“Ice cream.” Olivia took another bite as well. “This one is called ‘Chunky Monkey.’”
Nadiah stopped with the spoon halfway to her mouth. “But isn’t a monkey a small chattering Earth creature that lives in trees?” she asked faintly. “Are…are you telling me I’m eating chunks of its flesh?”
“Ugh.” Sophia shivered. “What a thought! The poor monkeys!”
Nadiah felt ill. “Is that why this stuff is called ‘I scream?’ Because the animal screams when they make it into dessert?”
“No, no, no.” Olivia put a hand on her arm. “It’s called ice cream—you know, cream that’s been chilled until it’s icy? And there are no actual monkey chunks in it, I promise. It’s just called that because it’s banana flavored and monkeys love bananas and…” She shook her head. “Oh, never mind. Just eat it.”
The twins’ best friend Kat, snickered. “Good thing we didn’t get any ‘Chubby Hubby.’”
“You!” Olivia reached across the couch they were all sitting on to slap at Kat playfully.
Nadia frowned. “Chubby Hubby? You have ice cream that tastes like a plump male life-mate?”
Kat laughed until she almost choked and Sophie shook her head. “Kat’s just teasing you, Nadiah. And anyway, whatever you think of it, you have to admit this stuff is better than that fleeta pudding you guys eat on Tranq Prime.”
“I’d have to agree with you there.” Nadiah nodded. “I mean, I know it’s our planet’s national dish and everything but I’ve always hated it.”
“Imagine that,” Kat said dryly. “Not wanting to eat pudding made of bug guts.”
“Kat, please!” Olivia, who had been queasier than ever lately, put a hand over her mouth. “Oh God…just the idea! I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Sorry!” Kat jumped up and ran around the couch to her friend. “Come on, let’s go in the kitchen and I’ll get you something fizzy to drink. How about some nice ginger ale?”
“Maybe,” Olivia said faintly. She allowed her friend to help her up and they both went into the large food prep area, leaving Sophia and Nadiah to finish the ice cream.
Nadiah reached for another bite…and then put down her spoon with a sigh.
“Nadiah, are you all right?” Sophia put down her spoon as well and scooted closer.
“Of course I am.” Nadiah tried to smile. “I feel fine—why wouldn’t I?”
“Well, it’s just that you seem kind of down since the wedding—I mean the joining ceremony, you know.” Sophia put a hand on her arm. “I know how excited you were to do the luck kiss with a real Kindred warrior. I’m really sorry things got so screwed up.”
Remembering the luck kiss she’d preformed with the human detective made Nadiah’s cheeks get hot. “That’s all right,” she murmured, looking down at her hands. “It wasn’t so bad.”
“Maybe it wouldn’t have been if he hadn’t been such a jerk, afterwards.” Sophia sighed. “I don’t know what his problem was.”
Nadiah shrugged. “He didn’t approve of my gift. Grandmamam told me there would be people like him when I came into my power. People hate and fear what they don’t understand.”
“Well, he’s not your type, anyway.” Sophia grinned. “But I know plenty of guys who are and a bunch of them are on board. What you need to do is go out to some of the on-board clubs the Blood Kindred hang out in. Sylvan and I can take you to one—that way he can make sure you get a good one.”
Nadiah rolled her eyes. “You mean a male he approves of.”
“Well, you are his baby cousin,” Sophia said. “Which means he feels the need to look out for you. That’s how Kindred are, you know—extremely protective of the ones they love. You’ll have to get used to that if you end up mated to one.” She grabbed Nadiah’s hand and squeezed it. “So what do you say? Want to go out tonight and paint the Mother ship red?”
Nadiah wasn’t sure what changing the color of the ship they were on had to do with having a good time, but regardless, she just didn’t feel like it. “I’m sorry, Sophie.” She shook her head regretfully. “But I don’t want to go out. I think I’d rather stay in my room if you don’t mind.”
A frown creased Sophia’s forehead. “Yes, I do mind! I don’t like the idea of you sitting alone in your room by yourself doing nothing. What’s wrong with you, Nadiah?” Her voice dropped a little and worry filled her clear green eyes. “You’ve changed since the last time I saw you. Back on Tranq Prime you were so bubbly and carefree. And now, well…you’re so quiet and reserved. You seem like…I don’t know, like you have a weight pressing down on you or something.”
“It’s the Sight.” Nadiah sighed. “It’s been weighing on me ever since I came aboard the Mother ship.”
“Do you mean the…the vision you had after the wedding?” Sophia asked hesitantly.
“The al’lei, yes.” Nadiah nodded. “That’s part of it. But I’ve been having dreams too and they don’t feel like normal dreams.”
Sophia’s eyes widened. “You mean like more waking dreams? More visions?”
Nadiah shook her head. “No, these come after I go to sleep. And they don’t feel like visions of things that are happening right when I dream them. It’s more like they’re warnings…portents of things to come.”
“So…the dreams are showing you the future?”
“In a manner of speaking.” Nadiah sighed. “But I don’t know what they’re trying to tell me.”
“Are they about Lauren again?” Kat asked, coming back. “Sorry,” she added, as she and Olivia settled back down on the couch. “We couldn’t help overhearing. So are you dreaming about Lauren?”
“I don’t know if it’s her or not,” Nadiah admitted, frowning. “It certainly looks like her. I keep seeing a girl with light brown skin and black hair but I can’t see her face. All I know is that I get the feeling she’s in terrible danger…and then she’s gone.”
Kat frowned. “Well, I have to tell you, I think Lauren is all right. Deep and Lock and I kind of, uh, checked up on her the other night. From what we could tell, she had been in danger but was safe—at least she was when we checked.”
Olivia let out a long, low whistle. “You guys were able to see all the way out to where Lauren is? I thought you told me that the further the distance, the harder it was to find the person you were looking for?”
Kat’s cheeks grew red. “We, uh, found a way. And anyway, she seemed just fine.” She looked at Nadiah. “Could your dreams be wrong?”
“It’s not usual for the Sight to be incorrect.” Nadiah frowned. “Although I wouldn’t be surprised if I was misinterpreting it. Maybe I’m just anxious for her because of the al’lei I experienced. But the dream is so strange.”
“What’s strange besides there being a girl who looks like Lauren who might be in trouble?” Sophia wanted to know.
“It’s the location.” Nadiah looked down at her hands. “She’s standing beside a couple of…of giants. They’re so big she doesn’t even come up to their knees and they’re kissing each other. Not moving at all—just standing there frozen in a kiss that goes on and on and on. I know that sounds bizarre…”
“Um, it really does, hon.” Olivia reached out to pat her arm kindly. “Maybe it was just a bad dream after all and nothing to do with your gift.”
“Maybe.” Nadiah sighed unhappily. “But I think I won’t be free of this burden until your kin is safely home on Earth again.”
“Let’s hope that’s soon,” Kat said seriously. “Lauren made a big impression on me in the short time I knew her. I hope Xairn brings her home safely.”
“I do too.” Sophia sighed. “I really want to meet her.”
“Me too!” Olivia put in. “To think that for so long after Mom and Dad died we thought we didn’t have any other family! I can’t wait to have a reunion as soon as she comes back.”
“If we don’t hear from her soon I’ll get the guys to do another recon mission with me,” Kat promised. “We can keep checking on her until�
��” She stopped abruptly, a look of intense concentration on her face.
“Until what?” Olivia asked, frowning.
Kat looked up, her eyes shining. “Guys, you’re not going to believe it but Lauren is home—I mean, she’s back on Earth. Deep just bespoke me. He’s in the viewing room right now talking to Lauren and her mom and Detective Rast.”
“Seriously?” Sophia jumped up at once. “Tell them to hold on—we’ll be right there!”
Kat and Olivia were already off the couch too, looking excited. Nadiah stayed where she was.
“Hey, aren’t you going to come?” Sophia looked back at her expectantly. “Come on—you’ll get to meet her in person. Or on the viewscreen, anyway, but you know what I mean.”
“I don’t know,” Nadiah said uncomfortably. “Maybe…maybe I should just stay here. Didn’t Kat say that the human detective was with them?”
“Who, Rast?” Olivia made a face. “Look, I know what happened with him and the luck kiss was awkward, Nadiah, but don’t let that bother you. Just ignore him and concentrate on Lauren. Come on, we’re all dying to meet her but we want you with us.”
“Yes, come on.” Sophia and Kat both took one of her hands. Together they tugged her to her feet. “You’re one of the group now,” Kat told her, grinning. “So you have to come with.”
Nadiah sighed. “Well, all right. But I really don’t want to see him again.”
“Then pretend that you don’t,” Olivia said. “Don’t let him pee in your Cheerios, Nadiah. Repeat after me, ‘I am too good for Detective Rast.’”
Nadiah laughed. “I am too good for Detective Rast.”
“Good.” Olivia nodded approvingly. “Now just keep that in mind.”
“Come on.” Sophia tugged at her arm impatiently. “I have to see her!”
“Coming.” Despite her misgivings, Nadiah allowed herself to be led out of the suite and down the hall toward the viewing room. I am too good for Detective Rast, she repeated to herself. And I don’t care a bit about seeing him again. He’s not even Kindred!
But if she didn’t care about seeing him, why was her heart pounding so hard and why did her palms feel clammy?
Chapter Nineteen
It was rather overwhelming to see so many eager faces crowding around the viewscreen at once, but it gave Lauren a warm feeling in the center of her chest, just the same.
There were her cousins, Olivia and Sophia and their friend Kat, who she’d already met on the Scourge home world. There was also a slender blonde girl with exotic looking eyes who introduced herself as Nadiah. Apparently she was Sophia’s cousin-in-law or something like that. She seemed nice enough but Lauren couldn’t help noticing that Detective Rast, who her mother had hired to help find her, started looking tense the minute she came into sight on the viewscreen.
“So you’re really okay?” Kat asked anxiously, leaning in toward the viewscreen. “We were so worried about you!”
“You shouldn’t have been.” Lauren smiled at her warmly. “You knew I had Xairn taking care of me, right?”
“We figured he would.” Kat nodded. “I was a little worried about him being a, you know, a Scourge, but Deep and Lock were sure he was one of the good guys. Um…” She peered from Lauren to her mom to the detective. “Where is he, by the way?”
Lauren bit her lip, not wanting to say too much. “He’s someplace safe.”
“If you’re worried that the Kindred will object to his presence, don’t be.” Deep, one of the Kindred warriors Lauren had met on the Scourge home world, came into view. “If he treated you honorably and brought you safely home, we have no quarrel with him.”
“Thank you.” Lauren felt a rush of relief. It had been nerve wracking when they were flying through the protective net the Kindred had placed around Earth. Because Xairn was flying a Kindred ship, they were able to get through, but Lauren had been sure they would be captured if they weren’t careful.
“You are welcome,” Deep said gravely. “And please communicate to him that we are here to help him, should the need arise.”
“Okay.” Lauren smiled and nodded. “I don’t know what help he might need but I’ll tell him you said so.”
“Thank you.” Deep nodded and put an arm around Kat. “My brother and my mate and I are very happy to see you safely home on Earth.”
“Mate?” Lauren looked at Kat questioningly. “But I thought you said…”
“Things changed.” Kat looked up at her man affectionately. “Deep and Lock and I are together now. We haven’t had a joining ceremony yet but it won’t be long.” She brightened. “Hey, maybe you and Xairn can do the luck kiss!”
“Luck kiss?” Lauren frowned. “What’s that?”
The slim blonde girl, Nadiah, spoke up for the first time. “It’s a kiss at the end of the joining ceremony performed by the best man and maid of honor. The intensity and passion displayed during the luck kiss is supposed to be directly related to how lucky the new couple will be in their future lives together.” As she spoke, she looked directly at Detective Rast who turned red and began to cough.
“Oh, well…” Lauren smiled. “That sounds nice. Just let me know when the ceremony is—I’d love to be part of it.”
“We’ll let you know as soon as we plan it,” Kat promised.
“But you shouldn’t wait until then to come up and see us!” Sophia protested. “Liv and I are dying to meet you.”
“Sophie’s right,” Olivia chimed in. “We didn’t even know we had a cousin—or an aunt for that matter—until Aunt Abby called us after you went missing.”
Lauren couldn’t help smiling at their eager faces. “I want to meet you guys in person too. I’ve always wished I had more relatives. But, well, I’ve been through kind of a lot in the past month or so and I feel like I need to get my life back on track before I do anything else. I mean, my store has been standing empty and my apartment is full of dust. There’s nothing edible in the entire fridge—you know what I mean.” Not to mention the fact that I have a very restless Scourge warrior pacing around my postage stamp sized condo. She still wasn’t quite sure how she was going to fit Xairn into her life—she only knew she couldn’t do without him.
“Oh of course, we totally get it.” Sophia nodded quickly. “And don’t worry, we won’t come barging in on you.”
“Though we can’t promise not to come visit your shop once you get it up and running again.” Olivia licked her lips. “Isn’t it a cupcake boutique? I was reading your menu online—your Deep Dark Devil’s food chocolate cupcakes sound absolutely divine.”
Kat laughed. “Don’t mind Liv—she’s pregnant.”
“Oh, are you?” Lauren smiled at her blonde cousin. “Congratulations. Do you know what it is yet?”
“A boy,” Olivia said promptly. “It’s always a boy with Kindred. Well, almost always.”
“Oh, of course.” Lauren nodded. “Well I would love to bake you a whole batch of cupcakes—just let me get everything up and running again. In fact, if you want I could send some to your baby shower. Unless you’ve already had it?”
“Not yet.” Olivia smiled. “I’ve got awhile to go. I’m only just now into my second quadmester.”
“Quadmester?” Lauren said, frowning.
“You heard her right.” Kat grinned. “When you’re carrying a Kindred baby the pregnancy lasts a whole year. Can you imagine?”
“Hey, you’re the one who’s going to have twins—if you ever get around to it,” Olivia pointed out.
Kat made a face. “God, I can’t even imagine. I’ll get a big as a house.”
“You’ll be even more lovely, little Kat.” Deep kissed the top of her head.
Sophia looked wistful. “I know a year is a long time but I don’t think I’d mind so much.”
“Your time will come.” Olivia hugged her twin sister before turning back to the viewscreen. “Sorry, Lauren, we didn’t mean to leave you out. We get started talking and we can’t stop.”
“That’s okay.”
Lauren smiled and then stifled a yawn. “Look, it’s really nice to meet you guys but I think I ought to get going. I’ve had a super long day and I have, uh, lots of unfinished business back at my apartment.”
“Oh, of course.” Kat winked. “I get it.” She looked at Lauren’s mom. “It was really nice to talk to you again, Mrs. Jakes.”
Lauren’s mom smiled. “Please, Kat, call me Aunt Abby like Olivia and Sophia do. I’ll never forget that you gave me hope when things looked darkest.”
“She did?” Lauren looked at her mom questioningly.
“Kat and her men are finder/seekers,” Sophia explained. “They have a way of finding missing people.”
“A very interesting way.” Olivia winked and Kat elbowed her gently in the ribs. “Ouch!” she complained, laughing. “Take it easy on the pregnant lady.”
“What Liv is trying to say is that Kat and her guys checked up on you after you and Xairn left,” Sophia explained. “And they checked again recently because we had reason to fear you were in danger.”
“I was, several times,” Lauren admitted, surprised. “But how did you know?”
“I saw you,” Nadiah said quietly.
“You saw me? How?” Lauren frowned. “Are you a finder uh, person like Kat, too?”
“Nadiah has a gift—the Sight. She had a vision about you,” Sophia explained.
“A vision?” Lauren asked, looking at the slim blonde girl. Beside her, Detective Rast coughed and shifted impatiently but she ignored him.
“I know it must sound strange, but it’s true.” Nadiah lifted her chin defiantly. “I saw you walking in a dark alleyway filled with purple shadows. You were wearing an outfit that was all blue with a long red sash and blue shoes with crimson soles.”
“Oh my God!” Lauren put a hand to her mouth. “That happened! You really saw that?”
Nadiah nodded gravely. “I did. And I felt as though you were walking into a trap.”
“I nearly did.” Lauren shivered at the memory. “If Xairn hadn’t come and saved me just in the nick of time I’d still be there—stuck in O’ah.”
Brides of the Kindred Volume One Page 143
