Chapter Twenty-seven
“Sylvan will be in to examine you in just a minute. Does it hurt much?” Sophie, Commander Sylvan’s wife was sitting by Kate’s bedside in the med center of the Mother Ship.
Rone had decided to go there first, before he dropped Kate back at Mimi’s place in Tampa, because he felt he had to report everything that had happened to the head of the Kindred High Council as soon as possible. If he hadn’t had that duty to discharge, Kate thought bitterly, he would have taken her directly back to Earth and dropped her like a hot potato.
“Does what hurt?” she asked flatly. “If you’re asking about my swollen ankle, yes, it hurts like a son-of-a-bitch. The rest of me is fine. Just fine.”
“Oh…” Sophie bit her lip. “Uh, well, this is awkward, which is one reason Sylvan asked me to ask you about it…”
“What’s awkward?” Kate demanded.
“Your mate, Rone, has asked us to do a rape exam on you.” The new voice came from a blonde girl in pink scrubs who had just entered the room.
Kate looked up at her and then did a double take back at Sophie.
“Hey, you’re…you guys look just alike.”
“Except for our hair and eyes, yeah, we get that a lot,” the girl said. “I’m Olivia, by the way—Sophie’s twin. But you can call me Liv. All my friends do.”
“Well you and I aren’t going to be friends for long if you keep saying that Rone…that he raped me.” Kate glared at Olivia fiercely, letting her know exactly what she thought of such an idea.
“Hey, I’m not saying it—he is.” Liv held up her hands in a “don’t shoot” gesture.
“I think he’s just worried that you might be, well, injured,” Sophie said delicately. “He wants to make sure you’re all right—that’s all.”
“Well he can ask me himself if he wants to know.” Kate crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly. “Dr. Sylvan can look at my ankle but that’s all he’s looking at as far as I’m concerned.”
“Sylvan will be with you as soon as he finishes seeing his own doctor,” Liv said. “He’s getting his dressing changed.”
“Oh? What happened to him?” Kate felt a twinge of worry for the blond Kindred doctor. Though she was still kind of upset with him for sending her and Rone to Flame and Frost, which had turned into such a fiasco, she believed he had done it in good faith. And he had been awfully nice to her the last time she’d been aboard the Mother Ship.
“He was bitten by some kind of a rat or Guinea pig or something,” Liv said. “It didn’t do much more than take a chunk out of his thumb but we’re being extra cautious because we don’t know what it was or where it came from.”
“Can’t you study it? Run some tests on it to make sure it’s not carrying anything?” Kate asked.
“Well, we could if we could find it,” Liv said. “But it ran off before he could catch it and now we can’t locate the darn thing. We’ve seriously been over the entire Mother Ship with a fine tooth comb and it’s gone—just gone. Like it disappeared right off the ship somehow.”
“Ugh! I hate rats!” Sophie said and shivered. “But Sylvan is healing up nicely and there’s no sign of infection or anything else, thank the Goddess.”
“When did it happen?” Kate asked.
“Not long after the two of you left for Flame and Frost,” Sophie told her. “By the way—how was it? Were they able to get all the fear toxins out of you and restore your memory?”
Kate shifted uneasily. “I’m afraid not. I mean, they did get the fear toxins out—by almost drowning me in a pool of black goop. But the hole in my memory is still there.” She sighed. “And now it looks like it always will be.”
“Hang on—back up.” Liv held up a hand. “You said they nearly drowned you in goop? What kind of a place is this Flame and Frost?”
“Well, they’re supposed to be a couple’s resort kind of place, right?” Sophie asked.
Kate nodded. “I’m sure it’s probably a nice place if you stay in the Flame part of it—if you stay in the light. Unfortunately, Rone and I got diverted into the Shadow and wound up in the Frost part. That was…interesting.”
“Interesting how? What did they do to you?” Liv wanted to know.
Kate gave them a quick run-down on the Madam of Shadows and the apartment they had put her and Rone in. She omitted the caning she’d taken because she didn’t want Sophie to feel bad.
“Wow—so everything you did, you had to do together?” Liv asked. “That sounds amazing.”
“It was amazing, all right,” Kate admitted. “It forced us to get closer—to touch each other. Which was really what we needed since I was so reluctant to touch Rone. First because of the fear toxins and afterwards because I didn’t really feel like I knew him. Anyway, I got to know him pretty quick while we were there.” She sighed. “And now he’s the one who doesn’t want to touch me.”
“Oh, honey…I’m sure that’s not true.” Sophie patted her arm comfortingly.
“It is true.” Kate felt a lump in her throat and did her best to swallow it back down. “Ever…ever since we woke up the morning after…after I, uh, tamed his Beast, he can’t even look at me—let alone touch me.”
“He must feel like he really hurt you,” Liv said softly. “Otherwise he wouldn’t have asked us to check you out, uh, down below.”
“But that’s the thing—he didn’t. I mean, it was rough and intense but I expected it to be. And even though he was in his Beast form—which was pretty much the same as his regular form, only a little harrier—he wasn’t cruel to me,” Kate said. “I mean, he was demanding and insistent and scary but he was sexy too. Oh God…” She put her face in her hands. “I’m sorry—I really can’t explain this without sounding like a total freak.”
“You’re not a freak, hon,” Liv said firmly, patting her other arm. “You’re just bonded to a Kindred male. They’re they nicest guys in the universe but things do tend to get a little weird when you’re with one. Believe me—Sophie and I know. Oh, the stories we could tell…”
“But that’s just the thing,” Kate burst out. “We’re not bonded—not anymore. When Two, the Dark Kindred stole me away and took my memories, he did something to our bond as well. Even after…after all the sex Rone and I had the other night, our bond still didn’t come back and I still can’t remember him. And he says…he says…” She almost couldn’t go on, her throat was so tight.
“Go on, honey—what does Rone say?” Sophie encouraged her softly.
“He says the fact that the sex didn’t restore our bond or re-bond us means we’re not meant to be together—ever again.” Kate started crying—she couldn’t help it. “And I…I was just…just beginning to love him,” she gasped, her shoulders hitching. “Especially after…after what happened. I mean I…I made myself vulnerable to him! I let him in. I’ve never done that with…with any man before. Not that I can remember. And now he…he just wants to get…to get rid of me.”
“Oh, honey…” both sisters said at once.
In a moment, Kate found herself enveloped in a three-way hug with Sophie on one side and Liv on the other. The comfort they offered was too much—she felt the last of her defenses crumbling and she gave in entirely to the misery. Big, ugly sobs tore from her throat as she let out the hurt and fear and pain she’d been carrying ever since Rone had started rejecting her.
“He h-hates me now,” she whispered between sobs. “And I don’t know wh-why.”
“He doesn’t hate you—I’m sure he doesn’t hate you,” Sophie told her earnestly.
“I think it’s much more likely that he hates himself,” Liv said practically, stroking Kate’s hair. “These Kindred males—they’re all about honor and protecting their females. If he feels he hurt you in any way—”
“But he didn’t,” Kate objected, wiping her eyes on the sheet. “I mean, I was…was assaulted in college, you know? That was horrible—it was completely nonconsensual. With Rone—with his Beast, I mean, I knew what I was getting into. I was scared but I went in with my eyes open. And I don’t blame him in any way.”
“That doesn’t matter if he blames himself,” Sophie said, frowning. “Liv is right—the Kindred are very big on protecting and cherishing their mates. To harm the female you love most in the world, well, that would be a nightmare for them. The worst kind of nightmare.”
“They worship the Goddess,” Liv put in. “And they revere all things female. It’s in their DNA.”
“I keep hearing about this Goddess,” Kate said bitterly. “Everyone says this is her will somehow and that Rone and I will come out of it stronger than before. Well, where is she now? Why did she do this to us? Or why did she let it happen? I don’t understand. I just don’t understand.”
Just then there was a soft knock on the door.
“Oh!” Sophie hopped up. “That’ll be Sylvan.” She looked at Kate uncertainly. “Um, should I let him in or do you need a minute to get yourself back together?”
“I’m fine.” Kate swiped at her eyes again and straightened her shoulders. “Thank you both—I’m sorry I kind of lost my mind there for a minute.”
“No problem at all,” Liv assured her warmly. “We’re all half-crazy around here, anyway. A little crying jag once in a while is nothing.”
Kate tried to smile at her and almost succeeded. She wished she could have met both girls under happier circumstances—they seemed so nice she was certain they could have been good friends.
“I’m fine,” she repeated. “And I’m not normally so emotional. It’s probably just that time of the month. In fact…” She frowned and looked at Sophie. “I know this sounds crazy but what day is it? By the Earth calendar I mean. I’ve lost track of time whizzing around the universe.”
“It’s the twenty-eight. Why?” Sophie asked.
Kate shook her head. “Nothing, it’s just that—”
The knocking sounded at the door again, this time louder.
“Oh…” Sophie looked at her uncertainly. “Should I tell him to wait?”
“No, no.” Kate shook her head. “Go ahead and let him in.”
“Okay.” Sophie opened the door but it wasn’t Commander Sylvan on the other side of it. Instead, a young priestess with long blond hair that had emerald green streaks running through it stood there. Kate knew she was a priestess by her flowing robes and bare feet—and also because she recognized her as the same one that Rone had consulted the night she followed him to the Sacred Grove.
“Oh, uh…hello,” Liv said blankly. “Are you lost? Maybe looking for another patient? I can help you if you want—I work here so I can find whoever it is you’re here to see.”
“I am here to see Kate.” The priestess glided into the room serenely, apparently unconcerned about the looks of uncertainty the other girls were giving her.
“Do I know you?” Kate asked as the girl settled, as graceful as a swan at the foot of her bed. “I mean, I do—I know you’re a priestess—but I don’t think we’ve ever been introduced.”
The priestess sat beside her swollen left ankle, which was propped up on a pillow. Gently, she put one long, slim hand on Kate’s bandaged foot.
“My name is irrelevant,” she said, looking at Kate intently. “I am here because I have a message for you, Kate—a message from the Mother of All Life—the Goddess herself.”
“You do?” Kate looked at her blankly. “Uh, what?”
The girl closed her brilliant green eyes for a moment and then she began to recite.
“All that was lost shall be restored
All that is hidden revealed
All that is broken will mended be
And all that was shattered be healed”
“Um…what does that mean, exactly?” Kate asked when she was done.
But the priestess simply gave her a mysterious smile.
“I can only tell you what was given to me to say.”
“By the Goddess, right? Well, did she give anything else?” Liv asked practically. “Because Kate here is in a bad way. She could really use some concrete advice on what to do next.”
“Or maybe a sign,” Sophie added helpfully.
The priestess smiled at Kate. “I may tell you one more thing—the desire of your heart is already yours. You need only reach out your hand to pluck it.”
“What? What desire of my heart?” Kate demanded. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“No,” the priestess said mysteriously. “But you will.”
She squeezed Kate’s wounded foot very gently and rose to go.
“Wait!” Kate called. “Wait—I still don’t understand!” Forgetting that she had a hurt ankle, she hopped out of bed and ran to the priestess, who was already halfway out the door. “Please,” she begged. “Tell me more!”
The priestess looked her in the eyes.
“Only one more thing—do not ignore your appetites. They must be fed.”
“What?” Kate shook her head, more confused than ever. “But that makes even less sense than anything else you’ve said. “Please—”
But the priestess had slipped out the door and closed it behind her. By the time Kate fumbled it open again, she was gone and Commander Sylvan was standing there instead. He was wearing a pale blue uniform shirt which matched his ice blue eyes and a white bandage was wrapped around his right thumb.
“Well, hello.” He looked at Kate with a little frown on his face. “Excuse me but I was under the impression that you had a badly twisted ankle as well as…ahem, other injuries. How are you walking around?”
“Huh?” Kate looked stupidly down at her feet. The tight bandage which had been wound around her left ankle was loose and trailing on the floor.
“He’s right, Kate!” Sophie hopped up to go stand with her. “How are you walking? Your ankle was terrible just a minute ago—it was all puffy and swollen.”
“Looked like a sausage,” Liv added. “In my professional opinion.” She gave Kate a smile.
“I…I don’t know.” Kate looked down at herself again. “It was throbbing like crazy just a minute ago and now it feels fine.” She took a few experimental steps and then bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. “Perfectly fine,” she muttered.
“Well, it doesn’t look like you’re injured now,” Sylvan remarked. “But I’ve never heard of this kind of spontaneous healing happening without some outside source.”
“There was an outside source,” Sophie said quietly. “'All that is broken will mended be…And all that was shattered be healed.' She said that—the priestess said it!”
“Yes—and she was touching Kate’s ankle while she spoke,” Liv put in excitedly. “Kate, she must have healed you.”
“What?” Kate shook her head. “No way. Is that even possible?”
“Are you walking around without pain on a foot that looked like a sausage a minute ago?” Liv asked, smiling.
“I guess I am.” Kate shook her head. “But I still don’t understand how or why or what she meant by everything she said.”
“You don’t have to understand—you just have to believe,” Sophie told her.
Sylvan frowned. “Forgive me, ladies, but are you saying that a priestess came into Kate’s room and healed her?”
“And gave her a prophesy,” Sophie added. “Well, kind of a prophesy. It rhymed, anyway.”
“You must have seen her leave,” Liv said to him. “She went out the door literally two seconds before you came in.”
But Sylvan was shaking his head.
“I’m afraid not. I was standing at the central station getting my thumb bandaged by one of the techs and watching Kate’s door for the past ten minutes and I haven’t seen anyone go in or out but Olivia.”
“What?” Sophie frowned. “But…but that’s not possible.”
“Unless that priestess wasn’t really a priestess,” Liv said quietly.
“What? What does that mean?” Kate objected. “We know she’s a priestess—we all saw her. And I saw her before too—she’s the one who talked to Rone the first time we were here, when he went to ask for healing at the Sacred Grove. I recognized her—she was so young and pretty.”
“I’ll ask, but I do not believe there are any young priestesses aboard,” Sylvan said thoughtfully. “They tend to be older here because it takes years of seniority to get a position aboard the Mother Ship.”
“So you’re saying…what are you saying?” Kate asked blankly.
“I am saying that it is possible you had a visitation from the Goddess herself,” Sylvan said softly. “She comes in many guises and forms to see her children and she is ever closest to those who are hurting.”
“That doesn’t seem possible,” Kate objected.
“Neither does your ankle suddenly being healed,” Sophie pointed out. “But it is.”
“All right—say it was the Goddess,” Kate said. “What does that mean? What should I do?”
“Listen to what she said,” Liv answered. “I know it doesn’t make sense now but it will—the words of the Goddess always do…in time.”
“In time,” Kate echoed, frowning. But she couldn’t help wondering if her time was running out. What exactly had the priestess—or the Goddess in disguise if her new friends were right—meant by her strange words? What was the desire of Kate’s heart that she was talking about? What appetites should she feed?
And in the meantime, what was she supposed to do about Rone?