“I don’t know.” Lissa frowned. “There’s something…different about him. Something other. Even Salix says he doesn’t act or speak like the male he met when he came to get you.”
“Maybe he’s crazy with grief over Maggie leaving him,” Nina said reasonably. “In which case, I think we should bring her over.”
Lissa frowned. “It’s very dangerous but I don’t know what else to do. Saber and Reddix are getting ready to face him now. If he cuts them down with his beams…”
Maggie didn’t feel a bit drunk now. “I’m getting on the next Kindred shuttle. You girls call the Mother Ship and tell them to fold space for Tarsia. I’ll see you soon!”
“Wait, Maggie—shouldn’t you tell your family first?” Nina protested. “They already lost you for more than six months and that wasn’t even a whole month ago.”
Maggie shook her head. “It would just worry my mom. And really, there’s nothing to be worried about. Kor always said he would never hurt me—I still believe that’s true.”
“I hope you’re right,” murmured Lissa. “Come, then, Maggie. And please for the Goddess’s sake, hurry.”
Chapter Thirty-five
“Kill them! Kill them all!” the dark voice drove Therron on, though he scarcely knew where he was. The last thing he remembered was the proximity alert warnings of his spaceship as he descended to the surface of the Black Planet…
“Warning!” the ship had bleated as he took it down through the burning atmosphere. “Warning! The surface below is pure superheated Titanium Dioxide. Proximity alert—the shields can hold for less than fifteen solar minutes at these temperatures. Stepping outside the ship will result in immediate termination of all life forms.”
Kor had ignored the warnings contemptuously. He had known by then that he was different…special. And, the dark voice had promised him unlimited powers as soon as he breathed the thick black fumes that rose from the cracked crust. As soon as he touched its surface and called it home. More importantly, it promised to end his pain, to wipe all memory of Maggie from his brain forever. Kor wanted that—wanted it more than anything.
When he stepped out upon the black, sere surface, the soles of his boots cracked and melted and a stinging wind filled with choking black dust coated his body. The heat was incredible—unbearable—and yet it didn’t hurt him. In the howling wind that whipped around him, he heard thousands of deep, inhuman voices. Sensed the presence of a mighty hoard striving to break free.
“Back!” the dark voice ordered. “The male is my flesh—my vessel to fill and none other shall have him! Breathe, ” it ordered Kor. “Breathe, deep!”
Kor had taken a deep breath, inhaling pure evil, drawing utter chaos and corruption into his lungs. The Black Planet seemed to waver around him and he heard the thousands of voices howling and screeching…and then he knew no more.
When he woke again, he was back aboard the ship he had stolen from Lady Pope’nose and they were high above the planet. The dark voice, which had been speaking to him from the moment he had dived into the Pool of Remembrance to rescue Maggie at the Lo’thian spa, spoke again—but this time instead of whispering, it came out as a deep, harsh sound.
“We shall set a course for Tarsia,” it said. “So I have promised the witch. There we will sow destruction among the ones who wronged her and feed upon their life force.”
With a shock, Kor had realized that the deep, growling words were coming from his own throat. The dark voice was inside him now, somehow and it was using his body to act and his voice to speak.
What is this? he thought in confusion. What happened? Where am I?
“Worry not, Therron. I have indwelled you. You are a worthy vessel, my son, and together we will cause destruction such as has never been seen across the universe!” the voice promised, still speaking out of his mouth. “We will kill those who stand in our way and hurt all those that have hurt you in the past.”
The past? Kor blinked, trying to remember anything—anything at all about his past. I was a fighter—I remember blood and sand and the roar of crowds in the arena. I killed my master…I was marked for death. But instead I was bought and chained, held in a dungeon where I thought I would surely die. Until she came.
But who was “she?” Though he struggled to remember, there seemed to be a veil over his memory where the mysterious female was concerned. All Kor—no, Therron—could remember was caring for her. Caring so deeply it hurt and then…nothing.
“She is gone, my son. She will trouble you no longer,” the dark voice assured him. “You are host to a Shadow Demon now. Death and destruction are your birthright. You will no longer feel pain—you will only deal it out. This is my promise to you.”
The demon had kept its promise. When the ship had touched down upon the surface of Tarsia, on the edge of a huge swamp, a female had come to meet them. A female with yellow eyes and fingers too long and yet she looked on him with fierce pride and something that seemed to pass for a twisted kind of affection.
“My son. My Therron,” she had cried, caressing his cheek. “At last you have returned, so many years after you were taken. And together we will have vengeance.”
And so they had…
“Kill them all!” the demon within commanded, as Therron strode onwards over the ruined fields. He saw a tall tree behind which some of the enemy—those filthy Kindred who had stolen him away and sold him—were hiding. A red veil dropped over his vision and he blasted it, leaving nothing but a burning stump as the ones who had taken shelter scattered in all directions, screaming. One, however, did not run. He lay on his face, not moving, not breathing.
“Ah,” shouted the voice from Therron’s lips. “Yes, fresh life essence. At last, after so many years without!” Therron’s lungs inhaled, pulling in the reek of death, sucking away the male’s soul…and then he strode onward, toward the capital where there would be many more souls to suck, much more life to devour.
* * * * *
“Oh my God, Kor did all this?” Maggie stared at the viewscreen in horror. The large, flat screen which was hung in Lissa’s house was displaying a ruined village. Most of the buildings were flattened or on fire and here and there she saw wounded people groaning and crying, unable to move. “This…this is terrible! It doesn’t seem like something Kor would do at all!”
“It isn’t.”
Maggie looked up in surprise. Lissa’s voice sounded…different and the Kindred girl’s eyes had turned a sudden brilliant green within green color—so bright they were almost glowing.
Maggie nudged Nina in the ribs, the destruction on the viewscreen forgotten.
“Uh, Nina?” she whispered. “I think something’s going on with Lissa.”
Nina turned from the viewscreeen to look at her friend.
“Oh!” She put a hand to her chest. “Oh, look—I think she’s going to have a vision from the Goddess.”
“A what from the who?” Maggie demanded.
“Be quiet!” Nina clamped a hand on her arm. “Lissa is a priestess—just listen.”
“My children…” Lissa’s green-on-green eyes seemed to glow with benevolence. “Listen to me. The male calling himself Therron—the one known to this little one,” she nodded at Maggie, “as her beloved, Kor, is truly not himself. He has been indwelled by a Shadow Demon of the Black Planet. One who feeds on death and destruction and the life force of those he kills. But the creature cannot kill unless it finds a vessel. Alas, in Kor, he has found one and a strong one, too.”
“But…excuse me your holiness, uh, I mean, your Goddesship,” Maggie said. “If he’s been possessed…”
“Not possessed,” the impossibly beautiful, rich voice coming from Lissa’s lips corrected her. “Indwelled. There is a difference little one—a crucial difference which may yet save the people here.”
“What difference, Mother of All Life?” Nina asked softly—clearly she knew the proper way to address the Goddess.
“One who is possessed is completely taken over
—so filled with the evil one that not even a trace of his consciousness remains. I do not believe it is so with Kor. It cannot be so for he is a bonded male. When I created my Kindred, I used the bond with their chosen female to protect them from such evil.”
“What?” Maggie exclaimed, forgetting to be reverent. “You mean we only broke up three weeks ago and he’s already gone and gotten married or bonded or whatever to some other girl?”
“No, child,” the Goddess said gently through Lissa’s lips. “I am saying he is bonded to you.”
“To me?” Maggie shook her head, not comprehending. “But I don’t understand. How…why…? How is that even possible?”
Nina nudged her with an elbow. “You didn’t tell me you had bonding sex with him!”
“I didn’t!” Maggie protested. “At least, I don’t think I did. What’s bonding sex?”
“Look,” Nina said patiently. “Kor’s a Touch Kindred whether he knows it or not. Did you feel him touching you with his mind—the sensation of fingers or maybe a tongue on your body where he wasn’t physically touching you when you made love?”
Maggie frowned. “Now that you mention it—yes. Yes, I did. I completely forgot about that until now. I’ve been so miserable about everything else…”
“And did you hear his voice speak inside your head after you were done?” Nina persisted.
Maggie felt a lump form in her throat. “Yes, I…he said ‘I love you.’”
“Well, there you go!” Nina grinned at her triumphantly. “You had bonding sex. You have a bond with Kor.” She turned to the Goddess. “But, Mother of all Life, how does that help us now?”
“You must use the bond, child,” Lissa’s mouth said. “Use it to call to him…tell him to cast the Shadow Demon out.”
“But…is that even possible?” Nina asked doubtfully. “Forgive me, Mother of all Life, but if the demon has invaded him…”
“Remember, child, he is only indwelled—not possessed,” the goddess said. “Kor invited this creature into himself to ease the pain of losing his beloved—a burden no Kindred male can bear well. The demon has clouded his mind and veiled his memories. If Maggie can remind him of who she is and that he loves her, he can cast it out again and regain control of his body and soul.”
“But won’t that be dangerous?” Nina asked. “He’s blasting everything and everyone in his path!”
“It will be very dangerous,” the Goddess said gravely. She looked at Maggie with her glowing green eyes. “You may die, child. But you may also save many lives. And this is the only chance you have of saving the male you love. The male I have meant for you all along.”
Maggie didn’t even have to think about it.
“Yes,” she said at once. “Yes, I’ll do it.”
“Very good, my child.” The Goddess smiled with Lissa’s mouth. “You will find him in the capital city with the witch, Xandra. She has a grievance to air with her old lover and she will command the demon within him to cease fire long enough for her to do so. You must approach Kor and call him through your bond. Call him by the name you chose for him when you claimed him and named him, when you freed him from his chains.”
“Okay, but…” Maggie hesitated uncertainly.
“Yes, child?”
“Well, I just found out I have this bond-thingy with him just now,” Maggie burst out. “And I don’t know anything about it or how to use it or access it or anything. If it’s my only, uh, weapon, shouldn’t somebody at least give me a quick tutorial?”
“Oh, it’s really easy,” Nina assured her. “You just think at the person you’re bonded to really hard. It’s like you have your own private radio channel for just the two of you and nobody else can transmit on it.”
“Oh…okay,” Maggie said doubtfully. “Thank you, uh, Mother of All Life.”
The green light in Lissa’s eyes was slowly fading.
“Call him back to you, child…before it is too late,” she said. Then she sagged and would have fallen if Nina hadn’t caught her.
“Where am I? What happened?” she whispered, putting a hand to her temple.
“The Goddess spoke through you, Lissa.” Nina’s eyes were shining. “She told us what to do.”
“Now if I can just do it,” Maggie muttered.
Chapter Thirty-six
“I would speak to you, Redan, former second in command of the Clans of the Touch Kindred.”
The Swamp Witch was standing atop the tall stone steps leading up to the huge round globe that housed the public forum building. Her voice rang out across the streets where the people huddled, frightened of the male with glowing red eyes who stood silent by her side. He was still as a statue and covered from head to foot in pitch black dust that coated his skin, staining it so deeply that his eyes seemed to glare from a face that was made of midnight.
“I would speak with Redan,” the witch proclaimed again, her yellow eyes flashing. “I would speak to he who fathered my son and then abandoned me and went to bond with another. He swore to love me always until I was found to have what no female should ever have—a Touch Sense!”
Murmurs of awe and disgust ran through the masses. The witch had assembled them all, swearing she would blast every building to dust around their ears if they did not abide by her demands. Now they were a captive audience, subject to her whims.
“Redan is not here.” Saber, the new leader of the Twin Kindred came to the front of the crowd. “Say what you must to me, witch.”
“Or to me.” Reddix stepped up beside him. “Redan is my father, after all.”
“And he is father to my son as well,” snapped the witch. “Behold my lovely son of whom I am so proud. Gaze upon him well for his gaze is death. He will blast you all if you do not produce Redan at once!”
“I am here.” An older male Kindred stepped out of the crowd.
“Father, no!” Reddix put a hand on his arm but Redan shook it off. “It is my sin the witch calls out—my sin to pay for and no other’s. Leave me, my son and tell your mother I am sorry and I always loved her.”
“You dare!” The witch’s yellow eyes blazed and she turned to the huge figure beside her who was rumored to be a Shadow Demon made flesh. “Blast him!” she demanded. “There stands the one who abandoned you—who abandoned both of us! Blast him and suck his essence, now!”
The Shadow Demon’s eyes began to glow and he stepped forward.
Suddenly a new voice rang out. A lighter, feminine voice that trembled but spoke resolutely nonetheless.
“Kor, don’t,” it said. “Don’t do this. I know you don’t remember him but that’s your father—your real father. You don’t want to blast him before you even get to know him.”
The witch turned round in a circle, looking for the source of the voice.
“Who dares speak so? Who is it—show yourself!”
“It’s me.” Maggie stepped up on steps, her knees knocking but her chin lifted high. “It’s just me.” She looked at the huge, pitch black figure and reached out a hand. “It’s Maggie, Kor. I need you to come back to me.”
* * * * *
Maggie…Maggie… For some reason the name sounded familiar. Therron (no, Kor) whispered a little voice in his head, tried to access his memories of the past again but again a misty veil seemed to be drawn between him and that part of his mind.
“Ignore it!” the dark voice insisted. “Ignore the girl! She is nothing to you! Blast the old male and suck in his life essence. That is what we live for!”
I…I don’t know… Therron/Kor shook his head in confusion. I can’t…I don’t…
Suddenly a new voice spoke up inside his head.
“Kor, can you hear me?” The voice was light and feminine and familiar. The voice of the girl on the stone steps. She was standing above the crowd, just under and archway of stone upon which all the names of the Touch Kindred Forefathers were carved. “Kor, it’s me—Maggie. I don’t know exactly how to do this but they said we’re bonded. They said I should just thi
nk at you as hard as I could and you would hear me. Can you? Hear me, I mean?”
“Do not answer her!” roared the dark voice inside his head but this time, Therron/Kor didn’t listen.
“Maggie?” he sent back hesitantly. “Do I know you? You look…strangely familiar.”
“Do you know me?” She sounded like she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Yes, you know me! I rescued you from Lady Pope’nose! And then you rescued me from the Flesh Bazaar! You helped me get my implant out. And…and we fell in love. At least, I fell in love with you. Don’t you remember?”
Therron/Kor frowned. “It begins to come back…I called you some nickname—something to do with your hair…” He looked at the girl standing under the carved stone arch. “Was it…curly?”
She laughed and shook her head. “Blondie. You called me blondie.”
“Oh, that’s right…blondie…”
The memories were coming back now. The dreams they had shared together…the way she had rescued him from the dungeon and the verium dust…their time at the spa…finding her in the Flesh Bazaar and easing her need…the way she felt in his arms…the sweet taste of her lips…
“Do you want to remember something?” roared the dark voice in his head. “Remember this—the way the little bitch left you! The way she turned away and went to another male—back to her fiancé as soon as the implant you helped her remove was gone and she had no more need of you!”
“Kor?” It was Maggie’s voice again. “What was that? Is that the thing inside you? It’s a demon, Kor! You have to get rid of it! Have to cast it out!”
Suddenly the dark voice spoke again—this time from his lips.
“You shall not have him, human female. He is mine! A finer host I have never had and I shall not let him go!”
To Kor’s horror, he saw the bloody crimson curtain drop over his vision and felt his eyes begin to get hot. The energy built up inside him like a red shout of rage…it was about to explode and he was looking right at Maggie!