Enslaved (Brides of the Kindred Book 14) (57 page)

“Nothing—she
just said there would be problems in the future because I hadn’t killed him.”

“What
kind of problems?” Trin asked, clearly worried.

Thrace
shook
his head. “Don’t know. Although…” He furrowed his brow, thinking hard. “Two
did
show me something—some kind of a
vision about a female with two faces…it was strange. He said he’d put a
contract out on her—set one of the
Verrak
on her trail.”

“The
who?”

“Verrak.
It’s an
elite brotherhood of assassins—the most expensive and reliable in a thousand
galaxies. They’re absolutely deadly because they take a vow when they accept a
job—if their target doesn’t die, they’ll kill themselves. Makes for a hell of a
motivator, you know?”

“Ugh—that’s
awful.”
Trin shivered. “But why would
he show you something like that?”

“I
think he just wanted to gloat. He said something about how her child would be the
mother of a new race, part Havoc, part Kindred.”

“Part
Havoc?” Trin raised an eyebrow. “And
who
exactly
is going to be the
father
of this new
race?”

“Well…”
Thrace
cleared his throat a bit uncomfortably. “According to Two and the Seeing that
B’Rugh did for him, that would be our son—the child you and I are going to have
at some point.”

“Our
what?”
Trin stared at him with an
unreadable look on her face.

“Our
son,” he repeated. “That’s why Two was trying to tear us apart—so we would
never have a baby. Does the idea still bother you?”

Trin
bit her lip.

“Only…only
because I know Havoc don’t usually raise their young. Doesn’t your race leave
and come back when your sons are six cycles old or so?”

“Trin…”
He looked at her seriously. “It won’t be like that for us. I swear—I’ll
never
abandon you. You own me—remember?”

She
smiled and he felt her relief coming through their renewed link.

“Of
course—how could I forget?” She nuzzled against him, smiling at him in the
viewer. “As long as you’re with me, I’ll be overjoyed to have our child.”

“Baby…”
No longer content with looking at her in the mirror, Thrace turned her around and cupped
her sweet face between his hands. “You don’t know how it makes me feel to hear
you say that. I love you so damn
much.”

“I
do
know how it makes you feel—I can
sense it through our bond.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the
mouth.
“And I love you too,”
she sent
through the connection they now shared. The connection Thrace knew would last a lifetime.

Chapter
Forty

“We’ve
sent scouts to Yonnie Six but there’s no sign of Two or of Lord X.” Commander
Sylvan told Trin and Thrace
a few days later as they sat with some friends in his living area. “Six, the
former Dark Kindred warrior who now lives among us, speculated that they might
have gone to a secret lab he knew of—one of Two’s old hiding places. He went to
check it out although Mei-Li, his Earth bride, was very much against it.”

“She’s
pregnant so she couldn’t go with him,” Becca, who was there with Far and Truth
said.

“What
did Six find out?” Stavros asked.

“We
don’t know yet—he is supposed to report in to us at any time.” Sylvan sighed
and looked at Thrace.
“Can you remember anything else about the vision he showed you? It must be
important if the information was given to him in a Seeing.”

Thrace
shrugged unhappily. “I’ve told you every detail I could remember. I believe the
girl resides on Earth but what part of it, I don’t know. I do know the
younglings in her care called her ‘Brooks’ but I wasn’t sure if it was a name
or a title of respect.”

“It’s
a fairly common last name,” Charlie, who was also there with Stavros said.

“She
may be dead by now if Two set a member of the
Verrak
on her,” her mate said soberly. “They are utterly
relentless.”

“Because
they take a vow to kill their target or kill themselves if they fail,” Truth
pointed out. “Anyone who took such a vow would be relentless—if they wanted to
live.”

“I
don’t get it,” Charlie said, frowning. “Are these
Verrak
a race of alien assassins from some horrible planet where
everyone is trained to kill from birth or something?”

“Nothing
so clear cut as that,” Far answered. “Or they would be much easier to spot. In
fact, anyone, male or female, regardless of race or species may choose to
join—if they make it through the rigorous training process.”

“What
happens if they don’t?” Becca asked.

“I
bet I know.” Charlie drew a finger across her throat meaningfully.

“Yes,
the penalty for failing the process at any point is death. As is the penalty
for failure to assassinate a chosen target,” Far said. “In fact, some say that
only those who wish to die would join the
Verrak
in the first place. They are warriors looking for a death worthy of
them—whether by their own hand or another’s.” He frowned. “They usually take
only the most dangerous targets. I wonder what it is about this female that
enticed a
Verrak
to take her contract?”

“Maybe
she’s special in some way,” Becca said. “You know, other than the whole,
mother-of-the-new race kind of thing. What would be the benefits of a
Havoc/Human/Kindred race anyway?”

“Longevity
for one,” Sylvan said thoughtfully. “The Havoc live much longer than we Kindred
do. And they can pass their prolonged life on to their mates.”

“But
the Kindred are willing to
bond
with
their mates and form a permanent union,” Thrace pointed out. “That’s not
usual in my people at all—although it might be if they knew what they were
missing.” He looked at Trin and winked. She blushed and nudged his shoulder
with her own.

“Adding
the Kindred back into the mix might also enable dream sharing again which makes
finding the right mate much easier,” Far said.

“But…what
do humans bring to the party?” Charlie asked. “We’re not big or strong or
long-lived compared to either the Havoc or the Kindred.”

“No,
but your DNA meshes better with ours than any other trade partner we’ve ever
found,” Sylvan said seriously. “Adding human genetic material will enable the
other good traits to breed true and produce exceptionally healthy children.”

“What
it boils down to is we
have
to find that
poor girl Two put a hit on,” Charlie exclaimed. “After all, she might
not
be dead yet and it sounds like she’s
pretty important to the future of the Kindred race—if this Seeing is anything
to go by.”

“It
is,” Thrace
assured her gravely. “The Lud’oms are able to See only three times in their
lives but their Seeings are incredibly accurate and very detailed. I’m inclined
to believe Two was telling the truth in his own twisted way.”

“Then
we
have
to find her—but how?” Becca
asked. “I mean, it sounds like she was some kind of an elementary school
teacher but we can’t go checking every single school on Earth!”

Charlie
sighed. “If only we knew the name of it…”

“Wait…”
Thrace
sat up straighter in his chair. “There was some kind of lettering on the wall
of the place she was in. I couldn’t read it because it was in a tongue I didn’t
know—or one I couldn’t read, anyway though I understood her speech well
enough.”

“It’s
the same with Kindred,” Far said. “We pick up new languages almost immediately
but it takes a bit of study to get the written part of any new tongue down
pat.”

“What
if there was a way to see the words?”

The
new voice, coming from the doorway that led to Sylvan’s sleeping chamber
belonged to his mate, Sophia. She had been putting their twins down for a nap
when the meeting started.

“What
way,
talana?”
Sylvan asked.

“Nadiah
of course. She’s right here in the next room—lying down with Kara and Kaleb.
She can see into Thrace’s
memories and read the words. Of course…” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“Any
priestess could do it but Nadiah is
much less invasive. And she knows every language in the universe because she’s
the Mouthpiece of the Goddess.”

“A
very good thought.” Sylvan drew her close and kissed her affectionately. “Would
you get Nadiah for us now?” He looked at Thrace. “That is, if you’ll agree
to the process?”

Thrace
shifted
uncomfortably.

“Would
she only look at one specific memory? Or would she have to scan everything in
my past?”

“You
don’t have to worry about Nadiah—she’s wonderful.” Trin pressed his hand gently.
“She won’t look at anything you don’t want her to.”

“Well…”
Thrace
hesitated but at last nodded. “All right. I’ll do it.”

“I’ll
get her.” Sophia went back into the sleeping chamber and came back a moment
later with the blonde haired priestess who looked sleepy and tousled.

“Sorry…”
She yawned. “I was trying to get Kara and Kaleb down for their nap and I sort
of fell asleep myself in the process.”

“That’s
quite all right, Nadiah.” Sylvan smiled. “You know Sophia and I appreciate the
help.”

“I’m
happy to help while I can…but you know I have to leave soon. Rast misses me and
I’m lost without him, too. My mate,” she explained to Trin who looked at her
quizzically. “He can’t leave First World so
he’s managing without me while I visit the Mother Ship and snuggle with Kara
and Kaleb.”

“You’re
wonderful with the twins but right now we need a different kind of help from
you,” Sylvan said. “We need the Mouthpiece of the Goddess.” Rapidly, he
outlined what was going on and what they needed to see. When he was finished,
Nadiah looked very grave indeed.

“The
Goddess has shown me something about this—about a girl who will be very
important to the Kindred race’s future. I couldn’t see much about her except
that she’s not at all what she seems. Though I don’t think even she knows that.
And now you say she’s been targeted for assassination?”

“I’m
afraid so—Two put a member of the
Verrak
on
her trail and Thrace
saw him watching her in his vision,” Sylvan said. “But he also saw some
lettering on the building. We thought it might help us find her—hopefully
before it’s too late.”

“So
you need me to look into his memories?” Nadiah walked over to where Thrace
was sitting and held out a hand in greeting.

Hesitantly,
he took it.

Nadiah
smiled at him warmly.

“Hello—you
must be the male Trin fell in love with.” She smiled at Trin. “And I see you’re
now healed outside as well as inside.”

“I
am.” Trin smiled at her. “Thanks to you and the Goddess.”

“I
knew she brought you two to the Mother Ship for a reason.” Nadiah pulled her
hand from Thrace’s
and looked at Sylvan. “I’ve got it. She’s full figured with brownish blonde
hair and blue eyes.” She frowned. “For a moment I thought I saw something else
though—some change in her that was hard to define…”

“What?”
Thrace
was genuinely startled. “That’s exactly what she looked like and I saw the
change too. But how did you know all that I saw? I never felt a thing.”

“Told
you she was unobtrusive,” Sophia remarked, smiling. “She’s absolutely the
best—take it from someone who’s had other people in their head rifling through
their memories more than once.” She shivered. “With anyone else, it’s a
horrible experience. With Nadiah—you don’t even notice it.”

“So
where is the girl? Did you get the name?” Charlie asked, leaning forward.

Nadiah
frowned. “The writing on the wall that Thrace saw said ‘George Washington
Elementary.’ Does that mean anything to you?”

Becca
groaned. “He was the first president of our country. There must be a
million
elementary schools named after
him!”

“Still,
we at least know she’s in the US,”
Charlie said thoughtfully. “That narrows it down
some.”

“We
need to do a search of elementary schools with that name with a teacher that
has the last name of Brooks,” Sylvan said. “We need to find her!”

“I’ll
attend to it.” Far was already standing. “I’ll go to the main communications
desk and run a comprehensive search.”

“Do
that,” Sylvan said, nodding. “And while you’re at it—”

He
was interrupted by a buzzing from the large viewscreen on the wall.

“Answer
it quick!” Sophia exclaimed. “It’ll wake up the twins!”

“Allow
call,” Sylvan said. At once an image of Six popped up on the screen.

“Oh
good,” Sophie murmured. “Somebody bespeak Mei-Li and tell her that her man is
fine. She was so worried she had to lay down with a headache.”

“On
it.” Becca was already reaching for the thin silver wire of a Think-me in order
to communicate with their friend.

Sylvan
also seemed pleased. “Six, good. I asked the communications officers to patch
you directly through when you called. What have you found?”

“Destruction
and death.” Six sounded sober. “The lab is where Two modified all of his
sniffers—canine-like creatures who were able to scent emotions. He always kept
it in immaculate condition but now, well…see for yourself, Commander.”

He
panned the hand-held camera across the lab showing broken glass and twisted
metal along with some suspicious looking brownish-red stains.

“Is
that blood?” Sylvan asked, frowning at the screen.

“It
appears to be. But there is more—look.”

Six
walked to a different part of the lab, his boots crunching on the scattered
glass fragments. He came to a stop in front of two huge cylinders which had
been broken open, though one was still half filled with greenish goo.

But
it was what the cylinders contained that caught Thrace’s eye—two twisted forms,
both of them clearly dead, were lying locked together, half-in, half-out of the
shattered containers.

“Is
that…Two?” Thrace
asked.

Six
nodded. “He looks much changed but yes, I believe it is him. The teeth are
unmistakable.”

Two
had died with a look of agony on his face—his thin lips were peeled back in a
snarl that revealed his steel teeth. Beside him, with long fingers wrapped
around Two’s skinny throat, lay another figure Thrace recognized.

“Lord
X!” Trin exclaimed.

“Is
this the scion Two made of himself?” Six asked, looking down.

“If
it’s not it’s close enough to be his twin,” Trin murmured. “Look—is that a
blaster hole in his chest?”

“I
believe so,” Six answered her. “And look—” He lifted Two’s stiff hand with the
toe of one boot. It was still gripping a blaster.

“I
wonder what happened to them?” Charlie said.

“It
appears that Two was trying to make some kind of transference—maybe he wanted
to put his consciousness directly into his scion’s body,” Six said.
“Apparently, the scion did not approve of this.”

“He
didn’t want Two taking over his body so he strangled him,” Charlie said. “And
then Two shot him—they must have died together.”

Becca
shivered. “It’s not pretty but at least now we know Two and his scion are out
of the picture.” She turned to Thrace.
“That must be a load off your mind!”

“Of
course.” Thrace
tried to smile but for some reason, he couldn’t feel the elation he knew he
ought to. There was something too easy…to convenient about the scene Six had
found in the abandoned laboratory…