Cursed

  “You’re better off without the demon, Two,” Six said steadily. “It was driving you mad.”

  “Better off without him, you say?”

  As he spoke, he idly swung Charlotte back and forth in a slow arc, as though she was some kind of pendulum. She was getting dizzier and dizzier as the black, bottomless pit flashed beneath her.

  The Pit and the Pendulum, she thought sickly. Oh my God, he’s going to drop me. Drop me or lose his own hold and we’ll both fall and he won’t care because he’s crazy—freaking crazy…

  “Better off without my one and only friend,” she heard Two say again. “Well maybe you’d be better off without this little one.”

  As he spoke, his fingers began to loosen around her ankle. Charlie was on an upward swing and just as she reached the arc, Six shoved Stav’s big body off the platform, right into her path.

  “Grab him!” he shouted as Stav’s dangling body jerked to a halt.

  Feeling like a trapeze artist, and not a very good one at that, Charlie made a wild snatch for Stavros’s legs. She latched onto him just as Two’s bony hand let go of her ankle.

  With a muffled shriek she gripped Stav even harder and held on tight. Then she felt him jerk and there was the sound of coughing which seemed to shake her whole body.

  “Stavros?” She wanted to look up at him but she was too busy hanging onto his legs upside down for dear life.

  “Hold tight!” she heard Six shout and then he was hauling Stavros up onto the platform with her clinging to him tightly.

  As soon as they were back on solid ground, she turned eagerly and looked into her lover’s face.

  “Stav? Stavros?” She slapped him lightly on the cheeks and he coughed again and opened his eyes.

  “What in the…Seven Hells?” he muttered groggily. “Where am I? An’ why do my arms feel half pulled…out of their sockets?”

  Charlie didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

  “Stav? Oh my God, Stav—you’re back! Your back!”

  “Didn’t know I was away.” He blinked his eyes, frowning at her. “Can you untie my wrists? They hurt and I can’t hold you while I am tied down.”

  “We will take care of that right now,” Six said. Grasping Two by the wrist, he drew the defeated Dark Kindred leader up until he was eye level, dangling from Six’s big hand. “Where are the keys to the manacles?” he growled at the other male.

  “Here they are.” Reaching down with his free hand, Two pulled something out of his pocket. But instead of keys, he came out with a small, snub-nosed weapon which he leveled at Six. “Well, well—not the keys after all,” he said, grinning broadly. “But very handy, just the same. How would you like to be hit with a shocker?”

  Six didn’t appear disturbed. “Drop the weapon, Two,” he said, frowning. “Drop it now or I drop you.”

  “Go on and drop me then—see if I care. Or maybe I’ll save you the trouble.”

  With a suddenly twist of his wrist, he slid out of Six’s grasp and dropped, disappearing silently into the black void.

  Charlie opened her mouth to scream or gasp—she didn’t know which—but the sound never left her lips. Instead there was a loud flapping sound which echoed in the vast, shadowy cavern. Then Two appeared again but this time he seemed to have grown a huge pair of black, leathery wings. They flapped in the darkness, holding him aloft as he grinned and let out a high, screaming, crazy laugh that set her teeth on edge.

  No, they’re not wings, she thought, staring at him. They’re that black leather trench coat he always wears. But how in the hell did he make it fly?

  “How do you like my latest enhancement, Six?” Two called, grinning that awful grin full of gray, spit-slick metal teeth. “Subtle, no? You’d never guess it just to see me that I can fly.”

  Six had gotten a weapon from somewhere—possible off one of the guards earlier—and he was holding on Two as he hovered in mid air.

  “Fly away, Two,” he growled. “Or I swear by the Goddess I’ll make you pay.”

  “Oh, there will be payment, my dear Six. Payment in abundance,” he snapped, still hovering there in mid-air. “But I will be the one dishing it out.”

  “I have had enough of this.” Six aimed a blast of blue energy at the other male who barely ducked out of the way in time.

  “Ha!” The near miss seemed to delight Two. “Keep trying Six but it will do you no good—you can’t kill me, none of you can!”

  “What makes you so sure?” Six growled. “Did you get an invulnerability enhancement?”

  “Hardly.” Two laughed again. “Do you remember, my dear Six, about how all of you were blathering on and on about that stupid prophesy about the Heart of Love and ‘Cursed to find an early grave’ and all that? Well, I have a prophesy of my own—one given to me by an old female on Belis Six who claimed to be a witch.”

  “A what?” Six frowned. “Now I know you have gone mad.”

  “Not at all, not at all—the witch had a very good reputation for accuracy—I checked her out thoroughly before I killed her,” Two said conversationally. “She said this to me—

  ‘ No Kindred shall kill you

  Though you spill rivers of their blood

  The one who is your doom

  Comes from desert and from flood.

  A free-born male

  Too proud to bend his knee

  Enslaved of his own will

  Against his will set free.’

  He cocked his head to one side. “Now what do you think that means? I think it means that no such male exists—therefore none can kill me, especially not you, Six, no matter how much you may want to.”

  “I think it means you’re a fool,” Six growled. “One who’s about to die no matter what that prophesy said.” He leveled his weapon at the hovering Two who gave a crazy laugh and suddenly shot upwards. Soon he was out of sight somewhere among the ruined clusters of the Collective.

  “What in the Seven Hells is going on?” Stavros muttered weakly. “Is this another dream? Why could he fly?”

  “Enhancements,” Six said shortly. “Wings aren’t a common one but they aren’t that rare. Trust Two to be ready for anything.”

  “Speaking of being ready, what are we going to do if he comes back?” Charlie asked nervously. “And how are you going to get Stav out of those damn handcuffs?”

  “Like this.” Six flexed his left hand which appeared to be made of flexible silver metal. “Two isn’t the only one with enhancements.”

  “Oh…good,” Stav muttered. Then his eyes rolled up and his head fell back against the metal platform.

  Charlie checked him hurriedly. “He’s still breathing but his pulse is weak and thready,” she told Six, who was currently shredding the metal manacles with his silver hand.

  “That surge of energy that came from the power net when it burned was no laughing matter,” Six said grimly, finishing with the first cuff. “He may not be out of the forest yet as they say on your world.”

  “Out of the woods, you mean,” Charlie said distractedly. “What set the net on fire anyway? And why did the plan work at all? I thought the emotions Stav’s Mark absorbed weren’t strong enough to set it off.”

  “Something happened when Two touched him,” Six said, getting the second cuff off with quick, efficient motions. “If I had to guess I would say it was the pure evil of Ur, the demon, trying to invade Stavros while he was still charged with the positive energy of the Heart of Love.”

  “Like a chemical reaction.” Charlie stood back as Six threw the other male over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. She looked at the smoldering lump of blackness in the center of the charred net and shivered. It smelled horrible—like sulfur and burned flesh. “So the prophesy was right after all,” she concluded.

  “It was given by the Goddess,” Six said shortly. “Or rather, she foretold that I would remember it. I have not known of her very long but so far she seems extremely accurate in all she says.”

  “The Goddess, huh?” Ch
arlie wasn’t sure what to think of that. Her parents had never really bothered to take her to Sunday School as a kid though she had gone one summer to Vacation Bible school at the local Baptist church—mostly to get her and Missy out of her mom’s hair.

  “She has compassion too, on those who love and care for the ones she sends to them.” Six cast her a look as he heaved to his feet with Stav’s limp form draped over one broad shoulder. “May I suggest that you say a prayer to her yourself for your male’s well being.”

  Charlie bit her lip. “I’ll think about it. Right now, let’s just get him back to the Mother Ship and Commander Sylvan—he’s a doctor, right?”

  “He is. Perhaps he can help Stavros.” But Six didn’t sound very hopeful. “You are right, we need to get him back as quickly as possible.”

  He turned carefully and started the long, precarious walk over the metal bridge back to the lip of the chasm where Mei-Li waited alone. All of the Dark Kindred warriors were gone—presumably to go have a drink together in happier surroundings, Charlie thought dryly.

  She couldn’t help being worried as she watched Stav’s head bounce limply, his long hair fluttering almost to Six’s heels as he carried the other Kindred across the chasm. Stav had come back from the dead—literally. Didn’t that mean that he was okay now? Didn’t it mean everything would be all right?

  Please, she thought, uncertain who she was thinking (or praying?) to. Please, just let him be okay. Because I love him. I know it now—I was a fool not to see it before but I love him, I do. So please let him be okay!

  Chapter Thirty-five

  “How do you feel?” Commander Sylvan asked, running the cardiac monitor over the front of Stav’s bare chest.

  “Better now that I have had a shower and a rest.” Stav sighed deeply. “My Mark feels strange…a bit itchy.” He rubbed his broad, bare shoulders against the pillows he was propped up on restlessly. “But other than that, I’m just tired.”

  “Well, that is to be expected. From what I understand, you experienced an immense bio-electrical surge when you brought down the Collective.” Sylvan continued to scan him with the small handheld monitor.

  “I didn’t bring it down,” Stavros protested. “It was the positive emotion stored in my Mark mixing with the negative emotion from the demon, Ur. At least—I think that was what happened to cause the overload.”

  “That seems to be Six’s theory as well,” Sylvan remarked. “So Ur is truly gone now? Commander Terex will be most gratified—he has not been the same since he learned he was inhabited by a demon for so long.”

  “It’s dead all right.” Stav grimaced, remembering the burning, screaming black blob twisted in the flaming energy net. “I just wish I could say the same for Two. But Six tells me he escaped.”

  “He did, unfortunately. But now that the Dark Kindred forces are all disbanded and disorganized I doubt he’ll bother us any more,” Sylvan said. “Six thinks the Enhanced warriors had just undergone a massive upgrade of their emotion damping implants—they were all tied directly to the will of the Collective. When you destroyed it, the tie was cut and they were free to do as they wished for the first time in their lives. Lucky for us, they didn’t wish to spend their lives in a senseless war for a planet they didn’t even care about.”

  “So Earth is safe.” The thought gave Stav a great deal of satisfaction—though he would have had more if he had known how Charlotte felt about it. But he hadn’t heard from her since he had woken up alone in a bed in the Med Station on the Mother Ship.

  “The Earth is safe. What’s more, the leaders of the Earth now see that we want nothing but their good.” Sylvan smiled. “They saw our warriors fighting alongside their own troops to fend off the Dark Kindred. They are calling for a vote but I believe it is a foregone conclusion that we will be able to call brides from their world again.”

  There was only one bride Stav wished he could call but he knew he couldn’t. Especially when he saw the grim look on Commander Sylvan’s face as he read the results of the cardiac scan.

  “Tell me the truth,” he said abruptly, cutting the small talk. “What does it say? How long do I have?”

  Sylvan sighed, looking troubled.

  “I won’t lie to you, Stavros—the results aren’t good. The power surge you experienced stressed your heart to the limit and beyond. In fact, I understand you arrested both on Zeaga Four and twice more on the way home.”

  “I did?” Stav frowned. “I didn’t know that.”

  “You did.” Sylvan nodded gravely. “Charlotte and Six used a human technique called CPR to bring you back the first two times. The third time, Six had to use his enhanced hand to shock your heart back to a normal rhythm. That put even more strain on your cardiac muscle but at least it brought you back.”

  Stav shook his head. “So you’re saying I actually died? Not once but three times?”

  “You did.” Sylvan nodded.

  “But…aren’t we supposed to see the bright lights of the last true home and the Goddess waving for us to join her?” Stav asked, frowning. “I didn’t see any of that. Or if I did, I don’t remember it.”

  “Perhaps it simply wasn’t your time yet,” Sylvan said gently. “The Goddess takes her children when she deems them ready and not before.”

  Stav frowned at him.

  “And what are you telling me now—that I had better get ready? That she is coming for me sooner rather than later?”

  Sylvan sighed. “I had hoped after some recovery time your heart might ‘bounce back’ as the humans say. But, well…”

  “Well?” Stav prompted impatiently.

  “It’s not.” The other male ran his fingers through his short, spiky blond hair. “In fact, the scan shows the results of the heart of a very aged male—one nearly triple your age. One that cannot…” He sighed again. “One that cannot keep going for much longer.”

  “How long?” Stav asked harshly. “Just tell me—I need to know.”

  “Maybe as much as a solar year…maybe as little as a few months. You won’t be in pain but you may get tired more often. And one day your heart will simply stop. I’m sorry.” Sylvan shook his head, looking deeply troubled. “You saved us all. I wish I had better news. I wish I could give you a new heart—do a transplant as the humans do. But as you know, Kindred organs are incompatible with any other Kindred so it is impossible.”

  “I know you can’t give me a new heart,” Stavros said roughly. “You’re a healer not a miracle worker. Please believe me, Commander Sylvan—I don’t blame you.”

  “Maybe I blame myself.” Sylvan sighed and ran a hand over his face. “We shouldn’t have sent you out to do this mission. I should have known it was too dangerous—too deadly.”

  “And if not me, then who?” Stav demanded. “I was the only Sin Eater available—the only one who could do it. And I was glad to be of service. Glad to save the home world of the female I—” He broke off abruptly. “Glad to save Charlotte’s planet,” he finished at last.

  “She stayed by you for the entire first forty-eight hours you were back, you know,” Sylvan said gently. “She was at your bedside night and day—she slept with her head on the foot of your bed and wouldn’t leave.”

  “She was?” This was news to Stav. All he knew was that he had woken up alone that morning and hadn’t seen anyone he knew but Sylvan since.

  “She was,” Commander Sylvan confirmed. “I finally sent her to the guest quarters to sleep in the early hours this morning. She was nearing exhaustion and I knew she would want to be fresh when you were awake and ready to speak to her.”

  “Oh, well that’s…I did not know that.” Inside his chest, Stav’s heart clenched like a fist.

  Like a weak fist, whispered a derisive little voice in his head. What does it matter if she stayed by your side—she probably only did it out of pity and gratitude. She hates your kind, remember? All Kindred are the enemy to her after what happened to her sister. And even if she didn’t hate you, if she suddenly came to
you and said she returned your feelings and wanted you to bond her, what could you do? Nothing—absolutely nothing. It would be unethical to tie a female to you when you have so little time left. Six months to a year if you’re lucky. What kind of a relationship would that be? A short one, that’s what! One that would leave her wounded and broken when your heart finally stopped. One that—

  A sharp rapping on the door of the medical suite interrupted his thoughts.

  “I’ll get it,” Sylvan offered. He crossed to the door and opened it to reveal Charlotte dressed in a deep green dress that tied on one side. She was holding a bunch of Earth flowers he didn’t know the name of and seemed to be wiping her eyes.

  “Hi—can Stav have company now?” she asked hopefully, looking at Commander Sylvan.

  “I think it should be all right.” Sylvan smiled briefly. “Come in, Charlotte. But are you all right? Your eyes seem to be watering.”

  “I’m fine,” she said a little too brightly. “Just these flowers—I think there’s something in them I’m allergic to.”

  “Shall I take them and find a container with water?” Sylvan asked. “Sophia, my mate, has taught me all about the care of Earth flowers.”

  “Sure, thanks.” She gave them to Sylvan distractedly.

  “Then I will leave you two alone.” Sylvan closed the door discretely but Charlotte hardly seemed to notice. All her attention was on Stavros.

  “So, how are you doing?”

  “Just fine.” He sat up straighter in bed, trying to look more robust. “My Mark is bothering me some but other than that…”

  “Oh, what’s wrong with it?” Charlotte came to his bedside quickly. “Let me see—are you itchy? Need your back scratched?” She motioned for him to lean forward.

  As always, it moved him deeply that she was willing to lay hands on a part of him no other female would touch.

  “It’s all right, you don’t need to bother yourself,” he said roughly, though he leaned forward as he spoke so she could see.