With her last words, the barrier between them melted and she fell into Stavros’s waiting arms.
“Charlotte…falinda,” he murmured, gathering her close.
She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest like an exhausted child.
“Stav, please—get us out of here.”
“I’ll try,” he said grimly.
Rising easily, he shifted her slight weight so that she was pressed against him. He couldn’t carry her like a child—the black corridors of the Temple of Regret were too claustrophobically narrow for that. And yet, he didn’t want to put her down—didn’t want to risk losing her again.
Charlotte seemed to understand the problem which she solved by wrapping her legs around his waist and laying her head on his shoulder. Stavros put a hand under her bottom, supporting her, and wrapped the other arm across her back. She gave a little moan of pure weariness and closed her eyes.
“Let’s go,” he said and began the long walk to try and find his way back through the maze.
* * * * *
It seemed like they were walking forever. Or rather, Stavros was. Charlie knew she ought to ask if he was tired and wanted to put her down but honestly, she didn’t feel like she could walk on her own right now. She was too emotionally spent. Experiencing Missy’s death all over again had drained her completely. She literally had nothing left.
The big Kindred marched on tirelessly, following twists and curves in the confusing hallways without hesitation which Charlie hoped meant they were slowly but surely getting to the end of the horrible maze inside the temple.
But their progress was impeded several times when they were stopped by scenes from his past. Charlie saw him in school as a kid and watched the first time the other children saw his mark and found out he was Cursed. They mocked and shouted at him and when he got into a fight with a boy much larger than him, it was Stavros who was punished and sent him in disgrace even though the other boy had started it.
Then she saw other scenes from his childhood—more subtle but just as hurtful. His mother refusing to hug him, his father keeping him at arm’s length. The terrible loneliness and isolation he felt until he at last was old enough to go out to the Mother Ship and leave his home planet of Tranq Prime. Other Kindred didn’t care so much about his Sin Eater status and for the first time he was able to have a more or less normal life. Well, other than feeling the pain of everyone around him all the time, that was.
Even as emotionally worn out as she was, Charlotte couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. He’d had a crappy childhood too—just like she had. Growing up marked as a Sin Eater hadn’t been easy for him, especially when he hadn’t had much support from home. At least she’d had Missy—Stavros had had no one. No one at all.
Every time a scene from his childhood happened Stavros stood still for a moment and she felt him taking deep breaths. Then he muttered under his breath, “Not real. It’s not real.”
After a moment of tense concentration in which she felt his whole, muscular body shiver against hers, the scene would fade and they were able to continue on their way.
Thankfully, the Temple didn’t show Charlie any more of her own past though she half expected to see her mother’s heart attack or her father’s slow death by lung cancer. But neither of those had hurt her as badly as Missy’s suicide. Presumably the temple knew it had thrown the worst thing it had at her and now it had no more ammunition. Or maybe it could sense that she had no more emotion to spend, no matter what it showed her.
Charlie tried to feel something…anything…but she just couldn’t. She couldn’t even summon guilt that she was letting a Kindred warrior hold her close and carry her this way. She knew she ought to be angry with him—with all of them for what had happened to Missy. And she ought to hate herself for feeling comforted by Stavros’s strong arms around her. But she couldn’t feel any of that—she was just numb. So numb she began to wonder if she would feel anything ever again.
At last she heard the big Kindred give a hoarse exclamation.
“Look!”
Lifting her head wearily from his shoulder she saw a bright line of light—like a crack in a door—at the far end of the hallway they were currently traversing.
Oh please, oh please… Charlie thought fervently. She had a terrible fear that the Temple was just teasing them—holding out false hope which would be snatched back at the last moment.
Stavros must have had the same thought because he started to walk faster and faster until soon he was almost running. He burst from the Temple of Regrets with Charlie clinging to him, her heart beating like a jackhammer. She blinked, finding even the dim light hard on her eyes, but as the familiar blue hallways that surrounded the spooky tunnel-like entrance to the temple came into view, she knew that they were truly out at last.
“Out. We’re out,” Stavros said hoarsely, echoing her thoughts. He took a deep, shuddering breath. “Thank the Goddess, I didn’t think we would make it.”
“You didn’t?” Charlie looked at him. “Then why did you keep going?”
“I had to,” he said grimly. “I knew if I gave up and let myself stop, we’d never get out. We would’ve been eaten alive in there by the temple—by whatever it is that makes bad memories into visions.”
Charlie shivered. The idea that the temple was alive in some way hadn’t occurred to her and she was glad it hadn’t. It made her feel like she had escaped from a living haunted house—a sentient monster that wanted to feast on her feelings.
Well it should’ve had enough from me to keep it full for a month, she thought dully. I don’t know what else it could do—what else it could make me feel. Right now I’m just exhausted. Then it occurred to her that Stavros probably was too. He’d been hauling her around for over an hour through that house of horrors—he was probably dead on his feet.
“Thank you for carrying me,” she said stiffly. “You’re probably really tired. I should get down now.”
She started to unwrap her legs from around his waist but he held her by the waist, not letting her go.
“It is all right,” he rumbled softly. “I am not tired. But you still look fatigued—let me hold you awhile longer.”
Charlie bit her lip. “Why…why would you want to? I must look a mess right now.” After sobbing her heart out inside the awful Temple of Regrets she was sure her eyes were red and her hair was crazy—in other words, she wasn’t going to be winning any beauty pageants right now.
Stav sighed. “I confess I am…reluctant to let you go. Knowing as I do that you will certainly never let me hold you again.”
“You think I’m still mad at you?” Charlie asked. “Because…”
“Because of what happened to your sister,” he said gently. “Charlotte, I saw everything. Forgive me for intruding on your privacy but I could not help it—the scene played out in front of me and I was worried about you.”
Charlie gave a broken little laugh that felt more like a sob.
“That’s all right. I saw crap from your past too, if you recall. I guess…I guess there’s no hiding anything in there.” She nodded over her shoulder at the Temple of Regrets.
“That is certainly true,” he said grimly. “But I wanted you to know I understand your point of view now. I know why you hate my people—why you hate me. And I do not blame you.”
Charlie shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t…don’t hate anybody right now. I just feel…numb.”
“You’re in shock,” he murmured. “Having to re-live such traumatic events is wearing to the emotions.”
“Wearing is right.” She sighed and let her head rest on his broad shoulder again. God he smelled good—that was nice. “I’m all worn out,” she whispered.
“Of course you are.” He rubbed her back soothingly with one big hand. “What you need is a hot bath and a long rest.”
“Which is exactly what you are not going to get.” The familiar voice ringing out behind them made Charlie jump. It occurred to her b
elatedly that she hadn’t seen the Joined One since they had exited the temple. Where they hell had the freakish thing gone to?
Her questions was answered by a sudden rustling at the far end of one long blue corridor. Out of it stepped the Joined One, a cruel smile playing on both its faces. It was surrounded by armed guards—Hossans who clearly hadn’t spent much time in the cleansing pool. For though their hair floated above their heads and their eyes glowed, their skin was a milky, opaque white, like freshly poured milk, hiding their veins and arteries. This should have made them look less freaky than the Hossans with transparent skin but somehow it didn’t.
“Take them,” the Joined One commanded, pulling Charlie’s attention away from the weird guards. “Take them to the Circle of Oneness immediately—they have much to answer for.”
Chapter Thirty-one
“What are we charged with?” Stavros demanded, glaring at the Joined One. He had been summarily scanned, both eye and hand, and he and Charlotte had been brought into the inner circle to stand some kind of trial as far as he could tell.
The large circular room which he had only seen in the dream he shared with Charlotte looked different. It was no longer bare with only the burnished gold cylinder in the center for decoration. A high platform had been added—a kind of stage, he thought—with a large throne-like chair placed in its center. In the chair sat Ya’ha’Na’ho, the Joined One, obviously sitting in judgment of him and Charlotte.
They, of course, were standing in front of the platform, forced to look up into the two faces of the Joined One, both of which were scowling critically down at them. The large golden cylinder was to their left and they were flanked on all sides by the armed Hossan guards.
“You are accused of being imposters here—would-be thieves of our most precious artifact—the Heart of Love,” the male face of the Joined One declared.
Stavros felt his stomach clench. How the hell had they known? Was it revealed when they scanned either himself or Charlotte? But why had the Joined One not made the accusation at once?
“Who says such things about us?” he asked, keeping his voice level and steady. “Who dares defame my character and that of my lawful mate?”
“She is not your mate but only an associate—another spy sent along with you to create the illusion that the two of you were a couple in need of help,” the female face said. “We have been told everything—there is no need to lie.”
“Who said those things?” Charlotte demanded, speaking up for the first time. Stavros was glad to see that her chin was high and her eyes were flashing. Plainly she was intending to fight to the end—good, they would need to back each other up to get out of this.
“We were contacted by one who has been observing you and could not be silent about your treachery any longer,” the male face said sternly.
“So someone has been spying on us?” Charlotte asked. “Who?”
“Yes, are we to be allowed to meet our accuser or not?” Stavros growled.
“You may, if you wish.” The Joined One made a motion with one hand and suddenly the soft pink glow in the room faded leaving everything in near darkness. The side of the golden cylinder suddenly lit up and a face that Stavros recognized from his briefings with the Kindred Council suddenly appeared.
“Greetings, oh exulted ones,” Two, the Dark Kindred Commander said in a deep, inhuman voice. He bowed low but strangely, only the left side of his body seemed to work so the bow was lopsided. Still, when he straightened up, Stavros could see the malevolent gleam in his left eye—the other was covered by a metal prosthetic scope—one of his enhancements.
He was grinning—but only on the left side—which exposed silver metal teeth and part of his brain was exposed and visible through a clear plasti-glass dome that covered his skull.
“This is Two, the commander of the Enhanced Ones,” the Joined One said, unnecessarily. “I believe that you are one of his soldiers, Stavros? One who has broken ranks and deserted without permission.”
“That is a lie,” Stavros said clearly. “This male is not my commander. He is the leader of the Dark Kindred—also known as the Enhanced Ones. They are seeking a way to take over Earth—a planet that the Kindred are currently protecting. Why he was watching me, I do not know, but I do know that he is a liar.”
“Was he lying about the two of you not being a couple?” the Joined One asked, raising all four eyebrows. “I think not. From the first you and Charlotte have not displayed the proper demeanor of two souls joined as one. Admit it—you are simply spies who have no emotional connection, sent here to steal the Heart of Love!”
“That’s not true,” Charlotte said before Stavros could answer. “We are a couple.” She grabbed his hand in hers, entwining their fingers hastily. “We came to seek the wisdom of the Heart of Love just like everyone else here.”
“They lie!” boomed the voice of Two. “They must be turned over to me immediately for punishment.”
Stavros frowned. Something about that voice…it seemed wrong. He tried to picture the vids he’d seen while being debriefed by the Council. Then he remembered—much like the Joined One, Two had appeared to have two entities inside him. The first was the original inhabitant of the body—a Dark Kindred raised on Zeaga Four—and the other was Ur, a demon from the Black Planet which had inhabited Terex, the head of the Kindred High Council for a while. Surely the creature speaking now was not Two but Ur, the demon.
“It is this creature who lies,” he said loudly. “It is not one but two—a demon named Ur and its host who is called Two.”
At the name “Two” the male with the metal teeth and the prosthetic eye began to twitch oddly. The eye blinked several times and began to speak.
“What have you done?” he demanded in a more normal voice. “Who are we speaking to?”
“This is the exulted Ya’ha’Na’he,” the deep voice boomed. “The ruling Joined One of J’lorgan’s mind. I have contacted them to let them know of the thieves and traitors who have infiltrated their resort.”
The thin, liver-colored lips twisted into an angry sneer.
“You fool!” the other voice burst out. “You’ve tipped our hand too early. What in the Seven Hells do you think you’re playing at?”
“I simply did what was necessary—I took action,” the deeper voice argued. “As you refused to do.”
“I refused for good reason! I was going to wait until after the Heart was taken. I had a plan—”
“Which you refused to share with me!” the other voice boomed.
The two entities continued to bicker which was very strange to watch since they were sharing the same body.
“Yes…well…” The Joined One made a motion and the image suddenly vanished from the side of the golden cylinder. Stavros noted with some hope that there was an uncertain, discomforted expression on both the male and female faces.
“I hope you can see now that the person who contacted you was both lying and deranged,” he said, frowning up at them. “It sounds to me as if he—or they—had designs on the Heart of Love themselves and were simply trying to find someone to pin their crimes on.”
“Exactly—they were trying to frame us,” Charlie said. “We’re innocent.”
“We do not know what problem the Dark Kindred Commander Two was having but we are still inclined to think at least part of his information was correct,” the male face of the Joined One said stubbornly.
“Then why do you not simply check our credentials?” Stavros asked calmly. “I am a Havoc from Xander Prime and Charlotte is my bride.” He knew perfectly well their cover stories would hold up to intense scrutiny. Commander Sylvan had vetted them himself.
“Ahh, but such credentials are all too easy to fake,” the female face purred. “We were thinking of a more definitive test to prove you are who you say you are.”
“And what test would that be?” Stavros was beginning to get a bad feeling about this but he continued to keep his eyes fixed on the Joined One and his voice stea
dy. There was no point in giving anything away.
“Why—the test of love, of course,” the male face said. “It is the final test for all who come to grow in unity, here at J’lorgan’s Mind.”
“And what exactly is the ‘test of love?’” Charlotte asked. She sounded as uneasy as Stav felt.
“It’s simple, really,” the female face said. “The two of you will make love here, before the pillar of the Heart.” The Joined One nodded at the golden cylinder. “If you are truly a couple and there is deep and significant love between you, the outer shell of the pillar will split, revealing the inner sanctum where the Heart of Love is kept.”
“M-make love? Here?” Charlotte looked around wildly. “I mean, in front of God and everybody? I’m sorry, but I’m not into putting on a show for perverts.”
“We have no wish to watch your tawdry couplings—privacy will be provided. In fact, you will have the entire inner circle to yourselves.” The Joined One made a sweeping motion with both hands. “After all, we know exactly where you are and all the entrances and exits to the circle will be sealed. There will be no possible escape.”
“If you were watching what went on in the Temple of Regrets, you know what Charlotte has just been through,” Stavros growled. “She is emotionally and physically drained. You’re completely misguided if you think I’ll take her after the trauma she just experienced.”
“And you are completely misguided if you do not believe we will call the Dark Kindred Commander back and tell him to send a ship for you at once,” the Joined One snapped.
“Just give us some time to recuperate,” Stavros argued. “If the only way to open the Pillar of the Heart is through genuine emotion, you must let us rest and recover ourselves. We have both re-lived the worst events of our lives tonight. You cannot expect us to be able to summon the will and intent to—”