The Kin

  Chapter Twenty Six

  Over the next seven days Marius and his men purged the surrounding area of the Kin, then moved on to the higher caves. But when they got to those caverns, they found to their disappointment that they were empty; all that was left behind were tantalising signs that that Kin had been and gone.

  At Salinae, the Thracians had been joined by several cohorts of the XIII Gemina from Apulium who had been sent up there to help with repairs and to man the fort until numbers could be made up from other auxiliary units. General Sulpicius Rufus had also arrived and taken command of the fort for the time being, and Junius and several other injured men had been transferred back to Apulium where there were better medical facilities and surgeons.

  In the guest room of the prefect’s building, Junius was gradually regaining his strength and had even managed to begin training with the other legionaries, though he was taking things slowly and trying not to push himself too quickly.

  The medicus legionis of the fort was bemused as to what was actually wrong with him, because there were no actual physical symptoms. His humours seemed to be in perfect balance, his responses were spectacularly fast and his heart rate normal. The doctor confessed that he was just as confused by the victims of the Kin who were recovering in the infirmary. When Junius informed him that he too had been a victim of the infection in Parthia and that it had taken him a few months to recover, the doctor asked him to visit the sick in the infirmary so that he could give them hope that there was life after the affliction.

  There were at least twelve people in the fort’s medical centre, all at varying stages of recovery. Most of them ignored him as he slowly and painfully entered the dimly lit building. He stood for a moment, not quite sure what he was expected to say to these people, but as he studied them, he realised that most were recovering and would soon be able to walk in the daylight and re-join their families. Only two were still pale and lay unmoving on their beds. Quietly, he approached the closer of the two, a middle-aged man who looked at his with pleading eyes.

  Gently he whispered reassurances to the man, and promised him that soon the pain would be over and he would be able to leave the hospital. There would be no lasting side effects, he promised, but Junius felt a fraud. Nasir had made the same promises to him that he was making to them now, and it had turned out to have been false. He hoped, he truly did, that he wasn’t lying to them, but none of these people had transformed as he had, so the chances were good for them to regain their old life again.

  When he’d reassured the man, he approached the other quiet figure on the next bed. This was a young woman, but instead of being scared, she narrowed her eyes and glared at him. He knew then that if she could have hissed, she would have. This girl didn’t want to be cured. She wanted to be one with them. As he came to stand next to her bed, she looked into his eyes and he could see that she recognised the dilemma within him. For a moment he studied her dark eyes and thick black hair and knew that she was clutching on to the last vestiges of the Kin which were still inside her. Slowly, he shook his head in response to the hopeful look that lit her eyes. She frowned, gave him a defiant scowl, and then turned away.

  Junius wasn’t quite sure what to make of her actions, but she clearly didn’t want to talk with him, so he moved away from her bed and went over to the others who were waiting for him and were curious as to the nature of his visit.

  With the general away in Salinae there were only small informal dinners for the remaining officers. As a guest and officially under the jurisdiction of the army doctor, Junius didn’t have to go to the meals, but as he was getting stronger it made sense to do so. It was also a means to finding out if there had been any news from Rome, as well as hearing the latest gossip from the provincial capital.

  He was the first to leave the small gathering that night. The other officers were well into their cups and arguing if Sulla or Scipio was the greatest strategist of the republic. Walking slowly Junius entered his room and removed his tunic carefully, so as not to aggravate his aching muscles any more than necessary, then he lowered himself on to the bed. He was moving like an old man and his body felt as if it was seventy years old. But in comparison to a few days ago, he was definitely improving.

  He’d almost fallen asleep when the girl from the infirmary entered. He didn’t hear her, but he felt her. Warily he opened his eyes and stared into the shadows.

  “I know who you are,” she told him quietly, stepping forward. “They thought you were dead.”

  Junius forced himself to sit up. “Can you hear them?”

  She nodded. “Just about. I used to hear them during the day, but it’s only at night now. There’s only a few left. Your friend saw to that.”

  “Is Isher–Dan still alive?” he asked, cutting off her next comment.

  “Yes, all the old ones are. Your plan worked. But they’ve gone to the mountains. They couldn’t stay any longer.”

  “I understand. Can you talk with them now?”

  She came closer, a pale figure in the darkness. “Their voices are faint, almost impossible to hear. I can’t speak to them any longer. Will you help me?”

  Junius wasn’t sure if he could. “How can I help?”

  “I want to become one with them.”

  He shook his head. “I can’t do that. What happened to your maker?”

  She sat down on the bed and looked at her hands. “He left me here to wake and feed whilst he went back to the others. I was supposed to follow after Becoming, but I was imprisoned instead. He died at the siege. I felt it.”

  Junius sighed. “I’m sorry. He would have died bravely.”

  Suddenly, she snapped her head up and glowered at him. “With your blood I’ll be stronger and then I can leave here and travel to the mountains and find the others.”

  Junius had to disappoint her. “My blood isn’t strong enough and there’re still Romans searching the mountain. If they see you, they’ll follow you, and you’ll lead them straight to the last of the Kin. I’m sorry.”

  “But I have to. I was promised. I don’t want to go back to washing clothes and mending. I want to be Kin and never have to worry again.”

  “You’ll have to wait, I’m afraid. If you still feel that way when the Romans have gone, you can find them then. But you might feel differently by that time and be glad that you were spared a living death.”

  She glared at him when he said that, as she obviously didn’t believe him. Junius tried to console her. “I do understand how you feel. I felt like that when I was taken from them, but it does fade. Really it does.”

  “Which is why you tried to join with them again.”

  “Things were a little different for me. You’ll be all right.”

  She stared at him for a moment them reached up and pulled out the clip that tied her hair back. She examined it, then held it up for him to see. “May I try to see if your blood will help me hold on to the changes?”

  Junius considered the idea. It might help her retain the influence of the Kin, and there was no harm in trying. The doctor had insisted on taking his blood a few times, so it probably wouldn’t hurt him either. He nodded and held out his arm.

  She took his wrist and carefully scratched the hair clip across his vein, instantly red blood bubbled up and began to spill across his skin. The girl glanced at him as if asking for permission then dropped her head and encircled the cut with her mouth and began to suck at the wound.

  At first Junius watched her, feeling detached and slightly repulsed by the process, but slowly his mood began to change and he started to feel slightly protective of the girl. She seemed to be generating a warm sense of wellbeing with in him. It was unlike anything he’d experienced with the Kin before, but it was becoming stronger and more powerful. He moved his arm gently so that she wasn’t dislodged and carefully brought her closer to his chest so that he could wrap his other arm protectively around her.

  Eventually, she pulled away and looked up at him. They could both fe
el that something had changed. Junius watched as she reached down and tore a strip from her dress then carefully bound his arm to stem the flow of blood. Then he waited as she took the clip and scratched it across her arm and held it up to him.

  He didn’t hesitate; reaching forward he set his mouth against her cool skin and pulled. Her blood was sweet, and human, though there were still enough traces of the Kin in it to make it palatable for him. But after a few mouthfuls he’d had enough. He moved his mouth away and shook his head. She frowned, bemused, so Junius turned away making it clear that he didn’t want any more. She shrugged and again tore more material from her dress and bound her arm.

  “Your blood isn’t Kin. But it’s not human either,” she told him as she worked.

  “I don’t really know what I am. But there’s something different inside me.”

  She glanced up. “I could feel it.”

  “I don’t know if it will help you remain Kin though,” he replied.

  She shrugged. “Sometimes it’s what you believe that counts and your actions. Just by taking your blood I’ll be close to them.”

  Junius lay back against the pillow and considered the wisdom of her words. Even though he’d only taken a small amount of her blood, he already felt better. It seemed to be giving him the same warm glow of satisfaction that he had from food. But that could also be his strange new feelings for the girl. Was this how a maker felt about a progeny who was Becoming?

  He felt a pressure on the bed and movement. The girl had taken her dress off and was kneeling looking at him. Junius took in her marble white skin and the way her thick black hair tumbled down her back and over her breasts. Despite his weakened state, he felt a thrill of excitement and noticed that his body was responding.

  She pulled back the sheet, then moved so that she was straddling him, then she leant over so that her hair fell in tendrils around his face. He didn’t want to wait any more, and so reaching up he clasped her face and brought it close enough to kiss. For a moment he lost himself, enjoying the intimacy and savouring the faint taste of his blood, then he moved his hands down her warm body revelling in the soft contours of her womanly shape, until he came to her hips. But urgency and desire was mounting inside him; he gripped her tightly and with strength that he hadn’t known he possessed, he lifted her and flipped her down onto the bed so that he was over her. Instantly, she brought her legs up and intertwined them around him sending desire storming through his body. Animal instinct took over and Junius shifted position and pushed himself inside her willing body and began to move with a steady rhythm that she matched enthusiastically. He could feel her hands tearing into his flesh and her hot mouth at his neck. The combination was powerful, and succeeded in pushing all other thoughts from his mind.

  But then he felt that other deep yearning inside him, the ache that he dreaded, it was getting stronger and growing in unison with the base desire consuming his body. He’d known it was there inside him, just waiting for the moment when it would overpower him and he’d have no choice but to succumb to the creature that lurked within. It was why he’d shied away from intimacy since returning from Parthia: he couldn’t trust himself. Only with other Kin was it safe to lose control and achieve release.

  Junius tried to break free from the girl, but she held him tightly.

  “I know,” she whispered breathlessly in his ear. “You can with me, it’s all right.”

  He considered what she said. She’d lain with the Kin and almost become one, so she wasn’t likely to be scared by what he revealed of himself. This could be his only opportunity for a long time.

  Junius made up his mind; he moved his head and found her mouth, then gave in to the urgency which had been building inside him. Moments later he felt his body stiffen, then he threw back his head and felt heat sweep through his neck and face. This time it didn’t hurt, and as his lower body shuddered into climax, he dropped his head to the girl’s neck and bit down with the half-formed fangs. Blood spurted into his mouth as he pulled at the tear in her flesh. Then he drew away, shocked but invigorated at what had happened between them.

  The girl shifted so that she was looking at him.

  “Your eyes are black,” she told him quietly. Junius nodded, still breathing heavily and feeling his heart race inside his body. He tried to move but she held him. “It’s all right. Really, it’s fine.” Gently she stroked his face and tried to calm him down.

  As his breathing steadied and his pulse slowed, he rested his head on her shoulder whilst she stroked his hair. He was too tired for the moment to really understand what had happened, but at least now he understood what he’d been scared and worried about. It hadn’t been his imagination, it was real and a part of him that wasn’t ever going to leave. He wasn’t Kin, it was doubtful that he ever could be, and he hated the taste of blood, but the desire for it was there, left over from those nights of Becoming with Belinda and now firmly rooted in his own sexuality. Even if he settled back in Rome and took his place in the senate, he’d never be free of them.