Cougar Christmas

  “Excuse me, um…Commander Terex? Is that you?”

  The soft feminine voice didn’t belong to any of the priestesses. Turning his head, Terex saw with surprise a figure heading towards him over the parkland that surrounded the Sacred Grove. It was a female with an hourglass shape, long dark brown hair, and light brown eyes, flecked with green and gold.

  Elaina…

  For a moment his heart stirred in his chest, like a lump of ice being nudged by the briefest Spring thaw. Then, for some reason, his double set of fangs, which all Blood Kindred have, suddenly seemed to grow longer and sharper. Terex frowned and sternly suppressed the sensation. It didn’t matter that he still found Elaina devastatingly attractive—much had happened since last he had seen the little Earth female—none of it good.

  “Hello, Ms. Benet,” he said, remembering her surname. “It is a pleasure to see you again."

  "Oh, I thought it was you. I just couldn't be sure because of…did you change your hair? And you grew a beard since the last time I saw you."

  "Many things about me have changed," Terex said grimly. "What brings you back to the Sacred Grove?”

  Elaina bit her lush lower lip in a way he found distractingly erotic. Terex forced himself to look away as she talked.

  “One of the priestesses, actually. She said there might be a way…something I could do to help…to help my little sister.” Her voice dropped to almost a whisper. “She…she’s very ill.”

  The pain in her eyes was intense—her sibling must be very ill indeed to evoke such emotion. It made Terex remember how he’d felt when his beloved Solange was dying. But no—he pushed the thought away.

  “I am sorry to hear that,” he said neutrally.

  “Why are you here?” Elaina asked, slipping off her shoes and coming up to him.

  Clearly she was trying to be friendly. They’d had a very cordial conversation on their first meeting—almost a flirtation. Which Terex saw now had been a grave mistake. She was too close—her scent was intensely distracting. He felt his shaft harden in his black flight trousers and took a hasty step back from her. What was wrong with him?

  “I am sorry but my business is private,” he said shortly. “Though I wish you much luck on your own endeavors.”

  “Oh. Uh, thank you, I guess.” Elaina looked taken aback at his cold reply but that couldn’t be helped. Terex told himself he wasn’t being rude—it was necessary to limit the information about his mission. After all, not everyone knew of the near-disaster the Mother Ship had avoided when Two had attacked…or the fact that the Dark Kindred had another scion on the loose somewhere in the universe.

  “Ah, my children! I’m so glad to see you here at last.”

  To Terex’s relief, the priestess Nirobe stepped out from the rustling leaves, saving him from further conversation.

  “Priestess Nirobe.” He bowed his head briefly in supplication.

  “Hello, priestess.” To Terex’s consternation, Elaina stepped forward, smiling. “I’m here,” she said. “What did you want to tell me?”

  “Excuse me,” Terex said. “I do not wish to be rude but I am the one the priestess called to a meeting.”

  Elaina frowned. “No, she specifically asked for me. She called me with a think-me and told me to meet her hear around eight o’clock—after Last Meal.”

  “Actually, my children, I have called you both.” The priestess nodded serenely.

  “I see,” Terex said, though he didn’t understand why the priestess would call them both at the same time. It would have been much more efficient to call one of them a half hour later or earlier. Not to mention much easier on his libido since his rebellious body continued to send signals that it found Elaina extremely desirable. “In that case, Ms. Benet may go first and I will wait,” he said, trying to be courteous and put more distance between himself and the little Earth female.

  “No, Warrior—I think you misunderstand.” Nirobe gave him a stern look. “I summoned you both to the same meeting. Your fate and Elaina’s are bound together like two strands in the same tapestry.”

  “What?” Elaina shook her head. “But you said…you didn’t say anything about, uh, Commander Terex. You said you could show me a way to help my sister.”

  “And so I can,” the priestess said, smiling serenely.

  “You also said nothing to me about Ms. Benet,” Terex protested, frowning. “You told me you could point me in the direction of Two’s scion…for a price.”

  “So I did.” The priestess gestured at Elaina. “Meet your price, Commander Terex. Where you are going, you must also take Elaina. Your mission must not be one only of vengeance but of mercy also.”

  “Impossible.” Terex glared at the priestess. “I am hunting a ruthless sociopath—a male who will not hesitate to slaughter anyone in his path. You cannot ask me to take an innocent, helpless female with me.”

  Beside him, Elaina bristled. “I’m hardly innocent—I’ve been married and divorced and I’m thirty-nine, not nineteen! And I’m not helpless either—I can take care of myself.”

  “Down on Earth where the worst threat you face on a daily basis is air pollution or the occasional instance of reckless driving, I’m certain you can care for yourself, Ms. Benet,” Terex said coldly. “But I am hunting a killer. I don’t want to put you in harm’s way or be held back from acting because of my responsibility to keep you safe.”

  “You don’t have any responsibility to me—I told you, I can take care of myself!” Elaina insisted, her eyes flashing.

  “Children, children…please.” The priestess Nirobe held up her hands for silence. “Commander Terex, I am afraid you have no choice in this matter.” Her voice went steely and she gave him a stern look. “The Goddess has revealed to me that without Elaina you will not be successful in your quest.”

  Maybe I don’t want to be successful! Maybe all I seek is a clean death—how can I find it when I am charged with the safety of another?

  The words rose to his lips but he somehow swallowed them back down. It wouldn’t do to inform a priestess of the Sacred Grove of his death-wish. She might try to keep him from his mission and that was the last thing he wanted.

  And there was another reason he didn’t wish to take Elaina with him—just looking at her made his fangs sharp and his shaft hard. These were clearly inappropriate responses but ones he couldn’t seem to help. Her light feminine scent, carried on the swirling breeze that rustled the leaves of the Sacred Grove, affected him strangely, making it hard to think. He didn’t need that kind of distraction when he was fighting for his life…or trying to lose it.

  But this was another fact he couldn’t disclose—how would it look if he admitted to being sexually drawn to one who was supposed to be under his care? He would have to keep his attraction to the little female to himself.

  “Very well,” he said to the priestess, trying to keep his tone even. “And where am I to take, Ms. Benet, as the Goddess is so set on having her accompany me?”

  “Listen closely,” Nirobe told them, frowning. “This is the prophesy I was given:

  Seek the little healer which cannot fail

  And the silver sphere which finds the trail

  These you will find within the Blind

  Submitting first to Ties that Bind.”

  Terex frowned. “Did you say you wanted us to go into the Blind? Really?”

  “What’s the Blind?” Elaina looked worried.

  “An uncharted area of the known universe,” Terex told her. “A dark sector—we call it the Blind because of the massive cloud of cosmic dust, thousands of light years wide, which blankets the entire area.” He frowned. “The cloud obstructs sight and hinders navigation. In fact, no ship which has ever entered the Blind has come out again.”

  “What?” Elaina looked concerned, as well she might. The Blind was uncharted territory and considered extremely hazardous. She looked at the priestess. “I don’t understand—how will going into this dangerous space cloud thing help Commander Te
rex catch the man he’s hunting or help me find a cure for my sister?”

  Nirobe shrugged. “As to that, I cannot say. I can only tell you what was given me to tell you.” She frowned at Terex. “But I do know, Warrior, that if the Goddess sends you there, it is no death sentence. After all, the Lost Kindred entered the Blind.”

  “Which is why they are called the ‘Lost Kindred,’” Terex said dryly. “Because none of them ever returned.”

  “What reason did they have to return?” Nirobe demanded. “They were shunned by the rest of the Kindred—disavowed by the Council. Some even compared them to the Scourge.”

  “Not all disavowed them. There were some who…studied their ways.” Terex felt his face getting hot and had to look away. His beloved mate, Solange, had been such a one—a scholar of the forbidden way of life the Lost Kindred had adopted after their genetic exchange with the Nix people. That had been just before they disappeared into The Blind fifty cycles ago.

  “Look, I don’t know anything about the ‘Lost Kindred’ or anything like that,” Elaina said, frowning at both Terex and the priestess. “All I know is that you’re asking me to leave my extremely ill sister and go thousands of light years away into an uncharted area which is generally believed to be extremely dangerous. And you’re asking me to do this on the strength of a weird prophesy-poem which doesn’t even seem to make any sense. Have I got all that right?” she asked, looking at Nirobe.

  The priestess nodded gravely. “That is the essence of it, my dear.”

  “Can you guarantee I’ll find what I need to cure my sister and get back to Earth in time before she…before she…” Elaina choked for a moment and Terex felt his heart trying to melt at the obvious pain in her eyes. He hardened it at once. “Can you promise I’ll get back in time?” Elaina finished at last, her eyes wet.

  “Alas, my child, I can promise you nothing. I only know the Goddess loves you and has your best interests at heart. Sometimes she wants us to trust her—to step out on faith and go where she leads even if it doesn’t seem to make sense.”

  Elaina took a deep breath and looked at Terex.

  “Are you going?” she demanded. “Are you going into this uncharted sector—this Blind?”

  Terex thought briefly of lying to put her off—surely it would keep her from coming with him and then he could seek Two’s scion on his own without having to worry about getting her home safely. But the moment the idea entered his mind, he felt ashamed and pushed it away. Lying was unworthy of a Kindred warrior—he refused even to entertain the thought.

  Instead, he nodded shortly. “I am going,” he said. “Though I do not know if I will be able to get back to the Mother Ship again. This is the only clue I have to the whereabouts of my enemy—I must follow it.”

  “And…forgive me but, priestesses are never mistaken?” Elaina asked, glancing at Nirobe anxiously and then looking back to Terex.

  “They are often oblique and mysterious—sometimes positively baffling,” Terex told her. “But I have never yet known one to be mistaken if she is truly led by the Goddess.” He looked at the priestess who nodded.

  “You need have no fear on that account, Commander Terex—the prophesy came to me in a true vision, one from the Goddess herself.”

  “Well, then…” Elaina lifted her chin and squared her shoulders. “I’m going too.”

  “You are?” Terex looked at her in surprise. He’d been certain that all the talk of the Blind and the Lost Kindred had frightened her off.

  Elaina nodded. “I’m going,” she repeated firmly. “The doctors have tried everything else to help Gina and this is the only thing left. So I’ll go and see what I can find. Only…” She looked at the priestess. “Only can I go back down to Earth and tell my sister goodbye first? In case…” She cleared her throat and went on in a choked voice. “In case I don’t…don’t get back from this mission in time?”

  “Of course, my dear. Commander Terex will be happy to take you down to say your farewells,” Nirobe said calmly.

  “Wait a moment,” Terex protested. “If we’re going into the Blind there is much I need to do. Preparations to make—”

  “Commander Terex doesn’t have to be the one to take me,” Elaina said quickly. “I’m sure the nice warrior who brought me up here—”

  “I said, Commander Terex will take you,” the priestess emphasized sternly, cutting both of their protests off. She looked at Terex. “Your preparations can wait. Go with Elaina and see. Understand that your pain is not unique.”

  “I…” Terex couldn’t think of a way to answer her rebuke without being uncivil. So he simply nodded his head. “I thank you, priestess,” he said briefly. Then he jerked his head at Elaina. “Come. There is much to do.”

  * * * * *

  They put on their shoes—or in Terex’s case, huge black boots that looked like a size fourteen at least—and Elaina followed him out of the Sacred Grove, all in complete silence. Neither one of them said a word. She watched the stiff set of his broad, muscular shoulders and wondered what she’d done to piss him off.

  Of course, it could just be that she was butting into his mission which he clearly wanted to be a solo operation, but she didn’t think that was the only thing making the big Kindred upset. He’d been cool to her even before the priestess had demanded he take Elaina with him. Cool almost to the point of rudeness which was not the Kindred way. From her time spent working in the HKR building, Elaina knew most Kindred warriors bent over backwards to be courteous and polite to females. It was one of their principles—the belief that all female life was to be revered and respected.

  So why was Commander Terex acting like such a colossal jerk? His mood seemed to have darkened to match his new hair color and the beard he had grown. Rather than being polite and charming, he was brooding and intense in a way he hadn't been before.

  He was striding ahead of her, his long legs eating up the ground so quickly, she almost had to run to keep up.

  “Hey,” she called, finally catching up to him. “Hey, Commander Terex.”

  “Yes?” His voice was a low, irritated growl. “Is there a problem, Ms. Benet?”

  “Yes, there’s a problem.” Elaina didn’t like confrontation—she couldn’t stand it, in fact. But she didn’t want to start a long, possibly deadly journey with someone who hated her. Or at the very least was irritated by her presence. “I want to know what’s going on with you,” she said, still almost running to keep up with his long strides. “Why are you so angry that I have to come along?”

  “I told you.” He stared straight ahead as he spoke. “I’m hunting a killer.”

  “Who did he kill? Who is he?” Elaina asked, panting a little in the effort to keep up.

  “He attempted to poison every male, female, and child aboard the Mother Ship—and he very nearly succeeded. He must be stopped and I am going to stop him.”

  “He…you…” Elaina shook her head uncertainly. “That happened since the last time I saw you?

  “That and more.” He bit out the words and cast a cold glare at her. At least his eyes were still the same--that dark blue that was almost purple.

  “More? What else did he do?” Elaina asked.

  “That’s not important,” Terex growled. “What’s important is that no matter how you protest that you can ‘take care of yourself,’ if I take you with me, the ultimate responsibility for your safety falls squarely on my shoulders. I don’t have time for such that.”

  “It’s not just that,” Elaina objected. “I know it’s a pain in the butt to have me tagging along, but you were being…not yourself before the priestess ever told us we were going on this journey together.”

  “Not myself?” He stopped abruptly, turning to face her in the growing gloom as the green sun overhead dimmed almost completely. “Tell me, Ms. Benet—what do you know about me? How would you know if I was being myself or not?”

  “Well, I…I mean…” Elaina faltered, uncertain of what to say. “You…you were just so diff
erent when I met you before. And I'm not just talking about the new hair color and the beard. I mean you seemed to have a…a different temperament--a different demeanor the first time I came up to the Mother Ship with Commander Kerov. You know, when he was in his fiancé’s body?”

  That whole situation had been really strange and was still confusing but one thing Elaina wasn’t confused about was that Terex was acting like an entirely different man now than he had when she’d first met him. Then he’d been considerate and courtly, offering to show her around the ship and expressing interest in the color of her eyes. The man she was dealing with now seemed to be a whole different person.

  “I am different,” he said, echoing her thoughts. “I’ve changed—I’ve had to harden myself for the battle to come and I don’t need you coming along to…to…”

  “To what?” Elaina demanded. “To get on your nerves? To mess up your plans? What?”

  “To distract me,” he growled. “From achieving my goal. From accomplishing the most important mission of my life.”

  His words hurt more than she could say but Elaina was determined not to show it.

  “Listen up, buddy.” She stepped up close to him, so close she could smell the clean, spicy musk that seemed to be his natural scent, and stuck a finger in his broad chest. She met his eyes unflinchingly though he was so much taller than her she had to look up to do it.

  “Yes?” Terex’s big body was tight, every muscle rippling with tension. He seemed to be holding himself back somehow, though Elaina didn’t understand why.

  “For the last time, you are not responsible for me.” She emphasized every word, glaring at him as she spoke. “I can take of myself and I promise I will not distract you from your incredibly important quest. Got it?”

  “No.” Terex’s voice was a low growl. “I don’t. And neither do you—you have no conception of what I’m talking about. Just having you near me is a distraction. The sight of you…the warmth radiating from your skin…”