Chapter Thirty-five
“Stop for a minute. I need to take care of this.” Deep staggered to a halt as soon as they were out of the Scourge Complex.
Kat stopped beside him at once. “How can I help?”
He made a face and she knew he was in pain, though she couldn’t feel it the way she ought to. “Need you to…pull it out.”
“But I thought you said…what about the bleeding?”
“Bleeding be damned—can’t stand it anymore.” He looked at Lock. “Hold me steady while she does it.”
“Of course, Brother.” Stepping forward, Lock pulled his twin close and locked his arms around Deep’s broad chest. Then he looked at Kat. “Pull it out as quickly as you can. There’s no sense prolonging the agony.”
“Of course.” Kat felt like she might be sick but she realized that she didn’t have time for that luxury. I wish Liv was here, she thought, reaching for the handle of the black knife. She’d know how to do this. I’m not a nurse!
“Do it!” Deep said through gritted teeth.
Get on with it, girl! Stop stalling. Kat clenched her jaw and took a firm grip. “Here goes,” she said grimly and yanked as hard as she could.
The curving black and rust-red blade slid out smoothly. As the final inch came out of Deep’s side, he cried out and fell to his knees. Lock went down with him, holding him tight. When he looked up at Kat, there were tears in his brown eyes.
“I can’t help him,” he said hoarsely as the dark twin slumped in his arms. “I can’t feel his pain—can’t help him bear it.”
“Never mind.” Pressing a hand to his side, Deep somehow staggered to his feet again. It seemed to Kat like a superhuman effort—or a superKindred one, she supposed.
“I don’t understand,” she blurted, looking down at the hateful blade, still clutched in her fist. “How can you just go on like that? I thought even a scratch from one of these things was poison.”
Deep’s black eyes flashed. “I go on because I have no choice, little Kat. And as for the blade—it’s not a kusax.”
“It’s not?” Kat examined it more closely. It still looked like something an evil orc would carry straight to Mordor, only now it was sticky with Deep’s blood.
“No.” Lock, who was still helping to support his brother, shook his head. “A kusax is much smaller than that and it has a short, five-sided blade that ends in a bright green tip. It’s the tip that contains the poison—some say the AllFather has a throne made of the same metal.”
Kat remembered Liv’s description of the black metal throne etched in glowing, neon lines that the AllFather sat on in the Fathership. That must be it, she thought. Maybe it’s part of his power source or something. “So…” She looked back up at Deep and down to the long, curving knife in her hand again. “Does this mean you’ll be okay?”
“If we get him back to the Mother ship quickly. Twin Kindred have self-sealing internal organs. Come.” Lock jerked his head in the direction of the beach. “We still have to get through the old battleground.”
“But what about Lauren?” Kat asked. “We can’t just leave her here.”
“She and Xairn are right behind us,” Lock said. “I saw them as we were leaving. Don’t worry, they can meet us on the beach. Until then, Xairn will take care of her.”
“How can you be sure?” Kat insisted as they began walking again. The old battlefield was in sight now—she could see some of the wrecked and abandoned ships littering the dusty, barren plain.
“Didn’t you see the way he looked at her?” Deep shook his head. “Don’t worry, Kat, he’ll die before he lets her come to harm.”
Kat thought they were trusting the big Scourge an awful lot on such a short acquaintance but then she remembered Lauren’s words and the way she’d looked at Xairn. Maybe it will be all right, after all, she thought. And we do need to get moving—need to get Deep back to the Mother ship. Even if the knife wasn’t one of the poison kind—a kusax—it still nearly went right through him. Looking down, she realized she was still clutching the bloody blade in one hand. She almost threw it away, but then she tightened her grip on it instead. They weren’t safe on the ship yet and who knew what might happen between here and there?
“Come on, Brother, just a little bit further,” Lock urged as Deep staggered, one hand pressed hard to his wounded side.
“I’m fine,” Deep growled but he made no move to stop his twin when Lock looped an arm around him to give him support. Kat hoped he was all right as he claimed, but she couldn’t help worrying. She wished again that she could tell what he was feeling—if she could still feel his emotions, she would have been able to tell if he was lying or not. Maybe it will all be okay, she thought hopefully. We’ll get back to the Mother ship and Sylvan can fix Deep up. We can find out why Lock and I can feel each other but not him. And get a shower and wash all this gunk off!
She shivered in disgust at the feel of the now-drying goo on her back and hair. It must have been the remains of the AllFather’s bubble—she wasn’t sure. Whatever it was, it smelled worse than anything she could even imagine. She probably would have been happier having rat guts in her hair. Or roaches, or spiders, or pretty much anything else but this disgusting slimy jelly-like stuff.
They were almost all the way through the maze of dead and abandoned ships when she heard a hoarse shout behind them. The three of them turned to see Xairn striding toward them with Lauren held in his arms. He shouted something else, but he was still too far away to hear—just on the edge of the old battlefield.
“See?” Deep said as they stopped to watch the huge Scourge approach. “I told you he would protect her.”
“He may be of the AllFather’s bloodline, but I believe he must have some Kindred genes as well,” Lock said thoughtfully, stepping forward.
“He certainly cares for his female like one of us.” Deep sounded approving. “I wonder if his mother could have been one of the rare Scourge-born females? They say there were a few born before the race was decimated.”
Xairn shouted again and this time Kat could hear him. “You must take Lauren with you,” he said. “Back to your Mother ship. She cannot stay with me.”
Kat frowned. The Scourge warrior sounded truly distressed. “Is there something wrong with her?” she yelled, running forward a few steps to meet them. “Is Lauren hurt?”
“No, but she must—”
But whatever else Xairn was about to say was suddenly cut off when a massive hand reached out from behind an abandoned ship and yanked Kat off her feet.
“Wha—?” she gasped as the hand spun her around. She looked up and up and up…into the face of the Alpha guard. But this time its eyes weren’t the blank, empty black-on-black she’d come to expect. Instead, the pupils blazed crimson with malice. When the guard opened its mouth, a familiar voice came out.
“Die, sssweet little human,” it hissed. “Die ssslowly and know that the daysss of your race are numbered. I will take sssuch revenge on the femalesss of your world asss hasss never been ssseen before.”
A knife suddenly appeared in its grip—a tiny one, so small it looked like toy in the Alpha guard’s huge hand. The blade was strange, black and many sided, and the tip…the tip was a bright, poisonous green.
It all happened so quickly that Kat had no time to react. She wanted to raise the curving black blade she still carried to defend herself, but her arm seemed frozen in place. Somewhere to her right she heard shouting as the tiny sharp, knife came down, the shining, deadly point coming closer and closer…
And then Deep and Lock barreled into the massive guard, knocking him to the ground. The knife flew out of his hand. Kat tried to see where it went but then she was knocked over too, her legs pinned under the tangle of bodies.
She hit the ground hard, knocking all the wind out of her and a sharp stone sliced into her cheek. Ouch! Can’t…breathe… Gasping for air, she blacked out for a minute.
When she came to, Deep and Lock were kneeling over her, worried expressions on both their faces. Behind them, the body of the massive Alpha guard was lying completely still. Vaguely, Kat could see the handle of the black blade she’d been carrying since she pulled it out of Deep protruding from its chest. Was it finally dead? God, I hope so! She struggled to sit up but four large hands pressed her back down gently.
“Are you all right, my lady?” Lock asked anxiously.
“Did it touch you? Did the blade of the kusax scratch you?” Deep demanded at the same time.
“I…I’m fine, you guys. Let…let me up,” she demanded breathlessly. She rolled onto her side with some help from Lock and propped herself up on one elbow, still trying to catch her breath.
Deep, one hand still pressed to his wounded side, scanned the area alertly. “Where did the kusax go?”
“I don’t know. I saw it fly out of the guard’s hand—I don’t know where it landed. Ouch!” Kat winced at the stinging in her cheek. She put a hand to her face and her fingertips came away bloody. “Damn, that was one sharp rock.”
“What’s wrong?” Deep was by her side at once.
“Nothing.” Kat shook her head, brushing her long hair, still matted with the AllFather’s slime, out of the way. “I just got cut with a rock when I fell. I’m okay though, it’s just a scrape.”
“A rock, you say?” Lock sounded so grim that she sat up and looked at him.
“I guess so, why?”
“Because.” Reaching down, he grabbed something off the ground that she hadn’t seen earlier—something which must have been covered by her hair.
“No,” Deep whispered and there was real horror in his voice. “Oh please, Goddess…no.”
Kat already knew what she was going to see, but she couldn’t help looking anyway. Gripped in Lock’s big fist was the tiny, sharp dagger the Alpha Guard had been aiming at her. On its poisonous, bright green tip was a single ruby droplet of blood—her blood.
She was going to die.
* * * * *
“What are they doing? What’s wrong?” Lauren strained to see what was going on with Kat and her two Kindred warriors, but they had gone out of sight and there were several abandoned ships in the way of her line of vision.
“I don’t know,” Xairn said grimly. “But you must go with them.”
Lauren looked at him uneasily. Both of them were covered in the slimy gook from the AllFather’s bubble but aside from that, he looked…different somehow. His red-on-black eyes were blazing—it was as though someone had lit a fire within him and it was consuming him from the inside out. No, not just a fire, she thought in alarm. An inferno. God, he looks like he’s about to explode. “Xairn,” she said tentatively. “Are you all right?”
“No,” he said shortly. He shifted and she could feel his hard muscles bunching with tension.
Lauren wasn’t sure what to say. “Am I too heavy? Do you need me to get down? I can walk now.”
“Of course not—you’re very light.” For the first time he seemed to focus on her totally. “And this is the last time I’ll ever get to hold you,” he added in a low voice. “I would rather not put you down until I have to.”
“All right then,” Lauren said softly. “I don’t mind. I’m just worried about you.”
He shook his head and the distance returned to his eyes. “I’ll be fine. I just need to be certain you’re safe before I leave.”
“But I don’t want you to leave,” Lauren protested. “I…I don’t like the idea of never seeing you again.”
“It’s for the best.” Xairn began walking rapidly in the direction they’d last seen Kat and her Kindred warriors. “It is better if I don’t see you—safer.”
“How could it be safer for us to be apart? I don’t understand.”
He closed his eyes briefly, a look of almost agony passing over his strong features. “I would rather not explain. I don’t want your memory of me to be…tainted.”
“If you’re thinking I’ll hold your father against you, you’re wrong,” she said quietly. “People don’t choose their parents. You can’t help what he’s like or what he did.”
“It’s not that.” He shook his head. “Please do not ask me to explain. I don’t wish you to think me a monster.”
“A monster?” Lauren looked at him in shock. “Why would I ever think that? How could—”
A sudden sound behind him made both their heads turn.
“Oh my God!” Lauren put a hand to her mouth. “The guards—they’re back!”
It was true. Two of the AllFather’s immense guards were closing in on them rapidly. Only their great size and bulk kept them from running faster.
“Do you still have the stunner I gave you?” Xairn asked, backing away from the approaching guards warily. “If you do, shoot. I can’t reach my own weapon without putting you down and that would not be safe at this moment.”
Lauren fumbled in the folds of the black cloak. She’d hidden the tiny weapon in a small pocket sewn on the inside but now she couldn’t seem to find it. “I can’t…can’t find it. God, Xairn, what are we going to do?”
“I don’t know.” He turned his head to look behind them briefly. “But here comes another one.”
“I thought they were all dead!” Lauren looked at the approaching guards fearfully. “Or at least disabled. How can they just get up and walk after the way we shot them?”
“They’re probably being animated by my father—he’ll stop at nothing to get you back.”
Lauren’s heart froze in her chest. “No! Oh, no—please, Xairn, don’t let him have me!”
“Didn’t you hear me before?” His deep voice was fierce. “I’ll die before I give you up. Damn it to the seven hells, where are those Kindred?” He craned his neck, obviously looking for Kat and her men, but there was nothing to see but junked and abandoned ships. And in the mean time, the three guards were closing in. One of them opened its lipless mouth and the voice of the AllFather filled the air.
“Come back, my ssson. Return the girl to me and all ssshall be forgiven. You ssshall rule at my ssside as you were always meant to do. Come back and bring my bride…”
“Xairn—they’re getting closer!” Lauren clutched his shoulders—they were being surrounded. They were trapped.
Xairn swore blackly in a harsh, guttural language. He looked at Lauren, frowning fiercely. “I am sorry but there is no more time to find your human friend—you’ll have to come with me.”
Turning, he jogged to the nearest silver ship and slapped his palm to its side. “Open!” he shouted and then repeated the command in another foreign language.
A hatchway slid to one side smoothly, revealing an opening into the ship. Xairn boosted Lauren in and then climbed in after, just as the first of the AllFather’s guards reached them.
“My ssson,” it began in the AllFather’s high, evil voice.
“No longer.” Xairn kicked the possessed guard in the jaw, knocking it to the ground. Another was already coming but by then he had closed the hatch and was giving the ship directions in the same, foreign tongue he’d spoken in earlier.
Lauren scrambled into a seat which was much too large for her—it seemed to have been built for people Xairn’s size, not humans. Xairn took the seat beside her and began working the controls. “Strap in,” he directed. “This will not be a smooth flight.”
“All right.” Lauren was fumbling with the unfamiliar, too-large safety harness when something big and heavy thumped against her side of the ship. A dent appeared in the metal just beside her thigh. “Oh!” she gasped, jumping away. “What—?”
“They’re trying to get in.” Xairn was still concentrating grimly on the control panel. “Don’t worry, they won’t. The Kindred build their ships well.”
He did something else to the controls and they started to rise straight up into the air. There was another mighty thump which made the small ship sway alarmingly in mid-air, and then they were apparently above the reach of even the massive guards.
They rose higher and higher and Lauren watched in the viewscreen as the dark, polluted planet receded into the distance. When it was no larger than a dirty tennis ball hanging in space, Xairn held the ship still for a moment and sat in silence, staring at it.
Though his face was impassive, Lauren thought she understood what he must be feeling. Reaching out, she rested her hand lightly on his knee. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “It must be hard—saying goodbye to your home planet.”
“That place was never my home.” Xairn’s voice was cold but when he looked at her his eyes were burning. “I have no home. No people. No father. I have nothing.”
“That’s all right.” She tried to smile. “You can come home with me—if you want.”
“Eventually.” His voice was remote. “But I’m afraid it will be some time before you see Earth again.”
“What do you mean?” She tried to keep the fear out of her voice but he was acting so strangely it scared her. “Why—?”
“You will understand in time.” He looked down at her hand, still resting on his knee. “I thought I asked you before not to touch me.”
“I’m sorry.” Lauren removed her hand hastily. “I just thought…I wanted to comfort you.”
“I need no comfort. And I do not want your hands on me. It isn’t safe.”
“Isn’t safe? What do you mean?”
He turned his head to look at her and she thought again that his eyes looked like they were on fire. The savage look on his face was like nothing she had ever seen before. There was nothing but hunger in his gaze. No compassion, no pity…just the naked desire to devour. “Please, Xairn,” she said, her voice trembling. “Please, you’re scaring me.”
He took a deep breath and the fire in his eyes died down a little. Some of the tension eased from his broad shoulders and the hunger left his face. “Forgive me, Lauren.” He shook his head. “But I wish very much that you were not with me right now. It would have been better if you had gone with the Kindred and their female. Better and far safer.”
“I’m safe with you.” Lauren touched his arm for emphasis and then remembered he didn’t want her to and drew back. “It’s all right,” she said, holding his eyes with hers. “Everything is going to be all right because I trust you. And I know you’ll keep your promise to see me safely home.”
“I did promise that, didn’t I?” Xairn pressed a hand to his eyes briefly and took another deep breath. “Yes, I did. And I will keep my word. Even if it kills me to do so.”
Lauren didn’t understand what he meant by that, but as the small silver ship turned away from his home world, she did understand that it would be a while before she saw Earth again.
She didn’t know where Xairn was taking her, but it wasn’t home—not yet.