander Sylvan saw things as well,” Truth said. “As did I.”

“Oh, it gives visions—yes it does.” Vashtar nodded vigorously.
“Did I neglect to mention it?”

“You most certainly did!” Becca would have wanted to smack him
if she hadn’t been so happy about Far. “It gave me a horrible one when we were
bringing it back on the shuttle—I actually left Truth and Far because of it for
a while.”

“What? Is
that
why
you left?” Truth demanded, looking at her. “What did you see?”

“More like
who
. I saw Mother Superior—the head of my
order. She was awful—so judgmental and angry…” Becca shook her head. “I just…I
wish I had known it wasn’t real.”

“But
I thought you
didn’t
touch it. I saw your hand hover over it but I
thought you drew back,” the dark twin protested.

“I
only put one finger on it—just for a minute.” Becca shivered. “I guess that was
enough.”

Vashtar
frowned. “Enough to nearly break your triumvirate? That does not sound like the
kind of vision the amulet would give. Perhaps the image it sent was perverted
somehow—twisted by a force that didn’t want the three of you together.”

“Maybe
by the same demon who tried to take over Truth?” Becca suggested, having a
sudden brainstorm. “Would that be possible? Could it do that?”

Vashtar
nodded. “Possibly. The denizens of the Black Planet are remarkably persistent
when they are pursuing a host they truly wish to possess.”

“But
it’s gone now, right?” Truth asked. “Ur the demon—he or it—must have been
sucked away into the shadow stone as the others were. Is that not so?”

A
troubled look crossed Vashtar’s round face. “Certainly it
should
be so.
Just be certain that the lump of shadow stone you used to cage the demons is
set adrift in space. It will act as a prison to keep them inside and harmless.”

Far
nodded gravely. “We’ll do as you say. But what
about
Ur? What if he or
it is
not
imprisoned in the stone?”

“Don’t
worry,” Vashtar said. “The effects of the amulet are long lasting. The males
who have been cleansed cannot be re-possessed. Ur will have nowhere to go, even
if he is still aboard the ship.”

“Well
even if he is hanging around, he can’t have either of
my
men.” Becca put
her arms around Truth and Far and lifted her chin. “They’re spoken for—now and
forever.”

Vashtar
smiled. “Oh my dear, it does me such good to hear you say that. If by sending
you the amulet I have brought you together, it is worth even the last
expenditure of my life force.”

“What
do you mean?” Becca asked. “You…you’re dying?”

“More
like fading.” Vashtar sighed and his rotund form began to look transparent. “It
is time. Remember I told you that I am the last one left in the Mindscape? It’s
very lonely without the others of my kind—without my two mates, Selba and
Tims.” He looked wistful. “I should like to rejoin them soon.”

“I
hope you can,” Becca said softly. “And thank you, Vashtar. Without you, we
never would have gotten together.”

“Or
found the cure for the unmated males,” Far added.

“My
brother and Rebecca are right but I am curious about one thing,” Truth said.
“Why did you tell us all that ridiculous nonsense about dipping the amulet in
water and then spraying it on the possessed ones? Sylvan tried it and it didn’t
work at all.”

“Why
because, my dear Truth…” Vashtar’s third eye winked conspiratorially. “If I had
told you how you
actually
had to activate it—that you had to bond
together completely in order to make it work—would you have still gone seeking
it?”

“I…”
Truth frowned and seemed to consider. “At the time you first visited us, no,”
he admitted. “I am ashamed to admit it but back then I had no wish to be bound
as we are now.”

“You
have grown much, my son.” Vashtar smiled at him fondly. “All three of you have.
Which is why I can leave you now, content in the knowledge that the ways of the
OneMind will live on.”

“Wait,”
Becca said as he started to fade. “I have to know—did the Goddess send you to
us?”

“Ah,
as to that, only the eye can say for certain.” Vashtar’s third eye winked at
them solemnly and Becca knew she wouldn’t get a clearer answer no matter how many
times she asked.

“Go
in peace, Vashtar,” Far said, smiling at the little man. “And thank you again
for all you did for us—whether it was by the Goddess’ will or not.”

“But…are
you really going to let yourself die?” Becca whispered, feeling sad.

Vashtar
nodded. “It is time. And though my light is extinguished in this vast universe,
I go knowing that I have been able to spark a new light before I die. That is
true happiness.”

With
a last wink of his third eye, he faded from view. The mist around them cleared,
and they found themselves back in the park before the Unmated Males area.

Commander
Sylvan was looking down at them, a worried expression on his face.

“What
happened to the three of you?” he demanded as they scrambled to their feet.
“For about three minutes you were just frozen there—not moving or speaking and
barely even breathing. I was beginning to be really worried.”