Switched: Brides of the Kindred 17 (49 page)

Sylvan shook his head, trying to take it all
in.

“
What…what are you saying?
That every male, female, and child on the Mother Ship who drinks
your infected water will end up looking like you?”

“
Oh no—that’s the beauty
of it, my dear Commander. They won’t
look
like me on the
outside—they’ll
be
me on the
inside.
My personality will infect them like, well, like
a virus. Slowly it will take over their minds until their brains
are exact duplicates of my own. Except for the ten to twenty
percent who don’t survive the process, of course.” Two made a
dismissive gesture. “But that’s an acceptable loss. There will
still be more than enough of my mental clones to run and populate
the Mother Ship.”

“
Goddess…” Sylvan stared
at him, hardly able to believe this level of madness or the
magnitude of Two’s evil.

“
I know—it’s quite an
ingenious plan, isn’t it?” Two smiled modestly, flashing Sylvan’s
own fangs at him again. “You can see why I was so eager to share it
with you before I implemented it. Especially since you’re
essentially paralyzed right now and can do nothing to stop
me.”

“
You bastard,” Sylvan
growled. “You’ll never be able to pull this off—someone will stop
you!”

“
And who would
that
be?” Two opened his
eyes wide in mocking query. “Who would
dare
to question the great Commander
Sylvan, head of the Kindred High Council? Who’s going to look twice
if I say I want to inspect the water supply? And who’s going to
refuse a glass of delicious, refreshing water when I offer it to
them? Surely not your lovely mate,
Sophia.”

Sylvan felt the red
curtain of
rage
wanting to fall over his vision and fought it with all his
might. It was natural for a Kindred warrior to go into
rage
when his mate was
threatened but he couldn’t afford to lose his senses now. He had to
keep Two talking. If only he could keep the bastard here, boasting
about his own cleverness until the drug he’d given Sylvan wore
off…Already Sylvan could twitch his fingers again. Not much, but a
little at least. If he could only…

“
So that’s my plan—I just
wanted you to know.” Two snapped the black leather satchel closed,
effectively hiding the deadly nanobot laced formula. “You can sit
here and think about it for a while. By the time the paralytic I
gave you wears off, it will all be over and done with. Just think,
the next time you embrace your sweet mate and children, it’s
actually
me
you’ll be holding in your arms.” Two laughed nastily. “That
is
if
they all
survive the transformation. They have an eighty percent chance,
after all so don’t fret.”

“
You bastard,” Sylvan
swore hoarsely. “Don’t you fucking touch them—if you try this I
swear I’ll kill you. No matter how long it takes me to do it, I
will
end
you!”

“
Ah, but can you
end
all
of me?”
Two laughed. “There are shortly going to be tens of thousands more
of me running around—how will you kill them all? Will you murder
everyone you used to love when they become nothing but shells for
my sparkling personality?” He laughed again, a horrible mockery of
Sylvan’s own laugh. “Well, I’ll leave you to think about that,
shall I? Right now I have a date with the water supply.”

Before Sylvan could say anything else, he
had slipped out of the small storage closet and closed it firmly
behind him. There was a click as the lock snicked shut.

“
Two, you bastard, come
back here!” Sylvan shouted but his voice was muffled by the
closet’s metal door and the cleaning supplies stacked around
him.

He was alone and paralyzed in the dark,
helpless to stop Two’s foul plan.

Chapter Twenty-three

“
Stupid. Stupid,
stupid,
stupid,”
Kerov muttered to himself as he paced the corridors of the
Mother Ship. “How could I be so Goddess-damned stupid? How could
I—
oof!
”

In his anger and distraction, he had run
right into another male.

“
Excuse me,” Kerov
muttered, stepping back, and then realized the other male was
Commander Sylvan. “Oh, greetings, Commander,” he said. “Forgive
me—I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“
Quite all right, er…” The
Commander frowned.

“
Kerov,” Kerov said,
realizing that Sylvan wouldn’t know it was him in his own body if
he didn’t say so. “Um, Frankie and I, er, managed to Switch
back.”

“
Is that right? How nice
for you, Perov.” Sylvan smiled. “So—leaving so soon? The Mother
Ship is an exciting place to be and it’s about to get even more
exciting.” He laughed, as though at a private joke.

“
Yes, I’m leaving,” Kerov
said shortly. There was something different about the Kindred
Commander but Kerov couldn’t put his finger on it. Something about
his hand?
Whatever—why should I
care?

“
A pity.” Commander Sylvan
seemed distracted. “If you could only stay a bit longer I’m certain
you’d feel like a whole new male.” He tittered again, as though he
found his own statement funny although Kerov couldn’t see
why.

“
I’ve solved my problem
and now I’m going,” he said tightly, hoping the other male wouldn’t
want him to stay and try to fulfill the foolish prophesy everyone
seemed to think was so important. “I’m sorry, Commander, but
there’s nothing else for me to do.”

“
Ah well, there’s plenty
more without you—safe flight.” The commander pulled out the black
leather satchel he’d had earlier at the HKR building and patted it.
“Enjoy yourself—I’m off to give some very thirsty people a
drink.”

Kerov had no idea what he was talking about
and he didn’t really care. As Commander Sylvan walked breezily past
him, he sank back into his morbid thoughts.

How could he have lost control and let
himself do what he had done to Frankie? He couldn’t explain what
had happened—couldn’t excuse his actions except to say that the
sight of her round, luscious, naked ass had driven all rational
thought out of his mind. He had become a creature of pure lust
intent on making her come—and unwilling to curb his insatiable
desires even when she begged him to stop.

What’s wrong with me? Why
would I act that way? I spent years curbing my desires when I was
with Xirnah and the partners I had before her. I never once stepped
over the line or did more than what the State mandated as an
allowable sexual practice. But the minute I get a little freedom
and a female I actually
care
about, I lose all control and do the
unthinkable!

And then, to make things worse, he had
parted from her in the worst way possible. There was no possibility
she would ever consider him as a potential mate now. Not after he
had violated her against her will and then left her in such a cold
and insulting fashion.

Kerov hated himself for what he’d done. He
stomped along, not looking where he was going, musing over his own
shortcomings and inadequacies until he heard his footsteps echoing
hollowly.

Looking up, he saw that his feet had taken
him back to the docking bay. Well, that really wasn’t so
surprising, was it? What else was there to do now but go home? Now
if he could just get someone to call him a shuttle…

“
Hello,
Brother.”

The unfamiliar voice made him jerk his head
up. A tall Kindred with shaggy black hair and brilliant blue eyes
was coming towards him. Apparently, he had just alighted from one
of the shuttles.

“
Hello,” Kerov said
shortly. He didn’t feel like being drawn into conversation. He
tried to walk past the stranger but the other male stepped in front
of him.

“
Forgive my intrusion, but
would you happen to be a Switch Kindred?”

“
What?” Kerov frowned at
him. “How in the Seven Hells did you know that?”

“
I dreamed of you. Or
well…” The male cleared his throat. “My mate, Kate, dreamed of you
and I shared the dream. You’re the one the prophesy spoke of—the
One who Jumps True, are you not?”

“
I don’t know about that,”
Kerov growled. “As of right now the only person I’ve ever ‘jumped’
into is an Earth female. And it doesn’t look like she and I will be
jumping or Switching any more since I’ve given her mortal offense
and she wants nothing more to do with me.”

The moment the words were out of his mouth
he wished he could call them back. He didn’t even know this male’s
name—there was no need to dump his recent failing out between them
like a spilled pail of garbage. But he was so angry and upset,
somehow it had just come out.

To his surprise, though, the other male
didn’t back away or make an excuse to be somewhere else or pretend
that Kerov hadn’t spoken frankly, as someone of Kerov’s home world
would have. Instead he addressed the issue, speaking in a quiet
voice that was somehow calming.

“
Ah—and I take it you
regret this offense that you gave to your female?”

“
She’s not
my
female,” Kerov spat.
“And yes, I regret it! How could I not?”

“
What did you say that she
found so offensive?” the other male asked reasonably. “Maybe it was
a matter of cultural difference that can be cleared up with an
explanation. These things are pretty common when you’re dealing
with people from completely different worlds.”

“
It wasn’t something I
said. Or it didn’t start that way.” Kerov sighed. “It was something
I
did
. But I do
not wish to talk about it,” he added in a growl, wondering why he
had said so much already.

“
Understandable.” The
other male nodded. “I’m Rone, by the way.” He held out an arm and
Kerov took it reflexively in a warrior’s grasp.

“
And you said you saw me
in a dream?” Kerov asked, frowning as they ended the grasp. “What
exactly did you see me doing?”

“
Nothing—I swear. Kate
only caught a brief glimpse of your face and then she was told that
you were the one we’d been waiting for—the one who was supposed to
fulfill the prophesy.”

“
Yes, I heard that idiotic
prophesy,” Kerov growled. “It makes no damn sense. I only came to
the Mother Ship so that Frankie and I could be Switched back into
our own bodies permanently and stop taking over each other’s bodies
and lives.”

“
Well, it seems you
accomplished what you came for,” Rone said neutrally.

“
Yes, but at what price?”
Kerov sighed. “I’ve gotten her out of my body but I can’t get her
out of my heart. And now I’ll never see her again.”

“
Again, most
misunderstandings can be cleared up if you just
talk
about them,” Rone said
reasonably. “I’m not just offering free advice either—I know what
I’m talking about. My mate and I nearly split forever not too long
ago because I refused to listen to what she had to say.”

“
You were on the brink of
permanent separation?” Kerov raised an eyebrow at him. “Even though
you were already bonded? I thought such things did not happen when
Kindred were allowed to bond for life to one they love.”

“
Such things
don’t
happen if you’re
not acting like a damn fool,” Rone said, frowning. “Which I was—I
admit it. Kate and I had a misunderstanding of a…” He cleared his
throat. “Of a sexual nature. And I wasn’t willing to hear her when
she talked about it.”

“
Really?” Kerov frowned.
“A
sexual
misunderstanding?” He shook his head. “Why would you tell me
that? I just met you.”

Rone sighed. “Look—to be
completely honest I’m a Wulven Kindred. Our senses are incredibly
sharp.” His nose wrinkled slightly. “So I can tell you’ve, uh,
recently
been
with your female. And now you’re upset and you think she can
never forgive you for whatever it is you’ve done—right?”

“
Well…yes.”

“
Which reminded me of my
own misunderstanding with Kate. Naturally a male doesn’t usually
share information about his intimate relations with his mate with
another male, but you seem in need of help. So…” Rone shrugged.
“Forgive me if I’m wrong—I just don’t want to see you make the same
mistake I almost made. To think I almost walked away from Kate
forever…” He shook his head. “I love her so much it hurts—you know?
And I almost lost her.”

“
Well, I
have
lost Frankie. After
what I did…she can never forgive me. And she didn’t like Kindred in
the first place.” Kerov felt strange telling a male he barely knew
but Rone was being so forthcoming he felt more open himself. And it
was nice to speak to someone who understood.

“
Maybe you haven’t lost
her,” Rone said. “What did you do? I swear I won’t tell anyone and
maybe I can be of some help to you when it comes to dealing with
your Earth female. They can be tricky at times.” Rone gestured to
the walkway leading around the docking bay. “Come, let’s walk and
talk.”