Found (54 page)

“It can be
challenged
by another
male,” Sophia said. “But no one but a Kindred warrior is going to
be strong enough to actually break it. Apparently that’s one reason
the natives of Tranq Prime dislike the Kindred so much. They broke
a number of blood bonds back when they first came to the planet and
claimed the girls who were promised to Tranq Prime males as
brides.”

“But they did it to save them from Blood
Fever, didn’t they?” Liv pointed out. “Would their parents really
rather have seen them dead than mated to a Kindred?”

Sophia shrugged. “Apparently. Hey, I told you
it was a messed up place.”

“I guess so.” Kat shook her head. “Of course
anyplace they eat pudding made of bug guts—”

“Kat!” Liv looked green again. “I swear I’m
going to get you back the
minute
you get preggers.”

“Sorry!” Kat looked contrite. “I was just
thinking of Nadiah. I feel so bad for her, having to go back and
live in that awful place with a husband she doesn’t love.”

“I know.” Sophia was suddenly tearful. “I
feel like she’s my little sister and there’s nothing I can do to
help her. We were hoping that she’d find a Kindred to connect
to—one who would be willing to challenge the bond for her. But
somehow it just never happened and now it’s almost too late.”

“Well maybe something will happen soon,” Kat
said, putting down her cupcake to give her friend a comforting
squeeze. “You never can tell—she might go to sleep and start dream
sharing with someone tonight.”

Sophia blotted a tear from her eye. “I hope
you’re right but I just don’t know how much longer she can hold
out. She looks terrible, the poor thing. I just wish there was
someone who could help her.” She put down her own cupcake and ran a
hand through her hair. “Sorry for getting emotional, I’m just
stretched thin right now. It looks like the minute Nadiah leaves,
we’ll be getting another guest.”

“You will?” Liv frowned. “Who?”

“You remember Sylvan’s friend—the one who was
supposed to show up for the joining ceremony and perform the luck
kiss and didn’t?” Sophia picked up her cupcake again and took
another nibble. “Well apparently he’s
finally
on his
way.”

“He is? Now?” Liv shook her head. “Kind of
rude to miss the wedding and still expect you to put him up, isn’t
it?”

Sophie sighed. “I think so too, but he has a
good excuse.”

“What kind of Kindred is he?” Kat asked. “He
can’t be a Twin or he’d be bringing his brother with him.”

“That’s the weird thing about him,” Sophia
said. “Apparently he’s some kind of hybrid.”

“A hybrid?” Olivia raised her eyebrows. “I’ve
never heard of anything like that. How is it even possible?”

“Well Sylvan says his mother was one of those
really rare female Kindred—her mother was a Tranq Prime native and
her father was a Blood Kindred.”

“I thought the female Kindred almost always
became priestesses of the Goddess,” Kat said.

“Well this one didn’t.” Sophia picked a
blueberry out of her cupcake and popped it in her mouth. “She grew
up on Tranq Prime and then left and met a Beast Kindred from
Rageron. They got mated and had Merrik.”

“Merrik being Sylvan’s long lost friend?” Liv
asked.

Sophie nodded. “Yup. Anyway, apparently
there’s a reason there aren’t many Kindred Hybrids—they have a
really hard time reconciling the two different parts of their
personality. Merrik was away on some spiritual retreat trying to do
just that when he got captured.”

“Captured?” Kat and Liv said together.

“I
told
you he had a good excuse.”
Sophia shrugged. “I’m not sure exactly who captured him—I got the
idea from Sylvan that he was too upset to speak about it. Anyway,
he got loose and he’s on his way now to convey his belated
congratulations.” She sighed. “He was one of Sylvan’s best friends
growing up on Tranq Prime so it’s not like we can say no.”

“Of course.” Kat nodded. “Well, I guess
you’re going to be busy for a while. Maybe I’ll get Lauren to help
plan my wedding.”

“What?” Sophie and Liv shrieked at the same
time.

“You mean you three are finally tying the
knot?” Liv demanded.

“Yeah, well…” Kat laughed. “Deep and Lock
have been bugging me to do it for some time. It had to happen
eventually.”

Olivia grinned. “It’s about time you three
stopped ‘living in sin.’ Have you told your grandma yet?”

“That I’m going to get married to not one but
two
hot alien studs?” Kat said dryly. “Not yet. She’s got a
pacemaker, you know. I’m not sure her heart can take it.”

“I’m sure she’ll be happy for you once she
knows you’re happy.” Sophia patted her arm. “But you better tell
her
before
the big day. It really might give her a heart
attack to watch you walk down the aisle with a guy on either
arm.”

“And hear you guys say ‘I do, I do, I do,”
Liv added, cracking up again.

“Very funny.” But Kat was smiling too. “Well,
let’s wait until Lauren moves up and then we can all plan it
together. What do you say?’

“Sounds perfect to me. I’ve always wanted to
make a wedding cake.”

They all looked up to see Lauren standing in
the doorway with a smile on her face.

“Lauren!” The three of them jumped up to give
her a group hug which she returned, laughing.

“I hope you don’t mind that I let myself in.
Xairn is up here supervising moving my equipment from the shop on
Earth to my new Sweet Spot here on the ship and I thought I’d come
say hello.”

“We’re so glad you’re coming up to stay.”
Sophie gave her cousin another squeeze. “I’m sure you heard but Kat
is finally going to plan her big day.”

“I heard.” Lauren gave her friend a smile.
“And I’ll be happy to help.”

“So you’re really make me a cake?” Kat asked
anxiously. “One
without
dill pickle frosting?”

Lauren laughed. “No dill pickle frosting, I
promise. And yes, I’d be honored to make your cake. Without your
help I’d still be stuck back on Earth feeling miserable without my
man.”

“It was nothing,” Kat said modestly. “All I
did was give you a little bonding fruit.” She snapped her fingers.
“Come to think of it, that would be the perfect flavor for the
cake. Vanilla cake with a bonding fruit jam filling in between the
layers.”

“Kat, shame on you,” Sophie scolded. “If what
you’ve told us about that fruit is true, you’ll make everyone at
your wedding unbearably horny!”

Kat and Lauren laughed and exchanged a look.
“Well, a wedding
is
supposed to be a celebration of love,”
Lauren pointed out. “Just be sure you only invite couples.”

Olivia shook her head. “The two of you can
give the whole Mother ship a case of the me-so-hornies if you want,
but first Lauren has to cater my baby shower.” Smiling at her
cousin, she gave Lauren another hug. “I’m going to need some more
of those pregnant lady cupcakes
STAT.
And this time I want
extra
dill pickle icing. Okay?
”

“You got it, cuz.” Lauren gave her a hug and
the four of them laughed together.

“I swear, Liv, you just—” Sophia broke off
abruptly, her face going pale.

“What?” Olivia looked at her anxiously. “What
is it, Sophie?”

“It’s Nadiah.” Sophia put a hand to her
throat. “Sylvan just bespoke me. He said he got an urgent message
from the HKR building in Sarasota.”

“An urgent message?” Kat grabbed her hand.
“About what? Is she okay?”

“I don’t think so.” Sophia’s eyes were huge
with fear. “He says Detective Rast told him she fainted. And
now…now she won’t wake up.”

Author’s Note

When I first planned this series, I was sure
there were only going to be four books in it—I even knew all their
names,
Claimed
,
Hunted
,
Sought
, and
Found
. Nice and neat, right? But unfortunately (or
fortunately for those of you who can’t get enough Kindred) as I
wrote book 4, ideas for books 5 and 6 started popping into my head.
Anyone reading Found can probably tell that book 5 will deal with
Nadiah and Detective Rast. As for book 6, well, I think I left you
enough clues to figure that one out too. So the good news is, there
will
be more books in the series. The bad news is, I have
no
idea what to name them. I’m hoping the appropriate titles
will come to me as I write.

So when are the new books coming out? Not
until sometime in 2012. My muse needs a little break from the
Kindred before I can continue. Though I love their world, it’s all
I’ve been writing for an entire year. In order to come back fresh
and do a good job on books 5 and 6, I need to write something
completely different for a little while. I have a YA (young adult)
series planned and I may work on that.

Of course, I’ll be writing my YA books under
another pen name which is not associated with my erotica—I don’t
want to corrupt any young minds. But I will announce on my website
and on FaceBook when I have a new book out and what name you can
find it under. I truly hope that some of you who have followed the
Kindred series will give my new work a try.

That’s all for now. Thank you again to
everyone who has read the Kindred and everyone who had written to
tell me how much the books mean to them. I promise to get back to
their world in 2012. In the mean time, Happy Holidays to all of
you!

Hugs and Happy Reading

Evangeline Anderson

October, 7, 2011

Evangeline Anderson is a registered MRI tech who
would rather be writing. And yes, she is nerdy enough to have a
bumper sticker that says “I’d rather be writing.” Honk if you see
her! She is thirty-something and lives in Florida with a husband, a
son, and two cats. She had been writing erotic fiction for her own
gratification for a number of years before it occurred to her to
try and get paid for it. To her delight, she found that it was
actually possible to get money for having a dirty mind and she has
been writing paranormal and Sci-fi erotica steadily ever since.

You can find her online at her website
www.evangelineanderson.com
Come visit for some free reads and to find out what’s coming
soon.

You can also connect with her on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=745272455

Myspace
http://www.myspace.com/evangelineanderson

Twitter
http://twitter.com/EvangelineA

Brides of the Kindred Glossary

AllFather
—the evil head of the
Scourge, a race that are the byproduct of a failed genetic trade.
The AllFather is one of the Old Ones and has the power to reach
into a person’s mind to harvest emotional pain and trauma. He lives
for the fulfillment of the Scourge Prophesy.

Bespeak
—to contact someone mentally
using a Think-me device. It is considered rude to bespeak someone
you don’t know intimately.

Beast/Rager Kindred
—come from
Rageron—a jungle planet full of beautiful but deadly flora and
fauna. They have dark hair, golden eyes, and hot tempers but their
most defining characteristic is the mating fist. The mating fist is
an area at the base of the Beast Kindred’s shaft which engages
fully only during bonding sex with his chosen mate. When engorged
it swells to keep the Beast Kindred and his bride locked together
until she is completely bonded to him. This ensures sex that is
both extremely long lasting and multiorgasmic for both
partners.

Blood Bond—
a bond formed by the
exchange of blood between a female and the male her parents choose
for her in childhood. This tradition is native to Tranq Prime and
the bond created from the exchange is both legally and physically
binding. Only a very strong male, such as a Kindred warrior, can
hope to break the bond between the Tranq Prime female and her
intended mate.

Blood Fever—
a condition suffered by
unmated females on Tranq Prime, the home world of the Blood
Kindred. Blood Fever or Burning Blood as it is often called, is
caused by a parasite living on the icy world that affects only
women. The parasite—found in the
fleeta
or blood
beetle—reacts with a compound in the Tranq Prime water supply to
cause the fever. Symptoms include chills, increased sexual need and
the feeling of the blood heating in the veins as well as increased
coloration of the nipples and sex. If the fever is not treated in
forty-eight hours, it will result in death.

Once a Kindred male has had a female’s
blood, he forms a natural antidote to Blood Fever which he can pass
on by sharing body fluids with her. The most effective way to get
the antidote into the female’s system is for a Blood Kindred to
bite her, thereby injecting it along with his essence. However, it
is also possible to pass along the healing fluid through sex.

Blood Fever used to be very common on Tranq
Prime which is what prompted the cold, proud natives to initiate a
genetic exchange with the Kindred in the first place. A recent
vaccine has nearly eradicated the disease, however, and the
original inhabitants of the ice bound planet have little reason to
continue the trade. A faction calling themselves Purists are
against any further trade with the Kindred.

Blood/Tranq Kindred
—are blond with
pale blue eyes and come from Tranq Prime where ice, snow, and
arctic-like temperatures are the norm. To combat the severe weather
conditions, the Blood Kindred have higher than normal body heat
with double the human amount of red blood cells. They have
developed specific biting rituals to share their supercharged blood
and take the blood of their mates during their own version of
bonding sex. They have a set of double fangs located where a
human’s canine teeth would be. These fangs do not develop fully or
become sharp enough to pierce flesh until a Blood Kindred is with a
woman he wishes to mate and bond with.