Enhanced: Brides of the Kindred 12 (The Brides of the Kindred) (3 page)

Chapter
Three

Six exited the fold in space just outside
Earth’s single moon. The small planet was like a brilliant blue and green jewel
hanging in the void of space—very different from the blackish-gray exterior of
his own home world. Six wondered if it was less industrial than Zeaga Four.
Then again, Z4 hadn’t always been completely urbanized as it was now. Some said
it was once a green and fertile place. But that of course was before the Great
War and the rise of the Collective.

He was eager to explore this strange new
world—curiosity was permitted in Enhanced Ones as long as it did not engender
extreme emotions. But he had some concerns he wanted to address first. The
Earth girl he had met on one of the medical barges, whose designation had been
Tess, had given him vital information. Information he wished to act on before
he went to claim the small, frail female he had been dream sharing with.
Specifically, Tess had warned him that he would “scare the poor girl to death.”
It was a warning Six felt he could not ignore, especially given the agitation
the little female had shown during their last shared dream.

He kept thinking of her as the little
female but that wasn’t her designation. Six frowned—Mei-Li,
that
was her
name. A strange but surprisingly lovely combination of syllables, though it was
completely illogical. It was much easier to categorize and classify individuals
if they had numbers for identification. Still, whatever she called herself, he
had no wish to frighten her further than he already had. A smooth,
incident-free claiming was what he hoped to achieve.

Also, he needed more information about
what exactly the Claiming Period entailed. What was he supposed to do with
Mei-Li once he got her? He had known once—or at least had a vague idea. But that
information was buried along with the memories of his past…
Blood leaking
from her nose, her eyes, her mouth…”Kill me, Jax—it hurts! It hurts so
bad
…”

Six frowned and quickly closed off that part
of his mind. Those were memories he did not care to access which was why he had
locked them away in a cache. Accordingly, he needed to do some research and get
some information before he claimed his bride.

He saw the Kindred Mother Ship at once,
orbiting the rocky natural satellite and sent out a hailing frequency,
requesting docking privileges. There was a short delay and then a face popped
up on his shuttle’s viewscreen. It was a male with short, blond hair and the
characteristic double fangs of a Blood Kindred.

“This is Chancellor Terex, head of the
Kindred High Council,” the male announced without preamble. “And you are
Six—the Dark Kindred come to claim your bride, correct?”

Six inclined his head. “I am.”

The Chancellor scowled. “Then what are you
doing asking for docking privileges? I told your superior, One, that you were
to claim your bride immediately.”

Six frowned. “I merely wished to
familiarize myself with some of the Earth customs first. I was told that I
might appear… frightening to the female I am here to claim. I thought maybe if
I came aboard I could get some insight into her society and—”

“Yes, yes…
frightening
.” Chancellor
Terex sounded almost gleeful at the prospect. “You
are
a big male and
the metal hand and the red ocular implant are a nice touch.”

“Excuse me?” Six was confused. It almost
sounded as though the Chancellor was
hoping
he would frighten the girl he had come for. But that wasn’t logical—was it?

“I don’t want you aboard the Mother Ship,”
the Chancellor continued, frowning. “You’re to go to Earth and claim your bride
at once—do you understand? Then you will take her back to Zeaga Four and spend
your entire Claiming Period there.”

“But that is part of what I wish to
learn,” Six protested. “No Dark Kindred has claimed a bride in centuries. I do
not know the rules of the Claiming Period although I
do
know if I
somehow unknowingly violate those rules, the Claiming Period can be instantly
terminated.”

“Hmm, yes. You make a good point. It
wouldn’t do to have the Period end too soon…” The Chancellor frowned and looked
down, as though deep in thought. At last he looked up. “Very well, I will send
you a copy of the Claiming Period rules. A very
detailed
copy which I
will expect you to obey
to the letter.
You must not, under any circumstances
omit any of the Claiming steps. Do I make myself perfectly clear?”

“You do.” Six nodded. “May I ask,
Chancellor—it’s clear you are the one who contacted One and initiated this
sequence of events. In what way does it benefit you for me to take this female
from her home planet?”

Chancellor Terex scowled. “That is none of
your concern, warrior. Keep your mind on your business which right now is
claiming your bride. Take her as soon as possible and do not do anything to
compromise your Claiming Period—am I clear?”

“Perfectly,” Six said blandly.

“Good. Then get to it! I am transmitting
the Claiming Rules to your coordinates now in both the Kindred native dialect
and English. I suggest you print them out so that you can refer to them as
often as you need to. Share them with your bride as well…” He gave a laugh that
was both cruel and amused. “She might as well know what she’s getting into…what
she can’t get out of.”

Six frowned. He was no judge of emotions
but the High Chancellor seemed to be acting…strangely. Did he find the idea of
Mei-Li feeling trapped by their Claiming Period amusing?

Surely not. I must be misreading his
emotional signals because I have no emotions myself and no point of reference
for them.

“What about when the Claiming Period is
over?” he asked. “I certainly will not keep this female with me. She will
doubtless wish to go back to her home world and, as we will not be bonding, I
will have to allow her to go.”

“Then let her come home…home to Earth.” Chancellor
Terex’s lips stretched into a too-wide grin that showed his double fangs
menacingly. “Let her tell her story of how she was stolen away to a strange,
hostile world by a warrior who was more machine than male. How she was kept
locked away and ravaged though she begged for mercy…”

Six could no longer listen to such talk.

“Excuse me, Chancellor, but I have no
intention of brutalizing or frightening the little female. In fact, it was my
wish
not
to hurt or frighten her that prompted me to request docking
privileges in the first place.”

“I told you, that request is denied!”
snapped Chancellor Terex and for a moment, Six could have sworn that his pale
blue eyes turned a burning red.

He normally didn’t argue with a superior
but Six was beginning to be uneasy about the entire situation. It wasn’t an
actual emotion, he told himself—more of a sense of
wrongness
that
originated somewhere in his gut. A warning that all was not well.

“Forgive me, Chancellor,” he said. “But I
truly feel that even an hour of instruction on how to treat Earth females would
be beneficial. I met one of them on a medical barge orbiting Z4 and she seemed
to feel my appearance and actions would be terrifying to Mei-Li. If there is
any information I can gain that would keep that from happening—”

“Mei-Li,
is it?” The cruel smile stretched Chancellor Terex’s lips
again. “So now you know her name? Perhaps you’re having
feelings
for
her? Should I report that to your superior, the Mouth of the Collective?”

Six felt his jaw clench.

“I have no feelings for the female one way
or another. I simply wish for a smooth and stress-free Claiming.”

The Chancellor’s blue eyes flashed red
again. “That is
not
my wish. In fact, the more attention you attract and
the bigger scene you make, the better.” He consulted a chronometer he had
strapped to his wrist. “It is almost noon down on your female’s part of the
Earth right now—which I assume you know is Tampa,
in the Florida
peninsula.”

“Tampa?
Florida?” Six
shook his head. “I am not familiar with the geography of this planet.”

“But you
do
know where to find her,
don’t you?” Terex demanded. “I thought all you Kindred idiots had some kind of
innate homing device when it came to finding your brides.”

All you Kindred idiots?
Six frowned. Why was the Chancellor speaking as if he was
not one of the Kindred? But he sensed it might be unwise to question the other
male.

“I have an
idea
of where she might
be,” he said. “I’m sure that once I get close enough to catch her scent…”
Though he had never seen her in person, he had smelled her scent in the many
dreams they had shared. It was soft and delicate and very feminine. It bothered
him almost as much as the memory of those small, perfectly formed breasts
moving under her lace night dress.

“Never mind,” Chancellor Terex snapped.
“I’ve been tracking her position for weeks now. I’ll send her coordinates over
as well. The sooner you find her and claim her, the better. As I said, it’s
noon there now. You should cause quite a stir dragging her away in the middle
of the day.”

Six had no intention of
dragging
Mei-Li
anywhere but he sensed this wasn’t what Chancellor Terex wanted to hear.

“All right,” he said simply, and nodded.

“Good.” The High Chancellor sounded
somewhat mollified. “You will go and collect the Earth girl
at
once
and
take her back to Zeaga Four. Understood?”

“Understood.” Six nodded again.

“Excellent. I am transmitting all the
information you requested now. Terex out.” The Chancellor nodded once more,
formally, and then the viewscreen went blank. At the same time, the shuttle’s
informations system beeped, indicating incoming data—the Claiming Agreement and
Rules and Mei-Li’s coordinates, no doubt.

Six sank back in his pilot’s chair,
considering the strange exchange. Even though he was not conversant with
emotion, it was clear that the Chancellor Terex was displaying several
inappropriate feelings. He also seemed to have some strange ideas. He appeared
to want Six to rush down to Earth and make claiming the Earth female into a
huge incident. What did he stand to gain if Six did so?

Another thing that bothered Six was the
fact that Chancellor Terex didn’t appear to care how Mei-Li felt about any of
this. In fact, he had been almost…gleeful, (was that the word?) when he’d
suggested that she would feel trapped on a foreign planet and frightened by the
male who claimed her. Why would he feel that way? It had always been Six’s
understanding that the other branches of the Kindred valued females and tried
to treat them gently and with reverence. How was it that Chancellor Terex had
told him to do the opposite?

He shook his head. No, even without an
emotional reference to compare to, he was certain he could not be mistaken.
Something about the orders the Chancellor had given him was off. His gut told
him so.

Six was half tempted to simply turn his
shuttle around and go back through the fold in space. He would tell One that
claiming the little Earth female was impossible. That it felt wrong, somehow.

But…Six frowned to himself. But he didn’t
want
to go back to Z4—not without the female. Not without Mei-Li. He knew it was
illogical and irrational, but he wanted her by his side. He
wanted
to
claim her.

Why do I feel this way? I shouldn’t be
feeling at all.

Except it wasn’t a feeling, not really, he
told himself. It was simply his protective instinct, as One had said. It was a
normal reaction for a Kindred male who was dream sharing with a female.

He thought again of her petite frame, so
slender and frail. So defenseless. Such a female would be an easy target for an
unscrupulous male. No wonder he had the sense that he wanted to claim her—but
it wasn’t so. What he
really
wanted was just to protect her. That was
all.

Perhaps he ought to just look in on her,
and make sure that all was well. And once he assured himself of her safety, it
would probably be better to leave her there on her home planet.

Yes, that’s what I’ll do,
he told himself as he set a course for Earth.
I’ll
observe her and make certain she is safe and well. Then I’ll go back to One and
tell him that something is wrong with the Kindred High Chancellor here.

Luckily, his little ship had the latest in
Dark Kindred stealth tech. He would be able to observe Mei-Li without her ever
being the wiser. That way he could protect her if the need arose, without
frightening her.

But first he had to find her.

Six swiped at the viewscreen, causing the
data Chancellor Terex had just transmitted to begin scrolling rapidly. He
frowned as he skimmed through it—there was a
lot
more to the Claiming
Period than he had initially suspected. It would definitely be better not to
claim Mei’Li. Some of the requirements would doubtless “frighten her to death”
as Tess had said.