Divided

  Like a shark which can smell just a few drops of blood miles away in the ocean, the demon could sense a possible host, even inside the noisy, busy Med Center.

  Slowly, he drifted in, scanning for the faint signal, following it unerringly to its source.

  There, lying on a sleeping platform was a male body. A Kindred too. Not as young as the male Truth, whom Ur had first picked for himself, but still hale and strong with many years of life left in it all the same. Best of all, Ur could sense no bond between this male and any female.

  It is perfect! But how could I have missed it?

  “…moved him from isolation to a private room,” a male Kindred was saying of the figure on the bed. “But we still don’t know if he’ll ever wake up.”

  “Such a shame,” a human female who looked to be a nurse replied. “A Council member too.”

  “Not just any Council member—the Head of the entire Council. He holds the Orb of Power and has the right to veto anything, even if the rest of the Council okays it. Rumor has it that it’s caused chaos in the upper ranks.”

  “Even worse! What was he doing leading the charge against the possessed males like that?”

  “Well, his mate died over a year ago and their bonding was never blessed with any children,” the male replied. “I suppose he felt he had nothing to lose.”

  That explains it! Probing deeper into the unconscious male’s mind, Ur felt the old, severed bond the two were talking about. The male used to be linked to a female and the remains of that bond had made him almost undetectable.

  But he was here now, unconscious and completely undefended. The more Ur looked at the warrior, the more he liked the new vessel. He was a Blood Kindred and the fangs he sported were appealing. Also it appeared that this particular host had much more than health and a strong body to offer.

  A Council member, did they say? The HEAD of the entire Kindred High Council? How interesting…

  It might take a while to get such a body up and moving again—especially if there had been some damage to the brain or nervous system. But Ur had plenty of time. After all, the longer he waited, the less the Kindred would suspect that anything was amiss.

  With an unheard cackle of pure, malevolent glee, the demon let his essence sink into the unconscious warrior.

  He would bide his time and when he finally came forth, the Kindred wouldn’t know what hit them.

  Read on for a preview of Brides of the Kindred 11: Devoured, coming in summer of 2014…

  Devoured

  Chapter One

  “Are you sure it’s safe?” Tess looked around the Human/Kindred Relations building, or the HKR, as the people who worked there called it. One of those people happened to be her good friend, Di, but what she was suggesting made Tess awfully nervous.

  “Safe?” Di raised one silver eyebrow at her sardonically. “Sure, hon—a hell of a lot safer than you are down here in Tampa.”

  “But what do I do once I—” One of the massive Kindred warriors walked by and Tess dropped her voice to a whisper before continuing. “What do I do once I get up there?”

  “Hide, of course. Until it’s safe to come back down here and move to Hawaii or China or the Moon or wherever you can think of that Pierce won’t follow you.”

  Tess closed her eyes for a moment. Don’t bother running, Princess, Pierce’s voice sneered in her head. You’re mine and I never let go of what’s mine.

  “There’s no place he won’t follow me,” she said in a low voice. “No place he won’t find me.”

  “Correction, hon—there is one place he can’t and won’t find you because he can’t get up there. And that’s the place you’re headed.”

  “But—”

  “No ‘buts,’” Diara insisted. “My next tour of the Mother Ship leaves in fifteen minutes and it’s a big one—big enough that nobody’s going to notice if we come back with one less tourist dying to check out the Kindred way of life.”

  “But I don’t know anything about them,” Tess protested. “I’m not even registered for the draft.”

  The draft was an agreement the governments of the world had with the Kindred that allowed males of their race to call brides from Earth. Being something like ninety-nine percent male because of a genetic mutation—supposedly the same mutation that made them all over six foot six and hugely muscular—meant they were always short of women.

  All unmarried women of a certain age were supposed to be signed up for the draft but Tess wasn’t because technically, she was still married. That was because Pierce wouldn’t sign the divorce papers no matter how often she sent them over.

  Instead, he just kept coming over to her apartment and talking about how he’d changed and he wanted her back. Tess had been down that road before so she had refused. But now it seemed he was done asking. The last time she’d sent the divorce papers she came home to find…

  Tess shook her head. She didn’t want to think about what she’d found inside her apartment. Just remembering made her feel like she might cry or throw up. Poor Gus…

  “You don’t have to know anything about the Kindred except they’re good guys and they don’t beat and imprison their women,” Di said, interrupting her morbid thoughts. “Unlike certain ex-husbands I could name.”

  “He’s not technically my ex since he won’t sign the papers,” Tess pointed out.

  “You wanted him out of your life badly enough to cough up for a divorce lawyer when you could barely afford to pay rent,” Di pointed out. “Just because Pierce is being an asshole about it—like he is about everything—doesn’t mean he gets to win. As far as I’m concerned, you two are splitsville.”

  Tess smiled at her friend and pressed her hand.

  “Thanks, Di. You know, you’re the only friend I’ve ever had that could see through him. He can act so charming when he wants to—he even had my mom fooled, right up until the end.”

  “You mean when he refused to let you go see her in the hospital?” Di shook her head. “Yeah, I see through him all right. Bullshit is bullshit, no matter how you try and dress it up.”

  “Thanks.” Tess pressed her hand again and wiped away a stray tear. Even though her mom had been gone for well over a year, it still hurt to think of her. Hurt to think she had died alone because Pierce was too crazy jealous to let Tess go see her in time.

  She turned her head for a minute to try and get control and saw her reflection in the shiny smoked glass window to her right. A short, plump girl with long dark hair and big brown eyes stared back at her. I’m nothing special to look at, she thought, swiping at her eyes and taking a deep breath. I mean, sure I have a pretty face but it’s on a plus-sized body. What is it Pierce sees in me? Why won’t he leave me alone?

  “Oh, sorry, hon! I shouldn’t have said that about your mom.” Di looked genuinely distraught. “Me and my big mouth.”

  “No, no—I’m fine. Just a little nervous,” Tess protested, trying to smile. “I mean, I don’t even know where I’m going to stay once I get up there.”

  “I do,” Di said firmly. “I know the perfect place for you. You’ll blend right in and no one will be the wiser.”

  “But what if I get caught? I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

  “What trouble?” Di shrugged. “If anybody finds out we’ll just say you got lost from the tour and wound up spending the night. Nobody has to know how long you’re up there.”

  “But what if Pierce comes looking for me? What if he figures out I’m up there and he comes up with a tour to find me?”

  Di put a hand on her hip. “Do you have any idea how long people wait to get on one of these tours now that the Mother Ship is finally accessible? Years. And once their name comes up, they have to be approved by the senior tour director. Which just happens to be…”

  “You,” Tess finished for her with a little smile.

  “Me,” Di agreed, patting her neat cap of silvery hair. “So guess who is never going to get approved to go up there.”

  “What
if he says it’s police business?” Tess countered.

  “Oh, please!” Di scoffed. “What police business? No Earth agency of any kind has jurisdiction on the Mother Ship. He’d have to go through the Kindred High Council to get approval after I’ve turned him down.”

  “Really?”

  Di nodded firmly. “Really. And even then he’d have to have a damn good reason to go aboard. Somehow I don’t think the Kindred High Council is going to think ‘hunting down my ex-wife so I can continue being an abusive asshole to her’ is a good enough excuse to let him go up.”

  “Well…” Tess could feel herself wavering.

  “Tess…” Di looked her in the eye. “Stop making excuses and listen to me—more than fifteen hundred women a year are killed by an abusive husband or boyfriend. You’re one of my dearest friends—don’t make me watch you become a statistic. After what you found in your kitchen when you came home yesterday—”

  “All right, all right!” Tess held up a hand to stop her. “Please don’t say it—I’ve been trying really hard not to think about it.”

  “Sorry, hon,” Di said steadily. “But you know it’s true.”

  “Yes, I know.” Tess took a deep breath. “All right, I’ll do it.”

  “You don’t have to, if you really don’t want to,” Di offered. “You can always stay with me.”

  “And put you in danger too? I don’t think so.” Tess shook her head.

  “I told you before—I’ve got a gun and I’m not afraid to use it. Especially on an asshole like Pierce.”

  “He’s got a gun too. He’s a cop—remember? No.” Tess sighed. “I guess…I guess this is the only way.”

  “Good. You’ll be fine.” Di grinned at her, obviously delighted.

  “And who knows—maybe you’ll meet a tall, dark, handsome Kindred who can pound Pierce into the ground for you while you’re up there.”

  Tess shook her head. “You know I’m not looking to meet anyone. Honestly, after these last few years with Pierce, I might just swear off men all together.”

  “Ah, but these guys aren’t just men—they’re Kindred.” Di winked at her. “It’s too bad all the ones my age are already spoken for but you’re plenty young enough, honey. You could—”

  “Di…” Tess raised an eyebrow at her.

  “All right, all ready—I’ll stop. Just go on over and join the tour group at the far end of the lobby.” Di gestured to the small crowd milling around, ooing and ahhing at the various Kindred warriors stationed around the HKR building. Many of them had whipped out cameras and cell phones and several of the younger, obviously unmarried girls, were posing for pictures with the warriors, who didn’t seem to mind.

  It was a perfectly innocent sight but Tess still felt her stomach knotting into a fist as she watched. Supposedly three main types of Kindred—Beast Kindred who had golden eyes, Blood Kindred who had pointed fangs, and Twin Kindred who always came in pairs. But honestly, all she saw when she looked around were a bunch of big, muscular, potential threats.

  Pierce was a big guy—not quite as big as a Kindred but big enough to have played football in college and he was still an intimidating specimen. Tess ought to know—he’d used his size to intimidate her often enough. It was scary to see guys who were even bigger and more menacing than him walking around.

  Di could talk all she wanted about how the Kindred never battered their women but after what she’d been through, Tess found it was hard to trust that was true. Or at least, hard to trust it enough to go up and live among the huge alien males on their home turf. For her, right now, every male was suspect. Every one of them could turn out to be just another Pierce waiting to hurt her.

  But if she didn’t go up to the Mother Ship, where else could she go? Where else could she disappear to that Pierce couldn’t find her and drag her back? She’d thought about the battered women’s shelters but Pierce being on the Tampa PD complicated things. The shelters were hidden from prying eyes but her ex had a way of finding things out…

  I’ll just have to take a chance, Tess thought unhappily as she watched another smiling girl take a picture with a grinning Beast Kindred. There’s no other way.

  Trying to look inconspicuous, she wandered over to the gathered tour group and took a place in the back. Mother Ship, here I come.

  Chapter Two

  “Brother, I’m glad I found you.”

  Truth looked up from the vegetables he was chopping, clearly startled by his younger brother’s voice.

  “Oh, Garron—what are you doing here? Did you come for last meal?”

  “Not exactly.” Garron cleared his throat. “I, um, would like to talk to you. About something private.”

  He shot a glance at Far, his brother’s long lost twin, who was happily cooking something at the other end of the food prep area. He had features that were remarkably similar to Truth’s but his hair was long and blond instead of short and dark and his eyes were bottomless black instead of Truth’s pale gray.

  Despite their differences, the twins really did seem to belong together. Though Garron had been initially surprised when he met his older brother’s twin and mate—for they shared a female as all Twin Kindred did—he now liked Far quite a lot. Still, what he had to say was embarrassing and for Truth’s ears alone.

  “It’s all right.” Far looked up and nodded at them. “I’m done here for now. I’ll go into the living area and give the two of you some privacy.”

  “Thank you, Far.” Truth nodded back. He waited until his twin had exited the food prep area to turn back to Garron. “Now. What seems to be the problem?”

  “Well…” Garron took a deep breath, trying to think how to approach the topic he wished to discuss. “You know that my name day is coming soon…”

  “So it is!” Truth smiled. “We must celebrate in the Earth way which Rebecca has been telling me about. We can have a party—a gathering of friends to wish you well. Also, we will have an Earth confection known as a…as a…” He frowned. “Seven hells, it is either a pie or a cake. Or maybe it’s a pake. Yes! That’s it—we will have a pake with many little flame stalks and you must blow them out and we will all sing to you and bring you gifts and humorous sentiments called ‘greeting cards’ and—”

  “Brother!” Garron held up a hand impatiently. “Could you please stop talking about Earth customs for a moment? Have you forgotten what I am? What I may have stirring within?” He put a fist to his chest.

  “Apologies,” Truth said. “I did not think.”

  “No, because you don’t have to.” Garron couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his voice. “Because you aren’t really Rai’ku the way I am. You have no dr’gin within. No deadly beast that might come out and kill…” He shook his head, unable to finish.

  “But it has been so many years since you came of age,” Truth said. “So many times the virgins were gathered for you and nothing happened. Do you really think you have a dr’gin at all?”

  “I feel it stirring within me. Or something stirring, anyway,” Garron said darkly. “I have been having…urges lately. Cravings. Desires.” He closed his eyes briefly, unable to look at his brother as he spoke. “Some of them…some of them very unlike what we were raised to believe are normal or right.”

  “Is that all?” Truth sounded so lighthearted than Garron had to open his eyes and look.

  “What do you mean ‘is that all?’” he demanded. “You don’t even know what desires I’m talking about.”

  “I am sure I can guess.” Truth nodded knowingly. “Does it have to do with wishing to…ah…taste certain parts of the female anatomy we were told never to touch unless mating?”

  Garron felt his cheeks go hot. He cleared his throat.

  “Possibly…I know I should not wish such things,” he hurried on. “It is wrong but I—”

  “It’s not wrong. It’s Kindred. The Kindred part of you coming out,” Truth countered. “Look, Brother, I felt the same way. I longed to do things with my lady—things we were taugh
t were perverted and degrading. Things that—”

  “Please…” Garron held up a hand. “No details or I will never be able to look Becca in the eyes again.”

  “I’m not going to give you details, I’m just letting you know that what you desire is natural and right for our people—for the Kindred. Look…” Truth put a hand on his shoulder. “I know for a fact there are already some Rai’ku beliefs and teachings you reject. The way the Rai’ku treat their females, for instance…”

  “You mean the way they demean and devalue them.” Garron frowned. “No—I could never believe that was right.”

  “No Kindred male could,” Truth said gently. “It’s in our nature—in our very DNA—to revere our females. Even our father—as cruel as he could be when he was drinking—never raised a hand to Ama.”

  “That was because he took his anger out on you instead,” Garron said in a low voice. “And just because he didn’t hit her didn’t mean he didn’t abuse her. The things he said when he was drunk—”

  “Scarred us all,” Truth finished quietly. “I’ve come to understand something, Brother—when a male suffers the things we suffered, he either repeats the pattern he saw as a child or he makes a conscious decision to break it. I made that decision and I know you did too.” His voice dropped to a softer note. “I saw the way you treated Nella—you loved and revered her as a true male should.”

  “I would rather have cut off my hand than hurt her,” Garron said honestly. “And I miss her still. I grieve for her. That is why…” He cleared his throat. “Why I find these, ah, urges both frightening and confusing. I want no other female but Nella and yet I find myself burning—on fire with these strange needs.”

  “Quench the fire,” Truth advised. “Find a willing female to align your mind and body with.”

  “I told you—I want no one but Nella and she is gone,” Garron protested. “But say I decided to take your advice and take another female. What if these strange urges presage the coming of my dr’gin? What if when I started to make love to her, I turned?”