Pursued

  Merrick felt cold. The bond—what were they going to do about the bond? “I won’t say a fucking thing,” he promised.

  “Very well, see that you don’t break your word. I can’t abide anyone who lies to me. Lying is such bad manners, and manners are important, don’t you think?” Without waiting for an answer, he pointed the silver remote again and two things happened at once. First, the transparent shield separating them and Elise came down with a low humming sound. Second, the drugs flowing into her arm changed from purple to clear. Slowly, Elise lifted her head and blinked her eyes.

  “Merrick?” she murmured, looking at him.

  “It’s me, baby,” he assured her in what he hoped was a soothing voice. “Don’t try to talk through the bond.”

  “Why not? Who is that?” She peered groggily at Draven. “Where are we?”

  “The less you know, the better,” Merrick told her grimly. “The only thing that’s important right now is that you’re going home.”

  “Me? What about you? Why are you bleeding?” Her eyes were wide and frightened. “Please, Merrick, please tell me you’re coming with me.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t do that, baby,” he said roughly. “There’s only one ticket out of here, and it’s got your name on it.” He looked at Draven. “There’s one more thing—we had a plant with us, a branch with long thorns and red berries.”

  “Oh, you mean this?” Seemingly from out of thin air, Draven produced the wilted skrillix branch. “I wondered why you had it. After all, what would a happily bonded couple want with a branch of the infamous ‘pain vine?’”

  “It’s to break our bond,” Elise said quietly. “It’s not right and it’s dangerous to us.”

  “But you have to send it back to the Mother Ship with Elise,” Merrick added quickly. “I’m pretty sure they can break the bond even without me there, but she has to have the skrillix to do it with.”

  “So you want to break your sacred Kindred bond? How very refreshing.” Draven grinned broadly at both of them. “But you don’t need to travel back to your Mother Ship to do that! I can manage it for you right here.”

  “No, Draven, you can’t,” Merrick said flatly. “A soul bond is a very delicate thing.”

  “You wound me.” Draven put one perfectly manicured hand to his chest. “Do you mean to say you think me indelicate? My dear hybrid, I’m quite offended by such an implication.”

  “Merrick wasn’t trying to be rude,” Elise said quickly. “It’s just that the skrillix branch has to be put in the same stasis machine I was in originally, when Merrick found me, in order for it to work.”

  “Oh, no, no, my dear,” Draven protested. “That’s only necessary if you want to break the bond painlessly. But we don’t care about that silliness, now do we?”

  “Yes, we fucking well do care,” Merrick growled, but Draven had already called over a pair of tiny imps with dirty gray skin and was rapidly giving them instructions. They ran off as a pair and returned moments later with a cup filled with oily black liquid and a syringe.

  “Now, then,” Draven continued, placing the implements along with the wilted skrillix branch down on a nearby table. “Let’s proceed, shall we?” Rapidly, he stripped the branch of its berries and squeezed them into a pulp, letting their blood-red juice run into the black liquid in the cup.

  Merrick ground his teeth together. After everything they’d gone through to get those damn berries, and here this bastard was, ruining them all! He opened his mouth to protest again, but Draven was picking up the skrillix branch once more.

  “Lovely long thorns, aren’t they, my dear?” He gestured with the plant to Elise who grew pale and shrank back against the steel table she was strapped to.

  “Please,” she whispered. “Please, no…”

  “Ah, I see you have some experience with the more, shall we say, interesting aspects of the skrillix,” Draven smiled languidly. “I would simply love to hear all about it, but unfortunately if we don’t get you and your little ship pointed toward the rift soon, the Kindred will close it. And then where will you be?” He lifted the branch again. “But fear not, my dear, these thorns aren’t for you—not this time. They are for me.” Pricking his finger, he let seven dark red drops fall into the cup. “I have no soul, you see,” he continued, swirling the contents of the cup to mix them. “So my blood will act quite nicely as a solvent for your bond.”

  “You’re crazy,” Merrick said hoarsely. “You don’t know what the poison in those thorns can do to you.”

  “Oh yes, I do.” Draven pricked his finger again, seemingly just for fun this time. “I’m touched at your concern, but please don’t be worried for me—I’m immune to the effects.”

  He offered the cup to Elise, but she shook her head. “No. I don’t want your blood inside me.”

  “Oh no?” Draven raised an eyebrow at her. “Well, well…how hurtful. Especially when you consider there are much more painful parts of myself I could put inside you, my dear.”

  “You fucking lay one finger on her and I’ll kill you,” Merrick growled.

  “Don’t worry.” Draven waved airily. “We don’t have time for pleasantries like nonconsensual sex any more than I have time to find out why your lady love so fears the skrillix’s sweet kiss.” He looked at Elise. “We have a fold to catch before it unfolds, my dear. And since you won’t be persuaded to take my little mixture by mouth…”

  Plunging the syringe into the black, oily contents of the cup, he pulled up the plunger, filling it with the viscous stuff. Then, despite Merrick’s hoarse shouts for him to stop, he connected it to the tubing running into Elise’s arm, and injected her with the awful looking mixture.

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  Elise was dying. Someone had taken a knife and was cutting her in two—just like that old magic trick where the magician pretends to saw his lovely assistant in half. Only this was no trick—Elise could literally feel a part of herself being severed. She supposed hazily that it must be her soul, but it hurt as much as though some crazy doctor had decided to amputate one of her hands without any kind of anesthesia.

  Oh God, the pain! The pain! She threw back her head and cried out, only dimly aware that to her left, Merrick was doing the same. Had the man with silver eyes—the same man who had been in her dream—injected him too? Or was he simply experiencing the same effects as Elise because they were so closely tied together?

  But we won’t be for long, she thought, even as she writhed in agony. I’m losing him—losing Merrick forever. And losing any hope of having a life with him in the future.

  The thought of being forever separated from the man she loved was almost more painful than the intense agony of the bond being broken. Hot tears ran down her cheeks and Elise couldn’t stop them—didn’t try to stop them. She was mourning a loss too great to be calculated. She was losing a part of herself she would never recover—the part that had belonged to Merrick.

  It seemed to go on and on forever, but at last the horrible cutting sensation ended, to be replaced by a throbbing numbness. The amputation was over.

  Elise slumped on the steel table, going limp in her bonds. Her heart felt like an empty socket, a ragged hole in her chest that would never heal.

  “Elise? Baby?” she heard Merrick murmur and she realized he must have been trying to get her attention for some time.

  “Merrick,” she whispered, blinking tears from her eyes so she could see him. I can see him, but I can’t feel him, she realized, with a growing sense of despair. I can’t feel his emotions anymore. “Merrick,” she said again. “I can’t…can’t feel you. You’re gone.”

  “I’m right here.” He was trying to sound reassuring but Elise couldn’t help it—she wasn’t reassured.

  “But you’re not in here anymore. Not in me,” she whispered back as fresh tears filled her eyes.

  “The bond is dissolved,” he said harshly. “But I still love you. I’ll always love you, baby—hold on to that, even when I’m gone.”
r />   “I’ll try.” Elise choked back a sob. “I knew…knew it wasn’t just the bond. I knew what I felt, what we both felt—”

  “Blah, blah, blah. True love conquers all, etcetera, etcetera.” Draven yawned, as though the whole thing bored him. “You’re welcome, by the way. Your unwanted bond is completely gone, so now you can go your separate ways in peace instead of pieces. Which you’re about to do right…now.” He snapped his fingers and a pair of imps came at once to let Elise out of her restraints.

  “Wait!” she cried as they pulled her off the table and began pushing her out of the room. “Wait, I need to say goodbye!”

  “No time.” Draven shook his head. “Not if you want to get to the rift before it closes.” He motioned to the imps. “Take her back to her ship, strap her in, and set the coordinates for the Kindred Mother Ship. Hurry, now!”

  The imps started to drag her away but Elise twisted in their grip and somehow managed to break free. Running back, she threw her arms around Merrick’s neck. “I love you,” she whispered and pulled back to look into his lovely, mismatched eyes. “I won’t leave you. I can’t.”

  “You have to.” Merrick frowned at her fiercely. “Don’t you understand? I have to stay here so you can live, Elise.” His voice softened. “Go on, baby. Don’t let my sacrifice be in vain.”

  “Merrick…Merrick,” she sobbed as the imps and one of the larger creatures that looked like some kind of monster out of a Tolkien nightmare dragged her off him. “Please…please!”

  “Take her away!” Draven clapped his hands sharply. He frowned at Elise. “And just so you know, your lover will pay for that little scene. Pay over and over before I finally kill him.” He made a face. “I dislike sentiment. It’s so messy.”

  “No!” she screamed but they were already dragging her out the door. The last thing she saw was Draven, looming over Merrick, speaking horrible sounding words that somehow opened wounds and lacerations in his broad, bare chest.

  Just like my dream, she thought frantically as Merrick's blood dripped onto the metal floor. Oh God, it’s just like my dream!

  And then the imps dragged her away and she could see no more.

  * * * * *

  “I’m sorry, Talana, but they’re going to have to close the fold.” Sylvan’s pale blue eyes were suspiciously bright and Sophie could feel the overwhelming sorrow brimming up inside him. This was about more than just closing the fold in space—Sylvan was admitting that he had lost his oldest friend. That Merrick was gone forever.

  “Can’t they wait a little longer?” she pleaded. “Didn’t you say that sometimes ships get a little turned around in the fold and then come out later?”

  “It’s been over an hour now.” Sylvan sighed and raked a hand through his spiky blond hair. “With each minute that passes, the odds they will return diminish. And the amount of energy the ship is expending just to keep the fold open is equivalent to the output of a super massive black hole. We simply can’t keep it up indefinitely.”

  “Just five more minutes,” Olivia pleaded, joining in the conversation. Elise had been her patient, and Sophie knew her twin felt a special bond with her. “Please, Sylvan!”

  “I’m sorry.” He shook his head regretfully and Sophie felt his grief grow even more intense. “I’m so sorry, but the ship can’t bear much more. We’ll have to shut the fold. We have to—”

  “Look!” Kat’s voice was high and excited. “Look, you guys! Look at the viewscreen!”

  All eyes turned up to the massive viewscreen, which showed the red gash in space located right between the Earth and the moon. Something was coming out of it.

  Slowly but surely a tiny silver craft slipped from the fold and hovered in space, as though uncertain of what to do next.

  “It’s them!” Kat shouted. “It has to be!”

  “Thank God!” Lauren murmured, putting a hand to her chest.

  “Merrick!” Sylvan shouted, grinning with relief. “Thank the Goddess—Merrick!”

  Suddenly the picture on the viewscreen flickered and changed to an interior shot of the ship. Sophie saw with concern that only Elise was sitting there at the controls. When she looked up, her brown eyes were dull with grief.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice sounding numb and far away. “But it’s just me. Merrick is…gone. He’s gone.”

  “Gone? Gone, where?” Sylvan demanded.

  “Just gone.” Elise still sounded numb. “Can someone please help me? I don’t…don’t know how to fly this thing.” Suddenly her face crumpled and she put her head down and began to sob.

  “Oh, no!” Sophie looked at her husband. “You’d better go to her, Sylvan—she’s stuck out there.”

  “Yes, I suppose I should,” Sylvan said grimly. He looked at Olivia. “Get a room ready for her at the med station. I think she’s in some kind of shock.”

  “I’m on it,” Liv assured him. She and Sylvan hustled out the door, leaving Sophie, Kat, and Lauren to stand looking at each other helplessly. Sophie’s heart ached for Elise and those words kept echoing in her head over and over…

  He’s gone.

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  Elise woke with a gasp from another bad dream. She’d been having them every night since she got back to the Mother Ship, and they all featured Merrick.

  Sometimes she saw him being tortured by the horrible silver-eyed man who had kidnapped them. That…that… What was his name? It started with a D, Elise was almost sure, but she couldn’t remember it. The vault might be broken, but it seemed like her mind was still trying to protect her by forgetting things.

  Other times, she saw Merrick working feverishly, welding together pieces of metal and building some kind of device that looked like part of an engine. What was it? Whatever it was, Merrick was desperate to get it finished. He worked tirelessly, arming sweat from his forehead and never stopping to rest. The only time he paused at all was when he turned his attention to another, smaller device. It was tiny—small enough to fit in the palm of his hand—and so delicate Elise wondered if it was some kind of clock mechanism.

  The dream she’d just woken up from had been the worst. In it, she saw Merrick lying on his back, covered in blood. He was surrounded by rubble and wreckage as though some kind of explosion had gone off. All around him were the dirty gray bodies of imps and the Tolkien-esque troll creatures. It was clear they were dead and it looked like Merrick was dead too—dead or dying. As she watched, she saw him gasp for breath and his lips moved, forming her name. Then his eyes fluttered shut and his chest rose no more.

  Elise wrapped her arms around herself, trying to stop the shaking. Merrick, she thought as the tears leaked from her eyes. Oh, Merrick… She missed him so badly she couldn’t even express it in words. Losing him hurt…hurt so much she didn’t know how to stand it. Didn’t know what to do except curl up in a ball and die…

  “Hey, can’t sleep?” Olivia poked her head in the door of her room and gave Elise a worried look. Elise had been put in the med center when she returned to the Mother Ship and three days later, she was still here for “observation.” Which was a nice way of saying suicide watch, she was pretty sure.

  “Not very well,” she admitted but she didn’t say why. She never told anyone about the dreams—she didn’t want to make them more worried about her than they already were.

  “Want me to give you a sedative?” Liv asked.

  “No, thanks.” Elise ran a shaky hand through her hair and looked at the bedside clock. “It’s almost time to get up, anyway.”

  “Yeah, I know. Some people are already up and around.” Olivia came to sit on the side of her bed. “If you know what I mean.”

  Elise groaned. “Did he call again?”

  “I’m afraid so.” Olivia shook her head sympathetically. “He was on the viewscreen early this morning, demanding that I go get you to talk.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I told him you’d been sedated and I couldn’t disturb you, but I’m afraid I can’t put your fiancé off m
uch longer, Elise. He’s threatening to come up here and get you if you won’t at least talk to him.”

  “Crap.” Elise put her face in her hands. She didn’t want to deal with James right now, but it was becoming clear that sooner or later, she was going to have to come out of her shell of isolation and do exactly that.

  “I know you’re miserable over Merrick, hon.” Olivia rubbed her back soothingly. “And I totally don’t blame you—once you let a Kindred into your heart, every other man in the universe just pales by comparison. But—and please don’t think I’m siding with the enemy here—”

  “But James is my fiancé, the wedding is this week and I still haven’t told him it’s off,” Elise finished for her dully. “I know, Olivia. I know I’m wrong to keep him hanging on so long. It’s just…I feel like if I go back to Earth and go back to my normal life, it’ll be like admitting to myself that Merrick is really g-gone. G-gone for…for g-good.” The tears started again and she blotted them hastily on a corner of the sheet. “S-sorry. I don’t mean to be so emotional.”

  “Don’t apologize.” Liv gave her a hug. “What you’ve been through—what you’re going through—you deserve to cry all you want. You won’t get any arguments from me about that.”

  Elise hugged her back tightly. “You know, you’re hands down the best and nicest nurse I’ve ever had.”

  “I want to be more than your nurse.” Liv pulled back and looked at her seriously. “I want to be your friend. Listen, Elise, I know it might sound crazy to you right now, but I think you should consider coming up to live on the Mother Ship.”

  “Live here?” Elise frowned. “I was going to live with Merrick—or he was going to live down on Earth with me. We hadn’t really decided but now, well, I don’t know. My career…”

  “You can practice up here,” Liv hastened to assure her. “The Kindred mostly go through mediation to settle their problems but you could train as a mediator. I mean, if I can get the hang of Kindred medicine, I know you could get the hang of Kindred law.”