“Of course you do not have pain yet, sssweet little human,” the thing said. “That comesss later, after the weaknesss has ssset in. After the green linesss reach your heart and delve deep to find your very sssoul…”
“Oh my God!” Kat gasped as the reanimated Alpha Guard began to get up. “It’s alive. How the hell—?”
“The AllFather is directing it, just as he was before.” Quickly, Lock scooped her into his arms. “Shoot it, Deep, and let’s be on our way. We’ve overstayed our welcome here.”
“I think you’re right.” Pulling his weapon, Deep took careful aim and released a bright red beam of energy.
The deadly laser blast took off the monstrous Alpha guard’s head as easily as a knife slicing through cheese. It fell from the broad shoulders and rolled on the ground at their feet, the eyes still blinking and the lipless mouth still laughing. “Die,” it whispered, so faintly Kat could barely hear it. “Sssoon you ssshall die, little human…sssoon…sssoon…” Then the guard’s body fell to its knees and collapsed slowly, its dead hands still reaching out, the thick fingers grasping the air.
“Crap!” A chill swept over her and Kat felt like she might be sick. “That’s…that’s the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen. I can’t believe it just kept moving and talking like that even after…” She shook her head, unable to finish.
“Come on. Let’s get the hell out of here!” Deep led the way, his hand still pressed to his side.
“But Lauren!” Kat protested. “You promised we’d look for her!”
Lock turned reluctantly and then they saw three more of the massive guards lumbering toward them. “I’m sorry, my lady,” he told her. “But we must go now. You and Deep are both wounded. I cannot protect you both and fight off three more guards on my own.”
They ran through the ships on the battlefield and crossed the polluted beach, the oily brown sand crunching under the twins’ booted feet. The guards behind them were gaining rapidly, probably because none of them was A—wounded or B—carrying a plus-sized woman, Kat thought, staring over Lock’s shoulder as he ran. Deep staggered along beside them, his face white and one hand fisted at his side. There was blood leaking down his leg in a dark rivulet. God, she hoped all this running wasn’t making his wound worse, though she didn’t see how it could possibly be helping any. She still didn’t even know how he could be functioning after receiving such a serious injury—did Twin Kindred have extra special healing ability? Lock had said something about self sealing organs but what did that even mean?
Finally they reached their ship and piled inside. “I’ll pilot,” Lock said, sliding into the driver’s seat. For once, Deep said nothing. He only nodded and settled himself carefully in one of the other seats. Kat did the same and started to buckle herself in. She felt terrible about Lauren but Lock and Deep didn’t seem overly concerned. Maybe they’re right, she comforted herself. Maybe Xairn took her with him and he’s so in love with her that he’ll take care of her no matter what happens.
She hoped so. It was going to be really hard to face Liv and Sophie and tell them that she had found their long-lost cousin…and then lost her again. Then again, it was going to be hard to tell them the other news too.
But surely I won’t die—not of a tiny little scratch! She touched her wounded cheek gingerly with her fingertips and winced at the sting.
“I’m sorry.”
Kat looked up to see Deep watching her with a look of remorse in his black eyes. “What?” she asked.
“I said I’m sorry. All this is my fault. If I hadn’t insisted we come here, none of it would have happened. You wouldn’t have been cut and—”
“That’s true,” Kat interrupted, refusing to discuss her impending doom. “But we were looking for traces of Lauren too, so the mission wasn’t a complete wash.” She frowned. “I still don’t understand what happened in the psychic knife though.”
“I understand,” Lock said grimly as he worked the controls. “The knife is made to cut bonds between people, but it only cuts the bonds the operator stipulates. When Deep set the controls, he didn’t program the machine to cut the soul bond between the two of us and you, my lady. Instead he—”
“Cut the bond between the two of us and himself,” Kat finished, understanding. “So now you and I are bonded but neither one of us has any connection to Deep.”
“That’s true.” Deep nodded. “I thought…I believed that the two of you would be better off together. Without my interference.”
Lock turned to give his brother a fierce look. “That’s not right or natural and you know it, Deep. The Goddess formed Twin Kindred to share a female—I never wanted the lady Kat all to myself. I wanted to share her with you. And now…” His throat worked convulsively and he shook his head. “And now I don’t know what will happen to us. Any of us. Because I cannot live without the two of you and both of you are wounded.”
“It’s going to be okay. We’re going to get through this.” Kat tried to sound a lot more positive than she felt. “Once we get back to the Mother ship, Sylvan will patch us up physically. And as for the bonding and soul stuff, we can always go back to Mother L’rin, right? I mean, I know she was pretty pissed at us last time we saw her but surely she won’t turn us away when we explain what happened.”
“Maybe she can help.” Deep sounded hopeful. “Hasn’t she treated kusax wounds before?”
“I don’t remember.” Lock stared straight ahead at the viewscreen. “But I think it would be best for us to contact her as soon as possible to ask.”
“There, see—all better.” Kat tried to smile at them but neither brother returned her positive expression. She felt a steady wave of worry/fear/helplessness coming from Lock and from Deep she still felt…nothing. God, I never thought I would miss having his feelings in my head! Now I just wish I could tell what was going on behind those black eyes of his. But whatever it was, Deep wasn’t telling.
It will be all right, Kat told herself uneasily. We’ve been through a lot but surely we can fix this, like we fixed everything else. We’re all going to be okay…aren’t we?
She hoped so. Oh God, she certainly hoped so.
Thirty-Seven
“I’m afraid you and Olivia need to prepare yourselves, Talana.” Sylvan’s face looked so grave that Sophie’s heart skipped a beat.
“Prepare ourselves? For what?” Liv demanded.
“I’ve examined Kat thoroughly and done everything I could for her. But…” Sylvan hesitated so long that Sophie couldn’t wait any more.
“But what? What’s wrong with her?”
She was afraid to hear the answer. The minute Deep and Lock’s ship had returned to the docking bay, they had requested immediate medical assistance. Deep had been badly wounded and was being examined by one of Sylvan’s colleagues. But Kat, well, she’d looked all right when they wheeled her into the med station strapped to one of the floating Kindred stretchers. She’d even smiled at them and given a big ‘thumbs up.’ She’d had some weird stuff matted in her hair and on the back of her clothes but Sophie hadn’t seen any blood or obvious wounds. Well, other than a tiny red scratch on her cheekbone, but that was nothing. So what could possibly be wrong?
Sylvan took a deep breath. “Kat has been wounded with a kusax.”
“A what?” Olivia gave him a blank look. “What’s that?”
“A weapon of the Scourge—it poisons the soul.”
“The soul?” Liv raised her eyebrows. “Seriously?”
“Just because you can’t see it on any kind of scan or medical exam doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, Olivia,” Sylvan said quietly. “And that is precisely why this kind of poisoning is so…difficult to treat.”
“But there is a treatment—right? Right?” Sophie asked anxiously.
“There has to be,” Liv said. “Poison is curable if you catch it in time and they just came back an hour ago. So what’s the antidote?”
Sylvan shook his head reluctantly, his ice blue eyes sorrowful. “I’m sor
ry, Olivia, there is none.”
“No antidote?” Sophie fumbled for her sister’s hand and gripped it hard for support. “Sylvan, please don’t tell me what I think you’re going to tell me. Please don’t say that Kat is going to…to…”
“To die,” he finished for her softly. “I’m so sorry, Talana. But there’s no cure. Nothing I can do.”
“I don’t accept that!” Liv declared. “I can’t. The Kindred have an incredibly advanced system of medicine, Sylvan. Surely there must be something you haven’t tried.”
He shook his head. “Unfortunately, this is not the first case of soul poisoning I’ve treated—or tried to treat. It starts in the soul but because your spirit is anchored to your body, eventually it affects everything. The symptoms are always the same—at first the victim feels nothing. Then the place where he—or in this case she—was wounded begins to show curling dark green lines, just below the surface of the skin. That’s the poison working its way from the soul into the body and ultimately to the heart. As the lines progress, the symptoms progress as well. Weakness, dizziness…”
“And then what?” Sophie demanded.
Sylvan sighed reluctantly. “And finally intense pain and death. But once she reaches that stage there are drugs we can give her—”
“To ease her pain? To help her die? No!” Liv shook her head emphatically. “Kat’s our friend—our best friend, Sylvan. And she’s a young, healthy woman. Don’t start talking that hospice shit to me—don’t you dare.”
“There has to be another way—something we can do. There has to.” Tears were rolling down Sophie’s cheeks now but she couldn’t seem to stop them. “Please, Sylvan!”
Sylvan looked almost as upset as she felt. “Talana—”
“There is something—at least we hope there is.” Lock came up behind them, and despite her distress, Sophie thought the light twin looked worse than she had ever seen him. His dark green uniform shirt and black pants were stained and dirty and the expression on his handsome features was one of weariness beyond endurance.
“What? What is it?” She and Liv both spoke eagerly at the same time.
“Deep has gone back to Twin Moons to beg help from Mother L’rin. She healed Kat the first time, we have hopes that she may be able to do it again.”
“What?” Sylvan frowned. “Deep has already left the med station? I was told he was gravely injured.”
Lock shrugged. “You know how quickly we Twin Kindred heal—Deep was already on the mend, even before we left the planet.” He cleared his throat. “It is his heart, not his body, that is broken now. He took a quick shower and left—against the advice of your colleague, I might add.”
“Twin Kindred do heal well and cleanly,” Sylvan admitted grudgingly. “You’re especially lucky your internal organs are self-sealing after any kind of blunt trauma or puncture wound. But I still would have liked to have a look at him myself.”
“We felt there wasn’t time to waste.” Lock spoke in a low voice and nodded at the entrance to the med center where Kat was resting in one of the private rooms. “If there is a cure for soul poisoning at all, it would be better to apply it early rather than to wait until the disease progressed to the…the later stages.” He coughed and looked away but not before Sophie saw the glint of tears in his brown eyes.
“True,” Sylvan said. “Well then, please let me know what he finds out.”
“Can we see Kat now?” Liv demanded.
“Certainly.” He nodded gravely.
Liv was already striding toward the med center entrance but Sophie hung back. “Does…does she know? About the poisoning? About how there’s no…no known cure?” Her throat was so tight she could barely get the words out.
“She knows,” Sylvan said quietly. “I don’t believe in keeping such things from patients.” He pulled Sophie into a tight embrace and buried his face in her hair. Softly, he spoke through their link. “I’m sorry, Talana. So sorry there isn’t more I can do. I know how very dear Kat is to you and Olivia.”
“She’s more than a friend—she’s like our sister.” Sophie wanted to cry again but she was afraid she would never stop if she did. “I know you’re trying,” she said aloud, kissing Sylvan on the cheek. “I won’t blame you if…if… I won’t blame you. No matter what happens.”
He drew back, searching her eyes for a long moment. “But I’ll blame myself. I want so much to make you happy—I’d do anything I could to keep you from pain. Anything.”
“Don’t. Don’t, Sylvan. I know.” Sophie kissed him again. “I have to go, Liv is waiting for me.”
He nodded. “Go then. I’ll be here if you need me.”
“I know.” She tried to smile but couldn’t quite manage it. She was still swiping tears from her eyes when she caught up to Olivia, who was hovering just outside the closed door of Kat’s room.
“I don’t know what to say.” Liv’s voice, so strong a moment ago, was wavery and uncertain.
“I don’t know either,” Sophie admitted. “I just…what can you say about something like this?”
“You could say, ‘Hi Kat, welcome home.’” The door slid open to reveal Kat standing there with one hand on her ample hip and a little smile on her face. Her long red hair was damp—obviously she’d just gotten out of the shower. Sophie couldn’t see a thing wrong with her except for a tiny green half-circle that looked like the start of a shamrock tattoo on her right cheekbone.
“Hi, Kat-woman.” Olivia looked at her uncertainly. “Are you okay?”
“Peachy, aside from the fact that I’m supposed to die in the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours.” Kat’s voice was perfectly calm but there was something wild in her eyes—a despair that Sophie could see even if their friend wasn’t willing to speak it out loud.
“Kat,” she choked, holding out her arms. “Oh, Kat…”
Suddenly all three of them were hugging and crying, right there in the hallway of the med center. Sophie held her friend tight, feeling like if she could just hold her close enough, she might never have to let go.
Surprisingly, Kat was the one to recover first. Sniffing, she pulled back from the little huddle of misery they had formed and blotted her eyes on the sleeve of the hospital gown she was wearing. The Kindred version of the gown was made of much nicer fabric and came in a variety of stylish colors but unfortunately still gaped open in the back.
“Okay, that’s enough of that,” she said, wiping her eyes one last time. “I don’t have time to waste getting all emotional.”
“Sorry,” Sophie whispered, blotting her own eyes. “I just…I can’t believe it. It can’t be true.”
“It doesn’t feel real to me either.” Kat lifted her chin. “But I guess it is. Sylvan’s the best and if he says there’s nothing they can do…”
“Don’t give up hope yet,” Liv said, sniffing fiercely. “We just saw Lock and he said Deep was on his way to Twin Moons to find Mother L’rin. She healed you before—I’m sure she can help this time, too.”
“Yeah, that’s what we were talking about on the way up here.” Kat frowned. “But should Deep be going such a long distance after the wound he got? I mean, you should have seen the knife he got stuck with. It was practically as long as my arm.”
“Lock said he felt he was healed well enough to travel,” Sophie said. “And Sylvan said something about the Twin Kindred having self healing or self sealing organs or something, I think. Anyway, Lock said they didn’t want to waste any time in case…well, you know.”
“I know.” Kat nodded.
“I don’t understand why Lock didn’t just go and let Deep stay here and recuperate,” Olivia said.
“He probably wants to apologize in person,” Kat murmured.
“Apologize? For what?” Liv said. “Was it his fault you…” She motioned to the tiny green mark on Kat’s cheek.
“Oh no, that was just bad luck.” Kat swallowed. “Really, really bad luck. But Mother L’rin was extremely angry at us the last time we saw her—especi
ally at Deep because he was the one who insisted we cut our bond.”
“And did you?” Sophie asked. “Did you get it cut?”
“In a way.” Kat sighed. “Look, it’s a long story and I don’t want to tell it here. Hang on while I get dressed—I had Lock go get me some clothes. Just give me a second and then we can go back to my suite and talk.”
“Wait a minute.” Liv frowned. “You can’t just leave AMA, Kat.”
“Watch me,” Kat said grimly. “You think I’m going to spend my last day or days cooped up in here wearing a hospital jonnie? I don’t think so. If I’m going to die I need chocolate STAT. And I want to wear my favorite dress—you know, the green one I spent a fortune on and keep in the back of the closet? I’ve never dared to wear it out because it’s too low cut so I feel like my boobs are falling out of it. But I’m going for it now. And I also want to…to…” Her voice began to waver. “Oh hell, I want to talk to my Grandma. I think…I guess I’d better warn her what’s going on. What’s going to happen.”
“Kat…” Sophie and Liv reached for her again but she shook her head and took a deep breath.
“Nope, not gonna cry. I am not going to spend the time I have left whining.” She squared her shoulders. “Hang on, I’ll be out in a minute and then we’re going to paint the town red. Or the Mother ship. Or whatever.”
As the door shut behind her, Sophie looked at her sister. Olivia shrugged. What could they do but comply with what might be Kat’s last request? It’s so like her, Sophie thought, listening to the determined sounding humming coming from behind the door as Kat got dressed. Not to complain or waste time crying. She’s so much braver than I could ever be. It was one of the reasons she loved Kat—why she and Liv both loved her. But to see her friend’s courage tested in such an extreme way was almost beyond what Sophie could stand.
Brides of the Kindred Volume One: Books 1-4 Page 120
